Graphic Novels Handout

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FEB 1 FREE In the English Classroom KAPOW! ZAP! ONOMATOPOEIA! BLAM!

Transcript of Graphic Novels Handout

Page 1: Graphic Novels Handout

FEB

1 FREE

In the English Classroom

KAPOW!ZAP!ONOMATOPOEIA!

BLAM!

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Top Ten Graphic Novels Recommended for the ClassroomDr Jekyll and Mr HydeAlan Grant and Cam Kennedy adapt Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic talein a stunning, yet faithful adaptation. Also available in a Scots translationby Matthew Fitt.

MausPulitzer Prize winning account by Art Spiegelman of his father’s experienc-es in a WWII concentration camp. Gripping and emotional, the book usesthe visual metaphor of cats and mice not to trivialise, but to individualisethe horrors of the holocaust.

We3Grant Morrison’s “western manga” about three animal test subjects whoescape from a lab in search of “home”. Raises many questions abouthumanity, freedom, and the nature of language while continuing to stun withFrank Quitely and Jamie Grant’s artwork.

Charley’s WarThe graphic equivalent of “Dulce et Decorum est”, Pat Mills pens this movingtale of one man’s experience in the trenches that sent shockwaves throughthe comics industry on its first publication.

PersepolisMarjane Satrapi’s autobiographical account of growing up in Iran duringthe Islamic Revolution and its effects on school, family and home. Adaptedinto an animated film.

Classical Comics: MacbethAvailable in original or simplified text versions, brings one of Shakespeare’smost revered dramas to life in all its blood-stained magical glory.

Tale of One Bad RatBrian Talbot’s award winning story of a young girl’s escape from abuse,filtered through the works of Beatrix Potter.

WatchmenOften referred to as the “Citizen Kane” of comics, Alan Moore’s post-modern take on superheroes revolutionised the graphic novel. Currentlybeing film as a live-action feature.

PalestineA journalist’s eye-witness account of the West Bank and Gaza Strip duringthe first Intifada. Surprisingly humourous, Joe Sacco still captures theheart of a complex political situation.

The SandmanNeil Gaiman’s masterpiece of fantasy storytelling that takes a guided tourthrough over 3000 years of fable with some of the most unforgettablecharacters ever set to paper.

Spider-Man: BlueDream team duo of Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale take on Spider-Man with surprisingdepth and emotion. Deals with Peter Parker’s awkward relationshipsagainst a background of impossible super villains.

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Comics Terminology

Page

Panel/frame

Gutter (spacebetweenpanels)

"Camera" anglesshot-reverseshot close up

long shot

Splash panel. Also, splashpage (if full page)

Bleed (image runsoff page) Also,full bleed, imageruns off page onall sides.

Borderless panel

Thought balloon/bubble

Speechballoon/bubble

Emanata

Narrativebox/voice-over

Other terms

Spread: two facing pages in a printed bookRecto/verso: technical terms for pages in a spread. Recto = right page, verso = left pagePrinter’s spread: the layout of pages for printing. Not the same as a spread in a printed book.Thumbnail: a rough sketch of a comic, delineating placement of figures, word balloons, and background elements, as well as content of word balloons.Pencil: a relatively defined drawing preliminary to the final inked stage.Inks: the final stage of a comics drawing (applying ink to the pencil guidelines)Mockup: a rough layout of pages to plan a bookPaste-up: the final artwork pages ready for printingIndicia: important copyright and other legal information printed in a book, usually at the beginning.

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Often comics will contain very sophisticated literary devices, but since it is a visual medium, it isoften hard to spot them.

Foreshadowing:

Authors use a number of techniques to foreshadow, including dialogue that reveals a charactertrait, describing the behaviour of one or more characters, a plot turn that alters thecircumstances for a character, or a brief setting change that divulges information that willbecome crucial later in the story. Similar techniques are used in comics, but often through theart as opposed to the words.

Examine the pictures on the next three pages from the wordless graphic novel “Tuesday” by DavidWiesner.1) What kind of mood do they present?2) How is this achieved?3) What is the effect of getting closer and closer to the lizard on the first page?4) How does the last panel of the first page relate to the double page spread that follows?

The twist on the second page is surprising, due to its surreal image of flying frogs, but notunexpected, due to the foreshadowing..

