Clarence DeShields Playing the Guitar, 1931, oil, 44” x 36”
1. Have your students look at this picture and imagine what song he might be playing. Does the song change when you find out that it was painted in 1931? Or is there a particular musical artist that you think of when you see this painting?
2. Clarence DeShields is the man who taught the artist, Ruth Starr Rose, about African American folk songs and spirituals. So, really, he was extremely instrumental in her life and work. Without him she may not have done all the work she did with spirituals and who knows what that might have changed in her life.
3. There are two options here:
I. Have students decide on a person who has been important in their life up to this point. Have them write a letter to that person thanking them for the impact they made on their life.
II. Have students list the characteristics that they think define Clarence DeShields based on what little they know about him. Talk about making inferences based on what you know, and what inferences could be made about Clarence. Then have students create a list of characteristics of themselves. How are they similar and different from Mr. DeShields?
4. Ask students if they would have liked Ruth Starr Rose to have painted their portrait? Why or why not? What do they think they would have worn in 1931? What prop would they have had with them? You could have them write about it, or sketch out what it could have looked like.
MD State Standards
W.3.1/W.4.1/W.5.1&W.6.3/W.7.3/W.8.3