1. Warm-Up
Write and draw a 6-panel comic strip/mini graphic novel about a time that YOU experienced teen angst.
Make sure that your graphics and text combine to make a clear story!

2. Pair & Share Grab a partner and exchange warm-ups.
Read your partner’s comic strip.
On the back, write a 10 WORD SUMMARY of their experience with teen angst.

3. Review Take back your comic strip. Read your partner’s summary.
Is it accurate?  If so, then you did a great job communicating your experience through graphics and text.
Are there mistakes?  If so, then you need to work on clarity. In a graphic novel, if it’s not clear, it’s the author’s mistake, not the reader’s.

4. Graphic Novels Terms and Concepts *Take notes with your mind map.*

5. What is a graphic novel?
Definition: A narrative work, often told in first person, in which the story is conveyed to the reader using a combination of graphics and text.

6. Graphic Novels vs. Comics
LENGTH: some up to pages long
RESOLVED STORY ARC
THEMES: more real world themes like identity, religion, death, fitting in, personal struggles
SPLASH PAGES: used for mood, a strong emotion
LENGTH: Between pages
USUALLY PRINTED IN SERIAL FORM
THEMES: superheroes, comedy
SPLASH PAGES: used for big reveals or cliff hangers

7. How do you read a graphic novel?
A graphic novel is "not only something one reads but something one sees as well...[it is] like reading and watching a movie at the same time” (Gallo and Weiner, 115).

8. How do you read a graphic novel?
Read from left to right like a traditional book
Words and dialogue are the primary focus with the image coming in second
Transitions happen much faster in a graphic novel compared to a regular book
Read the text first, then look at the image within that panel before moving on to the text in the next panel

9. How do you read a graphic novel?
The #1 rule to remember: the bigger the panel, the more time you should spend looking at it and analyzing it.

10. Layout
Panel: a section, usually a box, containing a combination of image and text in endless variety. Panels offer a different experience than simply reading the text.

11. Layout Frame: the lines and borders that contain the panels
Gutter: the space between framed panels
(contrast the gutters on page 62 with page 63)
Bleed: an image that extends to/beyond the edge of the page

12. Layout Foreground: the parts closest to the viewer
Midground: The artist places an image centered or off centered to create visual tension .
Background: provides additional information for the reader, such as time period and setting

13. Figures
Faces: Some faces depict an actual person, others are symbolic.
They can be dramatic when placed against a detailed backdrop
They can be drawn without much expression or detail, which invites the audience to figure out what the character is thinking. This is called an “open blank”
Note: When we say look at the faces, you are actually looking for the emotion or what clue we are getting from the face – not just that there is one.

14. Figures
Hands and Feet: the position of hands and feet can be used to express what is happening in the story.
Hands with palms out might suggest surprise.
Hands over the mouth might depict fear, shame, or shyness.
Feet that appear in motion might create a sense of panic, urgency.
When we say look at the hands and feet, we are asking you to look for the clues we might get from them.

15. Text
Captions: these boxes contain a variety of text elements, such as scene-setting, description
(page 73)
Special-Effects lettering: highlights or draws attention to the text. Think about onomatopoeia in Batman comic strips (Blam! Pow!)
(page 17)
Speech balloons: these enclose dialogue and come from a specific speaker’s mouth.
External dialogue is speech between characters (45)
Internal dialogue is a thought enclosed by a balloon that has a series of dots or bubbles going up to it. (97)

16. How Graphic Novels are Created

17. Graphic Novel Practice
Use the handout with the panels to practice identifying and labeling terms and concepts associated with the graphic novel.
Write all over it. Use arrows, lines, etc. to mark the different features.

18. Exit Slip
1 Question
1 Comment
1 Concern