Graphic Novel Euphoria

I shall blog more about this when I am less tired and not recovering from the flu, but I had lunch with Art Spiegelman today. Tonight, I listened to him speak for nearly two hours. Although I've know for a while that I want to get a Ph.D. that will allow me to teach comic books, tonight solidified what I want and need to be doing with my life. And though things change, it looks as though I will be applying for a Ph.D. program directly out of Master's. Woot!

Book List

Okay, I said I wasn't going to post again for a few days, but many of you wanted to know my books list for my independent study course. So, I will be reading:

One Hundred Demons – Lynda Barry (Paired with the film "Lady Vengeance" or any other in the trilogy)
Fun Home: A Family Tragic Comedy – Alison Bechdel
Palestine – Joe Sacco
American Born Chinese – Gene Luen Yang
Same Difference and Other Stories – Derek Kirk Kim (Paired with the film "Oasis")
Pyongyang: A Journey in North Korea - Guy Delisle
The Alcoholic – Jonathan Ames
Epileptic – David B.
Inconegro – Mat Johnson (Paired with "Alien")
Boondocks – Aaron McGruder
Stuck Rubber Baby – Howard Cruse
Indian Summer – Milo Manara (Paired with the film "Smoke Signals" or "The Business of Fancy Dancing")
La Perdida – Jessica Abel
Berlin: City of Stones – Jason Lutes (Paired with "The Lives of Others")
Exit Wounds - Rutu Modan

I avoided some of the more obvious choices for this category, Maus, Persepolis, Jimmy Corrigan, Shortcomings, Ghost World, etc., because I had already read them, some multiple times. When I designed the course, I was looking to expand my base knowledge instead of relying on prior experience. Not to say that I wouldn't love to re-read those because they are wonderful and engaging.

If any of you have more suggestions, I'd be totally open! I'm still looking for films that can be married to the books, hopefully, it's apparent what my system is, but I'm mostly just reading the books and updating my Netflix queue.

Graphic Novel Splendor

I've been posting a lot lately and I'm sure that as soon as the semester kicks into full swing, I'll be backing off, but I did want to share this tidbit. 

For part of my degree, I have to do an independent study and I've chosen to work with my Native American Lit professor from last semester. He is super interested and invested in getting visual narratives and rhetoric up and running here at NAU. In fact, Art Spiegelman will be here at the end of the month and yesterday, the professor and some colleagues of mine hosted the first of four graphic novel work shops that will be held throughout the course of the semester. Our workshops focus on how to integrate visual narratives into composition and literary classrooms.

Anyhoo, my independent study, a course that I put together, will consist of me reading a graphic novel and watching a film a week. The course is called "Women and Minority Representations in Visual Narratives." I'm super stoked because I'm concentrating on laying a foundation for myself so that I can get into a Ph.D. program specializing in visual rhetoric.

I've got all the graphic novels laid out for the course, but if you have any films dealing with women and minorities you feel are specifically interesting, please feel free to suggest them.

Last bit, I just finished "Same Difference and Other Stories" by Derek Kirk Kim today. Awesome. He has a very different style than other graphic novel authors I've read.

Who's Long Tim?

Well, I've been gone for a while; it's true, check the dates. The past month or so, I haven't been able to articulate my thoughts on my experiences well enough to merit a post, but I'm feelin' some clarity tonight. First, the Top Ten Things I Did Whilst in Europe:

10. Met Alan Moore

9. Rode the Tube around London

8. Saw Avenue Q - quite literally the funniest musical EVER!

7. Stumbled upon my first Da Vinci painting

6. Got my very own hotel room in Paris three blocks from Notre Dame

5. Tried every new food I possibly could

4. Found out about standardized health care

3. Learned that taking days for myself and sightseeing without anyone else is a great thing to do

2. Went to Evensong at Westminster Abbey

1. I freaking went to Europe, and that is awesome!

Second. I live in Flagstaff now. Crazy, right? Oh, nay nay. Crazy, my friend, is having keys to my office and having a weekly schedule that includes teaching English 1050 Monday through Thursday at 10:20 in Room 216. Crazy is paying $600 dollars a semester for my Master's degree.

The point is, I love being here. I'm totally out of my comfort zone, but I have found my people who do not take the place of my other people, but help me to deal with living in a new state. I'm in the right spot in my life - geographically, chronologically, emotionally, intellectually, and academically - but that's not saying I won't continue to try to improve.

The one thing, dear analytical reader, that is missing from my list is spirituality. This past year has been a difficult for my membership in the church, but I haven't ever doubted that my membership is right and a good thing; I've just had questions, and frankly, I've gotten lazy.

