Discussion Board #11: Reading Literary Criticism

You folks have had a few opportunities to learn about the various lenses and apply them to our previous works, but you have yet to read a healthy dose of literary criticism relating to our texts. Now’s a good time to really hunker down and observe how much professionals put into their analyses of graphic novels.

Choose one of the following articles to read and answer the questions below.

Here’s the deal: the first article is complex, and reading/answering questions for article #1 will start you in the A range

The second article barely qualifies as literary criticism (it is more review/journalism). So completing that one will be easier, but will only get a top grade of B-

1.http://www.english.ufl.edu/imagetext/archives/v4_3/mitchell/

2.http://sequart.org/magazine/13273/comics-as-catharsis-alison-bechdel-fun-home/

The questions are the same, no matter which article you use. Answer them well.

Question #1: Well, it isn’t really a question. Summarize the article you read (be sure to identify which one you read in the title of your post as well). Five sentences minimum.

Question #2: What is the author’s central argument? (Do not tell me it is hard to say because so much is being said. Identify what you think the central argument is).