Abstract
The overarching purpose of the classroom-based research featured in this article was to explore the development of middle-year students’ visual meaning-making skills and competencies. The research was informed by multimodality and social semiotics, and embraced a sociocultural perspective of literacy and a transactional theory of literature. Over a period of several weeks, Grade 7 students had opportunities to learn about a selection of elements of visual art and design, and some conventions of graphic novels, including paneling. In addition to reading, responding in writing to, and discussing a selection of picturebooks, graphic novels and magazine issues, the students composed their own texts using the medium of comics. In this article I focus on the paneling in the graphic narratives created by seven student participants. The content analysis of the students’ graphic narratives revealed the intentionality of their panel meaning-making, and the semantic and syntactic qualities embodied in their paneling. Excerpts from the students’ interviews revealed how learning about the what, why and how of paneling affected the composing of their work. I conclude the article with a consideration of some pedagogical issues associated with the teaching of paneling and other conventions in the medium of comics.
Although used in varying ways by researchers and teachers, the term ‘comics’ refers to a medium and not to a specific kind of text. Formats featuring the medium of comics include graphic novels, graphic narratives, manga, comic books, comic strips and some picturebooks. Meaning is constituted through some unique conventions in the medium of comics. For example, panels are the fundamental framing unit ‘responsible for the narrative unity’ and for ‘the progression of time and space’ in the medium of comics (Bongco, 2000: 58, 59). Considered as ‘the smallest unit of “comics grammar”’, the panel ‘graphically and diegetically unifies image and text’ in comics (Bongco, 2000: 58). The nature of the panels, their arrangement, and their relation to each other concomitantly contribute to the narrative content or story, convey ‘the chronological sequence of events’ (i.e. the plot) (Drucker, 2008a: 129), and provide information about how readers should navigate a page. Indeed, panels embody syntactic and semantic qualities because they organize and present text and images, and the organization ‘often functions as a primary semantic element in itself’ (p. 128). In this article I focus on the semantic and syntactic qualities of the panels in the graphic narratives composed by 12-year-old students.
The student graphic narratives featured in this article were composed during a study that focused on developing student visual meaning-making skills and competencies. Throughout the classroom-based research, Grade 7 students were afforded multiple opportunities to learn about particular elements of visual art and design, including various conventions in the medium of comics, through reading, discussing and writing about picturebooks, graphic novels and magazines. The culminating activity of the explorative study, the designing and composing of a graphic narrative, required the students to apply and transform their knowledge.
A brief literature review on graphic novels, and a discussion of paneling and multimodality are followed by an overview of the study’s theoretical frameworks. Subsequent to explaining the research context and the instructional unit, limitations associated with interviewing student participants are identified. The data analysis procedures are then described and transcript excerpts from seven students’ interviews about the paneling in their graphic narratives are included in the findings section. The article concludes by considering some pedagogical issues associated with the teaching of paneling and other conventions in the medium of comics.
Graphic Novels and Graphic Narratives
Picturebooks, comic books and graphic novels all feature sequential art but, as stated above, picturebooks and graphic novels are formats, and comics is a medium. Thompson (2008) uses the term ‘graphica’, as opposed to comics, to describe the storytelling technique that is used in comic strips, comic books, manga and graphic novels. Like others, he notes that, compared to comic books, graphic novels contain more pages, have ‘full-length story lines … and are bound like a book’ (p. 9). To Chute (2008: 453), the term graphic narrative, ‘a book-length work in the medium of comics’, includes graphic novels and works of nonfiction. Some scholars who agree with Chute’s use of the term ‘graphic narrative’ also include comic books and manga in their definition (Gardner and Herman, 2011). Although the multimodal texts described in this article are created in the medium of comics or graphica, the visual compositions are neither comic books nor graphic novels (as they lack the number of pages to be considered a true graphic novel). I refer to the students’ work as graphic narratives because I believe this term more appropriately reflects the medium and format of the students’ compositions.
Teaching and learning possibilities
The creation, comprehension, and interpretation of graphic novels, like all texts, are culturally mediated events. Therefore, the sociocultural context needs to be considered when examining the compositional features of the visual language (Cohen, 2013) and the comic conventions used in graphic novels, as well as when exploring readers’ understanding of and responses to these texts.
Graphic novels are for all readers. These multimodal texts transcend reader factors such as age, ability level, or social and cultural background (Carter, 2009; Monnin, 2010, 2011; Thompson, 2008). As well as supporting language and literacy development in general, other potential student benefits associated with reading graphic novels include the enhancement of vocabulary, and the development of critical thinking, comprehension, visual literacy, and multiple literacy skills (e.g. Carter, 2007; Edwards, 2009; Gorman, 2008; Jacobs, 2007; Rapp, 2012). Scholars have written about using graphic novels to teach literary techniques, terms and elements (e.g. Baird and Jackson, 2007; Bucher and Manning, 2004; Esquivel, 2006) and for media literacy education (e.g. Carter, 2007; Schwarz, 2007).
