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Graphic Novel Proposal

TPB1988's picture
Submitted by TPB1988 on Sun, 02/28/2010 - 9:49am

For the next half of the semester I think it would be a great idea to focus on graphic novels because they provide an excellent mix of modern storytelling with depth. I think I can safely speak for the class when I say that everyone has done the classics novels at least at one point in their lives. I do understand the concept of going back to the origins to understand where the originals genres first developed but I don’t think we would be learning very much in comparison with what we could learn from graphic novels. So far in the first half of the semester we have stepped into the unknown and in my opinion it would be a shame to return to the routine of a stereotypical English class. Similar to blogging I can see how graphic novels are beginning to change the way we see genres and how they are becoming more integrated into society even in the classrooms. I think they “remix” the concept of a novel resulting in an original work. Another reason why graphic novels would be an excellent choice for study would be that not many people are that knowledgeable of graphic novels (myself included) so it would be an exciting topic that would guarantee that the class learns something such as we did with blogs. As far as the syllabus I think as a group we could possibly focus a week and half or two weeks on every graphic novel depending on the length and content. For one day we could focus on the content in a class discussion while for the other classes we could talk about the impact the graphic novels could have in the future. I don’t think the discussions will be too radically different from the blog discussions we have been having so far which is good because then it will be a smooth transition from one half of the semester to the other. If we choose graphic novels I think it will be a fun and exciting way to look at genre in a way that has not been done before.

P.S. I REALLY would not like to focus on video games or poetry archives. Thank you! Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4

 

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Herbie's picture

I'm with you and with

Submitted by Herbie on Mon, 03/01/2010 - 1:23pm.

I'm with you and with rmeyers: I would love to stay away from poetry archives.  I took this class specifically to avoid a poetry class, and I'd really hate to see that fall through.

Jessica Watkins's picture

Another option

Submitted by Jessica Watkins on Sun, 02/28/2010 - 11:40pm.

Another interesting option--we could take graphic novels and compare them to traditional novels that encompass a similar plot or are written in a similar genre.  A little bit of the old, a little bit of the new, and everyone just might be happy!

Shayna S's picture

A Suggestion

Submitted by Shayna S on Sun, 02/28/2010 - 7:56pm.

 I'm going to repeat what I said on the other Graphic Novels post about reading at least a few sections of Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud. It's almost a graphic novel in itself (it is distinctly nonfiction) and it is made for the average reader. 

I also highly recommend for this class reading part of the anthology Flight. It has a bunch of short stories from various artists with different backgrounds and while it isn't a graphic novel like Watchmen or Maus, it still could be a great companion to those novels. 

rmeyers's picture

timing

Submitted by rmeyers on Sun, 02/28/2010 - 12:49pm.

I think you hit on something important here: timing! Giving one or two weeks to every novel (to be decided? do you have any suggestions?) sounds very doable and allows for in-depth study (as well as reading). I also appreciate your connection of graphic novels to remixing and that this really is an exciting genre! A question would be, of course, whether we would have to look for more connection between readings than just 'graphic novels' (this goes back to the suggestions question)? Maybe go by decade (20s --at this point though, it was mostly just 'comics', 50s, 70s?) or theme (heroes? villains? war? superpowers only?). Just something to consider. I also agree completely with your P.S. (especially about not wanting to focus on poetry archives/databases). I feel it would be nice to get away from the Internet for a little while, and the databases topic seems a bit too related and overlapping.

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