LITT 200 Comic Books as Literature
MWF 2:00-2:50p
BA 4412
Section 1: General Info
Course Description
Introduces the medium of comics and explores its techniques in combining words and pictures to tell a story. Explores the literary potential of stories told through sequential art. Prerequisite: grade of C or above in ENGL 131. (PCS 1.1, 3 credit hours: 3 hours lecture, 0 hours lab)
Learning Objectives
Upon successful completion of the course, a student should be able to:
1. Explain the basic aspects of graphic narratives that set them apart from other forms of fiction
2. Utilize the specific terminology of comics for a better understanding of the format
3. Appreciate the aesthetics and value of works in the medium of comics and in a variety of genres while avoiding negative preconceptions
4. Analyze comics critically in both written and oral form
5. Identify the major writers and artists, both historically and in the present day, who influenced and shaped the artform
6. Evaluate other examples of popular entertainment to determine their literary merit
Texts
a. Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons. Watchmen. DC Comics, 1995
b. Frank Miller. Sin City: The Hard Goodbye. Dark Horse Comics, 2005
c. Jason Lutes. Jar of Fools. Drawn and Quarterly, 2003.
d. Neil Gaiman et al. Sandman: Season of Mists. DC/Vertigo Comics, 1994
e. Alan Moore and David Lloyd. V for Vendetta. DC/Vertigo Comics, 1995
Section 2: Grading
The major requirement of you in terms of homework will simply be reading the material. We will have daily assignments from the texts which you will be expected to read on your own outside of class, therefore facilitating our in-class discussions. Occasionally you will be given in-class writing assignments on what you were assigned to read. These short, informal essays will be about half a page to a page in length, on designated topics, and each small assignment will be worth 10 points.
In order to keep a record of what we discuss in class, you will also be required to register at http://litt200.pbwiki.com and actively participate in the creation and maintenance of this course’s wiki. Essentially the wiki will be an effort in collaborative note-taking. On certain days you will be required to be the official note-taker for the class, publishing on the wiki a record of what we discussed in class on that day. Your initial entry can be as detailed as you like, but it is only required to be one paragraph. Thereafter, any other member of the class can edit and revise the entry as they see fit. (Only students in the class will be able to participate in the wiki, but you are welcome to share it with anyone you wish.) Each wiki entry you create will be worth twenty points, and (depending on the class size) you may be required to create up to five new entries.
There will be two major exams in this course, the mid-term and the final. These tests will be open-book and will not involve any identification of plot points or characters. Instead it will consist solely of short essays in which you must demonstrate your comprehension of the major works we have read in class. You will be given a list of possible topics, and you will choose two to write on in class, each essay being between one and two pages in length. In addition, you will choose a third topic which you will “take home” to write a two-page essay on. The two in-class essays will be worth 25 points each, and the take-home essay will be worth 50, for a total of 100 points total for each exam.
Sometime in the latter half of this course we will have a special guest lecture by a group of professional comic creators. Attendance at this lecture will be mandatory (you will be given at least a month’s notice, so you can easily work the lecture into your schedule). You will also be required to write a one to two page essay in response to this lecture, outlining what the lecture was about and what you learned from it. This essay will be worth 50 points.
Finally, you will be required to read one additional graphic novel, not a part of this course’s curriculum. You will choose the work from a list I provide, in order to avoid duplication of subject matter and to ensure that only serious work is being sought out. Once this book is read, you will present on it to your fellow classmates, essentially doing a brief book report in which you summarize the plot and characters and evaluate the book’s worth. This report will be five to seven minutes in length and worth 50 points, and report times will be scheduled when you choose which work you will read.
In addition, you will also write an essay analyzing this work from a literary standpoint. This essay will be due on the same day as your report, but its contents will be completely different. In the essay you will explore the book’s literary qualities, such as its use of symbolism or its thematic elements. Basically, the report should tell me what the book was about and if you liked it, while the essay should tell me what you think the book means. The essay is worth 100 points and should be three pages in length. Also, although secondary source material is not required, essays that use secondary sources will be given 10 points extra credit.
Section 3: Schedule
(All dates are approximate and subject to revision.)
Week One (Jan. 14-18) --
Distribute syllabus
Elements of comics
Week Two (Jan. 21-25*) --
Elements of comics (cont’d)
Intro to hero genre
Week Three (Jan. 28-Feb. 1) --
Watchmen chapters 1-4
Week Four (Feb. 4-8) --
Watchmen chapters 5-8
Week Five (Feb. 11-15) --
Watchmen chapters 9-12
Week Six (Feb. 18-22*) --
Intro to crime genre
Sin City: The Hard Goodbye chapters 1-4
Week Seven (Feb. 25-29) --
Sin City: The Hard Goodbye chapters 5-9
Week Eight (Mar. 3-7) --
Midterm
Intro to realism genre
There will be no classes during the week of March 10-14 for Spring Break.
Week Nine (Mar. 17-21*) --
Jar of Fools
Week Ten (Mar. 24-28) --
Presentations
Week Eleven (Mar. 31-Apr. 4) --
Intro to sci-fi genre
V for Vendetta part 1
Week Twelve (Apr. 7-11) --
V for Vendetta part 2
Week Thirteen (Apr. 14-18) --
V for Vendetta part 3
Guest lecture
Week Fourteen (Apr. 21-25) --
Intro to fantasy/horror genre
Sandman: Season of Mists episodes 0 and 1
Week Fifteen (Apr. 28-May 2) --
Sandman: Season of Mists episodes 2-5
Week Sixteen (May 5-9) --
Sandman: Season of Mists episodes 6 and ∞
Final
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