This week's NCTE INBOX features an article on visual literacy from the Washington Post. As well, they're discussing NCTE's long advocacy and acceptance of visual and media literacy at the NCTE INBOX blog.
Graphic novels aren't explicitly mentioned in either, but it is good to see visual literacy getting attention. Graphic novels are obviously visual, and I think they can act as a good "middle-ground medium" between those who see ELA with traditional lenses and those who think we're at the point where English classrooms aren't really about the same skills that comprised the term "English" for a century or so.
Graphic novels offer conglomerate layers of text, images and words with meanings that aren't complete without both elements. In graphic novels, we see traditional print literacy preserved and a nod to the increasing visually oriented ways of knowing.
The important thing is to make sure that students have the skills to critique and examine both traditional text and pictures, moving or sequential or still or otherwise. My hope is that traditionalists might accept graphic novels and sequential art narratives into their classrooms without feeling like they've let go of their standards and also that those who have moved "beyond English" might respect the format for its strengths instead of coming to see it as a format or medium that only goes "half-way" when it comes to making full use of visual techniques.
My thoughts? Teachers and students should move in and out of various modes in their lessons. Within thematic units, they should examine novels, poems, songs, movie clips, comics -- any and all mediums and formats that deal with the theme at hand. I firmly believe that learning how to examine one form of media can help give students prior knowledge and skill bases for examining other forms. Furthermore, I believe that doing so helps us see how process affects everything. Movies aren't magic; comic books don't draw and write themselves, and news doesn't just "happen." It all has a process.
Stickermule
A Public Service Announcement! ;)
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Graphic Classics
I just got a press release from a company called Eureka Productions, which publishes a series of graphic novels under the Graphic Classics title. It's like Illustrated Classics or the new Marvel Classics we talked about in an earlier post, but the company seems to have a strong taste for the gothic. This is no surprise. Comics scholar M. Thomas Inge once said that Edgar Allen Poe is the literary author most often adapted in comics.Eureka's newest graphic novel, volume 14 of the series, is an anthology of gothic adaptations of stories from authors like Ann Radcliffe, Jane Austin, and, of course, Poe.
I have to admit that before getting this release, I had no idea this company existed, but since so many of our students share a love of all things spooky, I think this series might be worth checking out!
From the press release: "GOTHIC CLASSICS: Graphic Classics Volume Fourteen is available for schoolsand libraries from Diamond Distributors, Baker & Taylor, Ingram, GumdropBooks and other distributors, in bookstores, or direct from the publisher at http://www.graphicclassics.com."
Thursday, May 24, 2007
Deaf Characters in Comics and Graphic Novels
Straight from the blog of current Gallaudet professor and former UVa doc student comes a burgeoning list of deaf characters on comics and graphic novels. Dr. Pajka-West, whom I've known for a few years, is great at gathering literacy resources that intersect with deaf culture and deaf studies, so I hope you'll take a look at her blog and maybe even help her add to her list of characters by visiting http://www.pajka.blogspot.com. Or, go directly to the specific post here.
Monday, May 07, 2007
Classics Illustrated Redux: The Marvel Way!
Recent Marvel comics have told the stories of Edgar Allen Poe, and now Marvel is delving deeper into the literary canon by marketing a line of Classics Illustrated-inspired comics. Read a press release here. You might be surprised to learn that I never read many Classics Illustrated titles, though I certainly support their inclusion in a classroom.
Now, should they be used in place of the actual novel or story?
There are some who would see themselves as "purists" who would say no. There are many who want students exposed to the classics.
I say there are many different ways to "expose" someone to the classics. And, I hold to this core belief: a student who is being asked to read something well beyond his or her reading level, thereby being asked to "read" at the frustration level, is asked to accomplish an impossible task.
So, "exposure" is right! That's the very best you can hope for if you're asking students to read a novel that is beyond their reading level.
If a graphic novel/comic book adaptation can expose a student to the story in a more accessible format (note I don't say "easier." The interplay of word and image, the conglomerate layers of text inherent in sequential art, take some skill to read and examine fully), why not have it at least available for student perusal? Read the classic to the class aloud, if it's that important to you.
