How to Read a Graphic Narrative

In this class, students will be taken through a short instructional period on how to read a graphic narrative.

Guiding Question

• What is different about reading a graphic narrative?

Preparation

Begin by asking students if they read comics, which ones, why do they like them, what makes them engaging?

Introduction

Begin the lesson with a general content warning. Inform students that throughout this project, they will be dealing with difficult subject matter and troubling images. Inform them that today’s lesson will help equip them with tools to confront challenging subject matter in a productive and safe way.

Establish the class routine of the “mood meter” (see resources) . Students will begin and end each class by taking stock of their mood, and then writing a short private reflection on what they are feeling and why they are feeling that way. Inform students that regular emotional self check-ins are an important part of safety—it is important that students stay mindful of their mood so that they can advocate for themselves if they feel incapable of participating.

This practice will bookend each lesson: begin and end with a period of quiet reflection. Students should be encouraged to pay attention to changes in their mood over the course of the lesson, the unit, the project. Some may not experience much fluidity; this is okay too.

Lesson Activities

How to Read a Graphic Narrative

Using Tracy Edmund’s website as a starting point, give a presentation on how to read a graphic narrative.

How to Read Comics – Tracy Edmund

Introducing the Assignment

Introduce students to the assignment (see assignment outline). The outline gives an overview of each graphic narrative.

Give students time to decide which graphic narrative they would like to read and work with.

Reading But I Live

Once students have chosen a graphic narrative, prompt them to revisit Handout : Teaching the Holocaust through Art as they read the narrative.

Everyone should have chosen a story they would like to read into more deeply. The next task in this activity is to read the graphic narrative of the Holocaust survivor you chose to read about. For this activity, take notes as you go along—note how you are feeling, reactions you are having, questions that come up, curiosities that arise etc. You will be revisiting this in the final activity for this assignment.

The rest of class time should be dedicated to letting students read, write down notes and reflections.

Conclusion

Personal journaling: Students should take 5–10 minutes to write a short reflection on their experiences in class. We will circle back to our reflections to create our personal-response graphic narratives.

End-of-Lesson Journal Prompts

For each lesson in this unit, students will have the opportunity to engage in reflective journaling. This practice aligns with taking a trauma-informed approach to teaching the Holocaust. The self-reflection journal prompts students will do at the end of each lesson will allow them to unpack and reflect on how they felt during that lesson, what they learned, what they may be curious about and more. When given the opportunity to self-reflect, students are encouraged to dive into their feelings, enacting brave spaces by writing out their thoughts and reflections.

The following are some journal prompts students can use to inspire their reflections if they find they are having trouble writing. These journal prompts are meant to be detailed so students can write detailed reflections.

• Write about something that grasped your interest in this lesson. Was it something new you learned? Was it something you wondered about after the lesson?
• What questions do you have after this lesson? Is there anything you are still curious about?
• How did what you learned today make you feel? Describe your emotions in detail.
• Did anything from today’s lesson connect deeply with you on a personal level? Why or why not?