Tara
Forstner
November
29, 2011
English
112B
Dr. Warner
Unit of
Study:
Using
Graphic Novels as Complements to the Classics
Why
teach with graphic novels?
It is a researched fact that 40% of teenagers
today are alliterate. That is a very alarming
statistic and something needs to be done to change it. Reading can be
considered an acquired taste; you have to keep trying different books until you
find one that you like. However, young adults would rather watch the movie
version of a book online than read. This is the technology era and books do not
stand a chance. Or do they? An emerging genre of literature known as the
graphic novel is taking reading to a whole new level. Comic books have always
been a staple in American society for generations but rarely have they been
considered educational. Graphic novels are changing this perspective in that
they are taking the usual topics and creating them in an artistic manner that
is more engaging to teenagers. This is especially good news for teachers
because many of the classic novels that are taught in school today have now
been turned into graphic novels. Using these novels can also be beneficial to
English-Language students as they can provide a different medium for teaching
language. In his article, Critical
Literacies and Graphic Novels for English-Language Learners: Teaching Maus, Christian
W. Chun states, �Graphic novels like Maus, Barefoot Gen,
and Persepolis, about seminal events
in the not-so-distant past, can mediate these historical realities with their
unique visual narrative styles that allow many readers, especially adolescent
ones, to imagine and interpret characters� experiences that are far removed
from their daily lives.� By seeing
visuals of the text, they can better interpret what is going on in the novel
and can make the connection between picture and word.
For my unit of study, I have chosen to focus on Night by Elie Wiesel, which is generally taught to high school
sophomores, and complement it with the graphic novel Maus:
A survivor�s Tale II and Here my Troubles Began by Art Spiegelman.
The Holocaust is a horrific event in history that most students are very
removed from because it happened more than sixty years ago and also because it
was incident which is very unbelievable. The manner in which the Nazis
exterminated the Jewish people seems like something out of Hollywood and nobody
wants to believe that it actually happened. Night can be a difficult
novel to teach because of the content and I believe that teaching a graphic
novel alongside it will help the students visualize and connect with what went
on in the concentration camps. What makes Maus II so engaging is the use of animals
instead of people and the integration of the present with the past. Art is
interviewing his father Vladek about his time in the
Auschwitz concentration camp. Art wrote the novel after his father�s death and
is recalling the days he spent with him in order to record his story. I chose Maus II because it focuses more on Vladek�s year in Auschwitz, just as Night does. Both
novels have themes of family, religion and war that are key elements to
understanding how these men survived this historical event.
Launching
the Unit
Night
I
would begin the unit by first introducing Night. Before reading the
novel I would use the following activities to introduce the students to the
Holocaust.
1) Have
the students do a quick write about discrimination using the following prompt:
Have you ever been discriminated against because of your religion, race,
gender, or sexual orientation? If yes, when? How did you handle it? Have you
ever witnessed acts of discrimination against others? When? What happened?
Discussion of their answers will follow.
2) The
next activity will be for them to read the poem The Butterfly by Pavel Freidman, a
teenager living in the Theresienstadt Ghetto.
The last, the very last,
So richly, brightly, dazzlingly yellow.
Perhaps if the sun's tears would sing
against a white stone. . . .
Such, such a yellow
Is carried lightly 'way up high.
It went away I'm sure because it wished to
kiss the world good-bye.
For seven weeks I've lived in here,
Penned up inside this ghetto.
But I have found what I love here.
The dandelions call to me
And the white chestnut branches in the court.
Only I never saw another butterfly.
That butterfly was the last one.
Butterflies don't live in here,
in the ghetto.
Following the reading, the students
will discuss the tone of the poem- is it happy or sad? Optimistic
or pessimistic? What images stand out? What do you think the butterfly
symbolizes?
3) I will
then show a clip from the movie Schindler�s
List. It is a clip of the Jewish people being forced out of their ghetto
and rounded up for transport by the Nazis while a young girl in a red coat is
wandering amidst all of the chaos. It can be found on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1VL-y9JHuI&feature=relmfu. After,
I will discuss the clip and ask what the students know about the Holocaust.
Maus II
To
introduce the graphic novel, I would have the students do a quick write on the following
questions:
1) What do
you know about graphic novels? Have
you ever read one? If yes, which one/s? If given the choice, would you rather
read a book or a graphic novel? If you have not read one, what do you think a
graphic novel is?
