Focus 178
/ JNE 178: The Graphic Novel and the Jewish Experience
Spring
2010
Course Info:
Instructor: Dr.
Erin McGlothlin
Class
time: M W 4-5:30
Location: Eads 212
Telephone:
935-4288
E-mail: mcglothlin@wustl.edu
Office: 421
Ridgley
Office hours: W 11-12, F 4-5
Intern: Tracy
Graves
Telephone: 935-4885
E-mail: tngraves@artsci.wustl.edu
Office: 418
Ridgley
Office
hours: TBA
Course Description:
This
seminar will examine the graphic novel in the context of global Jewish culture
of the last half century, focusing on two primary aspects. First, it will look
at the historical and aesthetic development of comic art and the graphic novel,
endeavors in which Jewish graphic novelists in particular, who bring a rich
tradition of Jewish storytelling to a hybrid literary and artistic form, have
played a critical role. Second, it will study the ways in which Jewish
artists have utilized the narrative possibilities of the graphic novel to
explore Jewish identity and the Jewish historical experience, concentrating on
such diverse topics as the Holocaust, Sephardic culture and Jewish-American
life.
Course Goals:
Texts:
All
texts for the course are available at the bookstore or from electronic reserve
(ARES) To access and print texts from ARES,
go to http://ares.wustl.edu/ares/ and
click on “search classes.” You can then
search for the course with either my last name or the course number. When you see the course password prompt, type
in the word “comics”. This will give you
access to all the texts that are marked “reserve.”
Texts from Bookstore:
Michael
Chabon The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay
Will
Eisner The Contract with God Trilogy
David Gantz Jews in
Ben
Katchor The Jew of
Miriam
Katin We Are On Our Own
Stan
Mack The Story of the Jews: A 4,000-Year
Adventure
Josh
Neufeld A.D.:
Joann
Sfar The Rabbi’s Cat
Steve Sheinkin The Adventures of Rabbi Harvey
Art
Spiegelman Maus I and II
James
Sturm James Sturm's
J. T. Waldman Megillat Esther
Michael
Wex The Adventures of Micah Mushmelon, Boy
Talmudist
Please note that we will
not read Will Eisner’s The Plot: The Secret Story of the Protocols of the
Elders of Zion, even though the bookstore has ordered it for the course.
Grading:
Two
Tests 35%
(20% each)
Two
3-5 Page Essays: 45%
(25% each)
Two
Close
Participation: 10% (includes
attendance, preparedness, participation in discussion)
Attendance:
Attendance
is mandatory. I expect you to come to
class having read the assignment and thought about the study questions. Unexcused absences will be recorded and will
affect your participation grade. If you
wish to be excused because of sickness, family emergency or religious holiday,
you must contact me by phone or e-mail before
you miss the class in question.
Writing
Assignments:
In
the two 3-5 page essays (due March 15 and April 19), you may address a
particular aspect of one of the texts we have read or you may compare two of
the texts. The papers will be graded
based on content, organization, style and basic grammar. Be aware that I place a premium on
organization. In other words, I expect
your essay to have a well-crafted introduction (with a clearly-formulated and
interesting thesis) and a conclusion. You do not need to consult additional
secondary literature for the essay. I
will give you a handout detailing requirements a couple of weeks before the
first paper is due. You are welcome to
come and talk to me about your papers beforehand. If you are not satisfied with your grade on
an essay, I will accept a rewrite anytime within two weeks following the date
the essay is returned. I will then
average the two grades.
Tests:
There
will be two tests. Test I (March 1) will
be an in-class examination that covers the first half of the course. Test II will be a take-home examination (due
by May 5) that covers the second half.
There will be no cumulative final exam.
Both tests will include short term identification and essay
questions. I will give you a handout
with the essay questions in advance so that you can prepare for the exam.
Close
Over
the course of the semester you will be asked to give two short, informal presentations in which you will perform a close
reading of a particular image or series of images from that day’s reading. You should not do any outside research for
these brief presentations; rather, you should pick a panel or a set of panels
that you find particularly compelling and spend some extra time thinking about
and analyzing it. You’ll want to
consider both its visual aspects (panel design, drawing style, connections
between panels) and its verbal/textual features (dialogue balloons, narrative
boxes) along with its overall narrative development and its place in the larger
story. In order to get an idea of what I
mean by a “close reading,” we will read an excerpt from an article I’ve written
in which I perform a close reading. I
will pass out a sign-up sheet for these presentations during the second class
meeting.
