McClellan 1

Pairing Young Adult Literature and Graphic Novels:

Teaching Historical Events using Multimodal Learning Strategies
Maddie McClellan
4 April 2014
Proposal
Young Adult Literature has been in schools since the 1970s and gained in popularity
astronomically since but is still in the process of being recognied as pedagogically and literarily
effecti!e "Alsup 1#$ %raditionally& teachers and parents ha!e focused on teaching students& 'the
canon&( by staying loyal to the classics$ )n today*s storm of Common Core standards and high+
sta,es testing& teachers are pressured to mo!e to-ards more informational& non+fiction te.ts&
putting e!en classic literature on the bac,+burner "Malach / 0omer 201#$ 2hile informational
te.ts are certainly beneficial and applicable to the real life s,ills that students encounter in the
-or, force& literature& specifically YAL& is 3ust as crucial to helping students de!elop as a -hole$
)nformational te.t may teach cogniti!e s,ills& but YAL teaches the -hole student "Alsup#$ )f both
genres are beneficial& -hy not teach them together to create deeper understanding4 )n my
research& ) -ill disco!er ho- pairing graphic no!els -ith YA or canonical te.ts builds a -ell+
rounded learning e.perience that teaches 21st century s,ills to a di!erse classroom and allo-s for
a deeper understanding of a common theme or topic$
2hile YAL is considered a genre& there are many genres -ithin YAL$ 5ne genre that has gained
immense popularity is YA graphic no!els$ 2hile some parents or more traditional teachers may
belie!e that graphic no!els are only for fun and do not belong in the classroom& ) argue that
graphic no!els can be e.tremely beneficial in reaching student interest and teaching tough
sub3ects$ 6raphic no!els pro!ide an opportunity to use analytical s,ills in a !ariety of -ays& as
they use both te.t and !isuals to con!ey a message$ Ching and 7oo, assert that graphic no!els
allo- for students -ho do not understand the content through te.t alone may ma,e more
meaningful connections through the graphics "17#8 -hile ) agree& ) thin, the usefulness of
graphic no!els in the classroom e.tends much further than this$
5ne important aspect to understand about graphic no!els is that they are not simply picture
boo,s++the te.t and graphics are not synchronous& but rather are often presented as separate
pieces$ 7or instance& in no!els li,e 9ei3i :a,aa-a*s 0arefoot 6en or Mar3ane ;atropi*s
<ersepolis& -e often see frames -ith fe- or no -ords& but the image of a collapsed house&
in3ured people& or e!en a blan, frame presents an idea bigger than -ords can con!ey$ =sing
graphic no!els in the classroom -ill reach a more di!erse student audience and broaden students*
understanding of different genres$
=sing graphic no!els to teach history is effecti!e because they pro!ide a 'uni>ue& historical(
perspecti!e that 'promotes critical thin,ing( through '!isual impact( "Ching and 7oo, 17#$
?eading graphic no!els -ith a traditional te.t -ill allo- students to e.plore genre differences
and identify ho- the same e!ent may be portrayed in different -ays$ 7or instance& a graphic
no!el uses pictures to con!ey imagery -hile a traditional te.t uses language$ ;tudents could
analye these differences and identify their effecti!eness in portraying a similar message$
McClellan 2
%hrough researching Young Adult Literature and graphic no!els& ) ha!e come to the conclusion
that using both in my future classroom -ill be e.tremely useful& successful in the classroom& and
beneficial for my students* learning and de!elopment$ %his pro3ect is geared to-ards my peers&
future teachers& and current teachers -ho are -ondering about the benefits of teaching graphic
no!els or pairing graphic no!els -ith YA or traditional te.ts$ As e.amples& ) suggest se!eral
different pairings that could be used to teach historical e!ents$ %he first is Maus by Art
;piegelman and :ight by @lie 2iesel or A Aiary of a Young 6irl by Anne 7ran,& either of -hich
-ould be a meaningful -ay to teach the Bolocaust$ %he ne.t is autobiographical graphic no!el
0arefoot 6en by 9ei3i :a,aa-a or 7allout by Cim 5tta!iani and the non+fiction te.t 0omb by
;te!e ;hein,in& ideal for a di!erse learning e.perience about the bombing of Biroshima$ %he last
is <ersepolis by Mar3ane ;atropi and Courney 7rom the Land of :oD A 6irlhood Caught in