I've come to the realization, once again, that life is totally about balance and I've let certain aspects of my life get out balance, most of which has been my connection with God and spirituality. I was trying to distance myself from the things I don't like about going to church or interacting with members of the church, and I began to turn my back on God.

But, my relationship with God, Jesus Christ, and the Spirit, and my membership in the church has nothing to do with nuisances of church culture or other members. I've learned, through many sources, that I must be Sarah La Rue and that my religious affiliations are through The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, that my intellectual pursuits help me understand the world and humanity better and more compassionately, that I am an English teacher who loves comic books, Batman, and graphic novels, that I am, always have been, and always been an intellectual and a feminist, and that how I must live is through a balanced existence of all that I am.

Pffff.... It's a Comic Book

Over the past few months, my little brother and I have gotten a lot closer. It could be that we're going to be camp counselors together this weekend and the excitement is acting as a catalyst, or it could be that we've finally realized that the other is more interesting that previously thought, not to say that we haven't loved each other. But this weekend, we really bonded - over books.

As he was helping me move, Jimmy asked if I had any books he would like. I was somewhat shocked that he would ask because although he is beyond highly intelligent, Jimmy has never sought after recreational reading because he has a tough time reading quickly and teachers are constantly pressuring him to get it done faster. After not thinking long at all, I gave him a copy of Watership Down, Fraud, and Blankets. I was most excited to give him Blankets because it's my absolute favorite graphic novel, and he became very excited to read it as I told him about the premise.

To make a long story short, a kid who has been working for almost a year on a 700 page book and only gotten 200 pages in got done with a 580 page graphic novel in less than 24 hours, and he was ecstatic about it. Jimmy decided to use Blankets for his 11th grade Honors English class book report. He worked on an intensive plot summary and even called me to get some feedback about the ending and to ask if I had any other graphic novels he could read. Luckily, C. Joe was on hand and was able to explain the allegory of the cave and some other insightful tips for Jimmy's book report.

When I talked to Jimmy today, after school, he related this story:
So, I handed in my book report to my teacher. She was, like, surprised I gave it to her since I usually don't hand it in 'til close to the last hour on the day of the due date. I made the mistake of showing her the book. She took one look and said, "This is a comic book."

I got really mad and tried to explain to her that comic books are "graphic short stories" and that this really was a novel.

The only reason she didn't argue with me was because we only had to read 100 pages and I read 580.

When he told me this, I was livid! (Yes! I'm using exclamations! And I never use exclamations! or bold and italics together!) First of all, why is an 11th grade HONORS class only expected to read 100 pages for a final book report?! People wonder why students are, oh, what's the word?... oh yes, illiterate when they graduate from high school. Well, it could be that they don't read and that they are handing in plot summaries which are readily available on sites like Sparknotes.

Secondly, why would a teacher's first inclination be to dismiss a student's work instead of understand it? If a student who is usually late with his or her assignments is excited to hand in an early draft of a book report, wouldn't that be cause for investigation and enthusiasm?

And lastly, I told myself to calm down. This teacher, who was once my teacher, may not know and therefore cannot make an educated decision about the teaching of graphic novels. But even though I'm more calm, I am still upset because this instance isn't unique to Jimmy's class or his high school experience - it was a part of mine too.

Jimmy then went on to tell me that he and his friends, who are not fond of reading, were totally engaged in the graphic novel during their next class - where, by the way, they were supposed to be watching a movie/babysitter instead of having a lesson (and! if they don't know how to unlock the visual, then what the hell kind of good is it going to do to show a movie whose only purpose is to fill-in-the-blanks? Bah!). The two other boys and Jimmy read 150 pages in an hour! Amazing! They loved it and one of the boys was especially affected by the subtle hints of child molestation that occurred in a scene.

If kids who don't like reading are engaged in book where their brain is functioning in a visual and a literary way, then why aren't these books being read more often? Why aren't we teaching students skills that will give them tools for life, not just passing tests? How many of these students will have to learn to evaluate propaganda, billboards, commercials, T.V., film, and the like? Ummmm.... pretty much all of them.

Graphic novels are not a cop-out or an alternative. They are valid forms of literature that help readers perceive the visual.

I wish people could open up more to than what they've been taught or what they know and stop trying to be so damn safe. I wish that teachers would try to understand and connect with students and popular culture instead of shunning and handing out labels like "easy" or "not intelligent." I wish teachers could see how visual our world is becoming.

And, instead of wishing things were better, I am meeting with one of the teachers who I had as a student at my old high school on Wednesday because Jimmy informed me there wasn't a single graphic novel to be found in the high school library. Something is going to get done at South Sevier High School and it has to start somewhere.