Title: Duck! Rabbit!
Author: Amy Rosenthal
I found and selected a picture book titled “Duck! Rabbit!” written by Amy Rosenthal. This book is a concise, funny story about the optical illusion that is the animal that looks like a duck and a rabbit. In the book, it is two people going back and forth comparing the same body parts and using them to convince one another that the animal is a duck or a rabbit. One of the people points out the beak of the duck, but the other person replies that those are actually the ears of a rabbit. I would use this book to teach a critical writing class which falls into the pedagogical framework of critical literacy. Shor describes a critical writing class as a class that is meant to, “Test the open space available in any setting for questioning the status quo” (Shor, 17).
In my lesson in my critical writing class, I would begin by sharing the picture book and use the rabbit and duck example to talk about the status quo, or dominant idea surrounding certain events in history. After reading the book I would give the example of the invention of the lightbulb. The general idea is that Thomas Edison solely invented the lightbulb that is now commonly used in society. That idea I would use as the status quo. Everyone looks at the invention of the lightbulb and sees the rabbit which is the idea that Thomas Edison invented it. I would then introduce Lewis Latimer, who in school spaces does not really get mentioned when it comes to the invention of the lightbulb. I would compare Lattimer’s involvement and story to the duck. If everyone sees the rabbit, we also need to look deeper and see the duck as well. Even if everyone see the dominant story that Thomas Edison was solely responsible for inventing the lightbulb, we need to challenge the dominant ideology by looking deeper and even if we do not believe in the duck we need to at least acknowledge and see the duck as it is also present.
My assignment for my students would be to find a similar historical event with a dominant story, or as it relates to the picture book everyone only sees the rabbit. Using the metaphor of the rabbit and the duck the students would write an essay presenting the historical event challenging the notion that the only story that exists is the rabbit. The students will challenge the status quo in their essay and bring the secondary story about the event to the forefront and propose the idea that the duck also exists and is absolutely present.
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