Although graphic novels can be and have been used as a conduit to teach curriculum content and various literacy skills, as well as a medium to scaffold student transactions to and with print texts, graphic novels can be taught as ‘complex works of literature in their own right’ (Low, 2012: 375). Several individuals (e.g. Bakis, 2011; Bongco, 2000; McCloud, 2006; Monnin, 2011; Pantaleo, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015; Thompson, 2008) have written about the importance of teaching students about the conventions and compositional elements of graphic novels (and of the medium of comics in general), as well as the accompanying metalanguage that describes the semiotic resources of the medium of comics.
A few studies have documented the multifaceted learning opportunities afforded to students when they create their own multimodal texts using the medium of comics. For example, Bitz (2004) reported that the student participants in his research, the Comic Book Project, not only enjoyed the opportunity to compose original comic books, but also gained confidence and improved their reading and writing skills. The at-risk adolescents who created graphic narratives in a study conducted by Hughes et al. (2011), ‘found the work to be exciting and playful’, ‘were motivated and engaged by the comic book format’, and ‘developed multimodal literacy skills’ (pp. 610, 611). According to the research reported by Morrison et al. (2002: 767), students who created their own comic books ‘believe[d] that they learned a great deal more from this type of approach than by traditional teaching methods’. Carter (2009: 71) stresses that, ‘writing and drawing graphic novels is an authentic composing activity.’ Indeed, when students design and compose their own multimodal texts created in the medium of comics, they learn about the ‘process behind the production of comics’ and ‘build crafting, composing, viewing, and visualizing skills’.
Multimodality and Paneling
According to Edwards-Groves (2011: 49), writing in contemporary classrooms should be ‘reframed as the multimodal writing process’. A multimodal perspective recognizes the existence of various modes for communicating and representing meaning. As well as being ‘socially and culturally shaped’, all modes, such as writing, image (moving and static), gesture, sound, and speech, have organizing principles, semiotic resources, and different affordances – ‘potentials and constraints for making meaning’ (Bezemer and Kress, 2008: 171). According to a social semiotics approach to multimodality, which draws on Halliday’s (1978) ideas about the social nature and functions of language, the expression, representation and interpretation of the ‘meaning potentials’ of modes (Jewitt, 2009a: 25) must be considered within the context of particular social situations and practices. Thus, a social semiotics analysis views ‘sign-making as a social process’ (Jewitt, 2009b: 30), and recognizes the multifaceted nature of studying modes and sign-makers.
In textual formats that feature the medium of comics, such as graphic novels and graphic narratives, the modes of image and writing are combined in various ways and, apart from wordless texts, both modes are necessary for the expression and construction of meaning. With regard to images in these multimodal texts, readers must consider how meaning is conveyed through various individual semiotic resources such as point of view, color, perspective, typographic elements, and panel layout, as well as the synergy among the resources. As stated previously, in the medium of comics, panels structure and organize the images and text. Panels can feature only images or only words (e.g. a panel depicting solely a sound effect) or include both image and text. Although each panel ‘must have a coherence and balance on its own’, each panel ‘is always only a part of a bigger design’ (Bongco, 2000: 59). Panels form units and these units ‘control the points of view and angles of presentation, signal to the reader which perspective is being given or made sympathetic, as well as signal the story’s space and time dimensions’. Indeed, within the history of comics, ‘mechanisms for sequencing and signaling relations of one panel to another’ have been established (Drucker, 2008a: 128). Thus, it is fundamental to consider how the composition and layout of panels affects both the telling and interpreting of the narrative or the conveying of information.
Syntactical (or structural) qualities of panels, such as the size, color, shape and border style, as well as layout, can be manipulated to ‘elicit different levels of involvement or response from readers’ and create ‘numerous narrational possibilities’ and meanings (Bongco, 2000: 59, 60). According to McCloud (2006: 24), the panel frame functions as ‘the reader’s camera’. For example, narrow panels can ‘trigger a sense of confinement’ and wide panels can ‘inspire freedom or escape’ (Bongco, 2000: 59). Overlapping and/or superimposed panels can show multiple events happening simultaneously (and thus speed up the telling of events) or they can show different points of view of the same event. Indeed, analysis of the ‘choice and organization of panels’ can reveal how these aspects affect the pacing of the story (p. 61). Two of the techniques that McCloud (2006: 46) describes for creating intensity in panels specifically address the shape, size and position of panels: ‘wild variations of frame size and shape’, and ‘borderless and border-breaking characters and objects’. Thus, syntactical qualities of paneling concurrently function as semantic elements that represent meaning in the medium of comics (Drucker, 2008a).
Theoretical Foundations
As well as being informed by multimodality and social semiotics, the research described below embraced a sociocultural perspective of literacy and a transactional theory of literature (Rosenblatt, 1978).
Consistent with the emphasis of social semiotics on the need to consider the social context as well as sign-makers’ goals and purposes when examining ‘students’ designed constructions of meaning’ (Jewitt, 2008: 253), a sociocultural theoretical lens recognizes how individuals construct understanding in specific social contexts. Indeed, teaching and learning are situated in particular social spaces, and classroom discourse frames and mediates students’ learning. In my study, the particular literacy practices used with the focal texts, as well as the nature of the texts themselves, influenced the students’ developing knowledge, affect and overall stance towards the texts and unit of instruction. Ideologically, the literacy and discursive practices of the research positioned the students as active and capable participants. Furthermore, as both the researcher and a teacher in the Grade 7 classroom, I acknowledge my influence on the classroom community.