Task:Now, try to write a description of the scene that unfolds over the first three pages of “Tuesday”.Be as descriptive as you can, and try to make the revelation of the frogs as shocking aspossible (often hard to do when you are writing at a slower pace!)

Onomatopoeia:

Onomatopoeia is where a writer attempts to imitate a sound withwords. This is a technique more often associated with comics thanliterature - especially if you have ever seen the 1960s “Batman” TVseries!

Comics have to be very descriptive with their onomatopoeia, as thereis often a lot of action in a single panel and the reader has to knowwhich action the sound refers to. For example, guns will never go

“Bang!” in comics, they will go “Blam!”, “Brrrekkk” or “Braka! Braka!Braka!”

Task:Examine a variety of comics, then note down interesting uses ofonomatopoeia and what sounds they are describing, e.g. “Kunkk” - a metal door being slammed.

Use this technique in your own writing, to make the sounds more interesting and individual.Forget clocks going “tick tock” - what sound do they really make?

Literary Devices with Comics

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Poetry and Comics

Every word in a poem counts. A word conjures an image, images juxtaposed tocreate something new or suggest something elusive. Comics, like poetry, are aboutsimplifying and paring down. There is only so much space on a page and every markmust count. Visual concerns are crucial for both media. A cartoonist cascadespanels across a page as a poet decides the placement of each line and letter.

In the examples show here students were asked to createa twelve panel grid and have text in each panel that alterna-tively begins, “I used to believe/but now I know.”

This exercise comes from Kenneth Koch’s “Wishes, Lies andDreams” which is full of great exercises for teaching poetry,many of which encourage the juxtaposition of language ininteresting ways. When done with comics, this exercise canadd visual juxtaposition to the mix.

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Silent Joke Cartoon ExerciseStep One:

From the list below, choose a cliche scenario. Draw a cartoon based on thatscenario, but do not add a caption. Draw it as if a caption existed, so onecharacter (specified by the word “caption”) will have their mouth open as if they weresaying something.

Step Two:

Pass your drawings to a partner who will then write five captions for the scenario.

Step Three:

Draw another captionless joke. Make the drawing any scenario you want, but trynot to make it a cliche. Again, swap with a partner and write five captions for eachother’s drawings. For inspiration, look at some of Gary Larson’s “Far Side” cartoons.

Scenarios:

A man with a cast in a hospital bed, with a visitor by his side. (Caption: either)

A business meeting at a long desk with a man at the head pointing to a graph chart going down. (Caption:man at graph)

Over-the-shoulder view of someone looking at a dialogue box on their computer. (Caption: dialogue box)

Martians coming out of their flying saucer in the middle of a cow pasture. One of the Martians is sayingsomething to a cow. (Caption: Martian)

A child on Santa’s knee at a shopping centre. (Caption: child)

Two cavemen standing in front of a stone wheel. One of them has a hammer and chisel, as if he had justfinished making it. (Caption: either caveman)

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Creating a CharacterHere are 20 questions to create a quality character. The idea is that your character should be someone thatwould be able to exist in the real world, with likes and dislikes, a past, a future, desires and flaws, just likeall of us. Try to answer the questions as creatively and realistically as possible.

Physical description:

1. Name:

2. Age:

3. Sex:

4. Ethnicity:

5. Description of features and mannerisms:

Personal/professional history:

1. Education:

2. Occupation:

3. Description of parents:

4. Description of upbringing/childhood:

5. Main relationships:

6. Type/intensity of religion, if any:

Personality:

1. Basic personality traits (thoughtful, angry, goofy, etc.)

2. Shortcomings/weaknesses:

3. Strengths/special abilities:

What makes this character tick?

1. Driving motivation(s) or goals:

Interrogate your character:

1. Dirty secret:

2. First love:

3. Favourite music and/or art:

4. Incident that created a scar, either physical or mental:

5. Describe a turning point in character's life:

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Developing and exploring a CharacterLook over the details of the character you created before and now draw a sketch of them.

Explore the character in the following timed writing exercises of five minutes each. Importantis to write slowly, and keep your pen or pencil moving. Write the images and ideas that appearin your head as you relax and try to focus on seeing the character.

If you get stuck, write "WHAT IF" and continue fromthere, allowing your writing to take surprising turns.

