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Trashed Teaching Guide
Trashed Teaching Guide
Trashed Teaching Guide
every day . . .
DERF
BY T H E B E S T S E L L I N G AU T H O R O F M Y F R I E N D D A H M E R
BACKDERF
PR AISE FOR
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BACKDERFS
MY FRIEND DAHMER
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Nationaland InternationalBestseller
Named BEST OF 2012 by
Time, The Village Voice, The A.V. Club,
comiXology, Boing Boing, Publishers Weekly,
MTV Geek, and more!
AN ODE TO THE
CRAP JOB OF
BY DERF BACKDERF
BOOK INTRODUCTION
Trashed was selected as one of the Top Ten 2016 Graphic Novels for Teens
by the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA).
Author
DERF BACKDERF
Ages 14 and up
CURRICULAR RATIONALE
Although Trashed is a work of fiction, Backderf pulls from real-life experience and factual
evidence to add to the impact of the story. Primarily told as a narrative, Trashed also
includes data from Columbia Universitys Biannual Report on Municipal Waste and the
EPAs Biannual Report on Solid Municipal Waste. The narrative follows protagonist JBs
time as a sanitation worker through the four seasons and also looks at the struggle of
identity after high school. Within the nonfiction elements of the text, Backderf exposes
troubling facts about the state of waste in the United States.
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EXTENSION ACTIVITIES
These activities build upon each other. Each activity works as a stand-alone exercise, but if done consecutively, you will need to draw on
information accessed within the discussion questions and writing prompts on page 2 of this guide.
(RI.9-12.6, RI.9-12.5, W.9-12.2, W.9-12.8, W.9-12.9)
Separate students into groups of two or more. Assign each group to read either the Columbia University report or the EPA report. As a
group, they will present the information they found within the report and address the following:
- How did Backderf transform the information within the report to write Trashed?
- What type of information did he choose to include and omit? Why?
- Is there any information omitted that you think should have been included in Trashed?
- What was the difference between reading the municipal report as a text versus the visual format of a graphic novel?
- Compare your reactions to reading these facts within the graphic novel versus the text-based municipal reports.
After reading Trashed and the two Municipal Waste reports, show students An Inconvenient Truth (or another documentary about the
environment or waste processing). After viewing, instruct students to write a response addressing the following:
- What similar information do all four media share?
- What details are shared in An Inconvenient Truth that are not shared in the other forms of media? Which details are not shared?
- Determine why each creator might have deliberately included or omitted these differing pieces of information. What impact do
those omissions have on the overall piece?
- What similar themes can be found among the four media? What themes differ?
Using information from all four forms of media, instruct students to write up an action plan for themselves, their home, and their school
in response to the environmental issues addressed. To determine the best course of action, students can follow the last four steps of the
six-step creative problem-solving process.
- List as many feasible solutions for the issues addressed as possible.
- Determine criteria on how to choose the best solutions for your action plan.
- Using the criteria determined, rank the proposed solutions.
- Using the highest ranked solutions, write a detailed action plan outlining solutions to environmental issues in all aspects of daily life.
RESOURCES
http://www.americanchemistry.com/Policy/Energy/Energy-Recovery/2014-Update-of-Potential-for-Energy-Recovery-fromMunicipal-Solid-Waste-and-Non-Recycled-Plastics.pdf
2014 Energy and Economic Value of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW), including Non-Recycled Plastics (NRP),
Currently Landfilled in the Fifty States
http://www.epa.gov/wastes/nonhaz/municipal/pubs/2013_advncng_smm_rpt.pdf
Advancing Sustainable Materials Management: Facts and Figures 2013 Report