Reserach Paper Assignment: due Friday, December 29th by 5pm via e-mail

Choose ONE of the following options to write a thoughtful, persuasive essay using several of the books in class as well as other secondary research (handouts, articles, books, websites, etc.). In this paper, your goal is to educate readers who have not taken this class and/or do not regularly read comic books. With that in mind, consider what they assume about the genre, and why they might not appreciate the basic tenets of your argument. (OPTIONS ON BACK PAGE)

When writing, be sure to quote and discuss the comics in question to help you readers see the artwork and the ideas in the book. Don’t simply summarize the story or vaguely reference each text. For example, if writing about Mockingbird, I might write:

In Cain’s Mockingbird, she explores the difficulty of a female superhero existing in a still-male world of heroes and villains. In one pivotal scene, she is trying to save a girl who is at the mercy of her own powers. While the SWAT team tries to talk her down from a ledge, Mockingbird’s narration appears above the scene, remarking, “How can we have a meaningful dialogue with adolescent girls when we live in a culture that still can’t talk about tampons” (Cain). Her thoughts run parallel to the images, which show the girl attacking an officer and sending him plunging to his doom. Though Mockingbird ultimately saves him, we understand that the entire scene is getting worse because no one at the scene—all of them men—know how to talk to girls, which even the officer admits on the very next page.

SOME GENERAL ADVICE ON WRITING PAPERS:

* Always introduce quotations or any work you plan to quote from. Explain who wrote it and where it comes from, and after you quote it, cite the page number, or the author, or the specific work/source. EX: In Eisner’s book, Comics and Sequential Art, he writes...

* Don’t write to me: write to someone who isn’t in this class who probably doesn’t know much about comic books. Assume you have to explain a lot of this to them—why it matters, what the major ideas are, and what works contribute to the conversation. The more you assume, the less you’ll make a carefully constructed, well-explained argument on your topic (since you’ll cut corners, saying oh, you already know this, so I won’t explain this...)

* Think about how one work responds to another one. Which works in class most contribute to your conversation, and how might one ‘answer’ the other? Do they agree? Disagree? How do we know they’re sharing the same conversation?

* Find your secondary sources before writing so you can respond to them in your paper. Imagine that you’re having a discussion with 4-5 friends on comic books...you need to hear them all talking before you can sum up the conversation to someone else. Hear what they all have to say, then explain who’s making the best points, and how you respond to each one.

* Start “in the middle” with information or ideas that most interest you about the topic. Avoid a vague introduction that says “Since the beginning of time, man has written comic books,” or “There are a lot of arguments about comic books, and I have a lot of things to say about them.” Be specific and throw us right into a specific passage, idea, or argument.

OPTIONS: CHOOSE ONE

Option 1, The Ethics of Supermen: For this option, I want you to discuss how comics explore the moral convictions and ambiguities of the superhero. It’s no longer enough to have a hero battle it out with his or her villains; modern-day readers want to explore the man or woman behind the mask, and understand what motivates someone to use their powers to save the world—and the consequences of such salvation. Are heroes always heroic? Or does becoming a superhero necessitate ‘villainous’ actions for the greater good? Consider, too, how superheroes are an evolution from the heroic ideal of ages past. How has our world/time reshaped them in our image? And what does it even mean to be a super human? Is the emphasis on the “super” or the “human”?

Option 2, Who Wears the Mask?: For this option, I want you to discuss the growing struggle of gender and ethnic diversity in superhero comics. As a traditionally male-dominated form, how have comics since the 1960’s been attempting to make superheroes reflect the social reality of 21st century America? Related to this, why might comics be the ideal medium for showcasing such diversity—even more than more traditional forms of literature and art? You might also discuss the obstacles that still face this branch of literature, and why (or when) even well-meaning attempts fall short of inclusion. Does representation always have to be literal—or can metaphors be just as (or even more) important? Have we “won the war,” as Mockingbird jokingly suggests, or “does it still suck”?

Option 3, Comics in the Classroom: For this option, I want you to discuss how superhero comics could be effectively used in the classroom at any level (your choice). What, specifically, is the advantage to using (a) the medium of comics as a reading tool, and (b) exploring the abilities and conflicts of superheroes? How can superhero comics work in tandem with more traditional forms of literature? Shhttps://www.blogger.com/nullould they merely be looked at as “bridges” to take students to more important/challenging forms of reading? Or can they be seen as engaging works in their own right, which pick up where older works left off? How could you convince a skeptical administration (and doubting parents) that comics are a (largely) untapped intellectual resource for students?

Option 4, A Topic Suggested By You—But You MUST Discuss It With Me First! :)

REQUIREMENTS

At least 5-6 pages, double spaced, but you can do more  

You should use at least 2-3 comics in your discussion

You should use at least 2 secondary sources (handouts, articles, books, etc.)

 All quotations and sources should be cited properly, using MLA format, or another standard format of your choice (APA, etc.).

DUE NO LATER THAN FRIDAY, DECEMBER 29th by 5pm (via e-mail): you can e-mail it to jgrasso91@gmail.com if you're worried about ECU blocking your e-mail.