Of course, some studies have shown that comic books have a pretty sophisticated vocabulary too, so here's more evidence to suggest that it might not be as easy a read as some might think. Best to read the adaptation yourself before placing it in your school library, so you know what you're dealing with, then accept it into your room with confidence.
All in all, I favor other graphic novels over Classics Illustrated-type books, but I fully support the inclusion of these in the classroom as well. If they help teachers accept sequential art, and their students show them how much they enjoy the format, maybe it'll lead to a desire to include original graphic novels in the classroom as well!
Now, should they be used in place of the actual novel or story?
There are some who would see themselves as "purists" who would say no. There are many who want students exposed to the classics.
I say there are many different ways to "expose" someone to the classics. And, I hold to this core belief: a student who is being asked to read something well beyond his or her reading level, thereby being asked to "read" at the frustration level, is asked to accomplish an impossible task.
So, "exposure" is right! That's the very best you can hope for if you're asking students to read a novel that is beyond their reading level.
If a graphic novel/comic book adaptation can expose a student to the story in a more accessible format (note I don't say "easier." The interplay of word and image, the conglomerate layers of text inherent in sequential art, take some skill to read and examine fully), why not have it at least available for student perusal? Read the classic to the class aloud, if it's that important to you.
Of course, some studies have shown that comic books have a pretty sophisticated vocabulary too, so here's more evidence to suggest that it might not be as easy a read as some might think. Best to read the adaptation yourself before placing it in your school library, so you know what you're dealing with, then accept it into your room with confidence.
All in all, I favor other graphic novels over Classics Illustrated-type books, but I fully support the inclusion of these in the classroom as well. If they help teachers accept sequential art, and their students show them how much they enjoy the format, maybe it'll lead to a desire to include original graphic novels in the classroom as well!
Sunday, May 06, 2007
May 5th was Free Comic Book Day!
So, if Free Comic Book Day, the annual event during which comic shops give away tons of freebies and sell many of their items for vastly reduced prices, was THIS weekend, why am I telling you about it now that it is over?
It's simple really. I know a little secret! See, during Free Comic Book Day, your lovable local retailer can only let you pick up one of each free title on display. And why not? He or she has to make sure there's enough to go around, and these events just seem to draw more and more people every year.
That means that the odds of your retailer ordering more stock than he or she can get rid of is very high. You might have only been able to pick up a copy of that great Spidey comic for yourself on Saturday, but if you act quick, you might be able to pick up a class set or two on Monday!
Retailers will be eager to get rid of their Free Comic Book Day backstock if they ordered too much, so take advantage of that. Just ask if they have anything left. I've gotten hundreds of free comics this way.
And, since they've just spent a whole day trying to get rid of some of their other backstock at cheap prices, you may find them willing to negotiate some great deals on other comics they have in bulk as well. They might even get a tax write-off for giving you a deep discount.
It never hurts to ask, so contact your local retailer and see if you can't get a few class sets of some of those freebies, and maybe see if he or she can't help you get some good deals on other comics for your classrooms as well!
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
NCTE Releases Book on Teaching Graphic Novels!
NCTE has just released Building Literacy Connections With Graphic Novels: Page by Page, Panel by Panel.
I was the general editor for this collection of essays and had the distinct privilege of working with very motivated, knowledgeable contributors who made the editing process a very pleasant experience. As well, the folks at NCTE could not have treated us and the project any better.
In fact, they are about to feature the book in their weekly e-mail newsletter, NCTE INBOX! And, they'll be talking about graphic novels in k-12 education on their blog (see topic posted April 9)!
The book features information on the current state of graphic novel research and how educators and the popular media are taking note of the format. It also features practical ideas for pairing graphic novels with more traditional texts, and all the lessons have a basis in Multimodal Literacy.
Please follow the links provided above, and do not hesitate to leave a comment. And notice that NCTE is offering a sample chapter for free download!
I was the general editor for this collection of essays and had the distinct privilege of working with very motivated, knowledgeable contributors who made the editing process a very pleasant experience. As well, the folks at NCTE could not have treated us and the project any better.
In fact, they are about to feature the book in their weekly e-mail newsletter, NCTE INBOX! And, they'll be talking about graphic novels in k-12 education on their blog (see topic posted April 9)!
