Ciao!

Superheroes in the classroom

09.04.2003

I was a special guest in my mom's 8th grade creative writing class today. The topic was comic books. I had a great time; the kids were great. I was surprised that so few of them read comics, and most of that was Marvel (mostly Spiderman, it seemed).

We discussed the importance of art and text in comics, and how comics are similar to most other literary genres (pacing, character development, use of archetypes, voice, etc.). Also, how comics are a genuine American genre (and some of its implications). I also brought in different trade paperbacks to have the kids flip through, pointing out the different styles of art and how they influence the storytelling. The Q&A was interesting, since most of the questions had to do w/ Marvel continuity — something I'm not very familiar w/ (I read mostly DC titles).

At the end, my mom suggested the possibility of collaborative work between the art students and her creative writing students in the future. Perhaps some SASA comics? I'd be interested to see what they come up w/.

My mom continuously surprises me. She's definately not "hip" or "cool" in any standard sense of the word. But she cares for her students and enjoys learning new things. Which, in the end, makes her an awesome teacher.

Posted by Miguel at 11:25 AM

Comments

Posted by: Micah at September 4, 2003 04:14 PM