Hostos Community College (CUNY)



Hostos Community College (CUNY)

Syllabus Checklist for Writing Intensive (WI) Courses 

Course Name __The Graphic Novel___________

Course Number _ENG 250- Special Topics______ Credit Value __3__

English/ESL Level Required_ENG 111__ (Identify Pre- and/or Co-Requisite)

Department ___English______

Submitted by _Heidi Bollinger______

Date ____February 17, 2014________

 

1.     Indicate which of the following informal “writing-to-learn” activities you plan to utilize in your WI course. After each item you check, indicate the frequency with which you plan to utilize each activity. Please provide examples of some “writing-to-learn” assignments or activities.  

| |Once/Month |Twice/Month |Once/Week |

|Summary Writing | | | |

|Journal/log writing | | | |

|Double or triple-entry journal | |Students will use double or | |

| | |triple-entry journaling to | |

| | |collect and analyze evidence for| |

| | |their formal essays. | |

|Letter Writing | | | |

|Online discussion/forum | | | |

|Responding to prepared questions | | |1-2 times per week, we will |

| | | |begin class with 15 minutes of |

| | | |informal writing on a debatable |

| | | |question related to the assigned|

| | | |reading. |

|Defining key terms or concepts | | | |

|Personal Response Writing | | |Some classes will begin with |

| | | |open-ended personal response |

| | | |writing rather than responses to|

| | | |prepared focus questions, |

| | | |particularly the first day we |

| | | |encounter a new text. |

|Free Writing | | | |

|E-mail Exchanges | | | |

|Other (Please specify) | | | |

| | | | |

2. The WI guidelines require a minimum of 10-12 pages of formal writing in all WI courses. Indicate which of the following formal writing assignments you plan to use in your WI course. Indicate also the number of pages of writing you require for each type of assignment.

| |Number of Pages |

|Personal Response Essay | |

|Summary Essay | |

|Expository Essay |3-5 |

|Compare/Contrast Essay |3-5 |

|Research Paper |5-6 |

|Book Report | |

|Lab Report | |

|Poster Presentation | |

|Other (Please Specify): |2 page artist’s statement; 2 page graphic |

| |narrative |

| | |

|Total Number of Pages of Formal Writing |15-20 |

3.     Of the total number of formal writing assignments you plan to give in your WI course, indicate the percentage of assignments in which students will have the opportunity to revise and resubmit their work for evaluation.  

10-25% 26-50% 51-75% 76-100% 

Drafting and revision of essays 1, 2, 3 are built into the syllabus. Students may choose to revise and resubmit Essay 1 and 2 after receiving a grade.

4.     Indicate the total number of exams you plan to give in your WI course. Then indicate what percentage of these exams requires writing by students. (Note: Exams do not need to contain writing.)  This course will not include any exams; students will complete one in-class essay, which students will revise and resubmit after receiving a grade.

5.     WI guidelines stipulate that grades in WI courses “should be based in substantial part on students’ written work.” In determining the final grade for your WI course, indicate what percentage of the grade involves written work by students. Circle one.

  10-25% 26-50% 51-75% 76-100%  

6.     Does the syllabus for your WI course clearly indicate the type of written work to be completed at particular times in the semester? Yes. Due dates are specified and students know whether the writing is take-home or in-class.

7.     Please identify or explain any terms you use in your WI syllabus for types of writing assignments that correspond to other commonly used labels (e.g., writing exercise for composition or reaction paper for personal response essay). My syllabus uses “Informal In-Class Writing” as a catchall for the following: responding to a prepared question, personal response writing, and double- and triple entry journaling. I will distinguish between these types of activities and their functions in class, but for the purposes of grading, all of these write-to-discover activities will be designated as “Informal In-Class Writing.” They will be graded using check, check-plus, and check-minus and given some written feedback.

8. Along with your WI course syllabus, please provide examples of written assignments which comprise the formal writing assignments for this course. Please see my descriptions of formal assignments attached to my syllabus.