A ‘theory of literacy as social practice’ (Barton and Hamilton, 2000: 7) recognizes how students are ‘apprenticed into particular textual practices’ in classrooms (Maloch and Bomer, 2012: 132). Consistent with the tenets of a sociocultural perspective, Rosenblatt’s (1978) theorization of the literary transaction emphasizes the synergistic nature of teaching and learning in classrooms as students and teachers work with texts and engage in particular literacy practices. Recognizing that each reader brings a unique ‘cultural, social, and personal history’ of literary and life experiences to each unique reading event (Rosenblatt, 1994: 1064), Rosenblatt’s transactional theory of reading stresses both the particularity of the evocation and the diversity of student response. Thus, Rosenblatt’s transactional theory concomitantly recognizes the dynamic and synergistic roles of the reader, the text and the context.
The Research Context
The research site was a Grades 6–8 dual language track (English and French) public school, located in a predominantly middle-class area of a city in western British Columbia, Canada. The middle school’s population of 450 students is both culturally and ethnically diverse. When the research was conducted, approximately eight different languages other than English were spoken by students who attended the school.
The case study research described below took place in a Grade 7 classroom. The ethnicity of the 13 girls and 10 boys in the class who chose to participate in the research is as follows: European Canadian (14), Asian (5), Korean (1), Aboriginal (2), and biracial (1). At the time of the research, six of the student participants had Individual Education Plans for various learning and behavioral issues. Another student, although not officially designated, also received an adapted Language Arts program. At the end of the research, when asked to provide information regarding the students’ academic achievement in Language Arts, Mrs K, the teacher, provided me with the students’ December report card marks: 1 student – A; 6 students – B; 8 students – C+ (1 with adaptations); 6 students – C (3 with adaptations); 2 students – C– (2 with adaptations).
Readers are reminded that there is no intent to generalize the findings from this case study research. Furthermore, limited information is provided below about several aspects of the instructional unit due to the article’s focus on the students’ paneling in their graphic narratives.
The Instructional Unit
Beginning in September 2012, I worked with Mrs K and her Grade 7 students for approximately 390 minutes a week for nine weeks, delivering the unit of instruction of the study. Over two weeks of additional Language Arts classes were devoted to the students creating their graphic narratives and participating in interviews about their work.
Initial pedagogy concentrated on developing student understanding of the characteristics of a ‘good’ aesthetic response to texts (i.e. articulating one’s opinions, emotions, thoughts about the selection and supporting the latter with reasons/explanations/examples), and on generating a collective understanding of and guidelines for ‘successful’ small group discussions.
Over a period of several weeks, the students participated in whole class and independent instructional activities that focused on the following elements of visual art and design: (a) physical aspects of texts; (b) layout characteristics; (c) point of view; (d) colour; (e) typography; (f) framing; (g) line; (h) speech bubbles or balloons; and (i) panels and paneling. Vocabulary to describe physical features (e.g. recto, verso, full bleed, double-page spread) and peritextual elements (e.g. dust jacket, stamping, endpages, title page, half title page, frontispiece) of picturebooks was introduced and reviewed as the books were read and discussed.
During the study, the students read, discussed and wrote about six picturebooks and four graphic novels (see Appendix for the sequence of the literature). Color, line, point of view, perspective, framing and typography, the six focal elements of visual art and design of the study, were constantly reinforced and reviewed as the students read, discussed and responded to the picturebooks and the graphic novels. Other pedagogy about the conventions of graphic novels included speech bubbles/balloons, thought bubbles, panels, gutters, narrative boxes, and line to show emotion and motion/action, (McCloud, 2006). For each picturebook and graphic novel, the students read the book independently, completed a written response, engaged in a small group, peer-led and digitally recorded discussion, and participated in a whole class discussion. As indicated previously, the students were expected to adopt a predominantly aesthetic stance (Rosenblatt, 1978) when both writing about and discussing the literature.
Although limited in duration, near the end of the instructional unit, the students had opportunities to consider how, and to what extent, the six focal elements of visual art and design, as well as some of the graphic novel conventions, were employed in two different magazine issues and on a few teacher-selected website pages.
Approximately four weeks into the research the students completed a ‘Design Project’ that involved application and demonstration of their understanding of the six focal elements of visual art and design. In addition to writing about their visual compositions, the students used a teacher-generated guide sheet to interview one another about their Design Project. The study’s culminating activity, described in some detail below, also entailed transformation of knowledge as the students had the opportunity to create their own graphic narratives. Finally, on an end-of-study questionnaire the students described themselves as readers and writers, and provided comments to share with individuals who might not appreciate the knowledge that is required to read and understand graphic novels. The questionnaire was administered to gather data about the students’ perceptions about themselves and about their learning during the study.
