Value+of+Graphic+Novels


 * Introduction ||= Reading Decline ||= Contributing Factors ||= Motivation to Read ||= Value of Graphic Novels ||= Studies ||= Conclusion ||= Resources ||= References ||

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Graphic novels are the sequential arrangement of pictures, words or images, or a combination of these components to present a story or an idea. Graphic novels are mistakenly considered a literary genre, but they are a particular format that can encompass all genres.=====

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Children today are constantly surrounded by visual stimuli and media including movies, television, electronic billboards, magazines, computers, palm pilots, video games, manga, anime, and graphic novels. Today’s generation is quite comfortable with non-text visual media and has learned to associate images with storytelling or conveying information (Lee, 2004; Beers, 2007; Snowball, 2008; Gorman, 2003).=====

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Visual literacy is the norm. Comics and graphic novels are visual literacy in action as “the blending of words and pictures can provide contextual clues” (Snowball, 2008, p. 44) and can help those students who have trouble visualising from text alone. Images extend the meaning of the text, requiring a synthesis of both to reach an understanding. According to Bloom’s hierarchy of skills, this interpretation is a higher order thinking skill; readers make new connections and comprehension is increased (McVicker, 2007). Beers (2007) believes that graphic novels support visual and multiple literacies because they "offer value, variety and a new medium for literacy that acknowledges the impact of visuals..." (p. 67) and they can be used address media and/or visual literacy components of curricula. Graphic novels provide a visual scaffold for reluctant or aliterate readers to draw inferences from the text "by literally providing visual representations of literary elements, such as mood...character development, flashbacks, and foreshadowing" (Beers, 2007, p. 67).=====

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We need to change our perceptions about graphic novels and understand and accept that comics and graphic novels are literature (Lee, 2007). "Processing the images and the text of a graphic novel together create a unique kind of literacy, and should not be considered any less than traditional reading" (Brenner, 2004 quoted in Lee, 2004, p.1).=====