As far as the article is concerned, I'm impressed with the work done by the authors. To improve measurable statistics as much as they did is quite a feat. I have an issue or two with some of the insinuations they make, but I'll address those a little bit on Wednesday.
With American Born Chinese, I'm a little hesitant to use it extensively as a text for anything but middle school classes or lower-level classes in 8th-10th grades. I read it in maybe an hour and a half, so there's some benefit to using it for a couple days in a high school classroom, but not much longer. Again, that's simply for the literary aspect of it. To use it and then do other activities with it (such as those described in the article) or starting with ABC as a way to introduce conventions before moving on to a more difficult graphic novel would be beneficial.
I think it's more suited to middle school partly because of its message. With students going through difficulties as far as meeting new friends, growing up, etc., the theme of establishing and accepting one's identity is important for the students. Sixth grade or eighth grade seem like the best times to use it, as often those are the transition years--transitioning into a new school or about to move up to high school, respectively. The best part about using it in eighth grade would be that you could do it at the end of the year in order to give a bit of a break. I always hated when teachers assigned everything for the last 2-3 weeks of the year (just like professors inexplicably still do in college), so having that extra benefit is nice.
Edit: Wilhelm writes, "I have found that my student are all familiar with a variety of graphic organizers but that they don't really understand how to use them to do what they were invented to do: organize and analyze data. Instead, they seem to use them as a glorified worksheet for repeating what they have read or learned, not for seeing new patterns in the data and constructing new kinds of knowledge and representing this knowledge" (185). -- I've always had that problem. The only type of graphic organizer (besides maybe a chart every now and then) that has ever been useful to me is the Venn diagram. Everything else (especially KWL charts) has been mostly useless to me. Occasionally T charts are useful, too, but very rarely do they give me anything I haven't noticed myself (or else I wouldn't have been able to fill in the T chart in the first place).
I'm interested in your suggestion that the graphic novel (or perhaps more specifically ABC) is suited to lower-level or middle school students--not upper level students. I teach ABC in college literature courses. Can it be appropriate in a variety of teaching situations? Or do the "pictures" somehow make the novel more simplistic?
ReplyDeleteP.S. Is a novel's difficulty (and/or merit) noted by the amount of time we must spend reading it? What do you think :)
ReplyDeleteI think it definitely can be appropriate in many situations, but it seems to me that ABC in and of itself as literature is suited well for the groups I suggested. However, using it in college classes, for example, can be done very well and very easily in using it to discuss certain issues in everyday life (e.g. racism), in media (I assume the parts with the laugh track at the bottom are meant to be kind of a sitcom), and the recognition of those issues by artists in their works.
ReplyDeleteIt's beyond obvious the author knew of the stereotypes around him and wanted to put them to good use in ABC. What genre does that make his work? Or, what technique is that? I honestly don't know what the name for it is, but those are just a couple of the things that could be make ABC more useful in higher-level courses. So to answer your second question: It's not about the time spent reading, but what meaningful discussion can be made about the text or what skills you're building by using it.
Nate, I agree with you about using American Born Chinese in the classroom. I would use it for the lower levels most likely, but even then I just probably wouldn't use it. It is better suited to college level where students have matured and can approach it from a different manner.
ReplyDeleteI think that ABC can be taught in high school and should be as long as it's done by a responsible teacher. I mean this book should never become part of the canon and skimmed over; it requires us to present something which is honestly pretty big and powerful but that is wrapped up in a tiny box. I think part of our job as educators is to quit coddling the students and/or not giving them the credit they deserve. i think a book like this can aid greatly in the matter. for example, if a student doesn't quite get a subliminal implication from shakespeare or notice a literary device employed by the bronte sisters they are not most likely going to care. But i'm quite certain they will come with opinions that matter on a text like this and our job is to harness or develope, or correct the mis-interpretations.
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting to me how differently some of us are conceiving of the "level" of American Born Chinese as a teaching novel. I am 34 years old, and I found it complex, intriguing and full of thematic appeal to my current state of existence. The themes that young adolescents are so pained by do not simply disappear as one ages out of secondary school, moves through college and then into a career and actual adulthood. They remain, albeit changed somewhat in their ability to paralyze you. In other words, Jin's experiences are still entirely relevant to my life and experiences; the themes presented in this novel are eternal. But the writing is not simplistic either, and the imagery required that I pay a new sort of attention, as I suspect it might for a number of middle and high school aged students as well.
ReplyDeleteYou state: "... I'm a little hesitant to use [American Born Chinese] extensively as a text for anything but middle school classes or lower-level classes in 8th-10th grades. I read it in maybe an hour and a half, so there's some benefit to using it for a couple days in a high school classroom, but not much longer. Again, that's simply for the literary aspect of it. To use it and then do other activities with it (such as those described in the article) or starting with ABC as a way to introduce conventions before moving on to a more difficult graphic novel would be beneficial."
I am curious, because I felt differently, as to what a more "difficult" graphic novel would look like. Would it have more narration and less direct quotes? Would the narration involve more complex sentence structures? Would it therefore take significantly longer to read? Would it also take significantly longer to analyze? Does this necessarily mean that the students are learning MORE or BETTER?
I think that what is present in this text for purposes of analysis is expansive. I think that what is presented in a much wordier text may not necessarily be of any more analytic value.
I liked Dr. Mortimore's introduction of "The Red Wheelbarrow." In three delightfully simple lines, there is endless analysis to be engaged in. This is significant.
"I am curious...as to what a more 'difficult' graphic novel would look like."
ReplyDeleteWhen I say difficult, I mean difficult in terms of literary complexity. The Watchmen is the perfect example in this case. Though the words and sentences are equally simple in most cases, its themes, narration techniques (e.g., flashbacks, parallelism), and overall meaning (i.e., What might the author have wanted us to feel at the end of this novel?) are harder to grasp. I would say ABC:Watchmen::"The Red Wheelbarrow":"Mont Blanc." That's not to say Mont Blanc is better (I prefer "RW"), only that it needs more analysis--it's not spelled out for you in black and white.
Are they learning more or better? No. Are they learning to look at a text more critically and be able to engage a significantly more difficult text? Yes. Those skills are important too. Anyone (who can read) can read the newspaper, but it takes learning and practice to understand a critical or theoretical article and find the meaning in the sentences.