Paneling pedagogy
Since the focus of this article is on the paneling in the students’ graphic narratives, further information about the pedagogy surrounding this convention follows. Although initial conversations about the purposefulness and effectiveness of paneling occurred with the picturebook Flotsam (Wiesner, 2006), the terms ‘panels’ and ‘gutter’ were discussed more extensively when the students read and talked about the graphic novel The Arrival (Tan, 2006). During class discussions of the graphic novel Amulet Book One: The Stonekeeper (Kibuishi, 2008a), the students examined the shape, size, border style, color, and placement on the page of panels and considered how these syntactic qualities were purposely manipulated to create the story world, convey the plot, and elicit reader response and engagement. After reading and talking about a handout that described techniques that can be used to create intensity in panels (McCloud, 2006), the students searched for examples of intensity in Amulet. Although limited in nature, the students were also introduced to various types of panel transitions. A document camera was used to facilitate class discussions about the syntactic and semantic qualities of paneling in other graphic novels.
During several lessons, time was allocated for the students to use a class set of whiteboards to sketch panels that demonstrated their understanding of various affordances of paneling. In addition to drawing panels to show height, slow down action, reveal multiple points of view and simultaneity of action, produce rhythm, create intensity, and show particular types of transitions, the students selected pages from Amulet, altered the paneling design, and explained their reasons for the layout revisions. Student enjoyment and appreciation of these opportunities to explore various syntactic and semantic qualities of paneling with the whiteboards were observed by Mrs K and myself, and documented in my researcher’s diary.
The graphic narratives
The assignment criteria communicated to the students that their graphic narratives were to be approximately 4–8 pages in length, and should demonstrate their understanding of color, point of view, perspective, typography, framing, line, speech bubbles/balloons, sound effects, and paneling. Approximately 14 hours of school time was allocated for the students to plan and create their graphic narratives, and all of the students devoted some out-of-class time to work on their multimodal texts. Further, the students were given extra time (1–2 classes) to craft a cover/title page and other extra peritextual elements such as endpages for their graphic narrative.
When the assignment requirements were initially shared with the students, they were encouraged to draft some type of storyboard in order to simultaneously create their story and design their panel layout. Each student’s panel creation and layout was original – the students were not provided with any print or digital panel templates. The assignment criteria directed the students to consider the shape, size, and type of lines used for borders of the panels, as well as rhythm of paneling. The students were also required to include two techniques to create intensity in the paneling and three different types of panel transitions.
The students participated in two individual interviews about their graphic narrative. Working in triads, and using an iPad and a teacher-prepared prompt sheet that addressed all of the assignment criteria except paneling, the students interviewed each other about their work. I also used an iPad to interview each student about the paneling in her or his graphic narrative. Digital recorders were also used to document the peer interviews and the individual student interviews with me because only Mrs K could use the video data. All of the individual student interviews were transcribed and a color photocopy was made of each student’s graphic narrative.
Interviewing student participants
Before describing the analysis of the paneling data, it is important to acknowledge potential factors that may have influenced the nature of the individual student interview data. When interviewing research participants, an interviewer obtains and observes only a ‘recounted’ version of the reality in participants’ heads (Mason, 1996). Furthermore, my numerous interviewing experiences with students have revealed that, regardless of their level of comfort and familiarity with a researcher, students vary in their abilities to explain their ‘realities’.
Time constraints affected the number of paneling examples that the students chose to talk about during their interviews with me. Differences in the duration of the interviews also contributed to variation in both the quantity and quality of student data. As well, my discourse during the interviews affected the nature of the data. I directed some students’ attention to specific pages and panels, and other students could have been asked to further explain their paneling. However, I was also aware of the time that students were absent from their classes.
Data Analysis
Multiple sources of data were collected during the classroom-based study. Only the procedures used for analyzing the panels in the students’ graphic narratives are described below.
One student’s graphic narrative was not included in the data set due to the nature of his Language Arts program adaptations. Initially, I read each student’s paneling interview transcript while simultaneously looking at her or his graphic narrative, focusing on the following six syntactic qualities of paneling: border style, shape, size, techniques to create intensity, rhythm, and transitions. During this reading and viewing of the data, I took notes, identifying tentative common topics (i.e. categories) for each of the aforementioned paneling affordances. Reading the transcript sections on panel transitions revealed that, although I could quantify the number and types of panel transitions, for many students, their discourse around their panel transitions was limited. For example, some students identified or labeled a type of panel transition without explaining their reason(s) for creating that particular type of transition, and other students explained only one of their three types of panel transitions. Further, I neglected to ask a few students to explain their transitions. As stated previously, limited instructional time was devoted to this element and for some students, the interview transcripts revealed that I was clarifying the various panel transitions during our conversations. Therefore, I chose not to proceed further with the analysis of the students’ panel transitions.
