Teaching Graphic Novels in the English Classroom: Pedagogical Possibilities of Multimodal Literacy Engagement

191 Pages·2018·1.669 MB·English

by  Alissa Burger (eds.)

TEACHING
GRAPHIC
NOVELS IN
THE ENGLISH
CLASSROOM
Pedagogical Possibilities
of Multimodal
Literacy Engagement
Edited by
ALISSA
BURGER
Teaching Graphic Novels in the English Classroom
Alissa Burger
Editor
Teaching Graphic
Novels in the English
Classroom
Pedagogical Possibilities of Multimodal Literacy
Engagement
Editor
AlissaBurger
DepartmentofEnglish
CulverStocktonCollege
Canton,Missouri
USA
ISBN978-3-319-63458-6 ISBN978-3-319-63459-3 (eBook)
DOI10.1007/978-3-319-63459-3
LibraryofCongressControlNumber:2017954973
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C
ONTENTS
1 Introduction 1
AlissaBurger
PartI Reading,Writing,andGraphicNarratives 9
2 NotJustNovels:ThePedagogicalPossibilities
oftheGraphicNarrative 11
AndrewBourelle
3 UnderstandingRhetoric,UnderstandingGenre:
ARhetoricalGenreStudiesApproachedWriting
Course 29
SaraAustin
4 WritingThroughComics 43
RikiThompson
v
vi CONTENTS
PartII GraphicNovelsintheLiteratureClassroom 67
5 TeachingtheHistoryandTheoryofAmericanComics:
20th-CenturyGraphicNovelsasaComplex
LiteraryGenre 69
LaurenE.Perry
6 “WhatIstheUseofaBook...WithoutPicturesor
Conversations?”:IncorporatingtheGraphicNovelinto
theUniversityCurriculum 87
AlisonHalsall
7 “DoesDoctorManhattanThink?”:AlanMoore’s
TheWatchmenanda‘GreatBooks’Curriculum
intheEarlyCollegeSetting 103
GuyAndreRisko
8 “IfHeBeMr.Hyde,WeShallBeMr.See”:Using
GraphicNovels,ComicBooks,andtheVisualNarrative
intheGothicLiteratureClassroom 117
AllisonPowell
PartIII GraphicNovels,Empathy,andSocialEngagement 133
9 TeachingMarchintheBorderlandsbetweenSocialJustice
andPopCulture 135
SusannaHoeness-Krupsaw
10 RevisingtheRhetoricof“BoatPeople”throughthe
InteractiveGraphicAdaptationofNamLe’s“TheBoat” 149
JenniferPhillips
CONTENTS vii
11 PerformativeTextsandthePedagogicalTheatre:Alison
Bechdel’sFunHomeasCompositionalModel 167
WilliamCordeiroandSeasonEllison
Index 187
CHAPTER1
Introduction
Alissa Burger
In recent years, graphic novels have been making their way into a wide
variety of classrooms, from elementary schools to college courses and
libraries, to teach not just classic and contemporary literature, but also
memoir, history, science, and more, joining the conversation in almost
every discipline. As Robert G. Weiner and Carrye Kay Syma argue in
Graphic Novels and Comics in the Classroom: Essays on the Educational
Power of Sequential Art, “In the past 10 to 15 years, the use of sequential
art in education has exploded. Teachers in secondary and elementary
schools, professors in universities, and instructors of all kinds are using
comicsandgraphicnovelstoillustratepointsaboutgender,history,sociol-
ogy,philosophy,mathematics,andevenmedicine.Itisnolongeraquestion
ofwhethersequentialartshouldbeusedineducationalsettings,butrather
howtouseitandforwhatpurpose”(1).
There are numerous benefits to teaching graphic novels, including
engaging reluctant readers, encouraging students to view familiar material
fromanewperspective,andcriticallyengagingstudents’multipleliteracies.
James Bucky Carter explains that “A substantial, expanding body of evi-
dence asserts that using graphic novels and comics in the classroom pro-
duces effective learning opportunities over a wide range of subjects and
A.Burger(*)
DepartmentofEnglish,Culver-StocktonCollege,Canton,MO,USA
©TheAuthor(s)2018 1
A.Burger(ed.),TeachingGraphicNovelsintheEnglishClassroom,
DOI10.1007/978-3-319-63459-3_1
2 A.BURGER
benefits various student populations, from hesitant readers to gifted stu-
dents”(1).
In particular, reading comics and graphic novels helps students develop
multimodal literacy skills, through the complex combination of image and
text. As Lynell Burmark argues, “the primary literacy of the twenty-first
century is visual ... . Our students must learn to process both words and
pictures.Tobevisuallyliterate,theymustlearnto‘read’(consume/interpret)
and ‘write’ (produce/use) visually rich communications. They must be
able to move gracefully and fluently between text and images, between
literalandfigurativeworlds”(5)andWeinerandSymaalsounderscorethis
importance:“Thecombinationofimageswithtextinorderforstudentsto
understandandinterprettheworldisprobablythemostimportantaspect
ofteachingliteracyinthe21stcentury”(5).InComicsasHistory,Comics
as Literature: Roles of the Comic Book in Scholarship, Society, and Enter-
