Comprehensive Course Syllabus Graphic Novels: Image and Text Course Description: Since the 1980s, the so-called graphic novel, or long-form comic, has become a popular and accomplished literary and artistic form. Transcending its origins in pulp fantasy and adolescent entertainment, this evolving and hybrid medium represents, in the words of author and artist Eddie Campbell, an emerging new literature of our times in which word, picture, and typography interact meaningfully and which is in tune with the complexity of modern life.... This course offers a survey of some of the best graphic novels of the last thirty years, and it provides the skills for reading comics critically in terms of what they say and how they say it. INSTRUCTOR: Dr. Michael Hancock Office Number: A136B Office Hours: A-B, D: Mods 3, 5-6, 8 (10-10:55 AM, 12:20-2:15 PM, 3:20-4:15 PM); C: Mods 3, 5-6 (10-10:55 AM, 12:20-2:15 PM) I: 1-4 PM; also by appointment Telephone number: (630) 907-5981 Email address: mhanc@imsa.edu Meeting Days, Times, and Room: Section 1 (A, C-D): Mod 2 (9:00-9:55), A119 Section 2 (A, C-D): Mod 4 (11:00-11:55), A119 Section 4 (A-B, D): Mod 7 (2:20-3:15), A119 Texts/Materials: Lynda Barry, One Hundred Demons (2002) Ivan Brunetti, Cartooning: Philosophy and Practice (2011) 1
Scott McCloud, Understanding Comics (1993) Richard McGuire, Here (1991) Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons, Watchmen (1987) Mark Newgarden and Paul Karasik, How to Read Nancy (1988) Hollis Margaret Rudiger, Reading Lessons: Graphic Novels 101 (2006) Marjane Satrapi, The Complete Persepolis (2004) Art Spiegelman, Maus I-II (1986, 1991) Shaun Tan, The Arrival (2007) Osamu Tezuka, Buddha, Vol. 1: Kapilavastu (1972; trans. 2006) Chris Ware, Thrilling Adventure Stories (1991) and Building Stories (2012) Free digital comics on comixology Selected comic strips. essays, articles, and reviews Essential Content/SSLs and Outcomes: Students will understand techniques and conventions of comics as a medium and be able to explain their uses and effects [SSL IV.A-D]. Students will develop new skills in reading and creating multimodal works [SSL IV.B, D]. Students will evaluate the influence of historical context on form, style, and point of view [SSL II.A]. Students will apply knowledge gained from comics as a means of understanding contemporary and historical economic, social, and political issues and perspectives [SSL III.B]. Students will work collaboratively to come to an understanding of readings [SSL I.A-B]. Students will develop greater autonomy as readers by generating and responding to their own substantive questions about authors and literary works [SSL I.B]. Students will make and support informed judgments about issues of literary and aesthetic value [SSL IV.A-D]. Instructional Design and Approach: In order to understand the ways in which comics create and manipulate meaning, we will be concerning ourselves (especially in the first few weeks of class) with questions about comics formal practice. Here, we will take our cue (when possible) from Scott McCloud s Understanding Comics. As the semester progresses, you will develop habits and skills of active reading that will help you to be aware of meaning in comics and of what authors and artists have done to create or suggest what you understand. Your own readers questions will help to guide our discussions. Moreover, this is a course in writing critically: in building an argument, in gathering and organizing evidence, and in engaging your audience. Although I will give you sample writing topics, one of the most important skills we ll practice in this course is 2
that of finding an interesting topic, one that will satisfy both you and your readers. Class discussions may provide a starting point, but your papers should bring something new to the table. Finally, I will ask you to use shared inquiry, creative writing, and your visual imagination to inform and even to entertain us. Your insights into our readings will expand our understanding of the graphic novel movement of the last few decades. Cartooning exercises will help to prepare you for your final project, a narrative comic with a written self-reflection. Student Expectations: My main expectations for you are to be productive, cooperative, on time, prepared, and involved. Frequent tardies and absences, both excused and unexcused, may affect your grade adversely. Please review the Student and Parent Handbook for IMSA s attendance and tardiness procedures. You are expected to come to class, having completed your assigned work, prepared to talk about what you ve read. Treat your peers and their ideas with courtesy and respect. You should challenge