Content analysis, a ‘method of making inferences from texts and making sense of these interpretations in a context surrounding the text’ requires close reading of text (Hoffman et al., 2011: 30). The data set for each of the five focus syntactic paneling features identified above was read (transcripts) and viewed (graphic narratives) several times in order to identify the semantic qualities of these paneling affordances as described/indicated by the students’ descriptions and explanations. Inductive analysis involved the creation of tentative categories as I read through the data set for each paneling feature, and some of the initial categories that were developed to describe the data were later revised and/or combined due to the recursive nature of the analysis. To further guide the analysis of the data, I created five tables, one for each of the five syntactic paneling affordances. The 22 student names constituted the rows of each table, and the students’ purposes for using particular paneling affordances, or the nature of the panel affordances or panel layout features (i.e. the semantic qualities) comprised the categories for the columns of each table. For example, the semantic qualities of the tables for both panel shape and panel size were as follows: develop plot/express action, establish mood/create affective impact, convey information about or reveal characters/objects, and construct or communicate information about the setting. The findings from two other readings and viewing of the data set, using the same tables described above for analysis, were compared and the few discrepancies were resolved through further analysis.
Although the methods of content analysis described above provide information about the paneling in the students’ graphic narratives, the content analysis also simplifies the complexity of the data. Indeed, the students’ paneling in their graphic narratives differs qualitatively with respect to degree of competency and sophistication. The transcript excerpts below feature seven students describing/explaining their intentional use of various syntactic qualities of paneling to represent/communicate narrative content (i.e. meaning).
According to the December report card marks, the seven students varied in their academic achievement in Language Arts. The paneling created by these students (all names are pseudonyms and S is me), as well as their descriptions and explanations about their paneling, are representative of this particular compositional element as part of the overall data set. Table 1 provides information about the focus students and their graphic narratives.
Seven Grade 7 students’ graphic narratives.
Findings
Panel size and shape
Panel size and panel shape are discussed jointly because data analysis revealed the same findings with respect to the semantic qualities for these two panel affordances. Analysis of the students’ interviews about their paneling revealed that all 22 students talked about how, in some way, both the size and shape of their panels contributed to the development of the plot in their graphic narrative. As is evident from the transcript excerpts below, several students discussed how they purposely designed the shapes and sizes of their panels to convey action. Twenty-one students indicated that information about the setting of their graphic narrative was represented by the size and shape of panels in their work. According to 21 students, the panel sizes and shapes they created portrayed information about characters or objects in their graphic narratives. Analysis of the transcripts also revealed that 20 students described how the shape and size of their panels contributed to establishing the mood or to creating an affective impact.
Analysis of the data showed how the students, as exemplified by the transcript excerpts of Egon, Callia and Maegan below, talked about the shapes and sizes of panels accomplishing more than one function or purpose simultaneously.
Please pick some panels where you want to talk about shape and size.
OK, well on page 4 the panels are like, well the first panel is like a long rectangle showing all the space in the room. And then like right below I split it [the panel] into two parts because he just comes in, like so excited and tells them, like yeah, so it breaks off the panels. And then on the other side he’s telling what he found, and then the circle guy just rolls in.
Literally rolls in, right? [laughter]
Yeah. And then like afterwards they’re like all surprised. I put complementary colours around them for like surprising. And yeah, and then the panels are all vertical, they’re all long showing like a close up, too, of each one.
So you get their point of view. OK, that’s a great one. Let’s do another one. Oh, how about this one [page 2]?
Yeah, this one. The first, well after these panels right here [the first two panels at the top of the page] they’re kind of like I was, it looks like they are going to like face-off again. But suddenly the main character, or this triangle guy, comes in and then basically splits them apart and he broke the panels. Intentionally. Um, I just put like a bit of humor in there. And, yeah.
Above, Egon explained how the shapes and sizes of his panels (see Figure 1) concomitantly convey information about the setting and the characters, develop the plot, and contribute to establishing the mood in his graphic narrative.
Paneling in Egon’s graphic narrative.
In the transcript excerpt below, Callia described how the sizes and shapes of her panels simultaneously contribute to the development of the plot, convey information about the setting, and establish mood.
How about on the next page? Can you talk about those four horizontal panels?
I wanted to make it long to show how he’s walking away and how far he’s walking away from them. Rather than just making the panels short, it wouldn’t show he was walking away more distance. And each one it just gets a little bit further away from them.
[Conversation continues …]
OK, I’d like for you to talk about the paneling on page 1, please.
Um, I did the kind of just three boxes. Squares in a row, um, nine of them to show it’s kind of boring and his mom is not listening to him and everything’s all the same. And he’s not really having a lot of fun. And it’s just kind of boring and not very pleasant for him.
In the two paneling examples below, Maegan also talked about her purposeful shaping of panels to create an emotional impact on readers, as well as to reveal information about the characters’ affective state.
OK, first one, talk about shapes and sizes of panels, please.
Now … where’s that panel with the like fire going out of it? Page 6. And I did it because he’s like on the fire so I thought it would make it even better if it had like the actual flames sort of. So it’s like you’re seeing kind of the whole fire and not just like a box because it’s just supposed to be a fire and like fires don’t come in squares (see Figure 2).
[Conversation continues …]
Is there another one where you want to talk about shape?
Hmm, page 2. So I kind of did spikes because it shows that they’re even more shocked because they don’t really believe what’s going on, so it’s sort of like that energy is bursting out of them.
Paneling in Maegan’s graphic narrative.
