literature-review-the-effects-of-comics-as-a-learning-tool

“Some commentators argued that comic books were becoming too violent,” wrote the article “Comic books and Graphic Novels” 2008 listed in the Issues & Controversies database, “while othe

The Effects of Comics as a Learning Tool: A Literature Review

By: Eric Zimmerman Instructor: Christine M Stover COM/SOC 371: Forms and Effects of Mass Communication

April 26, 2009 Oakland University

Introduction

Despite the recent growth of interest in comic books and graphic novels, as seen by the increased readership and explosion of movie adaptations, comics have been, and continue to be,

a highly controversial subject Just two years ago for example, in March 2007, when Marvel Comics announced the death of Captain America, there was a public outcry of mixed emotions

“Some commentators argued that comic books were becoming too violent,” wrote the article

“Comic books and Graphic Novels” (2008) listed in the Issues & Controversies database, “while

others praised their increased realism and sophistication.” According to comic expert Scott McCloud, “comics” can be defined as “juxtaposed pictorial and other images in deliberate sequence, intended to convey information and/or to produce an aesthetic response in the

viewer”(McCloud in Berkowitz, Packer, 2001) In 2002, Columbia University launched the Comic Book Project, “a program designed to foster children’s reading and writing skills by encouraging them to create their own comics”(Bitz, 2004) Likewise, in 2004, the Maryland State Department of Education initiated a pilot program to teach reading with comic books

(Alvermann, 2005) In addition, according to Leila Christenbury (2006) in her book, Making the

Journey: Being and Becoming a Teacher of English Language Arts, “Scholastic, a

well-respected and long established publisher of young adult and other fiction, has launched Graphix,

a division devoted solely to graphic novels and has begun the publication of a classic series, Jeff

Smith’s funny and appealing Bone.” It’s fairly obvious that this field of research is, although

rather new, actually broadening quite rapidly

The debates over the merit of comic books and graphic novels as tools for learning have also broadened, and have in turn elicited valid arguments on both sides of the controversy On the one hand, a number of researchers argue that the best comics are both relevant and

substantial, and that they are just as deserving of educational recognition as are traditional

literatures According to an article by Rocco Versaci (2001) written in The English Journal,

comics usually feature complex plots and prominent visual components that have attracted readers both young and old In fact, students who are typically bored by traditional literature find themselves much more disposed to reading comics (Norton, 2003) Perhaps the most prominent argument in support of comics however, is that they frequently incorporate topical social commentary along with intellectually-stimulating concepts (Versaci, 2001) To prove

these values, researchers frequently reference Art Spiegelman’s graphic novel, Maus: a

Survivor’s Tale, which won the Pulitzer Prize in 1992 Braced with this supplement in their

arsenal, many encourage the in-class use of “well-chosen” comics to initiate class discussions about relevant topics, such as racism, social justice, war, and global conflict (Christensen, 2006)

As a last defense against the opposition, researchers note that advocates of comic books and graphic novels typically cite critics as oftentimes misunderstanding comics, and that, when viewed in context, seemingly violent and/or sexual images are more than justified (“Comic Books and Graphic Novels,” 2008)

On the other hand, since the days of Frederic Wertham’s public condemnation of comic books in the 1950s and the resulting Comic’s Code of Authority seal/stamp of approval, comics have always been subject to much criticism Some researchers contend that comic books and graphic novels are immature, and often too violently and/or sexually explicit for either the classroom, or as a learning tool in general (Grandinetti in “Comic Books and Graphic Novels,” 2008) They argue that comics are usually too crude and unsophisticated to truly provoke students into becoming better readers (Gonzalez, 2006) In all actuality, the heart of the criticism seems to circulate around claims of simplicity and explicit content, labeling comics more as popular entertainment rather than educational devices (Lien-Cooper, 2007) As proof of these

claims, critics often cite an incident in 2007 in which a Connecticut high school English teacher

assigned his students to read a comic entitled Eight ball #22 When one of the student’s parents

noticed what their child was reading, they complained that it was “borderline pornography,” and consequently forced the teacher to resign (Scarborough-King, 2007) Researchers further note that, to committed opponents, comic books are not any bit deserving of serious consideration in

an educational environment, and they emphasize that educators should stick to more

conventional methods for all purposes of teaching (“Comic Books and Graphic Novels,” 2008)

Although research into the field of comics as a learning tool is fairly new, the

introduction of comics into the educational community seems to be expanding rapidly The question has since become whether or not comics can be considered a respectable art form of effectually educational value, or if they are simply too violent and/or sexually inappropriate for learning-intensive purposes, such as in classrooms or libraries, especially when considering the potential availability to younger readers

