Graphic Novels in the Classroom


Even though I have not read a graphic novel for enjoyment in quite some time, I remember being fond of them in elementary and middle school. I had a fascination with the graphic novel Knights of the Lunch Table: The Dodgeball Chronicles. It had vivid imagery, an engaging plot, and it was more entertaining to read than a chapter book. More recently, I had a graphic novel appear on a book list for an English course here at EWU. I believe it was an American Literature class. If it had not been for this experience, I would have never known that graphic novels could be used in higher level English classes to teach literature. Graphic novels are useful for secondary English language arts classrooms because they contain layers of plot, character development, and images that complement the reader's imagination of the story. Each page of a graphic novel offers rich details that would require pages of paragraphs in a traditional novel due to the written pros and the various images. For a student who struggles with longer novels, a graphic novel is a great alternative. It is enjoyable for the student and gives them a positive experience with reading while still engaging with complex literary and social ideas in the text. Graphic novels offer a safe avenue to talk about issues such as race, poverty, immigration, war, and different cultures and backgrounds. I also think graphic novels could be useful in secondary English classes if students were able to create their own graphic novel or a portion of one. It would allow students to express their creativity and show them just how much time, thought, and detail goes into a graphic novel by having them come up with a plot line, characters, and imagery for their graphic novel. In this way, the true scope and depth of graphic novels would be emphasized and it would enhance the student’s skills in their English language arts classroom. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Culture Distance and Cultural Dimensions in Diverse ELT Environments: A Quantitative Investigation by Dr. Margaret Lieb

While reading this article, I was intrigued by how seemingly simple social cues could be interpreted so drastically different by individuals as a result of differences in culture. For example, Japanese students viewed silence as positive because it was a form of saving face and avoiding confrontation. On the other hand, their native English-speaking teachers (NESTs) received the silence in a negative way because Western culture views silence in the classroom as boredom or disengagement with the lesson at hand. Examples such as this one make it clear why there are cultural distances between people from culturally different countries. In the current state we are in, it is more important than ever to understand these cultural distances so they can be addressed and solved in our diverse classrooms. I think that if we identify these differences and acknowledge them, we can be one step closer to having a culturally inclusive classroom and country. Even though it would be more comfortable t...
Read more

Reading Standards in ELA

When we think of English, three things tend to come to mind; grammar, writing, and reading. They are all closely related because in order for one to be a good writer with correct grammar, they need to be good readers. The ELA standards for reading are split into two categories; reading literature and reading informational texts. The literature portion deals with identifying themes, complex characters, rhetoric, and other aspects of literature. The informational portion deals with identifying arguments, bias, and the author's point of view. There is quite a bit of overlap between the two sections, but they each require different skills.  As I looked through the ELA standards, it surprised me that ELA teachers are responsible for teaching a wide range of skills. There are history related skills covered in the ELA standards when students need to read historical documents such as the Gettysburg Address or the Letter from Birmingham Jail written by MLK Jr.  A lot of the skil...
Read more

Literature / Reading Handout

No More Fake Reading: Merging the Classics with Independent Reading to Create Joyful Lifelong Readers Why I Chose This Book:      Along with most of the class, I was not sure what book I should choose for this presentation. I tried searching the library catalog but came up empty because it's hard to be intrigued by a book unless its in your hands and you can skim through it. With this in mind, I headed over to Sean's office to look through his book collection. This book stood out to me because of the cover. It was an image of The Scarlet Letter , a classic, opened up to a random page halfway through the book and a students' phone was in front of it. The student was more interested in their electronic device than a classic book of literature. This is often the case in secondary classrooms. Students are so attached to their phones that they have a hard time putting them away to focus on a lesson or read a book assigned by their teacher. I was intrigued by...
Read more