ENGL 121

Spring 2016 All Classes

All Classes

Comics and Graphic Narratives

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Credit: 3 hours.

Introduction to graphic narratives---comic books, comic strips, graphic novels, manga, webcomics, and so on---from a diverse panoply of cultural, formal, and historical traditions.

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ENGL 121 class schedule data for spring 2016
	CRN	Type	Section	Time	Day	Location	Instructor	Section Details
	62333	Lecture-Discussion	D	11:00AM -11:50AM	MWF	119 English Building	Barrett, R	Part of Term: 1 Date Range: 01/19/16-05/04/16 Section Info: Super/Human: This course introduces students to the academic study of North American comics by focusing on the two dominant genres of the last five decades: the superhero sagas of the mainstream comics industry and the autobiographical memoirs of the alternative comics movement. These two genres are often compared to one another in terms of binary oppositions: posthuman/human, fantastic/mundane, infantile/mature, trash/culture, commercial/artistic, etc. In ENGL 121, we’ll take a less polarized approach to the genres, investigating what Jerry Siegel/Joe Shuster (Action Comics), Steve Ditko/Stan Lee (Amazing Spider-Man), Jack Kirby (OMAC), and Sana Amanat/G. Willow Wilson/Adrian Alphona (Ms. Marvel) can teach us about Harvey Pekar (American Splendor), Art Spiegelman (Maus), Lynda Barry (One Hundred Demons), and Carol Tyler (Soldier’s Heart) and vice versa. Our rapprochement will culminate in Cece Bell’s Newbery Honor-winning El Deafo, a memoir that uses superhero tropes to explore the limits of human (dis)ability. Over the course of the semester, students should expect to not only learn the formal vocabulary of comics but also to master the interpretation of comics at a variety of scales—from the micro (panels, pages, and sequences) to the macro (pamphlets, books, and series). Assignments will include frequent response papers and two exams.