Reading Analysis Assignment
Instructions
In the Online Response assignment, you will perform a close reading and analysis of one
of the comics you read in conjunction with ideas contained in the readings for the same week.
Over approximately 500 words, you will demonstrate your ability to decode how comics work
(by using concepts from McCloud’s Understanding Comics) and, more importantly, create
meaning (by connecting the stylistic and formal strategies in the comic to themes, concepts,
and ideas contained in the scholarly readings for the week). You have the freedom here to write
about what interests you about your week’s content, so it’s best to do all the readings for the
week and then decide what specific topic you want to write about. Illustrate your analysis with
images from the comics as necessary. (Comics are a visual art, so images are very useful for
your readers. If you don’t think images would be useful at any point in your response, you
probably aren’t engaging with the comics closely enough!) You should make your writing as
unified as possible (i.e., don’t jump from topic to topic with each paragraph, but rather attempt
to systematically explore a single topic by analyzing multiple examples from your chosen
comic).
Tips and Suggestions
• The goal of this assignment is not to summarize the readings. I repeat: do not merely
summarize the readings! You can safely assume that everybody reading your response
will be as familiar with them as you are. What you want to focus on is analyzing the
comics you’ve chosen using the concepts contained in the readings. You should be able
to use concepts from the readings without spending devoting half of the response to
rehashing them. As a general rule, if you haven’t begun analyzing the comic within the
first paragraph, you’re wasting too much space on set-up.
• Make sure that you’re using one of the assigned comics from your assigned week as
your case study. If you think it would be appropriate to choose a comic beyond those on
the syllabus, email your course instructor for approval at least one week in advance of
submission. Online Responses written about non-approved comics will receive a grade
of zero.
• Keep in mind that the goal of comics analysis is not to simply list formal or stylistic
qualities found in the comic. If you observe that the comic uses moment-to-moment
transitions, for instance, you need to follow up that observation with an explanation of
what role that stylistic choice plays within the comic overall—for instance, how it
facilitates a particular interpretation. Merely pointing to a quality of the comic without
indicating its meaning or significance is insufficient.
• Try to make your writing as unified as possible: that means not jumping from topic to
topic with each new paragraph, but rather exploring a single idea or concept from
different angles, in increasing detail, or with a variety of examples. For instance, if you’re
analyzing how a comic uses a particular type of transition and colour, there should be
some connection between those two ideas. In other words, the evidence you present
should all be of a consistent focus.
• Avoid examples that are specifically discussed in the lessons or the readings. Unless you
have a very different analysis to share, this would largely fall under “summarizing”
rather than performing original work. Please get in touch me your course instructor
directly if you have any questions or uncertainties about this.
• Remember to images to assist in your analysis: if you aren’t using any images, chances
are you aren’t engaging with the comics closely enough. (And when you add images to
your post, make sure that you add them as images rather than as attachments.) When
including images, don’t assume that they’ll “do the work” for you. If you post an image,
you can’t just say “This concept is exemplified in this image.” You need to explain the
relationship between the image and the concept under discussion in detail.
• Remember that this assignment is meant to facilitate discussion amongst the class. To
this end, it’s a great idea to end your Response with a discussion question or two, but
make sure they’re good ones! Don’t just solicit students’ opinions (“What kinds of
comics do you prefer?”); rather, ask them to share their own analyses of the comics
(“Does the message communicated by the artwork undermine the themes explored in
the text?”) or to share their own examples (“What examples of narrative serality can
you think of, and how do they differ from my example?”). The best discussions result
not making bold, assertive, and evidence-based claims with which the class can agree or
disagree. (A pet peeve of mine: asking questions of the class without first offering your
own analysis. Don’t defer the work you should be doing in the response to your
classmates!)
• You’re allowed to disagree with Gardner and the other scholars we read—especially if
you have a compelling reading of a comic that you can share with the class that backs up
your position. In fact, disagreement is usually more interesting to read (and write) than
agreement, and can lead to more productive conversations.
• Proofread your work thoroughly before submitting it, and cite any sources fully.
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