Engaging Deaf Students with a New Genre

Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy 53(3) November 2009 doi:10.1598/JAAL.53.3.4 © 2009 International Reading Association (pp. 228–240) Using Graphic Novels in the High School Classroom: Engaging Deaf Students With a New Genre Comics and graphic novels Linda Smetana | Darah Odelson | Heidi Burns | Dana L. Grisham appeal to today’s visual learner by providing unique In this article, the four authors—Darah and Heidi (high school teachers of and interesting combinations the Deaf) and Linda and Dana (university teacher educators)—describe a class curriculum using graphic novels in a high school English summer school class of text and graphics that for Deaf students struggling with age-appropriate literacy skills. The project engage large numbers took place at a residential state school that draws students from throughout northern California. The school itself operates under a bilingual philosophy of students. that honors the native language—American Sign Language (ASL)—and culture of the Deaf as well as promotes fluency in both ASL and written English. Although students access spoken English in various ways and to various de- grees, they must learn to read and write in English. Deaf educators at this institution regard Deafness as a unique and vibrant culture rather than a disability. In this sense, Deaf students’ experiences paral- lel the experiences of most second-language learners. ASL is a visual language that has no written component; when Deaf students learn to read in English, they must learn a new symbolic system that, for them, has no basis in oral language. Like other English-language learners (ELLs) they must learn the language as they learn to read and write; however, they must do so without receiving the support of oral interactions with family members and friends or hearing the sounds of the spoken language. Because of the visual nature of Deaf students’ learning, the idea of teaching literacy with graphic novels ap- pealed to us. All student names are pseudonyms. An Interest in Comic Books “Are we really going to read only comic books?!?” In 2007, Heidi’s and Darah’s comic book fandom drove them to attend WonderCon, an annual comic book, science fiction, and film convention. While they were wandering the convention hall, scouting for reading materi- 228 al and checking out the costumes, the title of one workshop caught their eye: “The Secret Origin of Good Readers” (Cruz, 2007). During the workshop, a librarian explained her research relating to comic Comic Books and Graphic Novels book use and struggling readers. Heidi and Darah left with a bag of free reading material, some website Comics or comic books are magazines or books links, and ideas. containing sequential art in the form of a narrative. Inspired by the workshop, Heidi and Darah vol- The term “comics” in this context does not refer unteered to teach a summer school English class for to comic strips (such as Peanuts or Dilbert). Comics high school students who are Deaf. These were stu- can appear in the genres of fantasy, science fiction, dents who had failed 9th–12th-grade English class- superhero books, historical, action/adventure, re- es the previous year primarily due to language and alistic fiction, biography, humor, horror, romance, self-efficacy difficulties. Students reflected diverse political commentary, adaptation of classics, and backgrounds and experiences. Most of them had little manga (Japanese comics). experience with comics, except for some exposure to “Graphic novels” usually refers to comics with Disney characters and some movies based on comic lengthy and complex story lines similar to those books, such as X-Men. A few students expressed an of novels, and they are often aimed at mature au- interest in manga (serialized Japanese comic books) diences. The term also encompasses comic short or daily newspaper strips. (For definitions and more story anthologies, and in some cases bound collec- background on comic books and graphic novels, see tions of previously published comic book series. sidebar.) All were incredulous and somewhat skeptical Will Eisner’s book A Contract With God and Other that teachers would want to create a class dedicated to Tenement Stories, a series of four stories about his life comic books. growing up in the tenements of Brooklyn in the Linda and Dana, meanwhile, met Gene Luen 1930s, made the term popular. Eisner described a Yang, a high school computer teacher in the San graphic novel as sequential art—a series of illustra- Francisco Bay Area and author of American Born tions which, when viewed in order, tell a story. Chinese, a graphic novel nominated for the National Graphic novels are not limited to topics of Book Award and winner of the Michael Printz Award interest to teenage or young adults. In 1992, Art for literary excellence in young adult literature, at the Spiegelman was honored with a Pulitzer Prize for National Book Festival in Washington, DC, USA, his graphic novel Maus: A Survivor’s