?e!olutionary )ran by ?uya Ba,,a,iyan& both great educational tools to learn about )ran in a
time of re!olution$ %hese pairings -ill be beneficial because they -ill gi!e students different
perspecti!es on a historical e!ent& and the strongest tie bet-een all pairings is -ar and the main
characters* persistence through immense times of struggle$ All no!els also deal -ith racism and
pre3udice during times of conflict$ %hese connections -ill lead to fruitful discussion about the
common themes$ =sing these e.amples& ) -ill create a pedagogical research paper that -ill build
my rationale for this sort of unit in my future classroom$ ) argue that pairing graphic no!els -ith
traditional te.t helps create a deeper understanding of a historical e!ent -hile building 21st
century s,ills$
2hile Ching and 7oo, e.plain ho- graphic no!els can help reach struggling readers& Cames 0$
Carter& a graphic no!el specialist and a-ard+-inning educator& e.tends that thought to sho- ho-
graphic no!els benefit both lo-er+le!el or disinterested readers as -ell as a!id readers up
through the graduate le!el$ 6raphic no!els are not 3ust for fun and they are not 3ust for those -ho
ha!e trouble reading ++ they can help con!ey a more meaningful story than te.t alone and allo-s
for students to use 21st+century s,ills to analye both the te.t and the graphics$ Maus& for
instance& is celebrated as one of the most uni>ue and impacting -ays of portraying the
Bolocaust$ <airing Maus -ith YA autobiography :ight allo-s students to read different accounts
of the same historical e!ent that gi!es them a more informed learning e.perience$ %he
importance of pairing is to ma,e sure the no!els share a common theme$ Maus and :ight both
re!ol!e around 22)) and the Bolocaust and both main characters are Ce-s -ho e.perience the
horrors of the 6erman concentration camps$ Although :ight is YA and Maus is not "YAL must
be told from the perspecti!e of a young adult#& both no!els are centralied around father+son
relationships$ 2hile @lie*s and Elade,*s e.periences are !ery different& students -ill still be able
to ma,e connections bet-een the t-o te.ts to build a deeper understanding of the Bolocaust$
6i!ing students choice bet-een different pairings allo-s them to ma,e a decision that fits best
for them$ Allo-ing choice in the classroom gi!es students more responsibility and autonomy$
=sing t-o different te.ts to teach one theme or e!ent relates to the idea of pairing -ith the
classics& -hich in!ol!es teaching a YA te.t -ith a classic te.t in order to help students better
understand and connect -ith the classic$ According to Coan 9ay-ell& author of Adolescent
Literature as a Complement to the Classics& pairing YAL -ith classic te.ts sol!es t-o problemsD
1$ ;tudents ha!e a hard time relating to classic no!els because of reading le!el or 'distanFceG
from student e.periences( "9ay-ell )H#$ 2$ %eachers understand the '-hy( of incorporating YAL
into the classroom& but are uncertain of the 'ho-$( %eaching YAL in the classroom helps students
McClellan 3
see that reading can be 'rele!ant and meaningful( "9ay-ell )H#$ 5nce students ma,e better
connections -ith reading& they -ill be better prepared to na!igate a more complicated te.t$
=sing YAL in my graphic no!elItraditional te.t pairings is 3ust one to sol!e the challenge of
implementing YAL in the classroom$
After researching& ) plan to -rite a pedagogical research paper arguing the benefits of graphic
no!els in the classroom and using them -ith traditional te.ts to teach a historical e!ent& as -ell
as the capabilities of graphic no!els to help create a multimodal e.perience that students can get
e.cited about and relate to$ %his should be about 12 pages in length$ ) -ill be -or,ing -ith Ar$
@mily 2ic,tor on this pro3ect& and -e plan to meet e!ery %uesday before class$
Objectives
) hope to disco!er research+based methods of teaching graphic no!els that -ill lay the
ground-or, for creating successful graphic no!el unit plans$ ) specify research+based methods&
because the field of education changes so often that it is sometimes criticied to be based on the
current trends and not as much on proof that the methods being utilied actually -or,$ As )
formulate my argument& ) -ill consult the Common Core standards to ensure that my plan for