Please refer to the Reflective Essay below for inclusion with the WI Checklist:

In an essay of approximately 250-300 words, please consider the following questions:

• What is the most important thing (i.e. habit/skill/body of knowledge) for students to learn in this course?

• How will the writing assignments in this syllabus enable students to learn this?

• How does this WI section differ from a non-WI section of the same course?

• What do you hope students will learn about writing in this course?

• What are some challenges, related to the writing-intensive aspects of this course that might arise for you and your students?

• What have you learned from the experience of creating this WI syllabus?

Reflective Statement

I began designing this English elective on the Graphic Novel with our Digital Design and Animation students in mind. I wanted to design a Writing Intensive course that would draw on the strengths of students as visual learners—and which would engage them meaningfully in the skills of literary analysis: close reading, critical thinking, and cogent writing. The graphic novel, as a combination of text and images, is a perfect way to strengthen these skills. And although I was inspired initially to design this course for our visual arts students, these skills are relevant and useful for all students.

The most important skill of the course is close reading: careful and considered observation of texts. Close reading involves careful observation, and clear and accurate description. With close reading as our foundation, we can analyze how the details create the big picture: what something means, how it makes meaning, and why that meaning matters. In practicing close reading, I want students to recognize that storytellers make choices, and that those choices are meaningful (in other words, that every aspect of a text is fair game for our interpretation). We will use descriptive and analytical writing to explore what effects graphic novelists create by combining text and pictures in various ways.

Furthermore, I want students to realize the importance of choice-making in their own writing. By developing students’ awareness of the role of choice-making in published texts and in their own essays, I aim to cultivate students’ agency and self-reflexivity as writers. To this end, the final assignment of the course asks students to design their own short graphic narrative and author an artist’s statement explaining their design choices. By putting theory into practice, students will deepen their understanding of the graphic novel genre and the writing process.

This Writing Intensive course will differ from a non-WI section because we will, at every turn, use writing as our lens into the texts. Students often find writing intimidating (especially “getting started”) and sabotage themselves by increasing the pressure to create a perfect first sentence. I want students to appreciate how informal writing can de-pressurize the process, foster creative thinking, and break down the writing process into more manageable steps. By building informal writing into the structure of the course, I will encourage students to make it an integral part of their writing process outside and beyond this class. We will use informal in-class writing on a weekly, if not daily, basis to discover and test out new ideas about the graphic novels we read. This class will also incorporate the process of gaining and receiving constructive feedback in a consistent and rigorous way. Students will learn to become more effective respondents to each other’s writing-in-progress, and to make effective choices in response to peer and instructor feedback.

In terms of challenges, I am always concerned about building in enough time for students to draft and revise their work with my feedback. I anticipate that some students will be intimidated about creating their own graphic narratives (although, for many students, that will be the most fun part of the course)—but I plan to emphasize that thoughtful choices rather than artistic skill are what matters, and that the assignment welcomes diverse approaches.

Working with Writing Fellow Jeremy Greenfield on this course has reinforced for me what a dialogic process writing is, and how necessary constructive feedback is to improving as a writer. At the same time, it has reminded me of how vulnerable our students can feel when they share their writing with peers and professors.

Secondly, creating this WI syllabus has made me realize the value of incorporating informal writing into my lesson plans on a regular basis. I have always used informal brainstorming in class. However, I realized the value of opening class with a 10-15 minute informal writing prompt after I started designing this syllabus, and talking with Prof. Andrea Fabrizio about WAC strategies and principles. I began integrating more informal writing into my non-WI courses during the Fall 2013 semester. I happily found that it elevated discussion, increased student confidence about drafting formal assignments, and gave introverted students a venue to express their ideas. Creating this WI course has improved my pedagogy overall.