each other, argue points, and of course be willing to challenge my ideas, but remember to do so with consideration for others. Attention, participation, and appropriate comportment in class are requisites and have an important influence on assessment. We will use laptops for some class activities. To avoid distractions, turn off your other devices before class. Facebook, e-mail, games, texting, etc.: don t. A high level of quality work is expected in English electives. IMSA students themselves, past and present, have demonstrated the capacity to think critically, speak cogently, and write with power and elegance. That norm governs student expectation. Moreover, any work you turn in should be yours alone; acknowledge your indebtedness for what you borrow from others, and cite your sources consistently and appropriately using MLA format. Please review IMSA's academic honesty policy in the Handbook. Assessment Practices, Procedures, and Processes: The work of the course is assessed on a percentage basis: A=100-93; A-=92-90; B+=89-87; B=86-83; B-=82-80; C+=79-77; C=76-73; C-=72-70; D=69 or lower. I won t round up final grades; what you see is what you get. Grades are weighted as follows: papers 60%, homework and quizzes 15%, group lesson 10%, final project 15%. Grades are to be interpreted in the following manner: A=Exceeds course requirements B=Meets course requirements 3
C=Needs improvement D=Does not meet course requirements For written work, A work is eloquent, cogent, and sometimes profound; B work is committed but a bit prosaic, clunky, or off-the-mark; C work suffers from serious writing and/or comprehension errors. More detailed guidelines are available on Moodle. Students are encouraged to confer with their teacher before and after assignments are due so that they understand their strengths and areas for improvement. You may revise your papers within a week of their return for a higher grade; the revision grade will be averaged with the original grade. For revisions, include the original (graded) and revised copies of your paper, along with a brief synopsis of your changes (not a list). The revision policy is intended to help you improve your writing and encourage significant changes, so revision will not hurt your grade. If a revised version is less successful than the original, its grade will not count towards the average. All papers and homework assignments should be turned in on time at the beginning of class. Late papers and projects will be lowered by half a letter grade (five percentage points) for each weekday they are late, and any revision of a late paper will receive the same deduction as the original paper. I will accept e-mail attachments if you have printer problems, but you must give me a hard copy of your paper that same day. Late homework and missed quizzes cannot be made up, except in the case of excused absences. Sequence of Topics and Activities (subject to change): The Language of Comics Week 1 (8/25-8/29): Introduction to course; Newgarden and Karasik, How to Read Nancy (http://www.laffpix.com/howtoreadnancy.pdf); Rudiger, Reading Lessons: Graphic Novels 101 (on Moodle); selected comic strips; Paper #1 assigned Week 2 (9/2-9/5): McCloud, Understanding Comics, Ch. 1-3; excerpts from Brunetti Week 3 (9/8-9/12): McCloud, Understanding Comics, Ch. 4-5; McGuire, Here (on Moodle); Tan, The Arrival Week 4 (9/15-9/19): Paper #1 due (TBA); Barry, One Hundred Demons; Charles Hatfield, An Art of Tensions (handout or PDF) Some History: Western & Eastern Week 5 (9/22-9/26): Paper #2 assigned; Robert C. Harvey, How Comics Came to Be (handout or PDF); David Kunzle, Rodolphe Töpffer s Aesthetic Revolution (handout or PDF); Ward, Gods Man 4
Week 6 (9/29-10/3): Adam Kern, Manga versus Kibyöshi (handout or PDF); Tezuka, Buddha, Vol. 1: Kapilavastu Graphic Memoirs Weeks 7-8 (10/6-10/9 and 10/14-10/17): Spiegelman, MAUS and Maus I-II; Hilary Chute, History and Graphic Representation in Maus (handout or PDF); Paper #2 due (10/14 or 10/15); 1st Quarter Ends (10/15) Weeks 9-10 (10/20-10/24 and 10/27-10/31): Hilary Chute, Comics Form and Narrating Lives (handout or PDF); Satrapi, The Complete Persepolis Reinventing Comics Weeks 11-13 (11/3-11/7, 11/10-11/14, and 11/17-11/21): Pete Coogan, The Definition of the Superhero (handout or PDF); excerpt from Fredric Wertham, The Seduction of the Innocent (handout or PDF); Ron Goulart, "The Wertham Crusade" (handout or PDF); Moore and Gibbons, Watchmen; Paper #3 due (TBA) Week 14 (11/24-11/25): TBA Weeks 15-16 (12/1-12/5 and 12/8-12/12): Ware, Building Stories; Gene Kannenberg, Jr., The Comics of Chris Ware (handout or PDF); Final project due (TBA) Week 17 (12/15-12/16): Conclusion 5