Literature Review

Developing Visual Literacy Skills with Comics

Most researchers agree that comics, specifically those which integrate text in with relative pictorial representations, can serve as a helpful tool for children working to develop

visual literacy skills According to Claudia J McVicker (2007) in The Reading Teacher, “Comic

strips are a text structure with a story to tell Just as a story in print requires comprehension by the reader, comics require the reader to blend the print and the graphics to comprehend the intended communication.” Even when learning to first read, teachers whether educational or parental typically equip children with picture books, “where text and picture cooperate within a

narrative synthesis”(Giorgis et al in McVicker, 2007) In fact, “viewing” has become such an inherent part of our language as humans, that to be considered literate, “students must be taught

to ‘read’ visual images in addition to connected text”(Semali in McVicker, 2007)

In one analysis for example, researcher Angela Yannicopoulou (2004) conducted a visual literacy study on pre-textually-literate preschoolers in Rhodes, Greece, whereupon the children were “tested on their abilities to recognize certain multimodal conventions common in comics,” such as the relationship between voice volume vs letter size, speech bubbles vs thought bubbles, different alphabets such as hieroglyphics equaling different languages, and finally visual metaphors representing varying emotions The results of the study indicated that the most recognizable visual conventions proved to be “anger indicated by an angular and aggressive speech bubble, the attribution of politeness to a flowery speech bubble, and the increase in volume reflected in the bigger size of letters”(Yannicopoulou, 2004) Although the children seemed to have a slightly more difficult time interpreting the significance of speech vs thought bubbles, they were even more noticeably confused by the visual translation of foreign alphabets indicating the use of a foreign language According to Yannicopoulou (2004), “Preschoolers seemed to understand a great deal about visual language cues even before they know how to read conventional texts, and were familiar with the visual conventions of the form of text in their books and magazines.”

In another analysis, a community college English teacher introduced a selection of comic books into his curriculum, and although the test subjects were perceived to have already

developed most of their visual literacy skills, many students were reportedly caught “off guard in

a positive way, …[leading] students to be more engaged by a given work”(Versaci, 2001) According to Versaci, this engagement can mainly be attributed to the structure of the comics

themselves He cites comic books as being able to put a “face” on a subject, allowing students to not only read the characters’ words and thoughts but to actually see their behavioral actions and reactions Furthermore, he adds that, “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’”(Sabin in Versaci, 2001) Versaci therefore asserts that reading comics requires a more active participation acknowledging that it is usually of a subconscious nature on the part of the reader, which he calls “closure.” In this process of closure, the reader is forced to connect the text and images together, not only in their respective panels however, but also from one panel to the next, which purportedly “foster[s] an intimacy…between creator and audience”(McCloud in Versaci, 2001) According to Versaci (2001), closure allows readers to “sympathize and

empathize with comic book characters in unique ways.”

Not all researchers agree, however, that “closure” is a necessarily beneficial process According to Steven Kirsh and Paul Olczak (2002) of the State University of New York,

Geneseo, violent scenes in comic books can have an even more adverse effect on readers than, for instance, video games They agree that a process similar to Versaci’s “closure” does occur when reading a comic, however they argue its seemingly positive effect with a detailed example, writing “if one frame depicts a muscular hero swinging an ax toward his crouching enemy, the next frame would show the victim’s head severed from his body, spurting blood Thus, it is up to the reader to visualize that actual decapitation This type of disconnected presentation of

information forces the reader to engage his or her imagination and become an active participant

in the violence-laden story line”(McCloud in Kirsh, Olczak, 2002)

In an analysis, conducted by Colombia University Professor Michael Bitz, deemed The

Comic Book Project one of the field’s most prominent experiments instructors were trained by

specialists from Teachers College to use comics as a different, unique kind of learning tool Instead of specifically reading comics, students within various after-school education programs were first introduced to the medium, and then asked to create their own comic story arcs so as to demonstrate their respective reading and writing capabilities (Bitz, 2004) Many factors and outcomes were studied and recorded within this experiment, but one of the most notable results was its effect on children with limited English proficiency “Although the children struggled through the manuscript stage, they were able to rely on the pictorial components of the project” wrote Bitz (2004); in fact, “According to the instructors, these children’s manuscripts and comic books represent more writing than they had produced in English class throughout the entire school year.”

McVicker (2007) further asserts that, “Using visual literacy with visual representations helps to develop better spatial concepts so readers are not forced to imagine details or

descriptions in the text such as size, color or distance.” In effect, comic illustrations serve to broaden and enrich their accompanying textual information (McVicker, 2007)

Why Comics Have an Effect

Since their inception, comics seem to have always attracted young children, most notably boys Over the years however, the comic business has expanded greatly, and is now a “major presence in the lives of [both] children and adults”(Berkowitz, Packer, 2001) According to art teacher Jay Berkowitz and researcher Todd packer (2001), “Many adults, including teachers, grew up reading comic books, and they form a background for many cultural and visual

references.” In fact, as of 2002, the average reader of comics was 24 years old (Duin in Foster, Gerde, 2008), and, “The estimated overall market for comic books in the U.S for 2005 was