2) I would
then show two movie clips:
a)
A clip from the movie Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, which is adapted from a graphic novel.
I will have the students pay close attention to visual elements that the movie
uses.
b)
I would then show a clip of the movie Watchmen, which is also adapted from a
graphic novel.
c)
An explanation about graphic novels will
follow the clips with a discussion about what the students wrote for their
quick write.
The
Main Texts
Reading
two texts at once is going to require a lot of time management. I would read Night
in class and then assign Maus II as
homework. The following assignments will be used:
1) While
reading Maus II the students will keep
a dialectical journal. They will choose a scene which
stands out to them or is confusing to them. They will summarize the scene and
explain why they chose it. They will also write down any words that they do not
understand and we will go over them in class. Each day we will compile a
vocabulary list from these words.
2) In
class, the students will be put into groups to discuss the similarities and
differences between the two novels. Which one is easier for them to understand?
Which one do they like better?
3) The
students will be assigned a chapter from Maus
II and they will then choose a scene to act out that is important to both
novels. Each group will explain why they chose that scene and how it relates
back to Night.
4) Discuss
the familial relationships in both novels between Eliezer
and his father and between Vladek and Anja. Which relationship is more powerful to them? The
written one or the graphic one? Are
they both equally powerful? Why?
5) In groups, have the students discuss why
Art Spielgelman decided to use cats and mice to
depict the Germans and the Jews in his story. Does this help the students
understand the story better? Why or why not? Which animals would they use if
they were to tell the story? After,
have a class discussion about their answers.
6) In
groups, the students will compare and contrast the experiences of the main
characters of each of the novels. While the characters in each of the novels
are sent to the same camp, there are differences in their experiences.They will be responsible for answering
the following questions: Do Eliezer or Vladek gain special privileges while in Auschwitz? If so
how and why? Do you think age plays a role in who will survive in the camps?
7) As a
final project, have the students assume the role of either Eliezer
or Art and write a letter to a loved one in graphic novel form. Emphasize the
importance of word selection and sound effects as well as the emotions of their
characters in art form.
8)
To end the unit, I will show a documentary
about the Holocaust such as Auschwitz:
Inside the Nazi State, a 2005 production by the BBC about the latest
details on one of the most horrific concentration camps during the war.
Extending
the Unit
There
are a small group of graphic novels about the Holocaust that the students can
read on their own if they choose to pursue more information. There are also
regular novels about this topic that may also spark their interest. All of these novels can also be used as
an extra complement to the main texts.
Graphic Novels
Anne Frank: A Graphic Biography by Sid
Jacobson. Illustrated by Ernie Col�n.
This graphic novel, approved by the Anne Frank House, tells the story of
Anne and her family from her parent�s life before the girls to the family�s
days in hiding to their capture and their lives in the concentration camps. The
story ends with Otto Frank�s return to Amsterdam, the publishing of Anne�s
diary and the opening of the Anne Frank House Museum. (http://www.annefrank.org/en/Worldwide/Education/Graphic-Biography/) This
graphic biography brings Anne Diary to life in a new and exciting way for
students. It can be taught alongside her diary.
The Search. Illustrated by Eric Heuvel and written by Eric Heuvel,
Ruud van der Rol and Lies Schippers
In this graphic novel, the
readers follow Esther, a young Jewish girl as she fights to stay alive during
the Holocaust. Separated from her parents, Esther goes into hiding and learns
at the end of the war that her parents have been killed. Years later, Esther
begins a search to learn the truth about her parent�s fate, all with the help
of her grandson (http://www.annefrank.org/en/Worldwide/Education/The-Search/).
Family
Secret. Illustrated by Eric Heuvel and written by
Eric Heuvel, Menno Metselaar,
Rudd van der Rol, and Hans Groenweg
Jerone is searching through his Grandmother
Helena�s attic for things to sell in a yard sale when he stumbles upon an old
scrapbook from the Second World War. When he questions his grandmother about
the war, he learns his family has secret they have been keeping about their
lives during this time (http://www.annefrank.org/en/Worldwide/Education/A-Family-Secret/).
