Graphic Novels and Visual Literacy

Presentation created by Ellen Phillips and Kelly Gallagher , Instructional Technology Specialists, OET Queens

“The potency of the picture story is not a matter of modern theory but of anciently established truth. Before man thought in words, he felt in pictures…It’s too bad for us “literary” enthusiasts, but it’s the truth nevertheless, pictures tell any story more effectively than words.”--W. Sones(1944) The comics and instructional method. Journal of Educational Sociology, 18, 232-240

What is the story behind the image and how does the presentation of the

image make the message compelling?

People have used images to tell stories throughout history.

Cave Paintings date from 30,000 BCE

edImages effectively convey ideas and events to the populations that could

not read text.

Images have a universality that transcend language.

What is a Graphic Novel?

• Form vs. Genre• Is there a bias against the

form?• Content determines the

value of the form

Think*Pair*Share   

What are some ways that graphic novels can be

integrated into the curriculum?

From Maus by Art Spiegelman

Example of “Serious” Content

Excerpts from Student-Created

Samples

Six Main Elements of a Graphic Novel

1.Page2.Panel3.Pictures4.Captions5.Speech (and Thought) Balloons6.Comic FX Lettering

Text In Graphic Novels

• Although text is succinct, it is still very important and therefore, a script is necessary.

• Space limits the number of words in a graphic novel, but this limit only makes them more valuable.

Planning Your Piece

Start Creating!Some suggested topics…

• Memoir

• Your “B” side

• Biography

• Historical event

• How To

Exporting Options For Your Completed Work

•Exporting pages for printing as .jpg or pdf files

•Sharing as a movie•Embedding your novel on a website, blog or wiki

To embed, using Embedit.in

*Export your novel as Images

*Reverse the order of the images in the file folder from last page to first pageGo to Embedit.in and upload all the pages in the folder  *Sign into Embed It In using your Google or Yahoo account username/password *Get the embed code and paste the html onto your blog, wiki or website to embed the player.

“The interplay of the written and the visual is a complicated process; a comic does not happen in

the words, or the pictures, but somewhere in between, in what is sometimes known as 'the

marriage of text and image.’”

--Rocco Versaci, "How Comic Books Can Change the Way Our Students See Literature:  One Teacher's Perspective."  The English Journal NCTE, 2001

Comics offer range and versatility with all the potential imagery of film and painting plus the intimacy of the

written word.

-- Scott McLeod