$400–$450 million dollars”(Miller, Steinberg in Foster, Gerde, 2008) Even more than that however, comic books are further increasing in popularity due to the now countless movie adaptations (Wax in Bitz, 2004) and the rising interest in Japanese animation (Toku in Bitz, 2004)

Lockwood Memorial Library’s Business and Management Subject Specialist Michael Lavin (1998) quotes Jan Ballard and Christine Kirby for saying, “Why comic books? Because the kids are reading them Do we need any other justification?” In 2000, the International Reading Association declared that in order to make a difference in educational environments, the education itself must be different (McVicker, 2007) One factor researchers attribute the appeal

of comics to is their “definitive attraction for all literacy abilities”(McVicker, 2007) According

to C.W Hatfield, comics are “definite text structures for the literate (those who can read, write, and understand); the illiterate (those who cannot read or write but can view comics and possibly comprehend through the visual representation); and the alliterate (those who can read, write, and understand but chose not to, yet are drawn to comics as an enjoyable brief form of

reading)”(Hatfield in McVicker, 2007)

Comic books and graphic novels not only provide a new/unique medium through which

to learn, but, more importantly, they address the impact of visuals (Bucher, Manning, 2004) According to Gretchen Schwarz (2002), comics and graphic novels “appeal to young people, are useful across the curriculum, and offer diverse alternatives to traditional texts as well as other mass media.” In fact, many researchers seem to agree, pointing out their multi-capable

functions Bitz (2004) of The Comic Book Project gives one example, saying, “Infuse a comic

book story into a grammar exercise, and the children may work on the exercise…at least a few seconds longer.” “I remember looking forward to reading the ‘real’ Crime and Punishment by

Dostoevsky after I read the Classic Comics version as a child” cites Schwarz (2002), continuing with, “Illustrated classics still exist, such as J.R.R Tolkien’s The Hobbit (1989) and the 2001 translation of Proust’s Remembrance of Things Past: Combray.” Berkowitz and Packer (2001) offer art-related subjects as further examples According to them, “children who like the Teenage Mutant Ninja TurtlesTM will also be interested in learning about the artists after whom they were named (Michelangelo, Donatello, Raphael, and Leonardo) Batman fans would be interested to learn that his costume was originally based on a drawing by Leonardo Da Vinci.” They also suggest introducing students to Roy Lichtenstein and Roger Shimomura, whose works were heavily inspired by comics (Berkowitz, Packer, 2001)

Aside from multi-subject related capabilities, comics also have multiple effects based on their varying genres According to Weiner, such genres include, “The Superhero Story, The Human Interest Story, Manga (i.e., translated into English), Nonfiction, Adaptations or Spin-offs (e.g., the Star Trek series), and Satire”(Weiner in Schwarz, 2002) English teacher Lila

Christenbury (2006) delves deeper into this research, and even offers examples for how each of these respective genres have been effective as learning tools in her classroom; such as using a

“superhero story” to compare its characters to classic epic heroes (i.e., Ulysses, Beowulf, King Arthur), deterring students from immediately turning to summary-based tools such as Spark

Notes by offering them comic versions of classic literature (Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein), or even contrasting comics with their film or TV counterparts (The Adventures of the League of

Extraordinary Gentleman) According to B Wilson, “children discover meaningful dimensions

of their worlds when they can explore them through creative arts, including comic

books”(Wilson in Bitz, 2004)

Educational Effects of Comics

According to The Journal of Popular Culture and The Reading Teacher, comics have

been used in educational settings within the United States for over 75 years (Dorrell, et al, in McVicker, 2007) Comic books and graphic novels have solid, well-built storylines and usually demonstrate attributes of effectively-written supplemental classroom texts (Daniels, Zemelman,

in Christensen 2006) Christensen (2006) even provides a list of these attributes, which includes: important/engaging content, characters we can relate to, a narrative or chronological structure, places we can visualize, danger, conflict, risks or choices, values, moral/ethical or political dimensions, and ideas that can be reasonably discussed

In a study more like observed occurrence by Rocco Versaci (2001), he assigned his

college-level English students to analyze an excerpt from Debbie Drecshler’s Daddy’s Girl, “a

fictional work that follows a girl named Lily through adolescence.” According to Versaci (2001), students were forced to “look at a relatively confined space with such intensity,” that they were able to make “interpretive conclusions about Lily’s life based on Drecshler’s visual style and the interplay between word and picture.” Versaci provides numerous examples of such interpretive conclusions, but in the end interprets his own conclusions, citing his students as having become

“more critical viewers.” He uses this term to indicate the effect of it almost becoming second-nature to engage one’s “critical faculties” while interacting with various media, such as movies,

TV, video games, and the internet According to Versaci (2001), “Many of my students tell me sometimes angrily that after one of our class activities they can no longer watch movies or look

at magazine advertisements as they did before, and this comment lets me know that I have been doing my job.”

This is not the only educational effect that Versaci (2001) recalls however, indicating that,