tainment,AnnessaAnnBabicdrawsontheworkofJosephWitekandhis
argument that “comics are designed with highly developed narratives,
grammar, and vocabulary based on an inextricable combination of verbal
and visual elements” (5). Graphic novels are an excellent tool for devel-
oping these interrelated skills and preparing students to critically engage
with and respond to a world that requires simultaneous and interactive
multipleliteracies.Whenreadingagraphicnarrative,thereaderhastonot
only parse the literal meaning of the written and visual text on the page,
butalsocriticallyconsiderthewaysinwhichbothmediumsworktogether,
situated within the unique format of the graphic novel as a whole,
employing a complex wealth of terminology to describe what they see,
whatitmeans,andtheirowncriticalresponsetothetext.1AsWeinerand
Symaargue,inreadingthesegraphicnovels,“studentsareusingaformat
thatprovidesanopportunityforactiveengagement.Theirmindsarelively
whenreadingcomics.Thereadersinvolvetheirmindswithboththevisual
and narrative content, hopefully resulting in great comprehension and
interest” (5), both through textual understanding and critical response.
Our contemporary culture is one of dynamic multimodal and interactive
texts, a trend which extends well beyond the classroom, and for which
graphic novel reading will serve our students well. For instance, the vast
majority of websites include text and image, as well as advertisements,
linkstorelatedstoriesormaterials,orembeddedvideooraudiomaterials,
combinationswhich create a range of ways in which we can interact with
thetextbeforeus,activelynegotiatingandchoosingelementsonwhichto
focusratherthanhavingapassivereadingexperience.
INTRODUCTION 3
Aquestionthatisoftenraisedwhenconsideringtheinclusionofgraphic
novels in the classroom is whether or not graphic novels count as “litera-
ture.” In addition to the benefits of textual complexity and active reader
engagement, graphic novels demonstrate the same characteristics as more
traditional works in the same genre.For example,a memoir sharesthe life
experiencesofitsauthor,regardlessofthemediuminwhichitispresented,
while fictional graphic novels possess the same literary elements as a short
storyornovel,suchasplot,setting,characterization,andpointofview,even
if thoseelementsarerealizedordepicted through the combinationoftext
andimageratherthantextalone,asintheirmoretraditionalcounterparts.
Beyonddefinitionandcoreelements,thereisdebateaboutwhatcountsas
“literary,” a concept that polices the boundaries of canonical literature.
Merriam-Webster defines literature, in part, as “writings in prose or verse;
especially: writings having excellence of form or expression and expressing
ideasofpermanentoruniversalinterest”(emphasisoriginal).Thisdefinition
pointstowardtheage-olddebateofwhatcountsascanonicalandworthyof
study, a benchmark of which many critics argue graphic novels fall short.
However, if we consider a definition of literature that considers a work’s
effect on the reader, whether that means drawing them into a compelling
story orimmersingthem in a perspective far different from their own, it is
clearthatgraphicnovelssucceedatthatlevelofengagement,evidencedby
readers’interest,excitement,andpositiveresponsestothesekindsofstories,
both inside and outside the classroom. In addition, this definition, which
demands a direct correlation of literary and textual, elides the multimodal
complexityof21st-centurystorytelling,wherestoriescanincludeimagesas
well as words and where tales are told in online and social media spaces as
wellasonthepage,likeJenniferEgan’sstory“BlackBox,”whichthewriter
delivered through a series of tweets.2 Finally, the debate as to whether or
not graphic novels count as literature can also be useful in framing the
pedagogical discussion, as we ask students to consider, respond to, and
perhaps even make an argument for the questioning, challenging, and
creationofthecanon,posing,asonecontributortothiscollectionsuggests,
the canon creation debate as an active and contested discussion to which
studentscancontributetheirownvoicesandopinions.
Graphic narratives in their myriad forms have great potential for incor-
porationintheEnglishclassroom,fromintroductoryandadvancedwriting
courses to creative writing, literature surveys, and upper-level literature
seminars. We can introduce students to complex rhetorical concepts and
terminologywithUnderstandingRhetoric:AGraphicGuidetoWritingby