Unit11BannedandControversialBooks:GraphicNovels

Graphicnovelsareanalternativereadingmediumthathasbeenfoundtoencouragestudents
toengageinreadingandbuildtheirfluencyandcomprehensionskills.Thegraphicnovel
formatisoftendismissedasqualityliteraturebecauseofitssimilaritiestocomicbooks.ELL
studentshavebenefittedfromtheillustrationswithinthesetexts,whichprovidecontextclues
thathelpstudentstoovercometheirlanguagebarriers.Inordertoaddressthediverse
makeupoftodaysclassrooms,itisnecessarytoreevaluatetheuseoftextbooksasaprimary
curriculumresource.Researchhasshownthatoldmediadoesnotadequatelyaddressthe
learningneedsofstrugglingadolescentstudentsasmuchasnewmedia(Crenshaw&
Schwarz,2011).Burton(2014)discoveredherstudentswereabletoimprovetheir
sensemakingusingthegraphicspresentinthesupplementalreading.Incontrast,some
educatorsvoicedtheirconcernsaboutthecontentdisplayedinthesebooks.Whilegraphic
novelsareafunmediumtouseforenhancingliteracyskills,thesenovelsmustpresent
accuratefacts,notincorrect,superficialinformationaboutatopic.Carefulselectionmustbe
donetoensurethesetradebooksactasenrichmentresourcesthathelptodevelopthe
understandingofaconcept.

Thefrequentuseofgraphicnovelsinclassroomstodayindicateseducatorshaveembraced
thisformatasavaluablepartofthecurriculum.MausIandIIhasbeenused,inadditionto
Night,whilediscussingtheeventsoftheHolocaust.Inthelasttenyears,celebrating9/11
hasbecomeapartoftheannualschooltradition.Themajorityofschoolagedchildrenview
thisdayasahistoricalevent,notamomentthattookplaceduringtheirlifetime.Thedistance
thattheseyoungpeoplehavetoward9/11challengestheirabilitytomakeconnectionstothis
eventortheirancestorswhohavelivedthroughothernotablemomentsinhistory.Graphic
novelsofferadifferentstrategytoaddresstheperceptionsofgroupsofpeopleinthepast.
Art
Spiegelmans
illustrationsofJewishpeoplerepresentedbymiceandGermansascats,
givestudentsareferencetoopenlydiscusstheHolocaustandaskessentialquestionsabout
thestereotypesofthepredator/preyrelationshipwithinthenovel.Furthermore,students
shouldprovideevidencetosupportwhethertheythinkthispowerstruggleanddiscrimination
stillexistsintodayssociety.Tolerance,compassion,andempathyforothersmustbe
encouragedinordertopreventrepeatingthesepastinjustices.

Inadditiontoaddressingcontroversialtopics,graphicnovelshavebeenshowntoprovide
logodiversity.Burton(2014)testedonegroupofstudentsusingatextbookandanothergroup
usingthesametextbookwithsupplementalcharts,graphs,andvisualstogivedeeper

meaningtothecontent.Thesecondgroupwasabletogobeyondsurfacelearningand
achievedhighertestresultsonthegivenassessment.Thequestionremains:ifgraphic
novelsareusefultoolsforimprovingthereadingcomprehensionoflowlevellearners,then
whybanthemfromschools?Violencehasbeenakeyfactorthatsomeparentscannot
dismiss.Theissuestemsfromthefactthatsomeofthevibrant,reallifeimageshavebeen
deemedtooviolentanddonotaccuratelyrepresentdisabledstudents(
Irwin&Moeller,2012).
Thisyear,studentscomplainedaboutthemediumbecausetheywantedtogeneratetheirown
imageswhilereadingthenovels,nothavetheimagesruintheirimagination.Graphicnovels,
acommonsightincomicbookstores,areafairlyrecentadditiontothecorecurriculum
classes.Moreresearchneedstobedonetodeterminewhetherthisformatisvalidforthe
classroomorforuseassupplementalreadingtoincreasethefluencyforalternativestudents.
Thisformatcouldhelpthemreadindependentlyandincreasetheirawarenessofcomplex
socialissues.Feedbackgatheredfromstudents,teachers,andparentsperceptionswillplay
aroleinevaluatingtheseresourcesforfutureuseinschools.

Resources:
Burton,R.(2014).Readability,logodiversity,andtheeffectivenessofcollegescience
textbooks.
Bioscene:JournalofCollegeBiologyTeaching,40
(1).310.

Schwarz,G.&Crenshaw,C.(2011).Oldmedia,newmedia:Thegraphicnovelas
Bildungsroman.

JournalofMediaLiteracyEducation,3
(1).4753.

Nesmith,S.,Cooper,S.,&Schwarz,G.(2011).Exploringgraphicnovelsforelementary
scienceandmathematics.
SchoolLibraryMediaResearch
,14.Retrievedfrom:
http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ955798.pdf

Irwin,M.&Moeller,R.(2012).Seeingthesame:Afollowupstudyontheportrayalsof
disabilityingraphicnovelsreadbyyoungadults.
SchoolLibraryResearch
,15.