Here are some options for your culminating work in English 209.  Of course, if you have other suggestions, please feel free to propose them.  Ultimately, the work should show that you have thought carefully about the texts in the course and appreciate their place in particular times, places, and cultures (a course goal).  We may need to negotiate the amount of work the papers/projects involve, but in general, the written text should be about 1500 words unless otherwise specified. 

Feel free to adapt these suggestions as necessary.  We will be negotiating their progress and final form, and you will be turning in drafts for feedback before the final is due.

1.  Narrate a scene from a graphic novel and write a commentary that discusses how you “translated” the picture into narration.  The readings we did with Poe in comparing the text and graphic forms are the inspiration for this option.

2.  Illustrate a passage from one of Poe stories/poems NOT already in graphic form.  Or you may choose another story, perhaps by your favorite author, for that matter.  Write a commentary with great specificity on how you composed your illustrations.

3.  Watch a movie based on a graphic novel (Beowulf, V for Vendetta, Coraline, or you might be already familiar with Sin City, 300, Road to Perdition), and write a review that addresses the art direction/direction of the movie, character development, faithfulness to the original story.  You may look at and cite other reviews in writing your own.

4.  Read a pair of novels, one graphic, one original (like Beowulf), to compare.  There are many versions of Beowulf, a recent good one by Seamus Heaney, to look at.  Coraline would be another,  I have a list if anyone is interested.

5.  Read a graphic novel and a similarly themed traditional novel to compare. I’m thinking of 1984 by George Orwell and V for Vendetta, but there are other good matches, I’m sure.  Write something interesting about the novels, and use scholarly research to support your views.

6.  Make up your own paper/project that also relates to your chosen or potential major.  For example, history majors might do something with the historical period of Persepolis. Political science majors might want to do something with the graphic form of the 9/11 Report. Music majors might want to create a soundtrack for a graphic novel.  Adolescence or Elementary Education majors might devise a teaching unit or investigate graphic novels' use in the classroom.  Think of something that interests YOU about these works and propose it.