Visual Literacy/Visually Representing
Second Blog Post here we go😆
One experience that I recall as a student is while enrolled in an ENGL that focused heavily on reading comic and graphic novels. I remember being confused on the texts needed for the class since all of them ended up either being a comic or graphic novel. I am embarrassed to admit that I was not too happy about having to read it for class. If I am being honest, I didn’t mind reading graphic novels or comics, but I never really considered them literature until I enrolled in a college-level course. I never inquired about this, but there was a student in my class who asked the professor the significance of reading comic and graphic novels in a literature course. The student stated that they didn’t believe they were important, and I recall the professor reprimanding the student in front of the class. Let’s just say I was relieved that I was more introverted and didn't enjoy speaking in my classes as an undergraduate (I still don’t talk too much in class). The professor explained that there are multiple types of texts outside the canon that are more relevant and convey a similar message to a general text we are accustomed to reading. The professor pointed out that as students, we should be pushing back against the idea that literacy is restricted to one type of construct and strive to go beyond the status quo. The professor shared that one of the graphic novels was written by a fellow professor and provides insight into their initial reservations about writing a graphic novel. Reflecting on that, I had a few students during my student teaching who inquired about using graphic novels and comic books for their reading pages, and I said it was fine. They shared their frustrations with previous English instructors dismissing the students' desires to read graphic novels and comic books due to their own beliefs, as well as stating that they weren’t really “books.” I think many teachers have biases against those types of texts, but I believe they are relevant as well as provide the same, if not more, relevance to their role in literature.
The second experience that I recall as a student is enrolling in Film Studies courses at EWU and ultimately understanding the impact Films have in connection in Literacy. I know this may sound naive, but at that point in my undergraduate, I didn't realize I could major or even minor in Film Studies. Let me preface this by explaining a bit more about myself and when it comes to films. I grew up with a deep love and admiration for films, specifically in the horror category. I would take notes, memorize the different actors/actresses, and other random information connected to the films. My family would tease me about it and dismiss me whenever there was a discussion about films amongst the adults. I would try to share my thoughts, but they would claim that I didn’t know anything since I was a child. I told them I wanted to be a film critic when I got older, as well as a writer, but they claimed I wouldn’t make any money. Eventually, I kept my love for films to myself until I hit college. I enrolled in the course as a way to fulfill a prerequisite, but eventually found myself drawn to a minor in Film Studies. Up until that point in my college career, I didn’t understand the significance of film in the world of Visual Literacy. As naïve as it may sound, I simply enjoyed breaking down the different components that make up a film and didn’t look beyond that. One of my professors, Dr. Drew Ayers, opened my eyes to the connection between films and literacy, and how to identify them while watching a film. My first course with him is what eventually drove me to pursue a minor in Film Studies. I had another professor, Dr. Porter, who pushed me to my limits when it came to using context and scholarly articles to defend the different components that make up a film and how it is used to convey a message, theme, or emotion to the audience, similar to a text. My experiences as a student enrolled in Film Studies courses is what helped teach me the different ways literature can be represented beyond a text.
The third experience that I recall is when I had the opportunity to teach Film as Literature as a student teacher a few years ago. I remember sharing my excitement to my mentor teacher and how excited I was to implement all the information that I learned when I had taken Film courses at EWU. My mentor had to cut me off and explained that I shouldn't get too ahead of myself. I was confused by her statement, and then she proceeded to explain that this was the first time the course would be taught. She also reminded me that while it's good to be excited, I had to remember that it was an introductory course and wouldn’t be delving too much into the different logistics of Film Studies. I was a little disheartened, but I secretly told myself that once I took over the course, I would be able to discuss the topics and have engaging discussions with the students about the different aspects of each film shown in class. Again, I admit that I should have listened to my mentor before getting my hopes up. I don’t mean it in a discouraging way, of course, but looking back at my role in the classroom, I understand why she said what she said. The course wouldn’t begin until the second semester, and there were different components to the work that needed to be completed both before and after the film. Each week, students would be given the title of a film to research and complete a graphic organizer, accompanied by a few guided questions. The students would spend the next three days watching the film and would be graded on both their attendance and their attention to the film. After completing the film, students will fill out an additional graphic organizer, which is due on Friday. Alongside the graphic organizer, they would also need to respond to the prompt provided by me about the film and use the Jane Schaffer format to write their one-chunk paragraph. Seems simple enough, right? Wrong. I had many students struggle with crafting their responses in a Jane Schaffer format, despite having the template available each week. There were times when I would solicit feedback from the students or use extra time to initiate a discussion with them to review what they had watched and learn from the film. Initially, I was excited about the talks with students, but it took me some time to adjust my expectations. I kept forgetting that the students were juniors and seniors trying to navigate their school load. We would discuss the different themes in films and compare them to similar themes in novels. I appreciated an additional assignment that the students in all the classes I taught incorporated reading alongside the course. The students would need to complete reading pages, which meant they would read a text (for this specific course, they would need to read the book version of the film if there was one) and summarize what they read by hand, and schedule a time to discuss the book with me before or after school. This allowed me to ask questions and assess the students' understanding of the book they had read. I had a few students try to lie about reading the books, so I allowed them to either reread it or convince me that they had read it with a pop quiz. Most of the texts the students shared with me, I had read before or had read before our chat. I found it enriching to hear the students share their compassion and thoughts on the book versus the film. Many of the students shared their preferences for the text over the films. The students would also share their thoughts on how the different films we watched tied into English. I was surprised at the different responses and shared my initial thoughts on how I didn’t think films belonged in the literary world until I took a few courses that changed my mind.
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