Literature and Image:

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Literature and Image
Meaning at the Intersection of Word and Image
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Questions to Explore

• What is the relationship between text and image?
• How do we use graphic novels to help students
  improve analytical skills?
• How can we equip students with the skills
  necessary to interpret graphic novels?

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Frey and Fisher, a Summary

• Teachers had trouble engaging students in an
  English 9 writing class because of language
• Mostly new immigrants who had a low level of
  written English

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(cont.)

• Teachers decided it was their goal to use popular
  culture in order to build on students multiple
  literacies in the hopes of making them successful
  in the course

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Using Other Media

• Goal was to do this through employing alternative
  genres, such as graphic novels, manga and anime
• What do you all think? Do you think it worked?

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Results

• Teachers noted that students became really
  engaged with the stories and were able to make
  meaning of the stories because the visual
  illustrations allowed students to discuss how the
  authors conveyed mood and tone through the images
  (and not only the text)

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What do we Mean by Meaning?

• understand mood and tone
• interpret them in their own way
• think of them on a philosophical level
• write their own stories on similar themes

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Creative Project

• After spending time reading some graphic novels,
  the culminating project that students had to
  complete wastheir own 'graphic novel'. They had
  to create a text with accompanying photos or
  pictures in order to create their own
  'illustrated story

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Conclusion

• The culminating project was a success!
• Mean sentence length on average increased,
  dialogue was used nearly across the board, and
  more sophisticated word choice.
• In the teachers' own words " These forms of
  popular culture and provided a visual vocabulary
  of sorts for scaffolding writing techniques,
  particularly dialogue, tone and mood". Students
  also became "more knowledgeable and better
  consumers of ideas and information".

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Graphic Novels and Literary Analysis

• Close reading analytical skills are
  transferrable across various literacies

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Graphic Novels and Literary Analysis

• Close reading analytical skills are
  transferrable across various literacies
• We need to equip students with some literary
  tools so that they can engage with visual media
  on a deeper, more meaningful level

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Activity

• Half the class will have a page from The Watchmen
  with no text in the speech bubbles. You will be
  filling in the text.
• Half the class will have the words from the
  speech bubbles in The Watchmen. You will be
  illustrating the panels.

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Discussion Questions

• What processes/strategies did you use to make
  meaning of the text/image?

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Discussion Questions

• 2) Looking at the actual page and the differences
  from your interpretations, how do the text and
  image work together to make meaning on the page?

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Discussion Questions

• 3) What are some obstacles / challenges
  (including political / ideological) you may come
  across in using graphic novel / visual media in
  the classroom?
• What are some considerations of legitimacy that
  may arise?