Persepolis and Naruto

I enjoyed reading the two graphic novels Naruto and Persepolis. I had only read one graphic novel previous to this class, and was not really a fan of them. However, while reading Persepolis, I began to get into the story and and the drawings. It was an interesting story that I think would be great to bring into an English classroom through an interdisciplinary unit with a social studies teacher. If they are teaching about Iran you could incorporate this novel into the English class. That way they are learning about Iran in two very different ways. Overall, I really enjoyed Persepolis and would like to teach it or a similar graphic novel in my future classroom.

I was not a fan of Naruto, though. I did not care for the storyline. I thought that it was confusing and at times hard to follow. I think Naruto could be used in an English classroom for students to read for fun, but it is not something that I would teach. The pictures in Naruto were interesting too. I thought they were drawn well and that they conveyed thoughts and actions well, but they were very busy sometimes. During fight scenes I thought that the action was drawn well, but there was too much going on in one panel. I did not really like Naruto, but I could see how a student would want to read it for pleasure.

I recently read the graphic novel version of Beowulf by Gareth Hinds. Beowulf is one of my favorite epics, so I decided I would check it out as a graphic novel. I loved it! I thought that the drawings were phenomenal and the storyline was still there. I think that this could easily be brought into an English class. This graphic novel could be used to supplement the epic. I think that it could also help struggling readers better visualize the characters and the action that is taking place.