I Was a child of a Holocaust Survivor by
Bernice Eisenstein
Growing up, Bernice Eisenstein
always felt she was living her life in the shadows of the Holocaust. While she
was born after the Second World War, her parent�s lives were still deeply
rooted in the past. Through this graphically enriched novel, Einstein tells the
story of her life as a child of holocaust survivors (http://www.randomhouse.com/book/45649/i-was-a-child-of-holocaust-survivors-by-bernice-eisenstein).
Auschwitz by
Pascal Croci.
Illustrated in
gripping black and white photos, this novel tells the story of fictional couple
Kazik and Cessnia as they
struggle to stay alive in a camp that claimed the life of their daughter. Based
on actual interviews with survivors, this story depicts the horror and
brutality of the Holocaust with immediacy and disturbing reality (http://www.powells.com/biblio/2-9780810948310-4).
Resistance I by Carla Jablonski and illustrated by Leland Purvis.
Paul Tessler lives in a small French village
during World War I and his father has been taken as a
prisoner of war by the German Army. With his father away, Paul is now
the man of the house and must keep things in order. Paul�s life becomes more
complicated than ever when he decides to hide his Jewish friend Henri Levy, whose
parents have vanished. Paul and his sister Marie keep Henri hidden but somehow
their secret is leaked out to the Resistance. Paul, Marie and Henri must now
take on the roles of the youngest members of the Resistance (http://hclib.org/teens/booklistaction.cfm?list_num=404).
Novels
Number the Stars by
Lois Lowry
Annemarie Johansen and her best friend Ellen Rosen can�t help but to
think of their lives before the war. Now it is 1943 and their
life in Copenhagen consist of school, food shortages, and Nazi soldiers on the
street corners. The Nazis are showing no signs of backing down and now the Jews
of Denmark are being �relocated�. Annemarie�s family has agreed to take Ellen
in as their and pass her off as their daughter.
Annemarie is asked to go on a dangerous mission that will test her strength and
courage in order to save her friend�s life
Briar Rose by
Jane Yolen
Rebecca, Shanna, and Sylvia are now all young adults, but each remembers
their grandmother telling and retelling the �Sleeping Beauty� fairy tale. Their
grandmother�s stories always held some harsh and strange images that were not
part of the original tale. Following her death, Rebecca is left with her �Gemmas�s� parting words: �I am Briar Rose.� Rebecca�s
search to find the real identity of her grandmother leads to another chapter in
the horrendous story of the Holocaust
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by
John Boyne
The son of a Nazi officer befriends a boy in striped pajamas who lives
behind a wire fence in the strange place called Out-With in 1942 (http://hclib.org/teens/booklistaction.cfm?list_num=404).
Websites which the students can access for further information about the Holocaust.
http://www1.yadvashem.org/yv/en/holocaust/index.asp?WT.mc_id=ggcamp&WT.srch=1
Auschwitz:Inside
the Nazi State. Dir. Laurence Rees.
2005.
Boyne, John. The Boy in the Striped Pajamas: A
Fable. New York: David Ficklin Books, 2006.
Chun, Christain W. "Critical Literacies and
Graphis Novels for English-Language Learners: Teaching Maus." Journal
of Adolescent and Adult Literacy (2009): 144-153.
Corci, Pascal. Auschwitz. New York: Harry N.
Abrams, 2004.
Eisenstein, Bernice. I Was a Child of Holocaust
Survivors. New York: The Penguin Group, 2007.
Freidman, Pavel. "The International School for
Holocaust Studies." Yad Vashem. 23 November 2011
<http://www1.yadvashem.org/yv/en/education/lesson_plans/poems_paintings.asp>.
Jablonski, Carla. Resistance I. New York:
First Second, 2010.
Lowry, Lois. Number the Stars. New York:
Yearling, 1989.
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. Dir. Edgar Wright. Perf. Michael Cerra, Mary
Elisabeth Winstead and Kieran Culkin. 2010.
Spiegelman, Art. Maus A Survior's Tale II And Here
My Troubles Began. New York: Pantheon Books, 1986.
Warner, Mary L. Adolescents in the Search for
Meaning: Tapping the Powerful Resource of Story. Lanham: The Rowman &
Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc., 2006.
Watchmen.
Dir. Zack Snyder. Perf. Jackie Earl Haley, Patrick Wilson and Carla Gugino.
2009.
Wiesel, Elie. Night. New York: Hill and Wang,
1958.
Yolen, Jane. Briar
Rose. New York: Tom Doherty Associates, LLC, 1992.