Just finished teaching a graphic novel course

[Ijiwaru Sensei]

What can we conclude?

 

She grows up to be her mother... abandoning the finch and allowing it to resuscitate on its own. She does not help the finch. She simply walks away.

I concluded the finch was a metaphor for "acceptance". Mom walked out when she was a child, Loverboy walked out on her as an adult.

Abandonment hurt as a child, hurts as an adult, have to deal with it and live her life.

 

Also concluded a lot of needless effort goes into making college courses "smart", at the cost of being exciting, inspirational and fun.

 

Not really a criticism, just an observation. Somewhere along the way higher learning linked engaging storytelling to the mindless masses. Pity, that.

 

I don't know. I think the goal of good writing is to be smart and engaging.

[dupont2005]

(thumbs u

[Ijiwaru Sensei]

You and your students are doing a very nice job. Keep up the good work!

 

[Davenport]

Also concluded a lot of needless effort goes into making college courses "smart", at the cost of being exciting, inspirational and fun.

 

Not really a criticism, just an observation. Somewhere along the way higher learning linked engaging storytelling to the mindless masses. Pity, that.

 

I don't know. I think the goal of good writing is to be smart and engaging.

Yeah, I may've come across harsh. Sorry about that. I do applaud your efforts. But "Benthic" triggered a passion I didn't realize I had. Which is what you want from a work of art. Right?

 

I hope you don't mind if I lay it out for consideration.

 

Starting with the title "Benthic". As in (life so far has) "Been Thick", a joyless weighted slog. A 'dead inside' flatline reaction to living, whether it's mom walking out or sex with a lover who too ultimately leaves.

 

Then put "Benthic" in context: A class is presented with graphic storytelling, color, form, limitless imagination, boundless possibilities, wild unrestrained expression. And the first place they go is "powerless angst"?

 

I don't know, but that got to me. I consider "joyous" just as much a "human condition" as "emotionally crushed". A more natural condition, with the human ability to live out of imagination.

 

I'm hoping the collaboration is an imagining of defeat and powerlessness. From a single student it would've seemed a 'cry for help', someone with serious need of psychological counseling.

 

But the "Fin" at the end is a clue they're mimicking intellectual elitism or encouraged pompousness, assuming they're not actual French students. That's a good sign, considering the dark alternative.

 

So, got that off my chest. Thanks for allowing me to vent. Thank your students for me too, for yankin' my chain.

[Comicopolis]

What can we conclude?

 

She grows up to be her mother... abandoning the finch and allowing it to resuscitate on its own. She does not help the finch. She simply walks away.

I concluded the finch was a metaphor for "acceptance". Mom walked out when she was a child, Loverboy walked out on her as an adult.

Abandonment hurt as a child, hurts as an adult, have to deal with it and live her life.

 

Also concluded a lot of needless effort goes into making college courses "smart", at the cost of being exciting, inspirational and fun.

 

Not really a criticism, just an observation. Somewhere along the way higher learning linked engaging storytelling to the mindless masses. Pity, that.

 

I don't know. I think the goal of good writing is to be smart and engaging.

 

(thumbs u

[shrunkenhead]

This is great stuff. I ran what seems like a similar course a few years back. I also had very good results.

 

Not to be a killjoy, but hopefully you've got the students' permission to post this stuff in a public forum---FERPA and all that jazz, you know.

[Ijiwaru Sensei]

I did. In fact, they specifically requested that I post only the first three pages of their story and then insert the link.

 

I've also sent them the link to this thread, so they have been reading and enjoying and puzzling over the comments everyone has been making.

[MrBedrock]

I've also sent them the link to this thread, so they have been reading and enjoying and puzzling over the comments everyone has been making.

You should recommend these boards to the anthropology professor.

Just think of all the puzzling enjoyment that class could have.

[Ijiwaru Sensei]

Or maybe a psychology class.

[Davenport]

Or maybe a psychology class.

I wish I'd realized this was a kudos thread and not a discussion thread before shooting my mouth off.

 

I still think graphic storytelling is the uniquely human antidote to feeling like benthic creatures. Life sucks, sure, for everybody. But humans don't have to accept that for one second. And graphic novels are the perfect tool to kick life's azz right back, to speculate and imagine and see what we wish to.

 

"If we listened to our intellect, we'd never have a love affair. We'd never have a friendship. We'd never go into business, because we'd be cynical. Well, that's nonsense. You've got to jump off cliffs all the time and build your wings on the way down" -Ray Bradbury

 

[Ijiwaru Sensei]

Or maybe a psychology class.

I wish I'd realized this was a kudos thread and not a discussion thread before shooting my mouth off.

 

Not at all. Your honest, heartfelt criticism is just what I was looking for in this thread. Thanks.

 

I still think graphic storytelling is the uniquely human antidote to feeling like benthic creatures. Life sucks, sure, for everybody. But humans don't have to accept that for one second. And graphic novels are the perfect tool to kick life's azz right back, to speculate and imagine and see what we wish to.

 

Graphic novels certainly fill that niche, but there's also room within the medium for other explorations as well, I believe.

[Davenport]

Or maybe a psychology class.

I wish I'd realized this was a kudos thread and not a discussion thread before shooting my mouth off.

 

Not at all. Your honest, heartfelt criticism is just what I was looking for in this thread. Thanks.

 

I still think graphic storytelling is the uniquely human antidote to feeling like benthic creatures. Life sucks, sure, for everybody. But humans don't have to accept that for one second. And graphic novels are the perfect tool to kick life's azz right back, to speculate and imagine and see what we wish to.

 

Graphic novels certainly fill that niche, but there's also room within the medium for other explorations as well, I believe.

I agree with you 100%. (thumbs u

 

And maybe I was wrong to assume yours was an "introductory" course. Like introducing young people to jazz... After initial exposure, when leaving them alone with it, you'd expect them to laugh, stomp their feet, bang the drums, lay some bass and rock the house, not produce a funeral dirge.

 

That's how it struck me, unexpected.. Benthic is beautiful and soulful. Something you'd expect advanced students, with time and maturity, to swing back around to. After they shoved a bottle-rocket up that shark's azz, grabed its fin, and rode it to Mars.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Ijiwaru Sensei]

Well, we had talked about McCloud quite a bit and the interaction between image and text. I thought they did a masterful job using the images to inform and reinterpret the text.

 

I had also asked them to try to create a story that made some type of comment on the human condition.

 

The course is a 3000 level, undergraduate literature course, so I try to direct the course toward more "literary" stuff--my mini-elitism again.. All the students in the class except one were regular readers of comics, so I wanted to push their boundaries, point them to things they might not otherwise read.

 

[Davenport]

Your additional context puts in perspective. Thanks. And Benthic really is excellent work.

I was just fearful they had missed the magic. You know? Dance like insane banshees first, explore all the amazing things feet can do, then we learn to march.

 

I guess I consider, say, Jeff Smith's Bone or Mignola's Hellboy as "literate" as avant-garde stuff. But, that's just me, and a respectful discussion for another time.

 

Kudos to your class and your efforts. And thanks for sharing and allowing reactions. (thumbs u

 

 

[BOOT]

One of the assignments I gave had students work collaboratively to create their own comic.

 

Here are the first three pages of one group's work and a link to the rest of the comic. Thoughts about this first-time effort at comics creation by some young college kids?

 

Link

 

That's some really impressive work, especially for a group project. How did they divide up the work? It seems pretty cohesive.

 

Some great imagery.

 

A mysterious yet moving story. Leaves room for the reader to add their own interpretation. Some nice symbolism, but nothing too heavy handed.

 

Great work getting your students to produce something of such quality. You should all be proud!