Hostos Community College

English Department

ENG 250: Special Topics—The Graphic Novel

Dr. Heidi Bollinger hebollinger@hostos.cuny.edu

Office Hours: Office Location:

Office phone:

Course Description

This course will introduce students to the graphic novel, and will examine the cultural history and defining features of the genre. We will pay particular attention to the relationship of text and images in the graphic novel. We will study the works of key figures in the emerging canon of the graphic novel form like Art Spiegelman, Will Eisner, Marjane Satrapi, and Chris Ware. Students will learn to write effectively about the graphic novel in a variety of modes, and will put knowledge into practice by creating their own short graphic narrative.

Pre-requisite: Completion of ENG 111

Discipline-Specific Learning Objectives:

Students will:

A. Appreciate, understand and analyze the genre of the graphic novel by refining the skills acquired in ENG 111;

B. Understand the defining features of the graphic novel, especially the interplay of text and image;

C. Interpret the graphic novel in its cultural and historical context;

D. Compose well-developed critical assignments based on readings and class discussion;

E. Use internet as well as conventional print resources to incorporate secondary

sources into a researched essay;

F. Use English with greater accuracy and complexity.

Writing and the Graphic Novel

This course has been designated a “Writing Intensive” (WI) course by Hostos Community

College. As a WI course, this course will provide you with opportunities for both formal graded

writing and informal non-graded writing. In order to complete this course successfully, you will

have to do both types of writing.

• Informal writing is exploratory, low-stakes writing that helps us generate ideas. The focus is on discovery rather than grammar. For these assignments, students will be given a question, topic, or excerpt of text and asked to respond reflectively.

• Formal writing assignments are structured assignments on course texts that are graded for ideas, organization, and clarity of expression. This course is structured around two analytical assignments, one research-based assignment, and one creative assignment. The process of brainstorming, drafting, peer and instructor feedback, and revision will be used to develop and improve these formal assignments.

These informal writing and formal essay assignments are designed to deepen your engagement with the course readings, and enrich your understanding of the graphic novel as a genre. In this course, we will study how the art form of graphic novels works and what it can achieve. We will think a great deal about the relationship between form and content, and will explore the impact of the choices a graphic novelist makes. Given this, it is only fitting that we practice making thoughtful choices as writers, and use writing to explore and expand our interpretations of course readings. Just as the creation of a graphic novel is a layered, multi-stage process (including sketching, inking, coloring, and lettering) so too is the process of developing an academic essay. We will use informal writing to generate and try out ideas, and will refine your descriptive and analytical skills through formal writing assignments.

Strong writing skills will benefit you no matter what career or educational path you choose. Good written and verbal communication skills are valued in all fields and disciplines, and will help to highlight and distinguish your other talents. For example, if you are a visual artist or video game designer, being able to write clearly and confidently about your artistic choices and their intended effects is crucial.

Required Reading

• Will Eisner, A Contract with God. 1978. Norton reprint 2006. ISBN: 978-0393328042. $14.32 new on Amazon. $2.50 on AbeBooks.

• Art Spiegelman, Maus II. Pantheon, 1992. ISBN: 978-0521814256. $9.01 new on Amazon. $2.99 used on AbeBooks.

• Marjane Satrapi, Persepolis I. Pantheon, 2003. ISBN: 978-0375714573. $7.88 new on Amazon. $1.47 used on AbeBooks.

• Mat Johnson and Warren Pleece, Incognegro. Vertigo, 2009. ISBN: 978-1401210984. $23.79 new on Amazon. $24.41 used on AbeBooks.

Excerpts from other graphic novels and from secondary sources on the graphic novel (such as Scott McCloud’s Understanding Comics) will be available on our course Blackboard page.

Other Required Course Materials

• A Hostos Email Address. I will not reply to personal email addresses. You should check your account regularly for course-related messages from me

• A Cuny Portal ID to access Blackboard

• You should have a reliable method for backing up your typed word documents: a flash drive, emailing work to yourself, Google Drive, or Dropbox. See me for help.

