GRAPHIC NOVELS in ADVANCED ENGLISH/LANGUAGE ARTS CLASSROOMS: a PHENOMENOLOGICAL CASE STUDY Cary Gillenwater a Dissertation Submi

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GRAPHIC NOVELS in ADVANCED ENGLISH/LANGUAGE ARTS CLASSROOMS: a PHENOMENOLOGICAL CASE STUDY Cary Gillenwater a Dissertation Submi GRAPHIC NOVELS IN ADVANCED ENGLISH/LANGUAGE ARTS CLASSROOMS: A PHENOMENOLOGICAL CASE STUDY Cary Gillenwater A dissertation submitted to the faculty of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the School of Education. Chapel Hill 2012 Approved by: Madeleine Grumet James Trier Jeff Greene Lucila Vargas Renee Hobbs © 2012 Cary Gillenwater ALL RIGHTS RESERVED ii ABSTRACT CARY GILLENWATER: Graphic novels in advanced English/language arts classrooms: A phenomenological case study (Under the direction of Madeleine Grumet) This dissertation is a phenomenological case study of two 12th grade English/language arts (ELA) classrooms where teachers used graphic novels with their advanced students. The primary purpose of this case study was to gain insight into the phenomenon of using graphic novels with these students—a research area that is currently limited. Literature from a variety of disciplines was compared and contrasted with observations, interviews, questionnaires, and structured think-aloud activities for this purpose. The following questions guided the study: (1) What are the prevailing attitudes/opinions held by the ELA teachers who use graphic novels and their students about this medium? (2) What interests do the students have that connect to the phenomenon of comic book/graphic novel reading? (3) How do the teachers and the students make meaning from graphic novels? The findings generally affirmed previous scholarship that the medium of comic books/graphic novels can play a beneficial role in ELA classrooms, encouraging student involvement and ownership of texts and their visual literacy development. The findings also confirmed, however, that teachers must first conceive of literacy as more than just reading and writing phonetic texts if the use of the medium is to be more than just secondary to traditional literacy. The findings also affirmed that a complex interaction of iii pedagogy, curriculum, and historical influences inform, affect, and shape this phenomenon and create tensions around the use of this medium, particularly for students. The study also produced some interesting findings that complicated and even challenged current scholarship about the canon, literacy, and using comic books/graphic novels in the ELA classroom. While it is understood that canonical texts often persist due to social and cultural forces that influence both schooling and our society, there are also less controlling forces influencing the canon, particularly nostalgia. The findings also suggest that excellent traditional literacy abilities can play an important role in understanding and interpreting images; however, instruction in the arts and visual literacy can augment and deepen students’ visual literacy. Finally, the findings suggest that scholarship on comic books, particularly how to read them, may be overly complicated and pedantic. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS There are many people who have contributed to the journey I have taken as a graduate student. I wish to acknowledge them and extend my deeply felt and sincere gratitude to them. I would like to thank Chuck Nolan, the principal of Orange Charter School, who allowed me to make time in the day to pursue graduate courses at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Without his flexibility I would not have been able to begin this journey. I would also like to thank Lynda Stone, Gerald Unks, and James Trier who welcomed me to the Culture, Curriculum, and Change program and helped mentor and navigate me as I pursued my Masters. I consider Lynda, Gerry, and Jim to be true friends. I am forever indebted to Madeleine Grumet, whom I asked to be my advisor several years ago because I knew she would not allow anything less than the best I could give. Her guidance, patience, and reality checks made me not only a better writer but a better scholar. I would also like to thank the rest of my committee, James Trier, Jeff Greene, Lucila Vargas, and Renee Hobbs, for all their support and guidance along this journey as well. Finally, I must thank my family who believed in me and were proud of me every step of the way. I am grateful to my parents for instilling in me the values of learning and of dedication. If my mom in particular had not begun to “put her foot down” when I was in fifth grade and made me make school a priority, I would never have come this far. Who would have thought school would become my life? Ultimately, there is one person I can never repay for the sacrifices she made and the suffering she endured as I struggled to become the scholar I am v today: my wife Zoe Gillenwater. Her support, love, confidence, and sometimes a “kick in the pants,” helped me persevere through this journey of graduate school. Soon it will be her turn. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES.............................................................................................................x Chapter I. INTRODUCTION.......................................................................................1 Purpose of the Study....................................................................................5 Background of Study...................................................................................5 A Passion for Comic Books.............................................................6 The Superhero Genre.........................................................10 Inappropriate Reading Material!....................................................15 How Things Change......................................................................16 II. COMICS AND EDUCATION..................................................................20 Mid Century Views of Comic Books and Literacy...................................20 Comic Books as Literacy in the New Millennium.....................................27 III. METHODOLOGY....................................................................................34 Rationale for Methods................................................................................34 Study Procedures.......................................................................................35 Overview........................................................................................35 Researcher’s Role..........................................................................36 Research Sites................................................................................36 Study Participants..........................................................................40 vii Graphic Novels in the Study..........................................................44 In-depth interviews and Questionnaires.........................................46 Non-Participant Observation.........................................................47 Structured Think-Aloud Activities................................................48 Analysis......................................................................................................50 IV. NORMATIVE READING........................................................................52 V. ELA CURRICULUM, PEDAGOGY, AND EVALUATION..................67 ELA Curriculum............................................................................68 Popular culture..................................................................72 ELA Pedagogy...............................................................................75 ELA Evaluation.............................................................................78 VI. LITERACIES AND THE ELA CLASSROOM.......................................82 Traditional Literacy.......................................................................83 Intertextuality.................................................................................86 Visual Literacy...............................................................................92 Toward a visual literacy pedagogy....................................96 Hybrid Literacy............................................................................106 21st Century Literacies.................................................................110 VII. MEANING MAKING IN THE ELA CLASSROOM….........................118 Visualization and Imagination.....................................................130 Meaning Made.............................................................................135 VIII. CONCLUDING REMARKS...................................................................141 Exploding the Monolith...............................................................142 viii Literacy as Fluid..........................................................................143 Over Thinking the Mark..............................................................145 APPENDICES.................................................................................................................147 REFERENCES................................................................................................................181 ix LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. Batman punching Superman from Batman: The Dark Knight Returns…………...9 2. Anthropomorphic Art Spiegelman atop mice bodies from Maus II……………..11 3. Batman as mentor/teacher from Batman: The Dark Knight Returns………….....14 4. “Wally Wood’s 22 panels that always work”…………………………………....98 5. Ben Urich’s fear represented by color and art style from Daredevil: Born Again...100 6. Reader murdering the character from Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art....108 This document
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