Chan Tsz Ying, Karen
21st March 2011
ED/EN 3051 Teaching in I/S division – Assignment
Choosing texts for teaching – Part A
Graphic novel: The Plain Janes by Cecil Castellucci and Jim Rugg
I have chosen The Plain Janes by Cecil Castellucci and Jim Rugg for my teaching text. This black and white picture novel is about a girl called Jane who moved to suburbia Kent Waters. She and her parents were living in Metro City until an unexpected bomb exploded in a café in the city. Her parents were overtaken by fear so they moved the family to the suburban area, a small town called Kent Waters. At Buzz Aldrin High School, Jane gathered other girls called Jane in the school, they are all unpopular in different ways. These girls came together and make ‘art attack’ in the city, and leaving the name P.L.A.I.N. at the place they went. They create chaos in their artistic way, for example, they plant flowers in constructions sites. Gradually, the P.L.A.I.N. becomes an outlaw group. The authors wanted to bring about a message of fear is an indulgence in which people have to overcome in their lives.
In my opinion, I will teach this book in grade 7 and 8 in English class. The Plain Jane a story of support and friendship, and also protests of teenagers, when the adults of the town misconstrue their artworks as ‘art attack’. This book is relevant to all students as searching for their identity, interest, personal goals is the main concern for almost all teenagers. The teenage struggle and rebellion is well depicted in the book. Also, this book also talks about the value of art, as the girls in the story believe that art can change the way people look at the world, it has the potential to change people’s emotion, it can makes people smile, our state of being, our way of thinking, encourage people in actions and also provide comfort. So I think The Plain Jane is educational as it teaches students the value of art. From the book, art can bring special meaning to students and inspires a new way to think about life. This book also talks about friendship and love, which is something that every student can understand and relate to. The idea that romances have the potential to be life long relationships without is also prevalent in the book. This can also prompt students to think about the idea of love and the meaning of friendship when they read the book.
However, there are some possible difficulties when teaching this book. Some parents, educators and librarians may associate graphic novels with unsuitable content for teenagers and reject the use of graphic novel in the classrooms. They may not be familiar with the increasing body of graphic novel that is suitable for readers of all age. To solve this problem, it is necessary for teachers to explain and demonstrate the advantages of using graphic novels in the classrooms. As graphic novels promote literacy, it is a powerful tool to attract students to read. Studies also found that there have been great successes among teachers and educators in getting students to read more by using graphic novels in the classrooms. Some parents and educators may still think that graphic novels are not the type of reading that can improve students’ reading and writing skills. They may feel that graphic novel are unable to help students to grow as mature readers and it may even impose negative impact on students as they might not be able to move on from graphic novels to written novels.
However, teachers should explain the benefits that graphic novels can brought to students. The notion of graphic novels are inappropriate to teach in the classrooms is outdated. Graphic novels can be both linguistically appropriate which requires many reading skills that students needed in order to read the traditional written fictions. It requires students to be actively engaged in the reading process of decoding and understanding a wide range of literacy devices, including narrative structure, narrative elements, symbolism, metaphors, puns, alliterations, intertextuality and inferences. Graphic novels can help students to develop heir critical thinking skills which can help them to read more advanced novels in the future.
For activity in class, I think this novel can be incorporated in a writing task. Although graphic novel is a new genre for reading in the classroom, it is possible to be incorporated in the classroom. Graphic novels are similar to written text in terms of its story elements and structure; it is also a piece of text with complex plots and rich narrative structure that can satisfy readers. As graphic novels can appeal to both reluctant and advanced readers, graphic novels can help students to become constant and lifelong readers if teachers provide diverse reading materials to them.
To incorporate The Plain Jane in English class, teachers can design a task that requires student to combine text and images. After teaching the Plain Jane in class, students could be asked a piece of creative writing which is based on the story. They can compare the different experience of receiving information visually and through written text. From The Plain Jane, teachers can teach how the characters are derived and interpreted by their facial expressions and body movements, and also from the pictures’ composition. Teachers can ask students to pick the favorite scene from The Plain Jane and ask them to explain their reasons to their partners or the rest of the class. In addition, students can also be asked to examine how readers are asked to deduce the plot in graphic novels as the transition are not explicitly explained and stated from image to image. This task not only provides rooms for their imagination in writing, it also helps students to produce their own version of the story and incorporate their writing style into their work. Students can also choose a particular moment or scene that interested them to elaborate on and it provides freedom for students in writing. They can also write an alternative ending for The Plain Jane or write about what happened before and after the story. On the other hand, students can also write a passage of dialogue from a scene of the story, and then act it out in class. It is necessary for teachers to deconstruct basic narrative structure and technique of The Plain Jane with students before they are asked to complete the creative writing. This can improve students’ story reading, writing and also critical thinking skills.
Teachers can integrate graphic novels into their curriculum in the area of language, science and social science subjects. For English, graphic novels can be a powerful tool to help students to understand and learn more about language, literature and art.
To conclude, it is both educational and useful for teaching to introduce graphic novels like The Plain Jane in the classroom, students can be benefited a many ways and it is hoped that there will be more incorporation of graphic novels in classrooms in the future.
Reference
Castellucci. C. & Rugg. J. (2007) The Plain Janes, New York, N.Y. Minx
Gorman. M. (2003), Getting Graphic! Using Graphic Novels to Promote Literacy with Preteens and Teens, Linworth
Crawford. P. (2002), Graphic Novels 101: Selecting and Using Graphic Novels to Promote Literacy for Children and Young Adults – A Resource Guide for School Librarians and Educators, Hi Willow.
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