I have chosen to explore Graphic Novels in the classroom. My experience with graphic novels/comic books dates back into my childhood, though I didn't really get into them until I was 16. It never even occurred to me that Graphic Novels would be okay in the classroom until I was in College. In fact I was told by one of my peers in elementary school, while I was reading a comic, that novels, short stories, and magazines were all productive reading, but that all comics were trash and I shouldn't be reading one in school. There were no graphic novels taught to me at CCRI either, it wasn't until I came to RIC that they started being assigned to me for class. To this day though the only graphic novels I have been assigned are: Maus Book I, 100 Demons, The Arrival, God's Man, and a short selection from Persepolis.
A question I would really like to look into is which graphic novels are worthy in the classroom? There seems to be an assertion that graphic novels are okay, and comic books are not, but it is really not so simple. Sometimes the difference is nothing more than the binding. Some graphic novels can be as vacuous as anything, and some comic books have much to offer. There is also a common belief that only certain types of graphic novels, like the graphic memoir (which is most of the graphic novels I've been assigned for class), are fine, but others, like the superhero comic, are not. One thing I would like to explore is the more "taboo" graphic novels/comic books, like superheroes. Not all superhero comics are the same, if one were to compare the first first seven issues of Supreme vol. 1 and the first seven issues Harbinger vol. 1 I think many would agree there is distinct difference in literary quality between the two (Harbinger being the one with literary quality). How can it be determined which are appropriate for the classroom? Perhaps a good place to start would be to see if they have well developed plot, characters, and theme. I would like to know the different types of graphic novels/comics that have been taught in the classroom and the different ways in which they are taught.
Mark: I'm pleased to see your topic, and I want to encourage you to go read what I wrote to Allie on her Memo #1 blog post, as you two are investigating the same question.
ReplyDeleteBut...it appears that you two may be doing very different types of projects, even though you're both investigating comics in the classroom. Mark...I love this line of inquiry and believe that it has not been pursued as much as it could be. You could be doing groundbreaking research here!
"One thing I would like to explore is the more "taboo" graphic novels/comic books, like superheroes..."
This is a fantastic path for your inquiry, so I suggest that you start with the primary materials, first. You are writing for an audience largely made up of folks like me who are not experts on Superhero comics. I can talk to you all day about Alison Bechdel and Julia Wertz and Jeffrey Brown (comic memoirists), but don't expect me to know one Superman from the next. I do not attend Comic Con, if that puts it in context! So, I need to know, from you, what's what here. Maybe you could make some kind of graphic matrix of a finite list of Superhero comics, specifically, that you think would be worthwhile in an English classroom, either for teaching reading, writing, listening, speaking, clse reading, analysis, reader response, and so on. Where can you begin that gives you a concrete place from which to speak for the rest of the project? If you were researching Silvia Plath's writing, I would ask you to begin by cataloging, in some way, shape and form, her writing and by explaining where and why you are intrigued by it. Start with the primary sources and work outward, okay?
It also wouldn't hurt to spend 10 minutes Google searching (and Google Scholar) to see if anything interesting pops up. Teaching superheroes. Using comic books in the classroom. Superheroes in the English classroom. And so forth...
So, there's your assignment for Memo #2! Keep going!