Graphic Novels

Graphic novels are book-length comics. Continuous narrative from first page to last Usually cover fictional material in comic book

form — through the use of sequential illustrations.

What is Graphic Novel?

Graphic novels are LONGER.

They tell a complete story

Comic books focus on events

Differences between graphic novels and comic

Students tend to talk about the story-talking

about the text before teacher ask them to talk about the text.

Gives a clearer understanding, and it lets you comprehend the story faster

Easier to visualize and put in motion Increase understanding by using two ways to

understand, visually and mentally,

Graphic Novel in Classroom

Don’t provide

the kind of rigor that novels

require Comic reading can

be “a conduit to ‘heavier reading’” (Krashen 20050

Concerns about Graphic Novels

“Graphic novel now offers English language

arts teachers opportunities to engage all students in a medium that expands beyond the traditional borders of literacy” (Schwarz 2006, 58)

Opportunity to Engage all Students

To read a graphic novel, students need to

understand traditional literacy, including character, plot, theme, and writing craft, particularly dialogue, but they also have the opportunity explore “visual elements such as color, shading, panel layout, perspective, and even the lettering style” (Schwarz 2006,59)

Provide Visual Elements

A study conducted by Joanne Ujie and Stephen

Krashen found that “middle school boys who read comics read more in general than boys who did not read comics, read more books, and enjoyed reading more” (1996, 52)

Provide Reading Opportunity

1. Teachers read graphic novels and note their

own reading experience in order to better literacy skills understanding

2. Talk with your administration and your department about the use of graphic novels

3. Select the graphic novel excerpts with care; many of them are not school appropriate

4. Obtain graphic novel although it is only black and white.

Suggestion in support of using Graphic Novel

Provide opportuniti

es for exploring

story telling

elements

Teach or

reinforce

inference

Support

Visual Literac

y

Graphic Novels in Support of Reading Skills

It requires readers to draw background

knowledge with both pictures and text to infer what is happening.

“graphic novels can teach about making inferences, since readers must rely on pictures and just a small amount of text”. (Council Chronicle 2005, 2)

Teach or reinforce Inference

Students have to pay attention to “colour,

shading, panel layout, perspective,” and “lettering style”. (Schwarz 2006, 59)

“For students who lack the ability to visualize as they read, it provides a graphic sense that approximates what good readers do as they read” (Council Chronicle 2005, 2)

Support Visual Literacy

Character Setting Plot Theme Literary craft (dialogue and metaphor)

Provide opportunities for exploring story telling

elements

Teaching strategies:

- Teachers who have incorporated graphic novels into their classrooms- interviews with adolescents who want to encourage teachers to bring graphic

novels into the classroom.

Graphic Novels in Support of Story Elements

Students are invited to draw the main

character exploration in selecting two or three excerpts that help the reader to see the character

Character

The details of the setting increase when the

picture comes to life Uses colours (shades) to develop setting

Setting

Students read these picture-only texts , then

work in small groups to identify the key plot points.

Or, use a story that the students have learnt, then ask them to draw panels to illustrate key plot points.

Plot

Maus by Art Spiegelman: paints a story

through pictures that encourages students to explore questions of relationships between groups.

It’s a Bird by Steven T. Seagle & Kristiansem: explores relationship between man and Superman who learns that life, even if shortm is worth living.

Theme

Dialogue

Metaphor

Graphic novels in Support of Literary Terms and Craft

Graphic novel utilizes a format in which text is

placed beneath the storyboard panels. Result: Dialogue is written with quotation

marks under each character Students can see how punctuation takes the

place of word bubbles.

Dialogue

Maus by Art Spielgram, the story of Holocaust

is retold with animals. Jews are depicted as mice and Nazis are cats. Maus and Maus II (1993) use animals as

metaphors to capture rhe relationships of the Holocaust.

Metaphor

Ridiculing foolish ideas or customs for the

purpose of improving society, is alive and well in graphic novels.

Eg: Batman: The Dark Knight Returns by Frank Miller with Klaus Janson and Lynn Variety

Batman is now aging- his costume and stomach sagging- considers leaving retirement and returning to crime fighting.

Satire