“What Is the Use of a Book … Without Pictures or Conversations?”: Incorporating the Graphic Novel into the University Curriculum

Drawing Citizenship

“…As also noted previously, comics and stories in pop culture can be thought of as a modern form of myth (Cook & Frey, 2017;Halsall, 2018;Novak, 2014;Vandiver, 2000). Vandiver (2000) asserts how many of the stories in pop culture, such as the Terminator movies, share similarities with ancient myths.…”

Reading Comics for Citizenship

“…Cook and Frey, drawing on a number of scholars (2017, 1) as well as Novak (2014, 8) argue that comics books and superheroes are our "modern mythology" (Halsall, 2018). Cook and Frey (2017, 1) argue that our superheroes, like Odysseus and Beowulf before them "are meant to resonate within their cultures," and are products of the environments from which they came.…”

“…For the second assignment, the teacher will have to decide if students will have free reign to choose what comics to study, or if teachers will select stories for students to look at. Halsall (2018) argues for reading classic texts alongside of graphic novels. Halsall (2018, 93) notes: "A graphic novel thus possesses a crossover ability to inspire deep and passionate responses from readers in the reading of canonical classics."…”

“…Halsall (2018, 93) notes: "A graphic novel thus possesses a crossover ability to inspire deep and passionate responses from readers in the reading of canonical classics." Halsall (2018) had students look at a traditional version of the Odyssey and Frank Miller's 300, two different stories. The assignment below has students looking at a traditional story, such as the Odyssey, and a modern myth that either students or teacher and students as a class identify as such.…”