THE COMIC CORE: A THEORY OF TEACHING SEQUENTIAL ART NARRATIVES ____________________________ A Dissertation presented to the Faculty of the Office of Graduate Studies at the University of Missouri-Columbia ____________________________ In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy ____________________________ by NICHOLAS T. KREMER Dr. Roy F. Fox, Dissertation Supervisor May 2017 © Copyright by Nicholas T. Kremer 2017 All Rights Reserved The undersigned, appointed by the Dean of the Office of Graduate Studies, have examined the dissertation entitled THE COMIC CORE: A THEORY OF TEACHING SEQUENTIAL ART NARRATIVES presented by NICHOLAS T. KREMER a candidate for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY and hereby certify that, in their opinion, it is worthy of acceptance. _________________________________ Roy Fox, Chair _________________________________ Amy Lannin _________________________________ Kathy Unrath _________________________________ Sam Cohen DEDICATION To the teachers - Mrs. Ganey, Mr. Becker, Mr. Burns, Dr. Orchard, and many more unnamed – who helped to shape the literacy of my life ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am deeply indebted to Dr. Roy Fox and the other members of my dissertation committee, Dr. Amy Lannin, Dr. Kathy Unrath, and Dr. Sam Cohen, for their support and guidance at every stage of this project: for providing fascinating courses of study and models of research that built the background knowledge I needed to undertake this work, for offering valuable insights and advice as I plunged deeper down the rabbit hole, for remaining patiently persistent as I slowly but surely came back through the other side of the looking glass, and above all, for always being warmly human in our various adventures. A special thanks is also due to my former students and colleagues who participated in this study, without whom there would be very little to discuss. They participated with zealous enthusiasm, even amidst the mostly uncharted waters of an unfamiliar medium, and as always seems to be the case, I am sure I learned more from them than they from me. Scott McCloud and his gem of a book proved time and again the perfect resource for understanding comics (aptly so), and I also owe Dr. James “Bucky” Carter a debt of gratitude – both for his valuable contributions to the field of sequential art narratives in education and also for his willingness to help me establish a voice within it. iii It is almost certain that without the Missouri Writing Project, within whose 2008 Summer Institute the very first seedlings of this dissertation manifested themselves in a teaching demonstration undertaken on a personal whim (indicative of the creative inquiry and pedagogy that occurs there), I never would have (re)-stumbled upon the little white (comic-book) rabbit from my adolescence that has gotten me into so much delicious trouble since then. And it is completely certain that without parents like my mom and dad, Tom and Kaye Kremer, who made literacy such an authentic part of my existence that I cannot remember life without it and who refused to confine an active imagination within walls of conformity, that I am confident I would have very little to contribute to this topic (or very many others in life). I pray that I have even a fraction of the positive influence in others’ lives that you have had on mine. Which brings me to my final, most important acknowledgement: Ashley, my lovely wife and true-life super-hero, who suffered the burdens of my graduate program far more than anything I faced, as she helped to keep us alive, well, and grounded as we welcomed an ever-growing cast of characters to the mix these past ten years. Liam, Ellison, Atticus, Ezra, and Asa – I love you all beyond words and look forward to many multimodal adventures to come (now that I’ve finally convinced your mother to let you read comic books…). iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ................................................................... ii LIST OF TABLES .......................................................................... vi LIST OF FIGURES ....................................................................... vii ABSTRACT ................................................................................. viii CHAPTERS 1. INTRODUCTION .................................................................... 1 Purpose of the Study; The Problem and Its Historical Context; Need for the Study; Research Questions; Research Design 2. LITERATURE REVIEW .......................................................... 18 Visual/Verbal Thinking, Sequential Art Narratives: Concepts and Vocabulary; Sequential Art Narrative Instruction; Effective Pedagogy for Teaching New Literacies: Creative Composition, Media Literacy, Gradual Release of Instructional Responsibility; Conclusion of the Literature Review 3. METHODOLOGY .................................................................. 