• A notebook and a folder for handouts

Course Grading Policies

Participation: 10%

Informal In-Class Writing: 10%

Formal Essay 1- Close Reading: 15%

Formal Essay 2- Research Paper: 15%

Formal Essay 3- Contrastive Analysis: 15%

Short Graphic Narrative: 15%

Formal Essay 4- Artist’s Statement: 15%

Presentation of final project: 5%

Each student will be given equal consideration, regardless of need, personal situation, GPA, program requirements, etc. Final grades are A, A-, B+, B, B-, C+, C, D, F, W, U, I.

Plagiarism: Students are responsible for understanding and following the college policies on academic integrity, including cheating and plagiarism, in the Hostos College catalog or on the college web site.Any paper that is found to be plagiarized will automatically receive a zero. Plagiarized papers cannot be rewritten, revised, or resubmitted. The office of student integrity will be notified, and the student will face the possibility of failing the course.

Guidelines for Formal Assignments:

• Drafts and final copies of take-home essays must be typed. Essays should be double-spaced in Times New Roman size 12 font. Margins should be one inch. Your name, the date, the title of the assignment, and my name must be at the top of the page, single-spaced. For in-class peer review of essay rough drafts, you should bring a hardcopy of your typed draft.

• I do not accept final drafts via email because it can be unreliable.

• Late final copies of Take-Home Essays will be downgraded one half letter grade (5 points) per day. If you are having trouble writing a paper, speak to me before the deadline. I will work with you and we can set up a reasonable deadline. I will only allow this if you talk with me before the deadline.

• If you turn in a take-home essay final draft without a rough draft, you will lose five points. You should save all pre-writing (brainstorming, outlining, first drafts) of your formal essays and staple them to your final copy so I can understand and assess your writing process from beginning to end. Give yourself credit for the work you have done!

• You should also save and attach the feedback from your peers and instructor.

• I reserve the right to use anonymous excerpts from student papers in class as a teaching tool. If you do not want anonymous excerpts from your work to be shared in class, please let me know.

Rewrite Policy

Since this course emphasizes the practice of good writing, I encourage you to take advantage of the opportunity to rewrite and resubmit Essays 1 and 2 for a new grade, as long as it does not distract you from your other assignments. You must submit the original graded essay with the rewritten version and a reflection statement on your revision choices. You are encouraged to consult with me. There is no guarantee that the rewritten essay will receive a higher grade but it will not receive a lower grade, so there is no risk. Re-writes are due three weeks after the graded essay was returned, and none will be accepted after the last day of class.

Attendance and Participation: This is a workshop-style, student-centered class, so you will have many opportunities to participate in discussion. Come to class ready to talk about the assigned reading and writing. You are responsible for helping to make the class productive contributing your ideas and asking questions.

• I will take attendance at the beginning of class. You are expected to attend every class.

• I understand that everyone has responsibilities outside of our class, but I want you to make attendance a priority—it’s hard to succeed in a Writing-Intensive course if you are not present consistently. Please talk to me if you are having problems outside of school that are making it hard for you to do your schoolwork.

• You are allowed 3 absences excused or unexcused. Each following absence, whether it is excused or unexcused, will affect your grade.

• If you are more than 10 minutes late to class, I will make a note of it. Being late is disruptive and disrespectful to everyone who arrived on time. If you are late to class frequently, it will lower your participation grade: three late arrivals = one absence.

• If you have an emergency, and you have to be absent, you must contact me to find out what work you missed. I am not responsible for reminding you about missing work.

Writing Support

The Writing Center is located in room C-596. The Writing Center provides free tutoring services to students at Hostos. I strongly encourage you to take advantage of this opportunity. Tutoring is not remedial: it is useful for writers of all levels. For some students, regular visits to the Writing Center may be crucial to their success in the course.

ADA STATEMENT

If you have a disability that requires accommodations, contact:

Accessibility Resource Center

Savoy (D) Building

120 Walton Avenue, Room D-101L

Bronx, NY 10451

718 518-4454 (Voice/TTY)

Please Note:

Students who do not register with the ARC office and have their disability verified are not eligible to receive any special accommodations.