The book features information on the current state of graphic novel research and how educators and the popular media are taking note of the format. It also features practical ideas for pairing graphic novels with more traditional texts, and all the lessons have a basis in Multimodal Literacy.
Please follow the links provided above, and do not hesitate to leave a comment. And notice that NCTE is offering a sample chapter for free download!
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
ENSANE in the Membrane, INSANE in the Brain!: Censorship and Sequential Art
Some people think it is crazy to allow comics and graphic novels in the classroom, but this site is dedicated to proving that it is a SANE venture. Sequential Art Narratives in Education are gaining more ground, but censorship has long been a problem for many school texts, and sequential art narratives are no exception.
Here I'll post some links about censorship and sequential art. For an excellent primer on recognizing censorship, what to do about it and how to prevent it as best one can, I recommend chapter 12 of Kenneth L. Donelson and Alleen Pace Nilsen's Literature for Today's Young Adults, 7th edition.
NCTE also has a number of great censorship-related materials, including a couple of CD-ROMS of excellently written rationales for teaching oft-challenged texts.
Libraries pull graphic novels Fun Home and Blankets until new plan is enacted:
http://www.icv2.com/articles/news/9459.html
http://www.marshallnews.com/story/1171005.html
(thanks to James Lowder for sharing these links with the comics scholars listserve)
The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund: Yup, the industry has its own non-profit group. Since 1986, it has fought for first amendment rights for comics creators. The "resources" tab at the right hand top of the page is of particular interest, especially the comics censorship timeline. It starts in the 18th century, for goodness sakes!
Here I'll post some links about censorship and sequential art. For an excellent primer on recognizing censorship, what to do about it and how to prevent it as best one can, I recommend chapter 12 of Kenneth L. Donelson and Alleen Pace Nilsen's Literature for Today's Young Adults, 7th edition.
NCTE also has a number of great censorship-related materials, including a couple of CD-ROMS of excellently written rationales for teaching oft-challenged texts.
Libraries pull graphic novels Fun Home and Blankets until new plan is enacted:
http://www.icv2.com/articles/news/9459.html
http://www.marshallnews.com/story/1171005.html
(thanks to James Lowder for sharing these links with the comics scholars listserve)
The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund: Yup, the industry has its own non-profit group. Since 1986, it has fought for first amendment rights for comics creators. The "resources" tab at the right hand top of the page is of particular interest, especially the comics censorship timeline. It starts in the 18th century, for goodness sakes!
Thursday, February 01, 2007
Scott McCloud visits Hattiesburg!
I teach a "Contemporary Trends and Issues in Graphic Novels" course at the University of Southern Mississippi. Here are a few of my former and current students posing with comics scholar, creator, and all-around nice guy Scott McCloud.
He was in town doing signings of his new book, Making Comics, and took the time to chat with these very impressed folks. Since we read Understanding Comics in my class as an introduction to the form, they were eager to meet him. Now that they know how warm and friendly he is, they're even more ready to spread the message that Sequential Art Narratives are Literature!
Thank you, Mr. McCloud, and you're welcome in Hattiesburg and USM anytime!
He was in town doing signings of his new book, Making Comics, and took the time to chat with these very impressed folks. Since we read Understanding Comics in my class as an introduction to the form, they were eager to meet him. Now that they know how warm and friendly he is, they're even more ready to spread the message that Sequential Art Narratives are Literature!
Thank you, Mr. McCloud, and you're welcome in Hattiesburg and USM anytime!
Tuesday, November 28, 2006
ENglish Education Resources
Here are a few links that I feel every English Education student or teacher should know. Of course, I feel the same way about the links I've posted in the other sections, and just because a link shows up somewhere besides this string doesn't mean I don't think it has applicability to the English/Language Arts. Buuuut, these are some of the biggies in EE.
Again, please feel free to add your own links as well, with maybe a sentence or two description of the link, if you please.
NCTE/IRA Standards for English language arts: A must-have for any English teacher.
ReadWriteThink: An excellent source of lesson plans!
