Simplified Reality of the Cartoon

In preparing for our next sessions, I began reading "Understanding Comics." While I was completely entertained, it was Scott McLoud's clever illustrations and concise, insightful explantion of the role of comics and icons in our culture led me begin exploring the possibilities in using comics in my classroom. To put this iconic power into practice, I will include the strip below, "American Maze" by Dale Wilkins, to prompt my student to write an original paragraph incorporating their vocabulary words from this week. Words such as cessation, deter, hamper, obstruction, subside, thwart, and preclude can be applied to express complex ideas hidden simple images. McLoud writes "the ability of cartoons to focus our attention on an idea is, I think, an important part of their special power," and I am going to attempt to tap into that power to challenge my students' ways of seeing and understanding ideas and concepts around them.