Thus, the students communicated how they intentionally varied the sizes and shapes of panels to signify information about elements such as plot, setting, characters, and mood, as well as to contribute to a reader’s aesthetic reading experience.
Panel border styles
Class discussions of border styles included consideration of how both the color and type of line used to create the panels communicate meaning. The significance of panel border styles was discussed during class conversations about The Arrival. As well, the students observed how a wavy or a scalloped border was used to depict a flashback or to envisage a future event when they read the picturebook The Man Who Walked between the Towers (Gerstein, 2003). Obviously the types of lines used to create border panels are instrumental in determining the shapes of the panels. However, for this analysis, I examined the panel border styles separately from the shapes of the panels.
The students were instructed to outline ‘everything’ in their graphic narratives. Although ultra fine color markers were available to the students, overwhelmingly they used black to outline their panels. Seven students used straight, black lines for all of their panel borders, and three of these students explained their intended use of only one type of border style. Analysis of the data revealed that the students used different colors as well as types of lines for their panel borders to accomplish several purposes, some concomitantly. The 15 students explained how their border styles conveyed a character’s emotions (8 students), created an emotional impact on readers (8 students), contributed to characterization (6 students), conveyed plot events (4 students), represented symbolic meaning (3 students), and provided information about the setting (1 student).
Three students used color for one or more of their border panels. Although Maegan outlined four panels with color and Vivianna used color for the borders of nine panels, I regret that they talked about only one example during their interview with me.
What about the color of the border you used there [for the panel shaped like fire]?
It’s like all the warm colours because fires are generally warm and not cold, and you generally see them as like red and orange and yellow so I just like mixed them altogether.
OK. Anything else you want to say about your paneling?
Um, I don’t think so. I think that’s about it. Oh, I just did different colors with the panels also.
Right. OK, so why is that?
Well, because this is kind of like, it’s a panel but it also has like this different kind of effect that it’s a full page because it’s got white around it so it’s a panel, and it just … it like …
Hmm, so why red [for the border of the panel]?
Because that’s the colour of the barn inside the frame. It’s kind of got the small barny-look and like a heart is also red, so it just kind of has like a kind of warmer feeling in the air.
Overall, data analysis revealed that the students used color for border panels for symbolic reasons (e.g. Maegan), or to convey a character’s emotions, or to create an emotional impact on the reader (e.g. Vivianna).
According to the students, they used jagged lines, squiggly lines, and wavy lines for the borders of their panels for varying purposes. Maegan’s example below illustrates how some students described only how the panel borders communicated characters’ emotions (and did not address how the border styles could/would impact reader affect).
Page 5. What’s going on there with that one? We’re back to shape.
So this one I did it like that because they [the marshmallows] just came out of there [the trunk of the car] so the light is just like really bright and they’re kind of dizzy and disoriented because they don’t really know where they are, and it’s just like so abrupt.
OK. And so the squiggly line for the border?
Yeah, I thought, it also kind of showed their expressions because especially like Maggie since she’s feeling sick so she’s just like, ‘Aggh!’ and she just doesn’t feel so good, and they all don’t really feel that well either so.
Elwin, Vivianna and Callia used jagged lines for panel borders. Elwin stated that his overlapping jagged borders were to communicate an event in the plot, the shaking of the world. In Vivianna’s explanation, she described how the jagged line represents a character’s emotions in response to events that had transpired in the plot.
Do you have any … so you sort of talked about types of lines for borders because you talked about the squiggly line. Anything different than the squiggly and the straight ones?
Um, yes I should. Um, here we go on page 6 right there I just … It’s a bit hard to tell but it’s like a jagged line there and it’s um, it’s sort of just to represent the shaking and there’s, I actually put multiple panels there so it would get even, but on the same line.
Mmhmm. OK, why did you do the jagged lines between?
Um, well just more of like a transition. I wanted it, like the opposite of soft. Because it wasn’t like a really soft dismount, it was like more of like she just kind of fell off, and like she was upset and it was kind of like a terrifying moment. So I didn’t think a straight line like or like baby lines would be like the right kind of suit for it.
As explained by Callia in the excerpt below, her inclusion of a jagged panel border on page 2 simultaneously contributes to characterization and conveys character emotion. She also used a jagged line for one of the borders in two other panels for similar purposes on page 5, explaining, ‘Yeah, it’s kind of breaking them apart, a jagged line to show like they’re opponents and they’re against each other. They’re mad.’
OK, well … as you can see, this panel [on page 2] is really big compared to this panel. Because like she’s really loud and big and mad, and he’s just kind of slinking back into the shadows so he’s really small.
Can you talk about the border that you used on that one even though I’m kind of jumping ahead?
Um, yeah it’s jagged edged because it shows more that it’s more intense, like her anger. And how loud she is and how big and bold and angry (see Figure 3).
Paneling in Callia’s graphic narratives.
The transcript excerpts reveal the students’ purposeful creation of panel borders to convey various types of information, as well as the students’ expectations that prospective readers will perceive and interpret the panel borders as communicating the meanings they intended as designers (Bongco, 2000).