Dr. Allen Webb's English Education Resource Clearinghouse: OK, he doesn't call it that, but with a little investment of time, one can find pretty much anything related to English Education methods, perspectives, and initiatives by visiting this excellent site hosted by one of my favorite English Education scholars.
ECU's English Education Resource Clearinghouse: OK, they don't call it that, but this collection of links, pretty much categorized and listed all on one page, is another great resource to other great resources.
NCTE: The National Council of Teachers of English. If you're not a member, become one today. This has been THE professional organization for English teachers since 1911. Even if you're a pre-service teacher and don't have much money to spend on their subscriptions, etc., sign up for their Inbox newsletters and keep yourself in the know on the most up-to-date happenings in your field.
IRA: The International Reading Association: I firmly believe that English teachers MUST see themselves as reading teachers. This association works closely with NCTE, and I expect them to work even more closely in the coming years.
ALAN: The Assembly on Literature for Adolescents. I'd say NCTE, IRA, and ALAN make up the Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman of organizations every English teacher should know. From the site: "The Assembly on Literature for Adolescents is an independent assembly of NCTE. Founded in November 1973, ALAN is made up of teachers, authors, librarians, publishers, teacher-educators and their students, and others who are particularly interested in the area of young adult literature. ALAN, which is self-governing, holds its annual meetings during the NCTE annual convention in November and also publishes The ALAN Review."
Dictionary.com: If you're as bad a speller and malapropist as I am, it never hurts to have this baby bookmarked!
See English teachers in action via streaming video! Click here, and here! Thanks to Dr.Don Zancanella at the University of New Mexico for these links. Also, check out Dr. Zancanella's own English teacher-centered blog, Language Arts-New Mexico.
See the Young Adult Library Services Association's Top Ten Books of 2006, chosen by teens themselves!:
http://www.ala.org/ala/yalsa/teenreading/teenstopten/06ttt.htm
Again, please feel free to add your own links as well, with maybe a sentence or two description of the link, if you please.
NCTE/IRA Standards for English language arts: A must-have for any English teacher.
ReadWriteThink: An excellent source of lesson plans!
Dr. Allen Webb's English Education Resource Clearinghouse: OK, he doesn't call it that, but with a little investment of time, one can find pretty much anything related to English Education methods, perspectives, and initiatives by visiting this excellent site hosted by one of my favorite English Education scholars.
ECU's English Education Resource Clearinghouse: OK, they don't call it that, but this collection of links, pretty much categorized and listed all on one page, is another great resource to other great resources.
NCTE: The National Council of Teachers of English. If you're not a member, become one today. This has been THE professional organization for English teachers since 1911. Even if you're a pre-service teacher and don't have much money to spend on their subscriptions, etc., sign up for their Inbox newsletters and keep yourself in the know on the most up-to-date happenings in your field.
IRA: The International Reading Association: I firmly believe that English teachers MUST see themselves as reading teachers. This association works closely with NCTE, and I expect them to work even more closely in the coming years.
ALAN: The Assembly on Literature for Adolescents. I'd say NCTE, IRA, and ALAN make up the Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman of organizations every English teacher should know. From the site: "The Assembly on Literature for Adolescents is an independent assembly of NCTE. Founded in November 1973, ALAN is made up of teachers, authors, librarians, publishers, teacher-educators and their students, and others who are particularly interested in the area of young adult literature. ALAN, which is self-governing, holds its annual meetings during the NCTE annual convention in November and also publishes The ALAN Review."
Dictionary.com: If you're as bad a speller and malapropist as I am, it never hurts to have this baby bookmarked!
See English teachers in action via streaming video! Click here, and here! Thanks to Dr.Don Zancanella at the University of New Mexico for these links. Also, check out Dr. Zancanella's own English teacher-centered blog, Language Arts-New Mexico.
See the Young Adult Library Services Association's Top Ten Books of 2006, chosen by teens themselves!:
http://www.ala.org/ala/yalsa/teenreading/teenstopten/06ttt.htm
Multiple Literacies Link
Here are some websites that focus on multigenre, multimodal, or otherwise "New" literacies. I'll add links as I find them, and feel free to add your own in the comments section as well. Please do take a second to give a brief description of the link you offer.
A Question of Literacy: Visual Literacy: A good definition of visual literacy as well as some important links.