My Responsibilities

I will do my best to help you understand and engage with the course material through class discussions and activities, office hours, and clear written feedback. If you have questions or concerns about the class, please come and talk with me. Creating a productive, fair, and thoughtful learning environment for each of my students is very important to me. I strongly encourage you to visit my office hours to discuss any questions, concerns, or ideas you have about the course readings, discussions, or upcoming writing assignments. I am here to help you succeed, but I can only do so if we maintain professional communication.

Course Schedule

Week 1: Course Introduction. Scott McCloud, “The Vocabulary of Comics” from Understanding Comics, and Will Eisner, “Timing” from Comics and Sequential Art

Week 2: Will Eisner, A Contract with God

Week 3: Marjane Satrapi, Persepolis

Week 4: Marjane Satrapi, Persepolis; Full Draft of Essay #1 due

Week 5: Feedback/Revision Strategies for Essay #1; Art Spiegelman, selections from Maus I

Week 6: Final Copy of Essay #1 due; Art Spiegelman, Maus II and “Why Mice?”

Week 7: Art Spiegelman, Maus II; Essay #2 in class

Week 8: Feedback/Revision Strategies for Essay #2; Mat Johnson and Warren Pleece, Incognegro

Week 9: Revised Essay #2 due; Mat Johnson and Warren Pleece, Incognegro

Week 10: Mat Johnson and Warren Pleece, Incognegro; Workshop on Conducting Research

Week 11: Draft of Essay #3 due; Scott McCloud, “Show and Tell” from Understanding Comics

Week 12: Brainstorming for Graphic Narrative Assignment. Charles M. Schulz, “Developing a Comic Strip” from An Anthology of Graphic Fiction. Scott McCloud, “Blood in the Gutter,” from Understanding Comics.

Week 13: Final Copy of Essay #3 due; Workshop on Graphic Narrative Assignment

Week 14: Draft of Graphic Narrative Assignment for class feedback; In-Class Draft of Artist’s Statement

Week 15: Feedback/Revision of Artist’s Statements

Final Exam Week: Presentations of Graphic Narratives and Artist’s Statement

Formal Writing Assignments

Formal Essay #1: Close Reading

A close reading is a careful, in-depth analysis of specific details in a text. Students will use the practice of close reading to analyze three consecutive pages from Will Eisner’s A Contract with God or Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis. This essay should describe the visual and narrative elements observed in the selected pages, and analyze their significance. Looking closely at a three-page excerpt will compel students to look carefully at details and how they contribute to the bigger picture.

This 3-4 page essay will:

• Describe what you observe: describe the visual and narrative elements in your chosen pages, using the specialized vocabulary of graphic novels that we have defined

• Analyze Theme: analyze how the choices that the graphic novelist has made emphasize a particular theme

• Use evidence: to support and illustrate your analysis, use quotes and examples from the text

• Go through the process of brainstorming, drafting, feedback, and revision to develop and improve writing

Formal Essay #2: Heroism in the Graphic Novel

Comic book superheroes such as Superman and Batman fight forces of injustice with self-righteous zeal. The world of superheroes is divided into two opposing categories: heroes and villains. In the graphic novels we have read, the meaning of heroism is more complicated. In this essay, students will compare and contrast the representation of heroism in two graphic novels: Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis and Art Spiegelman’s Maus.

In this 3-5 page essay, students will compare and contrast:

• Who is the hero or heroine in each text?

• What antagonist is each hero/heroine fighting?

• What is each hero/heroine’s “super power” and how do they demonstrate heroism?

• What is each character’s weakness or flaw as hero?

• Given all this, what do these graphic novels suggest about the nature of heroism?

Formal Essay #3: Researching History in the Graphic Novel

Art Spiegelman’s Maus and Mat Johnson and Warren Pleece’s Incognegro visualize history—specifically, histories of racial persecution— in surprising and thought-provoking ways. In your research essay, you will focus on Maus or Incognegro. Students will conduct background research on the images portrayed in the graphic novel. Students will compare and contrast the historical and cultural images you research with the graphic novelist’s visualization of history. Through research, students will gain a deeper understanding of the history and culture that the graphic novelists depict, and of the thematic impact of their artistic choices.

