Set up a page for Cornell Notes Topic: Text You need to copy down everything in green

What is text? The word "text" can have many meanings, most of which apply to our study of graphic novels. The most basic meaning of text is "written or printed words" - from the New Oxford American Dictionary

When talking about graphic novels, the text is the words on the page, not the pictures Example: from Bone by Jeff Smith

Other important meanings of text 1. a book or other written or printed work 2. a piece of written or printed material regarded as conveying the authentic or primary form of a particular work 3. in computing, data in written form, esp. when stored, processed, or displayed in a word processor from the New Oxford American dictionary

In general, text can refer to just words on a page, or to the entire work being studied, eg. a book, play, poem, etc. or even the theme of a speech or discussion

What can be considered a text? Traditionally, the only texts considered appropriate for academic study were printed texts such as novels, plays, non-fiction books, etc. In a digital age text starts to take on a whole new meaning. A text can be anything you can "read." Including graphic novels, images, movies, web pages, videos, text messages, etc.

So what does it mean to read?

Let's review: text has two main meanings Written or printed words on a page. When talking about graphic novels the text is the words on the page, not the pictures Any work that can be read and analyzed Using this meaning, an entire graphic novel is a text

Remember our essential question: How do graphic novels create meaning differently from traditional literature? Graphic novels create meaning through the interaction of text and pictures on the page. The entire graphic novel is a text as worthy of analysis as a traditional novel.

Homework: Umberto Eco said "Texts are lazy machines." Analyze this quote in one paragraph. What do you think he means?