Look for my reply in the Resistance to Graphic Novels thread that has a pdf attachment of my syllabus of the Introduction to Graphic Literature course that I just started teaching as a full year graphic literature course to seniors. The novels mentioned below are good, particularly Maus and Pride of Baghdad. Persepolis was also well received, as well as Watchmen. Look through it and I will give you some ideas on what worked and didn't work this year.
Here's a couple of 'mainstream' titles to look for.
Batman-The Dark Knight Returns by Frank Miller. On par with The Watchmen, as one of the first great graphic novels. This is a mature disturbing, and thrilling re-working of the Batman Legend. The characters are familiar, especially with the current films, but taken in new directions. Highly Recommended.
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen by Alan Moore. First of all, if you've seen or heard of the atrocious film version, forget it. It is nothing like the original work. Alan Quatermain, Dr. Jeckyl, Captain Nemo, The Invisible Man, and Mina Murray (recently divorced from her husband Jonathan Harker) are recruited by Campion Bond (James' great grandfather) to serve the British Empire when needed. Victorian-era literary characters make frequent guest appearances, which adds to the fun if you know who they are. Even if reader's don't, this is one of the best adventures ever set to print.
A couple of good suggestions already made (and one or two not yet suggested) are:
Maus
Persepolis
Pride of Baghdad
Watchmen
V for Vendetta
I debated about Marvel Comics' "Civil War" mini series as it makes a great launching point to discuss many current events such as the Patriot Act and other political, hot-bed issues. The one snag to using this is that I COULD foresee a problem with students "entering" into a pre-established world of the Marvel Universe, and if they aren't already familiar with it, there could be some problems with missing some of the finer details of the story.
You might also try splitting the class in half with one group working on the Hinds' rendition of "Beowulf" (which is supposed to be truer to the original text) and the Neil Gaiman edition which is what the movie was based on. You could have the two reading groups present to the class how their text handles each part of the story and the differences might make for some interesting discussion.
One great activity I found with using Hind's "Beowulf" is to take Seamus Heaney's translation of "Beowulf" and have them sketch the panels from the Hind's rendition of the battle between Beowulf and Grendel, then to find quotes from the text that correspond to the scenes drawn (the battle is presented with no words at all). It really gets them to appreciate how an artist converts words to art, how a picture can truly speak a thousand words. I'm sure it would work with other translations (I think Hind specifies which translation he used to create the book).
In regards to the Marvel issue, I had that concern when I used the books "Marvels" by Kurt Busiek and Alex Ross, and "Kingdom Come" by Mark Waid and Alex Ross. I each case, I had them do some quick research on major Marvel and DC characters respectively before reading and look for those characters and elements as they read. No, they won't get all of the pre-established universe's nuances, but they will get some, and there are bound to be comic aficionados in the class who would be happy to enlighten others.
Take a look at the gorgeous _The Rabbi's Cat_ by Joann Sfar.
Also, _The Arrival_ (Shaun Tan) is a curious take on the mode, but it's provocative and really asks students to "create" a narrative.
I also use articles from the Onion. I bring in 5 or 6 articles and each group is responsible to reading the article, discussing whether it is effective and/or funny. I then have students write brief satiric pieces.
Hello! I recently began to teach Huck Finn to my 10th graders and I'm planning on using the Hero Journey for the first time. I am introducing it using Star Wars, but since I've never taught this before, does anyone have any ideas helping students ...
I found both texts online, but you can't post a file to a blog! Jennifer, can you very briefly describe what you expect your students to discover? (Forgive my laziness; it's 5:39 a.m. here and my brain is consumed with Hamlet, which we begin today.)
My students are doing literature circles with young adult multi-cultural books. The books all focus on the difficulties of different groups (Holocaust, Cuban men trying to get to America, Nepalese girl sold in to the sex trade, etc) so I'd like so...
Wow. I never have looked at YA authors as the same as "classic" stories like "The Sun Also Rises." I love YA literature and it's not less than classical lit - just different. It is still worth reading and honestly, how are we to engage most of our...
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Thanks for all the great suggestions -- I'd gladly take any more that are out there! We are starting our endeavour with theme today. I'll let you know how it goes! Our next endeavour will be symbolism. Any ideas on stories that work well for that ...
Bing,
I like the wording and the categories of your rubric. I grabbed several things from what you have to add it to what I'm making now. I split the supporting examples into a row for general content (with grading for the intro and conclusion par...
Those look like excellent examples. I just wish that the videos were of a higher quality through Animoto. I know you can purchase DVD credits to get rid of the pixelation, but I'd have a hard time showing that on a large screen. Has this been an i...
Thanks for kicking this off Michael.
I find Taylor intriguing but somehow elusive. I have to read what he writes quite a few times before I begin to get a handle on where he’s going and what he’s saying. I’m not sure why this is. Something about ...
When we do Anglo-Saxon ballads, I ask for volunteers the day before - give them a cd with music and lyrics and the next day we have Karaoke Ballads in the classroom. I want the kids to know that ballads such as Lord Randall were sung and not spoke...
Ron,
Animoto makes it very easy. Just clck on add text. The number of characters makes you really evaluate which words to incorporate. (less than Twitter) The first line is shorter than the second.