Graphic Novels in the Literature
Classroom
Session Coordinator: Laura L. Beadling
Dept. of American Studies,
University Hall
In
my talk, I'll discuss Scott McCloud's idea of what happens between the panels,
closure, which he defines in Understanding Comics as the "phenomenon
of observing the parts but perceiving the whole." He adds that
closure is a common, even daily, mental task we all perform, "completing
that which is incomplete based on past experience."
The graphic novel is the perfect text for beginning critical reading and interpretation.
As far as writing, closure also allows beginning writers to understand
the process of communication between reader and writer -- the space between
the reader and writer is exactly like the space between panels in a graphic
novel. By understanding closure, the students produce much more effective
essays.
What
helps most in the graphic novel, and in all the exercises I incorporate into
lesson plans surrounding this kind of text, is the combination of visual and
textual content. Nonreaders especially rely on visual cues more than
written ones.
I
do a number of exercises to further reinforce these ideas, and I will present
those in the talk. Some involve other forms of literature, especially
poetry, the one form of art students most resist because they know beforehand
that they will not get it! So the act of closure works to make students
confident and comfortable with all works of art that they otherwise felt excluded
from. I will also share exercises and writing assignments that proved
most effective, as well as detailed comments made by students at semester's
end.
John Barrett
Graphic
Novels in the Introductory Literature Class:
Canons,
Narratives, and Memory
I
have incorporated Art Spiegelman’s Maus,
A Survivor’s Tale; I: My Father Bleeds History and Maus,
A Survivor’s Tale; II: And Here My Troubles Began in my Introduction to
Literature classes Based on my classroom experience and subsequent research
on graphic novels, my conference paper will focusing on the uses and importance
of studying an emerging literary form in the introductory classroom. The paper also will address the ways in which
graphic novels can help students to grasp concepts and arguments surrounding
popular culture, the evolving canon, and literary value.
Each
semester at least one student reports: “My roommate was teasing me for reading
a comic book for class!” I will share
exercises and experience on how the visually engaging (and only superficially
simple) form of the graphic novel can be made complex for students through
the process of careful close reading. Once
students get past the deceptive simplicity of the graphic novel, they are
able to engage in complex discussions about the nature of narrative.
The
graphic novel can provide an engaging starting point for the discussion of
the socially-embedded nature of narrative.
Because many graphic novels are focused centrally on problems of memory
and history, they can provide useful examples of the importance of connecting
literature to a specific social context. Such
a context is especially important in providing traditional students with important
historical epochs:
Lisette Gibson Díaz
Introducing the Graphic Novel to the Classroom: Using Comics
Terms and Literary Theory
Using Scott McCloud, Chris Ware, and a variety of strips and
excerpts from many artists and writers, I will present how I introduce the
topic of comic literature to my Introduction to Literature
class. I also include a historical presentation on sequential art. I ground
our discussion using literary terms and theories that we have already discussed
during the semester (for instance, students should be familiar
with the idea of the "sign"
from semiotics as well as other approaches to literature, including postcolonialism,
new historicism, marxism, feminism, and psychoanalysis).
Wendy
Goldberg
wgoldberg@exmail.uscga.edu