Blog Post #1

I have not read many graphic novels in my life. Honestly, I did not know I had been reading them at all. Before I looked up “graphic novel definition,” I was not one hundred percent sure what it was. According to many of my reliable sources, it is a novel that is written in a comic book style. I am not surprised at all that is how it is defined. The comic book style is where the “graphic” comes from and the words are where the “novel” comes from. I knew it was a book with pictures in it, but I did not know about the comic book style. The pictures help give me a better understanding of the story because I can see what the author was trying to show in the scenes.

I think these graphic novels can be useful in a classroom because of the images that are used to help tell the story. Back when I took the intro to ed class, I was reminded that people get distracted and will not read all the words. Pictures are what keep kids entertained. Telling the story through pictures is a great way to make the students want to read it. The students who do not enjoy reading will see the pictures telling a story and will want to find out what is happening in the words on the page. It is an excellent way to make sure everyone reads the books and understand enough to have a discussion. Even if they just look at the picture, they will understand at least some of what is happening. It shows that language arts is more than words on a page. That is why it is language arts or English. There are different ways to teach the material. Some work for some people and do not for others and that is ok. It is just another option and a medium through which the content can be taught and understood.