American Visions: Graphic Narrative Spring 2010 Ken Cooper (5267; 473-8583)

Welles 224 Office Hours: 11:45-12:45 TR, 2:30-3:15 TR, ABA

There is no emoticon for what I am feeling. Suppose we take these words of Comic Book Guy to heart and grapple with the slippages across mediums of expressionincluding, conversely, the ways in which graphic representation can evoke emotions just beyond our ability to explain them. This course on long-form comics (aka graphic novels) will draw upon literary, visual arts, and cultural studies theory to develop our vocabulary for describing this complex amalgamation of words and images. Although we will at least briefly touch upon superhero comics and their fandoms, the majority of our readings will come from other regions of the genre. TEXTS McCloud, Understanding Comics Moore/Gibbons, Watchmen Ware, Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth Bechdel, Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic Satrapi, Persepolis Spiegelman, Maus I & II Burns, Black Hole Medley, Castle Waiting Hernandez, Heartbreak Soup Shaw, Bottomless Belly Button Selected readings on myCourses EVALUATION This course presumes a great degree of intellectual autonomy, creativity, and initiative. It depends upon active and considerate participation in group discussions, whether of assigned readings or the writing of other participants. Your final grade will be determined as follows: An 8-10 pp. essay (guidelines explained below) 35% Ten short response papers 20 A graphic micronarrative and self-critique 15 Class discussion & peer reviews 15 An open book & notes final exam 15 SYLLABUS 1/19 Introduction: Comics and Transgression 1/21 Bushmiller, Nancy; Newgarden/Karasik, How to Read Nancy 1/26* 1/28 2/2* 2/4 2/9* 2/11 2/16 2/18 2/23* 2/25 McCloud, Understanding Comics McCloud, Understanding Comics Barks, The Second-Richest Duck; Brooks, Reading for the Plot Barks, The Money Champ; Arnheim, Balance Moore/Gibbons, Watchmen Moore/Gibbons, Watchmen Taylor, Investigating the Engendered Superhero Body; Paper #1 No class meeting Ware, Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth Ware, Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth

3/2* 3/4 3/9* 3/11

Bechdel, Fun Home Bechdel, Fun Home; Abstracts Satrapi, Persepolis Satrapi, Persepolis

Spring Break 3/23* 3/25 3/30* 4/1 4/6* 4/8 4/13* 4/15 4/20 4/22 4/27 4/29 5/4 5/7 Spiegelman, Maus I Spiegelman, Maus II Burns, Black Hole Burns, Black Hole Medley, Castle Waiting Medley, Castle Waiting Hernandez, Heartbreak Soup Hernandez, Heartbreak Soup; Paper #2 G.R.E.A.T. Dayno class meeting Shaw, Bottomless Belly Button Shaw, Bottemless Belly Button McCloud, The Right Number Gayeton, Molotov Alva and His Search for the Creator Final exam (6:45-9:45)

RESPONSE PAPERS One of our two weekly class meetings will emphasize free-ranging discussion about the assigned readings. In order to prepare yourself to be a dynamic participant, I would like for you to write a short response paper upon some aspect of the assigned text that seems particularly important & interestingin-depth development more than coverage or plot summary. For the sake of brevity and my own self-preservation, these response papers should be no longer than a single sheet of paper. I would prefer word-processed documents but will accept neatly handwritten ones, as well. They will be assigned a grade (+, , ) according to their analytical grasp of the assigned material, orginality, succinctness, and quality of writing. Your response papers are due on any class meeting date marked with an asterisk. From these 10 submissions, I will assign an overall letter grade at semesters end. PAPER#1: GRAPHIC MICRONARRATIVE This assignment is a hybrid project that will introduce you to the process of adapting texts to graphic form and then writing critically about that experience. Choose as your source material one of the following (available on myCourses), each of which poses a distinctive set of challenges and possibilities: Eggers, Accident Eggers, The Immortal Fly is Tired Ragpicker, Pick of the Litter Chopin, The Story of an Hour DivaLaMars, Family Reunion 2007 Angier, Sorry, Vegans: Brussels Sprouts Like to Live, Too Your final project should consist of two parts. The first is a short work of graphic narrative, no longer than 8 pp. Its first page should be presented in as fully finished a form as you are able to accomplish; the subsequent pages may be sketched out in slightly rougher, albeit legible form. The second part of your project is a brief 2-3 pp. reflective essay upon the experience. Youll be evaluated upon the effectiveness of your adaptationboth in terms of conception & executionand the sophistication with which you utilize this work as the platform for interesting things to say about comics in general. This assignment is due on February 16.

PAPER #2: RESEARCH PAPER The word research appears in quotation marks because I emphatically do not want you turning in a conventional research paper: performed half-heartedly, in response to draconian guidelines; bibliographies of works you havent read; little room for creative prose forms or original thought. I do want you to undertake a topic thats meaningful and then grow into it, utilizing research so as to minimize unsubstantiated spouting and to break through the tyranny of what you already know. I dont see research and creativity as antithetical. A few guidelines as to the overall process, which should result in an essay of approximately 8-10 pages: 1. Abstractby March 4 please post upon our class wiki a 1-2 pp. abstract describing, to the extent youre able, the focus and projected materials for your endeavor. Ill respond to you by March 18, along with comments by two other readers. Your remarks upon each others work should be about the length of a well-developed paragraph and identify strengths, pitfalls, and possibilities as specifically as possible. 2. Researchto meet the academic expectations of this assignment, youll need to undertake significant original research (not simply internet or secondary sources, although use of the latter is encouraged). This may involve comics assigned (or not) for our course, critical theory, adaptations or source materials in other media, and the recovery of primary documents relevant to your project. The final paper should have a fairly impressive bibliography (interpret that how you will). I encourage you to embark upon your inquiry without a predetermined thesis and instead remain alert to the uncanny aspects of your various textsit will produce a more innovative piece of writing. 3. Works-in-progressattempting to write your entire essay a day or two before the due date probably will result in lame product. Rather than waiting for the entire argument to coalesce in your head, why not begin writing now about some aspect of your project thats ready to go? That process almost certainly will clarify and sharpen your thinking; perhaps it will help you to realize there are 8-10 pages worth of interesting things to say about a more narrowly focused topic! Although youre always encouraged to drop by during office hours to discuss provisional ideas or to have me read works-in-progress, Ill schedule additional office hours the week of March 29-April 2 devoted to this purpose. 4. Due Datefinal drafts of your paper are due in class on April 15.