Final Paper Assignment, due Friday, Jan.3rd by 5pm

Graphic Novels/Comic Research Paper

For your final project in this class, you will write a 6-8 page paper that discusses one of the following conversations about graphic novels/comics, using at least 2 books in class, your 5^th graphic novel, and a few secondary sources (we’ll discuss the best places to find them in class).

Here are the 3 options, or conversations, to choose from (choose ONE):

1.) Imagine you are a writer/artist who has just written a graphic novel on a very controversial subject (your choice—but you should explain what it is): what objections would certain people have to your work?  Why would a comic seem inappropriate for this subject/theme?  How would you defend your intentions using other graphic novels that have come before you?  Discuss why the form itself is a truly literary one, and why it might even be ideally suited to your approach.  Again, the trick is to use existing graphic novels/comics to show how it can be done sensitively, effectively, and thought-provokingly. 

2.) Choose either one of the graphic novels from our class or your fifth graphic novel: imagine that the Ada Public Library has decided to ban it from its collections on charges of pornography or some related literary ‘sin.’  Write a paper defending the work and the form of comics from these charges.  Discuss what you think pornography (or whatever) truly is, and explain how the work avoids this definition through its use of literary themes and devices.  Bring in other works to show how your work relates more to them, and uses provocative themes or images to make a larger point—one that any library should be happy to promote.

3.) In the third scenario, you are a high school teacher who hopes to implement one of the graphic novels in your class—or your fifth one—into a small unit on comics.  You meet with stern resistance from the principal, who feels that comics are “trash” and unsuited to the demands of the curriculum—especially since it won’t translate to higher scores on the language/literature portion of a standardized test.  Write a paper where you defend the work—and the form of comics in general—as a crucial part of the education of high school students.  What can they learn from them?  How can they promote reading, critical thinking, and the students’ own writing?  Consider all the arguments and prejudices against using them in the classroom—and persuade them otherwise. 

REQUIREMENTS

·         6-8 pages, double spaced of course

·         Must use 2 works from class, as well as your outside work

·         Use a few secondary sources on comics, your author, your work, education, censorship, definitions of pornography, etc, etc.  In short, anything that helps you make your argument or showcase the ideas of the naysayers

·         DUE VIA E-MAIL FRIDAY, JANUARY 3^rd  BY 5pm