Graphic Novels and Comics in the Classroom: Essays on the Educational Power of Sequential Art Carrye KaySyma and Robert G.Weiner, Editors. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2013.

Abstract

Novels and Comics in the Classroom: Essays on the Educational Power of Sequential Art Carrye Kay Syma and Robert G. Weiner, Editors. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2013.Carrye Kay Syma and Robert G. Weiner's edited collection, Novels and Comics in the situates the volume within an already burgeoning academic discourse focusing on a readable, practical, and applicable approach for readers and educators to consider (7). Rather than offering a descriptive approach to valorize the academic contributions of comics, these essays outline an engaging prescriptive model of when, where, how, and why comics and graphic novels function in classroom settings and contribute to a myriad of learning outcomes. Despite this forward approach, the text effectively utilizes research, as each chapter balances itself nicely within the current discourses on the social, cultural, and political values of critically assessing comics.The collection logically divides into five key sections, with the first called, Significance of Novels and Comics: Then and Now. Here, in three essays, authors trace the use of comics in the classroom (at all levels of education) as a tool for increasing literacy, promoting the value of multimodal texts in ESL courses, and spend time examining how student attitudes (even those of resisting readers) are transformed through the visual and written dynamic of comic books. Especially provocative are the points raised about comic books as an avenue to broaden students' reading habits, the understanding that comics respond to the changing needs of millennials, and the value of visual cultural stimuli for modern learners.Section Two is titled, Teaching Novels and Comics in the Classroom, and three pieces dialogue about course design, what books are beneficial and why, and outline useful assignments to demystify the process for those interested in syllabi creation and curriculum development. The authors discuss their difficulties dealing with skeptical colleagues and share student reflections on the classes and processes of skill development. Rather than presenting a cookie-cutter syllabus for duplication, these essays explore the thought processes behind how and why instructors chose to incorporate comic books and graphic novels in their courses. Additionally, student reflection provides insight into the direct reactions of learners.Part Three, Graphic Novels and Comics: Beyond the Text, works to further the above sections by exploring five distinct courses which incorporated comics into their design. One author explores how he used V for Vendetta in a high school class during a dystopian literature unit, while another piece examines the value of acknowledging comics as high art in an art history classroom. …