Reading Next: An Alliance for Excellent Education project. From the site: "Reading Next is a cutting-edge report that combines the best research currently available with well-crafted strategies for turning that research into practice. Informed by five of the nation's leading researchers, Reading Next charts an immediate route to improving adolescent literacy." Follow the link, look at the materials, and see what you think.
Arts Education Partnership publications: Excellent sources. Especially in terms of sequential art, we sometimes forget that when we're reading a graphic novel in class, we're automatically engaging in cross-curricular endeavor. Those images didn't just appear; they were crafted and created. There's a process to study in them just as there is in the writing, and in the study of the overall form the words and images create in tandem. Arts literacy is literacy.
Champions for Change: A report from AEP that I find particularly compelling.
A History of Early Visual Media: A little hard to navigate but worth a look. It deals mostly with early cinema, pre-cinema, film and photography.
IVLA: The International Visual Literacy Association. Great organization that reaches across disciplines. From the site: "IVLA was formed for the purpose of providing a forum for the exchange of information related to visual literacy. We are also concerned with issues dealing with education, instruction and training in modes of visual communication and their application through the concept of visual literacy to individuals, groups, organizations, and to the public in general." Also see this definition of visual literacy.
NCTE Statements on Multimodal Literacy: See what NCTE has to say about MML.
NCTE and Visual Literacy: Doing a search for multimodal literacy and/or visual literacy on the NCTE website will probably yield more results, but here's a link to a minor source from a few years back. Note that visual literacy in education isn't just a 21st century notion.
The On-line Visual Literacy Project: Very cool site from Pomona College. Multimodal in layout, it offers many videos, voice overlays, and graphics to explain visual literacy and its many component parts. It focuses on explication of elements of design and doesn't tie back directly to other literacies, sort of an art about art approach. But, with the application of a little intellect, one easily sees how this site is a great resource for any teacher.
A Question of Literacy: Visual Literacy: A good definition of visual literacy as well as some important links.
Reading Next: An Alliance for Excellent Education project. From the site: "Reading Next is a cutting-edge report that combines the best research currently available with well-crafted strategies for turning that research into practice. Informed by five of the nation's leading researchers, Reading Next charts an immediate route to improving adolescent literacy." Follow the link, look at the materials, and see what you think.
Arts Education Partnership publications: Excellent sources. Especially in terms of sequential art, we sometimes forget that when we're reading a graphic novel in class, we're automatically engaging in cross-curricular endeavor. Those images didn't just appear; they were crafted and created. There's a process to study in them just as there is in the writing, and in the study of the overall form the words and images create in tandem. Arts literacy is literacy.
Champions for Change: A report from AEP that I find particularly compelling.
A History of Early Visual Media: A little hard to navigate but worth a look. It deals mostly with early cinema, pre-cinema, film and photography.
IVLA: The International Visual Literacy Association. Great organization that reaches across disciplines. From the site: "IVLA was formed for the purpose of providing a forum for the exchange of information related to visual literacy. We are also concerned with issues dealing with education, instruction and training in modes of visual communication and their application through the concept of visual literacy to individuals, groups, organizations, and to the public in general." Also see this definition of visual literacy.
NCTE Statements on Multimodal Literacy: See what NCTE has to say about MML.
NCTE and Visual Literacy: Doing a search for multimodal literacy and/or visual literacy on the NCTE website will probably yield more results, but here's a link to a minor source from a few years back. Note that visual literacy in education isn't just a 21st century notion.
The On-line Visual Literacy Project: Very cool site from Pomona College. Multimodal in layout, it offers many videos, voice overlays, and graphics to explain visual literacy and its many component parts. It focuses on explication of elements of design and doesn't tie back directly to other literacies, sort of an art about art approach. But, with the application of a little intellect, one easily sees how this site is a great resource for any teacher.
SANE links!
Below are links to websites with connections to sequential art in education. Some are directly pedagogical; some are "scholarly pedagogical."
First, shameless self-promotion:
Textus/praxis: This is where I detail my philosophy of reading and define what I think literacy entails. Rooted in theory, it is a "way of seeing" that I feel has revolutionary potential for educators. Graphic novels and comics are a large part of textus/praxis.