For example, if you are writing, "John the ape is blue with scales and is movingslowly down the hill towards the town," and then get stuck, try "WHAT IF?" Forinstance, "WHAT IF he is not walking, but he is sledding down the hill, on a giantbillboard..." In other words, let your ideas and images change to somethingdifferent, even if they seem ludicrous.

Write on the following for five minutes each. Keep your pen moving during each one, and use,"WHAT IF?" to get yourself unstuck if you need to.

1) Write something the character wants. It can be world peace, the end of evil or a glassof water. It could be as simple or grand as your imagination wants it to be. Write thefirst thing that comes to mind, and let it change as you follow the train of thought. Bythe end of this five minutes, you may find that your character wants something differentthan you originally believed.

2) Describe and envision your character's LAST fight or argument with another character --it can be a mother, an enemy, a friend, a grocer -- whomever. Just imagine an argumentor fight, and imagine that this is the FINAL time this fight will ever happen. Describe itvisually or with dialogue if you like. Just remember to see it in your mind, write slowlyand follow the imagery you see. Write what you see.

3) In the same way, describe the character's death. Imagine how you see the characterliving his or her last moments. You are not defining the character's entire story archere; you are merely playing with the POSSIBLE ways your character might die. Use

"WHAT IF..." if you get stuck. You may find yourself describing numerous deaths for thesame character. All this writing reveals more about the personality and drive of yourcharacter.

4) In the same way as above, describe an imagined CHILDHOOD SCENE.

5) Briefly make a list of objects in the character's pocket, backpack, in his car, or some-thing he is holding. Make a list of possible objects. Begin with one of them and describea scene with that object. Is your character giving it to someone? Receiving it? How isshe using it? Who else wants if? Again, don't answer these questions directly, justdescribe a scene.

Don't stop writing!

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You are now going to write a very simple story about your character to get to knowthem better.

Your story should deal with your characters journey somewhere ordinary (thecoffee shop, their work, school, etc. - you decide!). It should be grounded inreality, but try to add some imaginary elements.

You story should have a solid structure (see the diagram over the page if you needreminding about the basic three-act structure) so you need to determine whereand when it will start and where it will end. It must logically conclude somewherenear their destination.

Task:This will be a single page comic with 9 panels. Produce a script for your story, remembering to be mindful of howmuch information can actually fit into a single panel of a comic.

When this is finished, you will produce TWO versions of the story!

Version 1: In 9 panels, tell the story purely visually, with no text or sound effects. In this version it mighthelp to imagine that a companion who travels with (or near) your character for the entire journey holds the

"camera." Imagine this person is using a still camera, with limited ability to zoom or get too close to them; thecamera work should be very limited. The camera has just 9 shots left.

Version 2: In 9 panels tell the story purely visually, again with no text or sound effects. Taking EXACTLY THESAME MOMENTS from version 1, tell the story this time with much more ambitious camera work. Your budget islimitless -- you can use helicopters, cranes, etc. With this camera work you must ENHANCE the storytelling. Besure to use shots that promote storytelling. You might wish to use this camera work to convey an overall idea,or create a certain ambience. But remember, you can't change the actual events, only the way we view this action.So if in panel 1 version 1 the character is just getting out of bed, then you must chose the exact same moment(with a different view) for version 2.

Compare the two versions and see how the same story can be radically changed by the use of thoughtful andadventurous camera work.

Extension:Once you've completed both versions, compare and contrast the effectiveness of the stories. Now, take version2 and ADD 3 more moments. These could be between existing panels, or at the beginning or end, consecutive ornot. Essentially you're "filling the gaps". Now you have a chance to tell the story injecting a different mood and/oratmosphere.

Task:Finally combine both versions into one big story. Use all the panels from version 1 and version 2. See how the

"simple" and more ambitious shots work surprisingly well next to each other. Maybe a mixture of shot types is agood style of storytelling?

Finally, chose any number of panels to form your ideal version of the story, as few as you wish or all of them.

Andy Runton’s “Owly” comics are great examples of this simple, yet effective, silent storytelling.

Writing a simple narrative

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Writing about yourself is often one of the hardest things todo, since real life does not follow the rules of fiction andpeople are rarely as interesting as characters in a comic.One of the main traps that people fall into is thinking, “...butnothing interesting has happened to me!” - mature fiction,though, often relies on the small things, rather than cataclys-mic events.