pairing graphic no!els -ith traditional te.t -ill reach necessary standards$ ) -ill gi!e e.amples
of ho- standards may be reached through the different pairings suggested abo!e& and -ill
e.plain ho- ) -ould enact a literature unit using graphic no!elItraditional te.t pairing to teach
historical e!ents such as the Bolocaust& )ranian re!olution& or bombing of Biroshima$ ) hope that
this pedagogical research paper -ill inform others about the usefulness and effecti!eness of
graphic no!els in the classroom as -ell as guide my teaching practices in my future classroom$
Timeline
Band in proposal draftD March 1J
Continue researchD March 14+April 4
Meet -ith Ar$ 2ic,tor to discuss re!ised proposalD April 1
%urn in re!ised proposal to Ar$ 2ic,torD April 4
Band in re!ised proposalD April 7
Annotate t-o sources per dayD April 1+4
Complete reading researchD April 4+K
Araft annotationsD April 1
Meet -ith Ar$ 2ic,torD April L
%urn in three complete annotationsD April L
Continue drafting annotated bibliography April L+1J
%urn in complete draft of annotated bibliography to Ar$ 2ic,torD April 14
Araft progress reportD April 10
Meet -ith Ar$ 2ic,tor to discuss progressD April 11
%urn in progress report and annotated bibliographyD April 17
Araft abstractD April 22
Meet -ith Ar$ 2ic,tor to discuss abstractD April 22
%urn in completed abstractD April 24
Create presentationD April 2K
Complete presentationD April 29
<resentations beginD May 1
McClellan 4
Working Bibliography
Alsup& Canet$ ')ntroductionD )dentification& Actualiation& or @ducationD 2hy ?ead YAL4(
Young Adult Literature and Adolescent )dentity Across Cultures and Classrooms$ @d$
Canet Alsup$ :e- Yor,D ?outledge& 2010$ 1+1K$ <rint$
0ea!is& Catherine$ '%he Literary and Artistic Merit of the 6raphic %e.t as :e- %e.tual 6enre
and Bybrid LiteraryIartistic 7orm$( Eictorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority
"201J#D 1+L$ 2eb$ 11 Mar$ 2014$
0uilding Literacy Connections -ith 6raphic :o!elsD <age by <age& <anel by <anel$ @d$ Cames
0uc,y Carter$ =rbanaD :ational Council of %eachers of @nglish& 2007$ <rint$
Carter& Cames 0uc,y$ M6oing 6raphic$M @ducational Leadership KK$K "2009#D KL+72$ @ducation
;ource$ 2eb$ 4 Apr$ 2014$
Carter& Cames 0uc,y$ M6raphic :o!els& 2eb Comics& And Creator 0logsD @.amining <roduct
And <rocess$M %heory )nto <ractice 10$J "2011#D 190+197$ @ducation ;ource$ 2eb$ 4 Apr$
2014$
Clar,& C$ ;pencer$ '@ncounters -ith Bistorical AgencyD %he Ealue of :onfiction 6raphic :o!els
in the Classroom$ %he Bistory %eacher 4K$4 "201J#D 4L9+109$ 2eb$ 4 Apr$ 2014$
Ching& Bii ;ii& and 7ong ;oon 7oo,$ '@ffects of Multimedia+based 6raphic :o!el <resentation
on Critical %hin,ing Among ;tudents of Aifferent Learning Approaches$( %he %ur,ish
5nline Cournal of @ducation %echnology 12$4 "201J#D 1K+K7$ 2eb$ J1 Mar$ 2014$
7ran,& Anne$ %he Aiary of a Young 6irlD %he Aefiniti!e @dition$ @d$ 5tto B$ 7ran, and Mir3am
<ressler$ %rans$ ;usan Massotty$ :e- Yor,& :YD 0antam 0oo,s& 1991$ <rint$
6eorge& Marshall A$ '2hat*s the 0ig )dea4 )ntegrating Young Adult Literature in the Middle
;chool$( AdLit$org$ All About Adolescent Literacy& 2001$ 2eb$ 21 5ct$ 201J$
6ibbons& Louel C$& Cennifer ;$ Aail and Coyce 0$ ;tall-orth$ 'Young Adult Literature in the
@nglish Curriculum %odayD Classroom %eachers ;pea, 5ut$( %he ALA: ?e!ie- "200K#D
1J+K1$ 2eb$ 21 5ct$ 201J$
9ay-ell& Coan& @d$ Adolescent Literature as a Complement to the Classics$
:or-ood& MAD Christopher+6ordon& 199J$ <rint$
Maloch& 0eth and ?andy 0omer$ ')nformational %e.ts and the Common Core ;tandardsD 2hat
Are 2e %al,ing About& Any-ay4( Language Arts 90$J "201J#D 201+21J$ 2eb$ 2L 5ct$
201J$
:a,aa-a& 9ei3i$ 0arefoot 6en$ %rans$ <ro3ect 6en$ ;an 7rancisco& CAD Last 6asp of ;an
7rancisco& 2004$ <rint$
?oberts& Mi,e$ '%eaching Young Adult Literature$( @nglish Cournal 102$1 "2012#D 92+91$ 2eb$
21 5ct$ 201J$
;an,ey& Michael& Aa-n 0irch and Michael 6ardiner$ '@ngaging students through multimodal
learning en!ironmentsD %he 3ourney continues$( Curriculum& %echnology N
%ransformation for an =n,no-n 7uture "2010#D L12+KJ$ 2eb$ 4 Apr$ 2014$
;torm 7in,& Lisa$ 'Literature CirclesD 6etting ;tarted$( ?ead-ritethin,$org$ )?AI:C%@& 201J$
2eb$ 2L 5ct$ 201J$
;piegelman& Art$ Maus$ :e- Yor,& :YD <antheon 0oo,s& 197J$ <rint$
2iesel& @lie$ :ight$ %rans$ Marion 2iesel$ :e- Yor,& :YD Bill and 2ang& 1972$ <rint$