In your 4-6 page essay, students will:

• Report what they have learned about the historical events depicted in the graphic novel

• Compare and contrast specific images in Maus or Incognegro with historical images

• Analyze the impact of the choices made by the graphic novelist, and his implied attitude toward the historical events

• Use MLA style parenthetical citation and include a Works Cited list of research

Some possibilities:

• Maus reinterprets Margaret Bourke-White’s famous documentary photograph of the Buchenwald camp liberation. How does Spiegelman’s image of mice compare and contrast with Bourke-White’s photograph?

• How does Spiegelman’s depiction of Jews as mice and Nazis as cats allude to Nazi propaganda posters that portrayed Jews as rats?

• How does Maus reference and reimagine the Disney character Mickey Mouse?

• How do Johnson and Pleece represent the history of lynching, in comparison with James Allens’ collection of lynching postcards, Without Sanctuary?

• How do Johnson and Pleece portray the “one-drop rule” and racial “passing”? Students may want to investigate documentary images associated with the 1896 Supreme Court case of Plessy v. Ferguson or with the Rhinelander v. Rhinelander case in 1925.

• How do Johnson and Pleece allude to classic comic book detectives like Dick Tracy, or to detective fiction in 1920’s pulp magazines like Black Mask?

Graphic Narrative: Students will create your own short graphic narrative. Students will use brainstorming and drafting exercises in class to develop characters, narrative, and panel layout. Designing and creating a graphic narrative enables students to put their knowledge of the genre into practice. The graphic narrative should be two pages in length. This short length compels students to carefully consider the following choices:

• what story to tell (it can be fictional or autobiographical)

• the role and style of written narrative

• the role and style of visual storytelling

• intended reading audience

Students have a number of options for creating the graphic narrative: hand-drawing or painting, collage, or digital imaging software. Students may work individually or with a partner, but if working with a partner, each person must write an artist’s statement about their role in the project.

Formal Essay 4- Artist’s Statement

Students will write a one page single-spaced, first-person reflective statement explaining the choices they made in designing their graphic narratives. Essentially, the statement will provide the student’s interpretation of his or her own work. It should also discuss how the graphic novels and secondary sources we read in the course influenced the student’s decisions as an artist and writer.

Informal Writing on the Graphic Novel

What is your prior experience reading comic strips, comic books, or graphic novels?

I have given you a graphic novel page with the words removed. Based on the images that you see, write your own text in the word balloons.

I have given you a panel from a graphic novel with word balloons but no images. Based on the text, draw images you would expect to see.

Do you read a graphic novel differently than you read a print text? Think about how your eyes move over the pages of a graphic novel.

Respond to the following argument: Graphic novels actually limit the reader’s imagination, because they visualize the story for the reader.

How does Will Eisner’s portrait of the Bronx in A Contract with God compare to the Bronx today as you see it?

Why do you think that Marjane Satrapi narrates Persepolis from a child’s perspective?

How does the drawing style of Persepolis suggest a child’s perspective?

Incognegro opens with the full-page image of a lynching. What impact does this make on you as a viewer? Why do you think the artist chose to open with this image?

After reading Part One, what do you predict will happen at the end of Incognegro?

Incognegro suggests that race is a matter of appearances. Discuss how the graphic novel represents characters’ racial identities on the page.

In Maus I and II, Spiegelman persuades his father to recount his memories of the Holocaust. Discuss whether or not this is disrespectful.

Does Spiegelman portray his father as a hero?

It’s common to see animal characters in children’s books but uncommon to see animal characters in literature for adult readers. Why do you think that Spiegelman uses animal characters?

Some people might think of comic books as simple entertainment or escapism. Is the comic book a good way to explore serious topics like racism and genocide? Why or why not?

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