Q. What do the 9/11 Report, The War Within, a story about a
A. They are all book titles held by the Barrington High School Library and they are all graphic novels, i.e. stories that use a comic-book-like layout.
Are “comics” finally becoming acceptable as a literary genre . . . .are they gaining new respect. . . can they be “good enough” choices for classroom reading assignments? It would appear so, given that the 9/11 Commission recently published their report in a format (graphic version) that would make “. . .our nation’s history accessible to all [and] . . encourage our fellow citizens to study, reflect, and – act.” And that General R. Myers, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, stated that Gary Trudeau’s recent comic book-style portrayal of a
4 comments:
Here's an interesting article (with video) on CBSNews.com regarding "Comic Books as the Newest Teaching Tool". This is from a study in Maryland in the Spring of 2005. It would be interesting to find out whether the results of the pilot show an increase in reading ability.
Actually, graphic novels have already entered the classroom. The award winning "Sandman" comics by Neil Gaiman (available at Barrington Area Library) have been read and discussed as much as works like "The Prince" and "Watership Down".
However, graphic novels themselves aren't a genre, they are a seperate medium for art and story telling. Within comics are romance, horror, suspence, action (of course), comedy, historical fiction, mystery, and many others. To put them as a genre would be like lumping all kinds of movies together.
This brings up the misbelief that all manga and anime are pornography. This is incorrect and incredibly rude. Yes, there is some, but the ratio of regular stuff to that is the same as in regualar films.
But I digress! Yay graphic novels! ^_^
Omega Z
Co-President of Otaku Otaku
I would agree and disagree. I think a distinction needs to be made between 'comics' and 'graphic novels.' While both are composed of both text and graphics, there is a difference in intended audience and overall purpose. While comics are intended for the layman's leisure time, many graphic novels are geared toward readers who are looking for an entertaining read---but intend to learn something from their role as reader and viewer. My favorite graphic novel, Persepolis (a young Iranian woman's account of her experiences growing up in a war-torn country), provides the reader with an eye-opening introduction to the Middle East.
I am certainly looking forward to an opportunity to use graphic novels in the classroom!
I suppose one distinction that could be made between graphic novels could be the flow of the story. In most cases, graphic novels seem to follow a long continuous story throughout every volume, while comics seem to follow a different adventure with every issue. There are, of course, exceptions for each.
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