ReadWriteThink: This site has many comics-related lesson plans. This link is to the ones I've published with the site, which is co-sponsored by NCTE and IRA. The Comic Book Show and Tell is a writing workshop lesson that also includes a primer on comic book production. So, even if you or your students lack expertise in the comics form, this lesson is for you. The fairy tale revision lesson is a multigenre approach to examining fairy tale motifs. More to come, and also check out the main page and search for more comics-related lessons!
ImageTexT: an excellent on-line journal out of comics-scholarship stronghold University of Florida, I've published in this journal and think it is an excellent resource for scholarly articles and reviews of sequential art narratives. A children's literature themed edition of the journal should be on-line soon.
Outcast Studios: This is an independent comics site for which I used to write articles and reviews and even some scripts. The good folks there have recently gone to a Wiki format and are trying to become a one-stop comics creator's resource page. Some of my earliest columns for this site can be found here.
Other great SANE links:
ALA: "Comic books and graphic novels: Digital resources for an evolving form of art and literature": This article gives links to other web-based comics resources, including review sites and libraries.
Americana: the Journal of American Popular Culture, 1900-Present. A comics-friendly academic journal.
Comic Books for Young Adults: Librarian Michael R. Lavin's excellent exposition on comics, kids, and libraries. Excellent practical information from an informed expert.
Comics-related theses and dissertations. Exactly what it says. Yep, people do such work more often than you might think!
Comics Research: The main page for the link listed above. This is an excellent resource for those who need to know how to get their comics scholarship published, or for those who need evidence that such scholarship exists!
Emaki Productions: The website for Berkeley, California-based independent schoalr Neil Cohn, Emaki offers tons of free essays and illustrates Cohn's theories on sequential art. Basically the Todorov of comics scholarship, Cohn sees comics as a language in and of itself, with its own grammars and structures. Highly recommended! I teach his theories alongside my Textus/praxis theory and Scott McCloud's ideas in Understanding Comics when I teach my "Comics as Literature" class.
ENGL243B: Comic Book Literature: Arnold T. Blumberg's syllabus and materials for his comic book class.
The Grand comic Book Database: Search thousands of titles and see the original date of publication and cover image for each one. An amazing resource that secondary teachers can use for any number of exciting projects. For example: Compare cover images from the 1940s to images from the 1960s. What social issues and concerns are evident from this examination? Oh, the potential!
Image and Narrative: Another comics-friendly on-line academic journal. It has ties to ImageTexT.
National Association of Comics Art Educators: NACAE, or "naysay" has often focused on those who teach comic art to aspiring comic artists but has recently branched out into sharing a focus with k-12 education. An excellent organization with vast potential.
New York Comic Book Museum: Tons of practical ideas and projects for k-12 teachers. The site is very persuasive in showing sequential art's pedagogical potential. Very impressive and highly recommended.
Graphic Novels for Multiple Literacies: Gretchen E. Schwarz's seminal article on graphic novels. A must-read for k-12 educators.
Charles Hatfield: This children's literature and comics scholar teaches comics classes and has some pretty interesting opinions on kids, comics, and reading. I don't agree with all of his ideas (it is worth noting that he is a professor, but not an education professor), but I absolutely respect his work and feel he's worthy of serious attention.
Build It and They Will Come: Kerry Ireland's article on how to craft a solid graphic novel collection in the library.
The Comic Book Project: Dr. Michael Bitz has been doing some astounding work with comics and inner-city kids in his many after school sites. This project educates middle and high schoolers on the aspects of comics production and then asks them to create their own sequential art narratives. The results have been poignant and amazing. An absolute must-know resource for k-12 educators.
Ohio State's Yellow Kid Collection: Considered the first American comic strip character, the Yellow Kid series is often also considered the birth of American comic books. No comics scholar's education is complete without background on this poverty-stricken scamp from Hogan's Ally dating from 1895 newspapers.
WRAC 130.11: American Radical Thought. Another comics/graphic novel-heavy syllabus.
Martin Luther King Jr Comic from the 50s: I'll be teaching Ho Che Anderson's King (2005) later this semester in my Eng 311: Contemporary trends and Issues in Graphic Novels class (Spring 2007, USM), and this link should make for some great comparison. Thanks to Trina Robbins for posting this to the comics scholars listserve!
