At this point in the semester, you should have a good understanding of the broad history of comic art, some familiarity with techniques and technologies used in creating comics, and some experience working with and responding to theoretical discourse in comics studies. You also have at your disposal a well-researched, collaborative bibliography of relevant comics scholarship.
Your final project should use these building blocks (mainly, the bibliography) to deliver something interesting, insightful and meaningful about comics and graphic novels, including at least one of the books we’ve studied this semester.
- An essay that advances an interesting and evidence-based thesis is one example of an acceptable project. A
- A website hosting your artistic reinterpretation of one of our primary texts is another option.
- Or a Kumu network mapping out webs of overlapping citation could be an interesting way to explore a topic.
Your project might be a short study tracing a theme in an author’s work, it could be an analysis of a specific artistic technique, or perhaps it might be a reflection on a formalist or ontological question pertaining to the medium as a whole. Many things are possible, so long as whatever you discuss deals with one of the books we’ve studied semester. If no topic immediately occurs to you, I recommend selecting one of your blog entries and then expanding it by finding applicable research within our bibliography to refine that into a coherent and scholarly essay.
Requirements
- The project must contain about 1000 words (or equivalent)
- At least 5 scholarly sources should be a central part of your work
- Any images (properly documented) necessary to support your argument should be properly documented
- If your project is not a traditional essay, it must include an “artist’s statement” explaining its meaning and purpose
Use MLA parenthetical-style citations, and include a Works Cited page. Any and all images must be properly cited and attributed to their copyright owners.
Submitting your work
As this is your final project, it is due during Finals week.