Connecting comics such as ‘Watchmen’ into English lectures are part of what this English 1 professor does at Long Beach City College to give a deeper, yet different understanding of topics being covered in class.
In the class, students are talking and writing rhetorical essays on the topic of racism. Thomas Price’s class will read a comic called ‘They Called Us Enemy,’ which is about how Asian Americans were taken out of their homes and locked up during WW2.
Price teaches English 1 Plus at PCC and started using comic books eight years ago to attempt to give his students a better emotional connection to the topics they’re discussing.
Price has seen his students benefit from using comics in his courses, as he feels that many don’t read books. As with a novel you’re just decoding the words and the meaning while moving along.
“In a graphic novel you’re reading the text, your eyes are taken in the ways of the panels which affects the narrative. Decoding symbolism, like wavy lines, like does that mean something smells or it’s hot,” Price said.
Among the list of comics he uses are ‘Watchmen’ to discuss vigilantism and dystopianism, ‘Daytripper’ about a man that experiences different moments in his life like his first love and marrying in his old age, and ‘Pride of Baghdad’ to discuss American adventurism in the Middle East.
Lasheathe Brown is currently part of Price’s English 1 Plus course and felt connected to the course because it was different from what she normally had read in a literature course.
“It brought something different to the table. It wasn’t your typical English class where you stick to a particular curriculum. Got you more interested in the reading by bringing something new to the table, to freshen your mind and to brighten your horizon,” Brown said.
Price started reading comics as a kid as a form to escape, which helped him develop some of his morals and ethics. After he was sent to military school, which he considered to be an extremely homophobic place, he started to read ‘Adventure Comic Jon Sable Freelance’ about a vigilante who solves people’s problems.
By reading that series of comics, he was exposed to homosexuality for the first time and it helped him develop sympathy and empathy for people that were gay. He associates that experience with how students can benefit from graphic novels in more ways than one.
Brown believes you are able to relate to the watchmen comics more and see it in a broader aspect as it is more mature.
The Watchmen and Daytripper were the comics in the class that caught Brown’s attention the most.
With watchmen it was more brutal, superhero-ish in a more rated R version way, in how the graphic was done and the text was written.
Daytripper was more realistic, personal, and more human-related. “It talks about life, death, and family. Makes you feel like appreciating life and wanting to open your eyes and just really accept what you have and to be happy,” Brown said.
Brown believes that this method used in Price’s English course entices you by wanting to break down the literature and by wanting to know what it all can mean, as she feels that each panel helps you bond more with the characters.
Price has gotten his students to become fans of reading graphic novels, as some of them return and tell them how they’ve continued reading them. Such as one called ‘Saga,’ which is a sort of mashup between Star Wars and Star Trek.
Price Supplies his students with his own comic books, or he has his students use a website called ‘Comixology.’