65 Research Paradigm; Research Settings; Research Participants; Research Procedures; Data Collection; Data Analysis; Quality of Study; Limitations of Study 4. FINDINGS – CASE STUDIES ............................................... 111 Graduate Students: Jane, Sawyer, Hien; Junior High Students: David; Morgan; Ned; Regan; Max; LaTanya; Summary of the Cases Studied v 5. FINDINGS – RESEARCH QUESTIONS ................................... 191 Impact on Understanding/Attitude/Aptitude; Impact on Visual/Verbal Interaction; Impact of SAN Vocabulary/ Concept Instruction; Impact of Manner of Reading SANs; Impact of Process for Writing SANs 6. CONCLUSIONS ................................................................. 228 An Emerging Theory of Teaching Sequential Art Narratives; Limitations of the Study; Suggestions for Future Research APPENDIX A. GRADUATE COURSE SYLLABUS ..................................... 243 B. JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL COURSE SYLLABUS ..................... 250 C. GRADUATE STUDENT INFORMED CONSENT FORM ........... 253 D. JUNIOR HIGH STUDENT YOUTH ASSENT FORM ................ 255 E. JHS PARENT INFORMED CONSENT FORM ........................ 256 F. READING JOURNAL ASSIGNMENT FOR JHS SAN UNIT ...... 259 G. DR. FOX’s SAN COMPOSITION PROCESS NOTES .............. 260 H. INTERVIEW PROTOCOLS ............................................... 262 REFERENCES ........................................................................... 268 VITA ....................................................................................... 278 vi LIST OF TABLES Table Number Page 1. Graduate Student Pseudonyms & Descriptions ................... 77 2. Junior High Student Pseudonyms & Descriptions ................ 82 3. Data Sources & Descriptions ........................................... 99 4. Data Analysis Codes & Descriptions ................................ 102 vii LIST OF FIGURES Figure Number Page 1. Iconography Spectrum (McCloud 1993) ............................ 23 2. SAN Illustration: “A Friendly Reminder” (Cham 2015) ........ 32 3. SAN Illustration: The Arrival (Tan 2007) ........................... 33 4. Encapsulation Principles (Eisner 1985) ............................. 41 5. Dummy Draft Example (Eisner 1985) ............................... 42 6. Partner Reading Anecdote: The Arrival (Tan 2007) .......... 139 7. Student SAN Composition Excerpt (David) ...................... 143 8. Student Hamlet Adaptation (Morgan) ............................. 150 9. Student SAN Composition (Morgan) ............................... 153 10. Student Hamlet Adaptation (Ned) ................................ 161 11. Student Poem Adaptation (Ned) .................................. 163 12. Student SAN Composition (Ned) .................................. 165 13. Student Hamlet Adaptation (Regan) ............................. 170 14. Student SAN Composition Excerpt (Regan) ................... 172 15. Student Hamlet Adaptation (Max) ................................ 176 16. Student SAN Composition (Max) .................................. 179 17. Student Poem Adaptation (LaTanya) ............................ 185 18. Student SAN Composition (LaTanya) ............................ 188 19. The Comic Core – A Visual Model of a Theory of Teaching Sequential Art Narratives (Kremer 2017) ........................ 230 viii THE COMIC CORE: A THEORY OF TEACHING SEQUENTIAL ART NARRATIVES By Nicholas T. Kremer Dr. Roy F. Fox Dissertation Supervisor ABSTRACT This research study develops a theory of effective pedagogy for teaching sequential art narratives grounded in the experiences of six graduate students and twelve junior high school students who studied graphic novels within their respective English Language Arts courses, which coalesced during a shared field teaching experience. Video recordings of all class sessions, field notes taken during observations, student interviews, and student compositions (both prose and multimodal) comprised the data set used to develop the theory, which establishes that sequential art narratives should be taught in conjunction with visual literacy modeling, quality mentor texts, and frequent opportunities for student collaboration, creative composition, and transmediation experimentation within a gradual release of (instructor) responsibility framework. A visual model of the proposed theory is included in the findings. THE COMIC CORE 1 CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION Purpose of the Study The Problem and Its Historical Context Need for the Study Research Questions Research Design Purpose of the Study I still remember the incredulous look I received from a colleague during my first week