Washington University in St. Louis course is close to the end

Though it's obviously too late in the semester to take this course (or even to audit it), it's not too late to get a sense of what the course is like, thanks to online course guides.

The wonderfully detailed online guide to the course The Graphic Novel and the Jewish Experience at http://libguides.wustl.edu/content.php?pid=97685&sid=732066 has tabs for Books, Films, Author Podcasts [and Interviews], Author Websites and Additional Jewish Graphic Artists, as well as the obligatory syllabus.

Here's what the syllabus looks like :

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: {suppressed by moderator}

Office: 421 Ridgley

Office hours: W 11-12, F 4-5

Intern: Tracy Graves

Telephone: 935-4885

E-mail: {suppressed by moderator}

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:

To introduce students to the genre of the graphic novel and explore its development

To read some of the most critically acclaimed autobiographical and fictional graphic novels of the past several decades

To explore the ways in which Jewish culture is represented in graphic novels

To develop students’ critical vocabulary and analytical skills of texts and images

To focus on students’ ability to write discursively about literary and visual texts

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 America: A Cartoon History

Ben Katchor The Jew of New York

Miriam Katin We Are On Our Own

Stan Mack The Story of the Jews: A 4,000-Year Adventure

Josh Neufeld A.D.: New Orleans After the Deluge

Joann Sfar The Rabbi’s Cat

Steve Sheinkin The Adventures of Rabbi Harvey

Art Spiegelman Maus I and II

James Sturm James Sturm's America: God, Gold, and Golems

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 Readings: 10% (5% each)

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 Readings:

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

Syllabus

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, Reading Comics (ARES), 11-16, 29-48, 60-64 ; 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 Krakow to Krypton: Jews and Comic Books (ARES), 1-4 ; 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 America: A Cartoon History

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 New York
Read: Katchor, The Jew of New York

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.: New Orleans After the Deluge, 1-79

Wednesday, March 31 American Traumas
Read: Neufeld, A.D.: New Orleans After the Deluge, 80-193

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 {SUPRESSED by moderator} by Wednesday, May 5 at 9 a.m.!