Techniques to create intensity
As stated previously, the students were introduced to various techniques for creating intensity in the medium of comics. According to McCloud (2006: 46), excitement, force/strength or energy can be created in the medium of comics through the depiction/rendering of the content in panels, such as the inclusion of tilting angles/subjects/objects (i.e. diagonals), exaggerated poses and expressions, extreme depth cues, graphic contrast, and virtuoso drawing technique. In addition, McCloud describes several visual techniques that can create intensity in the paneling itself, such as breaking the fourth wall, borderless characters and objects, and ‘wild variation’ in panel shape and size. McCloud’s visual examples illustrate the technique of breaking the fourth wall to depict a character or object breaking through a panel border or frame (pp. 46, 50). Thus, although characters or objects do not engage in breaking the fourth wall by commenting on their fictitious existence or by explicitly addressing readers in some way, the artificiality of the diegesis or the story world represented within the panel is acknowledged by the character or object breaking through the border or frame. When the students refer to breaking the fourth wall in their work, they are describing examples of characters or objects violating a panel border.
With respect to techniques to create intensity that are specific to the paneling itself, all 22 students stated that they used the technique of breaking the fourth wall, 16 students described their use of borderless objects or characters or scenes, and 4 students believed their panels varied considerably in shape and size. The students also described how they created intensity through the depiction of content in their panels: characters with exaggerated poses or expressions (11 students), content on a diagonal or tilting (9 students), extreme depth cues (5 students), virtuoso drawing technique (2 students), and graphic contrast (1 student).
Of the four techniques that Elwin talked about during his interview when asked to describe how he created intensity in his graphic narrative, two of the techniques focused on the structure of the panels (i.e. breaking the fourth wall and borderless objects) and two of the techniques addressed the content of the panels (i.e. depth cues and exaggerated poses and expressions). For example, he stated:
Well, I used depth cues. I used that just to give more height to her fall. I also did that one for perspective and that. But the reason here is like that’s just giving, adding more height to her fall, that’s how far she’s falling like that.
During her interview, Maegan also identified and described four different techniques she used to create intensity in her graphic narrative. For example, she explained how her use of the technique of breaking the fourth wall on page 2 enhanced the affective impact of the scene. She explained:
This one everything’s like breaking the fourth wall because this helps to show how shocked they are, so they’re like sort of screaming as loud as marshmallows can scream. And so they’re just like, it’s echoing around everything and they’re [the speech balloons] breaking out [of the panel border].
Below Callia and Eliot also described how their use of breaking the fourth wall creates emotional intensity in their stories. As well, both students identified other techniques that they used for creating intensity in their panels and their discourse provides insight about their planning.
OK, techniques to create intensity.
That would be this one [page 2]. She’s breaking the fourth wall and it’s also exaggerated expression and poses.
So what are you trying to convey on this page?
That she’s really angry at him and he woke her up and she’s trying to sleep and her hair is all messy and um she’s just really tired and cranky and really angry.
Yes, it conveys that. It has lots of energy in it and she seems forceful. You know, like she seems like a powerful character there.
Yeah, that’s how he sees her. That’s how she’s seems (see Figure 3).
Well, in this one I used um … obviously the jagged lines on the borders, some breaking of the fourth wall, and some graphical contrast with his bright yellow hair against the dark van.
OK. And why? Why is he going crazy here?
Well he’s being grabbed by a person and hauling him into the truck like he’s a sack of bread so he’s resisting.
[Conversation continues …]
And this one, well there’s no panel here.
OK. So why is it borderless?
Um, in order to create a feeling of vastness, like this is a really, big place that he’s lost in. Even though we can only see a hallway.
Above, Eliot explained how his use of a borderless panel communicates limitless space. Borderless panels can serve various functions such as depicting characters leaving a storyworld, accentuating the force of an action or the volume of a sound, providing a panoramic view or emphasizing a key moment. Ronald also described his reasons for using borderless panels.
Well, yeah that one has no panels. I did that for all the portals because I thought it would just create that like more realistic feature kind of thing. Yeah.
So borderless?
Yeah, borderless. I did a few of those like right here, uh, like just throughout the book.
So every time he goes through the portal?
Yeah.
[Conversation continues …]
Anything else you want to say?
Well, just again like right here on page 6. Yeah, I did this just because it was like, again it was like the finale and I needed like a big finish and yeah, that’s pretty much it.
And because it’s borderless what kind of effect does it create?
Oh, well like it’s like more realistic I guess. Yeah, it goes on and on, it’s like never ending because you don’t actually really see the ending of it (see Figure 4).
Paneling in Ronald’s graphic narrative.
Thus, the students clearly articulated how they intentionally used a variety of visual techniques to create excitement or energy in the paneling itself. As well, many students explained how intensity was created through their portrayal of content within the panels.
Rhythm in paneling
The notion of rhythm in paneling was briefly introduced to the students. In the medium of comics, patterns can be formed through the use of particular panel sizes, panel shapes, or panel layouts on pages. Patterns can be created on one page or appear on multiple pages throughout a text. Rhythm in paneling can be used for several symbolic purposes, such as juxtaposing plot events and characters, contributing to thematic elements, and creating atmosphere. Overall, rhythm in paneling can contribute to readers’ aesthetic experience of a work.