For inspiration, read the short stories of James Kelman,alongside the autobiographical comics of Harvey Pekar andRobert Crumb for an idea of what sophisticated, subtlestorytelling can achieve.

Task:Write a 2-3 page story in thumbnail form about an event that changed you in some way. But pleaseplease please make it a SMALL change. You can't adequately cover your feelings about a deathof a person close to you or a divorce of parents or something like that in 2-3 pages. Try tothink of something like when you changed your mind about something, or maybe changed yourclothes.

Do:

Autobiography is a kind of self-portrait. It's not about what you did, it's about who you are.Find a story to tell that has something to say about you and the way you are.

Think about structure: You need to impose, if not 3-act structure, then at least some kind ofcadence or rhythm on events that may not have had any structure at all.

Be tough with yourself and be honest about your role in events and how others act towards you.

Don't:

Don't just write an anecdote, that is, don't just tell a funny story you would tell at a party. You'llend up with a “you had to be there” kind of feeling.

Don't rely on narration too much (where the images just illustrate a story you're narrating).There are lots of options here: only dialogue, modest narration augmented by dialogue, fullnarration with images showing contrasting image narration.

Don't be self-indulgent: avoid self-aggrandizing and also self-pity.

Don’t use cliched conclusions or morals. In fact, avoid morals entirely. If there's a lesson tobe learned, let it be understood by your readers rather than telling them outright.

Autobiography

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Other Ideas for Comics in the Classroom

Myths and Legends

Pupils recreate a myth or legend about a culture they have stud-ied. They could either retell one they know, focusing on the art-work, or they could write themselves into a tale involving thosemythical characters a la “The Sandman”.

Interviews

Students could conduct a comics interview (in the style of “Maus”or “Palestine”) with a historical figure such as Julius Caesar,Winston Churchill or Genghis Khan; or a character from a novelthey have studied, making sure to move away from a talkingheads format to illustrate what the character is saying. Theskill will come in making sure that they do not write what thereader can already see and vice versa.

Time, Continuity and Change

Have students retell a historical event, or an event from a novelthey have read from a perspective not normally chosen (as in

“Persepolis” or even “Charley’s War”). For example, a warthrough the eyes of a child, the Salem witch trials from the per-spective of an afflicted girl, Lady Macbeth’s decent into madnessfrom the perspective of her servant, Winston Smith’s interroga-tion from the perspective of the Thought Police, etc...

Mixed-up homonyms

This can be a hard part of spelling/language for students to learn, so make it fun with humour.Have students brainstorm a list of homonyms. Then have students create short comic stripsto show how the meaning of a sentence or idea is changed when the wrong word (homonym) isused.

Personification Poetry

Students write a poem which personifies an object and create a comic to visually illustratetheir poem. They should choose something non-human and brainstorm feelings and experiencesthat might apply to it. They then personify their subject in a poem. When transferring this intoa graphic format, it can be interesting to go beyond mere illustration and to work in some visu-al juxtapositions or images that play off ambiguity in the words.

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Talk about the story:Is there a 3-act structure?Who is the main character and what is his/her motivating desire or need?How is that need addressed?How is the story resolved?Do you think that the author has made the story compelling? How?Did you find it satisfying? Why or why not?

Talk about the timing:Did the story fit the length? (i.e., did it feel cramped or overlong?)Where should the story be compressed or lengthened?Was closure used in an interesting way at any particular point?

Talk about the art:How appropriate is the art to the story?What panel(s) did you like the best? Why?Choose a panel that needs work. What would you suggest?How well integrated are the drawings and the words?Can they exist apart, or are they interdependent?Look for a place where drawing takes the place of words.

Talk about the writing:Is the dialogue well-written?Do the characters have individual, distinctive voices?Are descriptions well chosen, or do they repeat what is visible in the drawing?

Editing and peer assessmentNow that you have finished writing and illustrating your comic, you should reflect on your work.This will help you to note what went right this time and, also, how you can improve next time youwrite a story.

Swap your comics with a partner and answer the following questions about each other’s comic.These are the types of questions that real-life comic editors and publishers use to see whethera story is fit to print or not.