Tale that re- counts his father’s survival in Auschwitz. In comic in September 2007. He addressed a huge tent full of book format, this novel presents the horrors of the mostly men and boys of varying ages who listened and Holocaust, with Nazis portrayed as cats and Jews laughed as Gene described three reasons why it is bad as mice. to become a graphic artist: Spiegelman’s honor aided in the legitimizing 1. It takes forever to make a graphic novel, even a of graphic novels as a literary form and the public simplified one. began to realize that Spiegelman and other writer/ 2. It is not particularly remunerative—around illustrators were producing serious, ambitious work the turn of the last century it was a shrink- in this genre (McTaggert, 2005). ing market, although recently comic books and graphic novels have been making a comeback and constitute a growing segment of the book market. When the four authors of this article met and 3. Being an author of comics and graphic novels is talked about our experiences, it became obvious to all not sexy. (Not even a little bit, he insisted.) of us that we needed to share them with other teachers and teacher educators. Linda is a special educator, Using Graphic Novels in the High School Classroom: Engaging Deaf Students With a New Genre Fascinated by the attraction of young people, particu- and Dana is a general educator, both in literacy and 229 larly males, to the genre, Linda and Dana interviewed teacher preparation. Linda and Dana are colleagues Gene (see Smetana & Grisham, 2007). at California State University, East Bay, and worked together on an article about graph- higher order thinking skills. Thomsen (1996) stated ic novels (Smetana & Grisham, that “visual communication is rich, evocative and Students examine 2007). Darah and Heidi teach at the immediate, and transcends barriers that language how pictures can California School for the Deaf in sometimes raises. When pictures and words are used stereotype people, nearby Fremont, one of two state- together to communicate, the result can be much supported schools that provide how angles of greater than either alone could produce” (n.p.). residential educational services to In graphic novels, pictures communicate the viewing affect Deaf students. In Deaf education, ideas, themes, and underlying emotions, making the perception, and American Sign Language (ASL) is genre complex. The visual nature forces readers to use how realism or the considered the home language (L1) what they know to create the unwritten dialogue—a for students. English is L2, a second lack of it affects the story not fully conveyed by the words. Students ana- language that Deaf students must lyze how the use of color, light, shadow, and lines message of the work. learn. The four of us came together influence the tone and mood of the story. They de- because of our interest in graphic termine how color affects emotion, and how facial novels and the positive impact that expressions and body language convey emotions and we felt they might have on striving readers. feelings not printed in the text. In addition, students examine how pictures can stereotype people, how an- Why Deaf Students and a New Genre? gles of viewing affect perception, and how realism or Generally speaking, second-language learners ex- the lack of it affects the message of the work. Readers perience a ladder-type progression for acquiring the derive information from facial and bodily expressions mainstream language (in this case English). The first and from the composition and viewpoint of the illus- rung on this acquisition ladder is the development of trations. In the same manner as students think when Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills (BICS) watching a movie, they deduce what happened yet through daily conversations with native English was not explicitly stated in the interval between one speakers as well as mainstream television and radio image and the next. This genre is appealing to Deaf (Cummins, 1996). Once this first rung is established, students, whose communication system is visual, but the second-language learner may progress to the sec- can also appeal to wide range of readers. ond rung: the development of Cognitive Academic When students study the construction of the Language Proficiency (CALP). This rung is crucial graphic novel, they become exposed to the qualities for any kind of academic success in English. The chal- of narrative text, film, and poetry. Graphic novels lenge for Deaf students is simple: while they are also are like prose in that they are written in a printed second-language learners, the physiological limitation format, but they are also like film in that they tell a of deafness presents significant challenges for access- story through visual images that give the impression ing and developing BICS; limited BICS acquisition of movement accompanied by the characters’ dia- leads to a profound struggle in CALP development logue.

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