You can pick up your copy of Marjane Satrapi’s book at the Barnes and Noble on 41st.  Begin reading for our discussion on Monday.

This weekend, be thinking about a work that you would like to illuminate.  It can be in any medium that you like.  While you should be true to the original, an adaptation is fine.  We’ll talk more about this on Monday.

You can pick up a copy of Chip Kidd’s The Cheese Monkeys at the Barnes and Noble at 41st.

We are writing reviews of our graphic novels over the weekend.  They need not be longer than a page.  If you aren’t sure how to begin, check out popmatters.com for some good examples. 

Oh goody.  We’re moving to graphic novels.

Your homework for this weekend is to travel to your favorite local book purveyor (or Amazon, if you’re willing to order right now and have it overnighted) and browse the graphic novel shelf.  Find a book that interests you, purchase it, and bring it to class on Tuesday.

“But wait,” you say, “I don’t like superheroes and I’ve never even touched a graphic novel.  Heck, I don’t even know where to start.”  Tilting my head in consolation, I respond: “Aww, shucks.  I’ll help you.”  Offering a nick to the chin, we begin our journey:

Graphic Novels 101: A story in which your kindly teacher leads you through the illustrated world of the graphic novel, ending in your personal discovery that the most often looked down upon medium actually contains stories worth reading.  And studying.

First lesson, a list.  These are the cream of the crop.  The first three are autobiographical (though Jimmy Corrigan is only partly so); Sandman is masterfully written fantasy; Cerebus is part fantasy, part social satire (think Gulliver’s Travels with an aardvark); the final two are modern superhero tales.

• Chris Ware’s Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth—Ware’s novel traces three generations of Corrigan men, their effects on one another, and the title character’s life in unintentional isolation.
• Art Spiegelman’s Maus I and II—The story of Spiegelman’s father’s life as a Jew under the Nazi regime.  The tale is haunting and beautifully drawn.  Spiegelman won a Pulitzer for Maus I.
• Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis—In this graphic tale, Satrapi describes growing up in Iran during the Islamic Revolution.
• Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman series—I warn you, I have had several friends become hooked after the first novel.  First published as a series of 75 comic books, the series tells the story of Morpheus (Dream) and his six siblings (Death, Desire, Delirium, Destiny, Destruction, and Desire).  While the series should generally be read in order, Dream Country (#3) contains two of my favorite Sandman stories.  Please flip through before purchasing; some of the stories are a bit violent.
• Dave Sim’s Cerebus series—Like I said, Gulliver’s Travels with an aardvark.  To my knowledge, this is the longest running storyline (6000 pages) in comic history.  I could be wrong.
• Joss Whedon’s Astonishing X-Men—Whedon, of Buffy the Vampire fame, is the current reigning master of witty dialogue.  The story is solid, but the characters are simply amazing.
• Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns—Often cited as the turning point in superhero comics.  Miller’s Batman is aged, doubtful of himself, and hated by the media.  Oh, the media.  If you want to begin a thorough study of the modern comic book, this is the place to start.

Now, go out and consume.  Remember, this list is merely a starting point; find a work that piques your interest, not one that you think I want you to read.  Remember, remember, graphic novels are occasionally violent and may contain images that are inappropriate for high school.  You should get parental approval before purchasing anything not on the above list. Also, remember, remember, the fifth of November, the gunpowder treason and plot…

[Note: I realize that I am completely ignorant of authors, titles, movements, styles, etc. in the manga genre.  Please forgive this, and know I will accept any guidance you can offer in this realm.  I also realize that the Graphic Novels 101 subtitle contains an overly long sentence followed by a fragment.  Do as I say, not as I do.]

Remember, we will be sharing articles on Tuesday.  Bring an article that you find interesting, something for the class to discuss.

To assist you in your search, I thought I’d share this with you:

I use the Google RSS reader, but there are others out there. (See links in video.)

Here are a couple of good article sources that I use:

• NPR.org breaks up the site sections into different feeds, which can be found here.  After you sign up with an RSS reader, click on the RSS button next to the section you’re interested in.  I’m subscribed to Top Stories, All Things Considered, World Cafe, Morning Edition, Topics: Music, and of course, Education.
• The New Republic is always a good source for opinion articles.  It’s a bit liberal, but always creates solid discussions.
• The Urban Tulsa Weekly is my favorite source for local entertainment and opinion articles.  The Most Recently Posted feed delivers all content for your perusing pleasure.
• Adbusters.  This one’s a bit liberal, too, but good for discussion.
• The New York Times RSS feeds provides all the content of one of the nation’s best newspapers without the cost.  Because $5 on Sunday is only okay if you don’t buy books with your hard-earned money.  Home Page, Movies, and Technology are all worth subscribing to.
• The New Yorker.  I subscribe to all feeds.  But then, I’m addicted to this.
• Time isn’t my favorite news source, but the photography is always amazing.

I’m a big fan of these last four.  You might say they’re the winning-est blogs on the web.  You’d be wrong, but the wordplay remains.  If you choose no other feed, subscribe to these:

• Windmills and Giants is always an interesting read, and a great place to discuss/learn about contemporary rhetoric.
• The Winsome Scholar, a site devoted to contemporary fiction.  It can be a bit heavy on music, art, and graffiti news, though.
• Winter’s Night Blog is a brilliant site that collects interesting news stories and discussion of contemporary nonfiction.  I hear the webmaster is simply amazing.
• Windfall Knitting is designed and run by K vOn MO and Kathryn, with occasional postings by yours truly.  Stop by for the latest Knitting Club information and projects.

If you have any further questions about RSS feeds or any other Internetness, post a comment below.  The next post in my Internet Goodness will be about the wonders of Google docs.  Never have to deal with emailing a report to yourself again!

a post chock full of links, video, books, and discussion topics.

I shared some cool contemporary artists with you on Thursday, promising links for browsing.  Here you go:

• Greg Simkins’s website, I’m Scared
• Works by Naoto Hattori
• Brian Dettmer’s Book Autopsies via Centripetal Notion

Colin Meloy interlude…

This is one of those careers you never think about.  The Believer interviews Sandy Reynolds-Wasco, set decorator for Quentin Tarantino, Wes Anderson, and… Just check it out.  Another testament to the underlying thought that goes into any good piece of art in order to communicate an idea.

I especially love the statement about Owen Wilson’s character’s rocket sheets:

They sort of made sense in that room somehow, in a way that was authentic and quirky and fundamentally human.

I wrote about "quirkiness" in film yesterday.  If you haven’t read that post, check it out here at The Winsome Scholar.

More to come later.  If you haven’t purchased Pearson’s The Princeton Review, please do so.