Three Sequential Art Anthologies Available!:
The New Smithsonian Book of Comic Book Stories: From Crumb to Clowes. Edited by B. Callahan (2004).
An Anthology of Graphic Fiction, Cartoons, and True Stories
Edited by Ivan Brunetti (2006).
The Best American Comics 2006
Edited by Harvey Pekar (2006).
Each of these anthologies feature an array of talent ranging from known figures such as Art Spiegelman and R. Crumb and Linda Barry, to relative newcomers Chris Burns and Seth. The Smithsonian collection has more mainstream and superhero representation than the other two, and certainly a teacher would want to pick and choose which contributions to use for classroom teaching, but all three are highly recommended. I've read'em all and think that, for the price and the sampling they represent, they are excellent reads and excellent buys.
No Flying No Tights Blog: A blog devoted to reviewing graphic novels for teens! A student in my Ya Lit class at UVA recommended it, and so did "Morgan" over on the NCTE blog. as the title suggests, it shows that sequential art narratives are more than superheroes (but superheroes are still cool!).
First, shameless self-promotion:
Textus/praxis: This is where I detail my philosophy of reading and define what I think literacy entails. Rooted in theory, it is a "way of seeing" that I feel has revolutionary potential for educators. Graphic novels and comics are a large part of textus/praxis.
ReadWriteThink: This site has many comics-related lesson plans. This link is to the ones I've published with the site, which is co-sponsored by NCTE and IRA. The Comic Book Show and Tell is a writing workshop lesson that also includes a primer on comic book production. So, even if you or your students lack expertise in the comics form, this lesson is for you. The fairy tale revision lesson is a multigenre approach to examining fairy tale motifs. More to come, and also check out the main page and search for more comics-related lessons!
ImageTexT: an excellent on-line journal out of comics-scholarship stronghold University of Florida, I've published in this journal and think it is an excellent resource for scholarly articles and reviews of sequential art narratives. A children's literature themed edition of the journal should be on-line soon.
Outcast Studios: This is an independent comics site for which I used to write articles and reviews and even some scripts. The good folks there have recently gone to a Wiki format and are trying to become a one-stop comics creator's resource page. Some of my earliest columns for this site can be found here.
Other great SANE links:
ALA: "Comic books and graphic novels: Digital resources for an evolving form of art and literature": This article gives links to other web-based comics resources, including review sites and libraries.
Americana: the Journal of American Popular Culture, 1900-Present. A comics-friendly academic journal.
Comic Books for Young Adults: Librarian Michael R. Lavin's excellent exposition on comics, kids, and libraries. Excellent practical information from an informed expert.
Comics-related theses and dissertations. Exactly what it says. Yep, people do such work more often than you might think!
Comics Research: The main page for the link listed above. This is an excellent resource for those who need to know how to get their comics scholarship published, or for those who need evidence that such scholarship exists!
Emaki Productions: The website for Berkeley, California-based independent schoalr Neil Cohn, Emaki offers tons of free essays and illustrates Cohn's theories on sequential art. Basically the Todorov of comics scholarship, Cohn sees comics as a language in and of itself, with its own grammars and structures. Highly recommended! I teach his theories alongside my Textus/praxis theory and Scott McCloud's ideas in Understanding Comics when I teach my "Comics as Literature" class.
ENGL243B: Comic Book Literature: Arnold T. Blumberg's syllabus and materials for his comic book class.
The Grand comic Book Database: Search thousands of titles and see the original date of publication and cover image for each one. An amazing resource that secondary teachers can use for any number of exciting projects. For example: Compare cover images from the 1940s to images from the 1960s. What social issues and concerns are evident from this examination? Oh, the potential!
Image and Narrative: Another comics-friendly on-line academic journal. It has ties to ImageTexT.
National Association of Comics Art Educators: NACAE, or "naysay" has often focused on those who teach comic art to aspiring comic artists but has recently branched out into sharing a focus with k-12 education. An excellent organization with vast potential.
