By popular request: the Final Project

English 155D: The final project. Select one of these three options. Please do note that each requires, as part of its completion, a one-page abstract or sample of the entire work.

Option One: (toward) the creation of a graphic novel. It’s not likely that you can produce an entire book in less than half of our semester, but you might be able to write a segment of what might end up being a complete story; you might be able to write the text and draw part of the storyboard. You MAY collaborate with others in the class on this project.

The final version of an Option One production should be a mock-up of the book or a draft of the manuscript. The nature of the work will dictate the final version.

The one-page handout: a description of the work, perhaps including a sample, and description of the process you undertook to create that work.

Option Two: an essay exploring an issue in the world of the graphic novel. You might choose to consider the depiction of women in graphic novels, perhaps with an eye toward changes, if any, in how women have been shown in the form over time. You might look at studies on how a particular idea or social concern is treated in various graphic novels: racism, economic disparity, gender identification, drug use, perhaps, or the use of violence to reconcile conflicts. Perhaps the world of the creator itself—often a theme in graphic novels, particularly in the personal memoir—is of interest to you (Joe Matt, whose ongoing work is Peepshow, writes about little else), but each creator shows his or her world in a different way. Essay should be five pages minimum plus Works Cited (MLA-format: see Essay Two handout for more info). You will certainly need to do some reading and perhaps interviewing: this is not a speculative essay, to be written off the top of your head.

The one-page handout: an abstract of your work, summarizing your findings.

Option Three: an essay exploring an issue in the world surrounding the graphic novel. Several of these issues stand out in this time: the place of the graphic novel in the collection of an academic library; the place of the graphic novel in college curriculum (in stand-alone courses like ours, in production or studio classes; in traditional curriculum); the long-term prognosis for the art form; the long-term prognosis for the commercial viability of the art form; the interplay of the art form with the fine arts world; the problem of censorship; the problem of distribution; the rise of graphic novel-specific publishing houses; the place of the graphic novel in literacy campaigns. There are any number of ways to approach this task; I’d suggest the best bet is to investigate something that is of deep interest to you. Essay should be five pages minimum plus Works Cited (MLA-format, of course!). You will certainly need to do some interviewing and reading: this is not a speculative essay, to be written off the top of your head.

The one-page handout: an abstract of your work, summarizing your findings.


Some dates:


Thursday May 17 Final projects due (NO late projects accepted). Presentations of final projects begin. The presentations are informal, maximum ten minutes in length, talks about or graphic presentations of your final project. You are required to provide the one page handout (if you cannot get twenty copies for us, let me know in advance and I will have the college provide those for you) which your classmates may use or build upon as a means to greater understand both your project and the field of the graphic novel. If you wish, you can post the handout on the class blog instead of providing the handout.

No class meeting Tuesday 5/22 (final exam week).

Thursday May 24 10:30 a.m. - 12:30 pm. Final exam period. Presentations of final projects continue. Final projects returned.