Comics

Use my comic as an example of this lesson. I recreated part of chapter ii, The First Critique scene from The Cheese Monkeys by Chip Kidd, pages 130 – 134. It really stood out to me, and has stayed with me for years as I could envision this as a comic strip. 

I decided to hand-draw it because the scene is all about students creating from scratch. There are no computers as it is set in an art college in the late 1950s. I kept it black and white in order for the color — kept in “ink-spot” primary colors in honor of the printing process of the early comics — on the second spread to really stand out as it is the climax of the scene.

In this particular scene, students are meant to choose a word and design it in a way to give the word its meaning. One student arranged matchsticks into the word “hot”. The professor said “Well done. Now, would you take your finger and place it on one of the letters? … Son, your finger. The one on the letter? … You got a blister on it yet?” (Kidd, 131–132) The answer being no, the professor replies “Well then, it’s not very hot, is it?” (Kidd, 132) Eventually, with much coaxing, “Mike somehow made himself flip open the top of the Zippo lighter and flick the flint at the bottom of the page, to his work — his hours and days of painstaking work.” (Kidd, 133) Thus the student made his word “hot”.

Here is my rendition of this scene:

Understanding Comics

Closure in Understanding Comics happens between the gutters, I felt the scene I chose represented closure in graphic novel form with one rectangle having the flame coming near the project, and the last “a dark poster-sized patch on the cinder-block wall”. (Kidd, 133–134) The reader would not see the flames, but see the before and after, rendering closure. “Nothing is seen between the two panels, but experience tells you something must be there!” (McCloud, 67)

Closure allows the reader to use their imagination to fill in the gaps. It creates an active participation between the reader and the author / illustrator. It creates closure in scenes, time, and motion. (McCloud, 69) As McCloud states, “All of you participated in the murder. All of you held the axe and chose your spot. To kill a man between the panels is to condemn him to a thousand deaths.” (McCloud, 68–69) In my example above, everyone would be lighting that project on fire and everyone would be watching it burn. How big, hot, or sulfuric the flames would be up to the reader’s imagination based on their experience with matches, fire, and crafting materials. Depending on gutter size, rectangle length, etc. it can change the reader's perception on how long it took the student to light his project on fire or how long the project took to burn. It enhances the experience because the story becomes personal. You are now placed and guided sequentially in the scene, and are now participating with the storyline. It is like receiving an outline and you are allowed to fill in the gaps, based on your knowledge, with what happened.

Classroom Use

I can see using graphic novels (or comics) as a literature source because it requires the reader to be fully participatory in the characters actions or events. For example, through facial expressions, body positions, and dialog the reader has to synthesize different types of communication to complete the storyline and thus find closure. It requires students to put themselves within the story more than with typical paragraphs of words, which can create a stronger connection to the characters and develop nuanced ideas as to why characters did what they did. This can foster empathy, provide a safe place to work out similar problems they might be facing, and develop their critical thinking as they work out complex ideas.

It is a great tool for students to express their creativity in drawing and writing as it takes planning, organization, analysis, and critical thinking in combining multiple thought processes.

As a project for any grade level, the goal for students would be to create an original comic through research, synthesizing, and understanding the topic content. Their new skills learned would be how to create a visual finished product that combines text and imagery to be understood by a general audience. Skills reinforced would be researching and synthesizing information from multiple sources.

The "comics" could be as big or small depending on age or accommodation, students could work in pairs, the topics could be connected to a classroom assignment (either in collaboration with a teacher or not), could be connected to an up-coming event like a national history month, or students could pick their own topics. Research could be done in the library with the librarian (or teacher AND Librarian's assistance). Depending on age, accommodation, skill level, etc. students could either draw or use a computer to help them make a comic. This lesson is very adaptable for content (could be used for any class or topic) and student needs.

I would conduct a reflection assessment where students could either present or write their thoughts on their comics such as why they chose the imagery they did, what they thought went well, what they think they would change if they did it again, and their overall thoughts on how well it came out. By having students reflect they need to explain their comic choices with the content and how well they relate together which demonstrates understanding.

Sources

Kidd, Chip. The Cheese Monkeys. New York, Harper Perennial, 2001.

Massachusetts School Library Association. “Recommended Standards for PreK -Grade 12 Information Literacy Skills.” Https://Www.maschoolibraries.org/, Massachusetts School Library Association, Sept. 2009, www.maschoolibraries.org/uploads/5/7/2/2/57223027/msla_standards_revision_for_2nd_printing.pdf.

McCloud, Scott. Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art. First edition ed., New York, William Morrow: An Imprint of HarperCollins Publishers, 1993.