Elements of a Comic... Using Jane Eyre!

 For my visualization project, I am focusing on the elements of a comic. What makes a comic, a comic? How do I read it so that I can understand the story's full meaning? Why is recognizing the interplay between words and images important? How do the choices that graphic novel authors alter our reading experiences? These are the sort of questions I hope my annotated images begin to answer, and I will be using an excerpt from Amy Corzine and John Burn's graphic adaptation of Charlotte Bronte's magnum opus, Jane Eyre, as a starting point. 

Here is the link to my first Thinglink creation, which defines and briefly explains the various comic elements that readers should be aware of when reading this edition of Jane Eyre (or another comic/graphic novel!): https://www.thinglink.com/scene/1654262895548039171

I created a second image which, using the same page from Jane Eyre, provides a more in-depth explanation and analysis of how the previously-identified comic elements are being used by the authors to enhance the reading experience: https://www.thinglink.com/scene/1654575524254580738

This was my first time using ThingLink, and I found it to be an extremely user-friendly, effective means to connect my definitions and explanations of what's "happening" in the graphic novel to the specific examples themselves. With the text set I created this semester in mind, I thought about how helpful it would be for my students to have tangible, interactive examples of what it means to effectively read a graphic novel and appreciate how the interplay between dialogue/plot and graphics can enhance the reading experience. The use of images in texts, as Nielsen Hibbing and Rankin-Erikson point out in "A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words," is especially beneficial for struggling readers: "Illustrations frequently serve as an affective or motivational function for students... for readers who struggle, pictures operate beyond the decoration function, serving as a tool to create or confirm understanding" (762-3). 

While I did not necessarily add the individual images to the page spread I chose since they "came with" the novel, the opportunity for students to look at these images alongside the words on the page and my linked explanation/interpretation will hopefully help students dig a bit deeper and understand HOW the images are being used to move them as readers. The page of Jane Eyre I decided to annotate also had a variety of visual elements/techniques that invited a closer look, so I think that this annotated project can be helpful for students who need the reminder to slow down and recognize that authors/illustrators make choices that have an impact. The ability for students to "click" back and forth between the text itself and my added commentary will also lead to an interactive (they have to do the clicking), a reciprocal process where they are using both words and images to inform and deepen their understanding. 

And the best part is (thanks to ThingLink!), students won't have to page back and forth between two separate sources to break down Jane Eyre by its elements. While I'm pretty familiar with comic formats and elements, I wanted to make sure all of my bases were covered, so I used Difference Engine's "Elements of Comics" as a source to help me create my annotations for my first creation (which focused strictly on defining the elements). This would be a great resource to share with students as a scaffolding/introductory tool, but I thought it would be even more helpful to integrate this information into a text we would already be working with (Jane Eyre) so that it is more relevant and engaging. Now, instead of having to google the definition of a panel or SparkNotes to find out what they think the intended tone of Jane Eyre is, they can discover this information within the context of pages themselves. The connections I was able to represent and model in my annotated photo will hopefully inspire them to do the same as they read the entire text (and other graphic novels!). I could envision some sort of formative or summative assessment that asks students to upload other pages of Jane Eyre: The Graphic Novel and use pins to analyze what they notice the author doing with words, images, orientation, etc., and how it enhances their understanding of the story. ThingLink also allows you to add media to your annotations (voiceovers, videos, and images), which could lead to more opportunities for students to express their thinking in ways that aren't just words. As Manderino reiterates in "Reading Digitally Like a Historian," "teen use of multimedia has grown exponentially over the past 5 years," which means "adolescents are immersed in a context of multimedia consumption that can be leveraged for classroom instruction" (79). By exposing students to new multimodal opportunities and giving them the space to experiment, we as teachers are providing them with opportunities to become even stronger 21st-century media participants and learners. 

Works Cited

Bronte, Charlotte et al. Jane Eyre: The Graphic Novel. Classical Comics, 2008.

"Elements of Comics." Difference Engine. Elements of Comics | Difference Engine

Manderino, Michael. "Reading Digitally Like a Historian: Using Multimedia Texts to Facilitate Disciplinary Learning." The Connecticut Reading Association Journal, vol. 1, no. 1, pp. 79-82. 

Nielson Hibbing, Anne and Joan Rankin-Erikson. "A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words: Using Visual Images to Enhance Comprehension for Middle School Struggling Readers." The Reading Teacher, vol. 56, no. 8, May 2003, pp. 758-80.