Focus
178 / JNE 178
Spring
2010
Wednesday, January 20 Introduction
to the Jewish Graphic Novel; What Is a Graphic Novel?
Monday, January 25 What
Is a Graphic Novel? (Part 2); History of the Graphic Novel; History of the
Jewish Graphic Novel
Read: Wolk,
McCloud, Understanding Comics (ARES), 2-23
Chute, “Comics as Literature? Reading Graphic
Narrative” (ARES), 452-457 (not entire article)
Pekar and Waldman, Foreword to From
Gantz, “Jews and the Graphic Novel,” 1-22 (http://jbooks.com/common/uploads/graphic_novel/index.html)
Wednesday, January 27 How
to Read a Graphic Novel
Read: McCloud, Understanding Comics (ARES), 24-117,
138-161
Wolk,
Reading Comics (ARES), 118-134
McGlothlin, “In Auschwitz We Didn’t Wear
Watches: Marking Time In Art Spiegelman’s Maus”
(ARES), 66-69 (not entire article)
Monday, February 1 Jewish History in the
Graphic Novel
Read: Mack, The Story of the Jews: A 4,000-Year Adventure
Wednesday, February 3 American
Jewish History in the Graphic Novel
Read: Gantz,
Jews in
Monday, February 8 Will Eisner’s Dropsie
Avenue
Read: Eisner, A Contract with God, 3-121
Wednesday, February 10 Will
Eisner’s Dropsie Avenue II
Read: Eisner,
A Life Force, 181-321
Monday, February 15 Jews in
Read: Katchor,
The Jew of
Wednesday, February 17 American Myths I
Read: Sheinkin,
The Adventures of Rabbi Harvey
Monday, February 22 American Myths II
Read: Sturm,
The Golem’s Mighty Swing
“Golem” from Encyclopedia Judaica (ARES)
Wednesday, February 24 The
Bible in the Graphic Novel
Read: Waldman,
Megillat Esther
Esther from the Tanakh (ARES)
Monday, March 1 Test
I
Wednesday, March 3 Comics
in Jewish-American Literature I
Read: Wex, The Adventures of Micah
Mushmelon, Boy Talmudist
March 8-14 Spring Break
Monday, March 15 The Holocaust in the Graphic Novel I
Read: Spiegelman, Maus I, 1-127
1st paper due
Wednesday, March 17 The Holocaust in the Graphic
Novel I
Read: Spiegelman,
Maus I, 129-159 ; Maus II, 9-74
Monday, March 22 The Holocaust in
the Graphic Novel II
Read: Spiegelman,
Maus II, 75-136
Katin, We Are On Our Own, 3-28
Wednesday, March 24 The Holocaust in the Graphic
Novel II
Read: Katin,
We Are On Our Own, 29-129
Monday, March 29 American Traumas
Read: selections
from Spiegelman, In the Shadow of No
Towers (ERES)
Neufeld, A.D.:
Wednesday, March 31 American Traumas
Read: Neufeld, A.D.:
Monday, April 5 Sephardim in the
Graphic Novel
Read:
Sfar,
The Rabbi’s Cat, 1-94
Wednesday, April 7 Sephardim in the Graphic
Novel
Read: Sfar,
The Rabbi’s Cat, 94-142
Monday, April 12 Comics in
Jewish-American Literature II
Read: Chabon,
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and
Clay, 3-122
Wednesday, April 14 Comics in Jewish-American
Literature II
Read: Chabon, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, 123-256
Monday, April 19 Comics in
Jewish-American Literature II
Read: Chabon, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, 257-380
2nd
paper due
Wednesday, April 21 Comics in Jewish-American
Literature II
Read: Chabon, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, 381-512
Monday, April 26 Comics in
Jewish-American Literature II
Read: Chabon, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, 513-636
Wednesday, April 28 Comics in Jewish-American
Literature II / Wrap-up
Test II (take-home exam)
is due PER E-MAIL (mcglothlin@wustl.edu)
by Wednesday, May 5 at 9 a.m.!