New York Comic Book Museum: Tons of practical ideas and projects for k-12 teachers. The site is very persuasive in showing sequential art's pedagogical potential. Very impressive and highly recommended.
Graphic Novels for Multiple Literacies: Gretchen E. Schwarz's seminal article on graphic novels. A must-read for k-12 educators.
Charles Hatfield: This children's literature and comics scholar teaches comics classes and has some pretty interesting opinions on kids, comics, and reading. I don't agree with all of his ideas (it is worth noting that he is a professor, but not an education professor), but I absolutely respect his work and feel he's worthy of serious attention.
Build It and They Will Come: Kerry Ireland's article on how to craft a solid graphic novel collection in the library.
The Comic Book Project: Dr. Michael Bitz has been doing some astounding work with comics and inner-city kids in his many after school sites. This project educates middle and high schoolers on the aspects of comics production and then asks them to create their own sequential art narratives. The results have been poignant and amazing. An absolute must-know resource for k-12 educators.
Ohio State's Yellow Kid Collection: Considered the first American comic strip character, the Yellow Kid series is often also considered the birth of American comic books. No comics scholar's education is complete without background on this poverty-stricken scamp from Hogan's Ally dating from 1895 newspapers.
WRAC 130.11: American Radical Thought. Another comics/graphic novel-heavy syllabus.
Martin Luther King Jr Comic from the 50s: I'll be teaching Ho Che Anderson's King (2005) later this semester in my Eng 311: Contemporary trends and Issues in Graphic Novels class (Spring 2007, USM), and this link should make for some great comparison. Thanks to Trina Robbins for posting this to the comics scholars listserve!
Three Sequential Art Anthologies Available!:
The New Smithsonian Book of Comic Book Stories: From Crumb to Clowes. Edited by B. Callahan (2004).
An Anthology of Graphic Fiction, Cartoons, and True Stories
Edited by Ivan Brunetti (2006).
The Best American Comics 2006
Edited by Harvey Pekar (2006).
Each of these anthologies feature an array of talent ranging from known figures such as Art Spiegelman and R. Crumb and Linda Barry, to relative newcomers Chris Burns and Seth. The Smithsonian collection has more mainstream and superhero representation than the other two, and certainly a teacher would want to pick and choose which contributions to use for classroom teaching, but all three are highly recommended. I've read'em all and think that, for the price and the sampling they represent, they are excellent reads and excellent buys.
No Flying No Tights Blog: A blog devoted to reviewing graphic novels for teens! A student in my Ya Lit class at UVA recommended it, and so did "Morgan" over on the NCTE blog. as the title suggests, it shows that sequential art narratives are more than superheroes (but superheroes are still cool!).
Monday, November 27, 2006
Welcome!
Welcome to Bucky's EN/SANE World! If you've known me for a while, you know the title fits. If you're just coming to know me, you'll know soon enough.
This is my bungalow for sharing information about my academic interests and pursuits. I am currently finishing up my Ph.D. in English Education at the University of Virginia. I also currently teach English and English Education classes at The University of Southern Mississippi.
My interests include the field of English Education, Young Adult Literature, Reading and Multiple Literacies, and Critical Pedagogy. My area of expertise is in comics and graphic novels and the intersections they have with the above.
My desire is to use this blog as resource for those with similar interests and for those who are "fortunate" enough to be my students.
As I develop the blog, I'll be posting more and more about myself, sharing a bit about my work, adding links to important sites, and maybe even asking for individuals to do some posting too.
Check in often, and welcome to my world!
Sincerely,
JBC
This is my bungalow for sharing information about my academic interests and pursuits. I am currently finishing up my Ph.D. in English Education at the University of Virginia. I also currently teach English and English Education classes at The University of Southern Mississippi.
My interests include the field of English Education, Young Adult Literature, Reading and Multiple Literacies, and Critical Pedagogy. My area of expertise is in comics and graphic novels and the intersections they have with the above.
My desire is to use this blog as resource for those with similar interests and for those who are "fortunate" enough to be my students.
As I develop the blog, I'll be posting more and more about myself, sharing a bit about my work, adding links to important sites, and maybe even asking for individuals to do some posting too.
Check in often, and welcome to my world!
Sincerely,
JBC
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