With googly eye book art popping up on blogs and in libraries, the 8th Grade participated in a Poe-inspired spin-off! Instead of adding two traditional googly eyes to characters on book covers, 8th graders received a single, blue googly eye, which was meant to be reminiscent of the old man's "pale blue vulture eye" from Edgar Allan Poe's short story, "The Tell-Tale Heart." Students were challenged to scour their home libraries for a book cover on which to place their "vulture eye." 



The 8th graders' book cover choices ranged in genre from creepy horror to realistic fiction, so students were able to see how the type of background and character on which they placed their "vulture eye" affected the impact of the single googly eye. 

Placing the blue googly eye on a tame, ordinary book character - especially in which the character was shown with both eyes visible on the cover and the googly eye was larger than the original eye - elevated the "vulture eye," making it seem ou of place - and thus likely to have also driven Poe's nameless caretaker furious and mad. 







However, placing the "vulture eye" on a creepy or busy background - especially one where the character only had one eye visible on the cover and an eye that was similar in size to the googly eye - reduced the oddness of the single blue eye because it actually fit into the surrounding scene. 





Therefore, 8th graders learned that context matters!


* No books were vandalized in the creation of this "vulture eye" book art. Googly eyes were temporaily placed - not stuck - onto the book covers.