Graphic novel class excites student minds

At Vancouver Island University, Dr. Marni Stanley doesn't just let students read comic books in class - she encourages it.

Stanley's Graphic Narrative class at VIU is a somewhat unusual English course because she teaches the comic book as a literary form. Her class is dedicated to the work of graphic novel authors and artists, a genre of fiction often overlooked or dismissed when compared to more traditional English texts.

"The graphic novel genre is incredibly sophisticated and diverse, with complex narratives that deal with war, racism, revolution, exile and other important subjects," said Stanley. "I felt VIU should tap into such interesting and important work."

The class is reading a diverse selection of graphic novels, from the legendary Watchmen, which will be released as a movie in early March, to critically acclaimed choices like American Born Chinese, Stuck Rubber Baby and Persepolis, among others.

"My students are very enthusiastic about the course," said Stanley. "I think it's important for students to have choices, to show them different options and genres in the English program. The graphic novel integrates text and image, drawing on the left and right sides of the brain. Very important things can be written in comics."

The course encourages students to examine the text and the art, and to consider all aspects of how the comic narrative is presented.

Stanley has been a fan of graphic novels for years, but her interest piqued when she noticed women starting to appear as authors. Before that, it had been a male dominated genre.  

After presenting papers on the graphic novel genre at international conferences, Stanley helped create the current class at VIU. While the varied selection of graphic novels are just as complex and sophisticated as other traditional English texts, students are finding the course accessible and a welcome option to standard readings.

"Everyone is enjoying the course," said Brenna Snowie, a fourth year English student.

"It's a fun class and I love the readings. We have more conversations outside of class for this course than any of my other classes."

Snowie became interested in graphic novels in high school when she read a lot of manga books, a Japanese form of print cartoon. She wanted to take the graphic novel class at VIU to gain an academic view of the texts.

"It's been interesting to analyze the relationship of text and drawings and how they compliment each other," said Snowie. "We are looking at the books in ways I never have before. We're living in a more visual time, with the internet and other technology and we're just a more visual generation. It makes sense to combine our visual literacy with our text based literacy."

"We discuss common literary conventions as we would with any novel, but we do so in regards to the text and the visuals," said Stanley. "We look carefully at how things come together to make a complete text.  A unique class like this is attractive to potential students. It's good to mix the classic with the popular and remind people that pleasure is always an important part of learning."