Analysis of the data revealed that 21 students identified an example of rhythm in paneling in their graphic narratives. However, six students did not explain the purpose or the effect of the rhythm in paneling they created. The reasons provided by the other 15 students to describe their rhythm in paneling could be synthesized into two overarching purposes: to convey or create analogous events or actions in the story, and to provide information about characterization (including the depiction of multiple characters’ points of view). For example, Vivianna explained that pages 1 and 5 of her graphic narrative had the same paneling (i.e. panel size, shape and layout) because on page 1 the main character purchased her horse, ‘And then on page 5 … she’s losing it. She’s kind of losing it.’ Similarly Maegan talked about how her rhythm in paneling conveyed parallel events in the plot.
Mhmm, so rhythm of paneling.
Yes, so it’s like, because it’s basically the same thing that’s on page 1, I just like reversed it on page 8.
OK, and why did you do that?
I did it because I thought that it kind of worked really well with this page as well because this one is sort of like backing away and then this one is sort of like he’s just going out to the wide world, so I thought it worked really well.
And before they were just getting ready to go out.
Yeah.
Elwin’s example of rhythm of paneling provides information about one character in his graphic narrative. The panel structure for both pages 3 and 4 is four rows of three panels. Each page includes five consecutive thought bubble panels (the last panel in the second row, the complete third row and the first panel in the fourth row). These five successive panels reveal the main character’s thoughts, his speculation on events in the story.
OK, how about rhythm and paneling?
Uh, yes. It’s page 3 and page 4. OK, I did that, it’s just because, um, sort of to keep the beat, the same, uh the panels going and although these are completely different things [the content of the thought panels], I did the same panels. To um sort of keep it like going even though inside the panels this is completely different like …
So it’s exactly the same paneling, only he’s just thinking about different things?
Yes.
What’s he thinking about there on page 3?
Getting rid of Larry. And on page 4, um, he’s thinking about how it was his fault how the world ended.
The transcript excerpts provide evidence of the intentionality of the students’ meaning making with respect to rhythm in paneling. As noted above, the rhythm in the students’ paneling creates comparable parallel plot events or actions, and conveys information about characterization.
Discussion
As described previously, panels organize and present images and text, and the structure of the organization of panels not only directs reading but also conveys meaning. The framework of panels ‘actually contributes content to the story, is part of the telling intimately bound to the told’ (Drucker, 2008a: 129). As well, as is evident by the students’ transcripts, the ‘panels’ lines, sizes, and shapes [also] offer cues or criteria for perceiving meaning as intended by the artist’ (Bongco, 2000: 58). Indeed, although the ‘diegetic elements of the narrative unfold’ (Drucker, 2008a: 129) within the panels, the nature of the panels themselves – their shape, size, and border style (line and colour) – also contribute to the content of the narrative. Thus, the syntactic and semantic qualities of panels can be viewed as synergistic in nature.
The data analysis revealed the intentionality of the students’ meaning making – they created panels of certain sizes or shapes and with specific border styles to communicate particular meanings. The students’ discourse conveys how they purposely represented information about the plot, setting, characters or mood, often simultaneously, through the shape and size of their panels. Fifteen students explained their intentional creation of specific border styles noting how the panels’ lines conveyed characters’ emotions, created an emotional impact on readers, contributed to characterization, conveyed plot events, represented symbolic meaning, or provided information about the setting. As described above, all 22 students described their purposeful creation of panels where characters, objects or text break the fourth wall by breaching the panel border, and 16 students talked about their inclusion of borderless characters, scenes or objects in their graphic narratives. Although these two particular techniques for creating intensity are specific to the structure/syntax of the paneling itself, they concomitantly contribute to the content of a story. Indeed, the transcript excerpts revealed how the students’ reasons for choosing to incorporate these particular comics storytelling techniques were closely connected to the story content of their graphic narratives.
Although limited instructional time was devoted to the concept of rhythm in paneling, 21 students met the assignment criterion of including at least one example of rhythm of paneling in their multimodal texts. To review, patterns or a cadence of paneling can be created on a single page or appear on more than one page throughout a text. Repetition of panel size, shape or layout can create a particular rhythm or as Elwin stated, a particular ‘beat’. Rhythm of paneling can be regarded as a syntactic quality of the medium of comics, as a structuring device but, as is evident from the students’ examples, rhythm of paneling can also embody story content. According to the 15 students who explained the reasons for or the effect of their rhythm in paneling, the latter creates or conveys plot events or actions and/or provides information about characterization in their graphic narratives.
The adoption of a situated learning perspective recognizes how the particular social context of the classroom, including the requirements of the graphic narrative assignment itself, shaped the students’ sign-making with respect to paneling. The students’ membership in a particular classroom community afforded them numerous opportunities throughout the research to learn how paneling, a semiotic resource of the medium of comics, ‘provide[s] the means for making meanings’ (Jewitt and Kress, 2010: 343). Indeed, the students’ understanding of paneling, the paneling created by the students in their graphic narrative, and their conversations about paneling were affected by the texts, the oracy and literacy practices associated with those texts, and the interdependent activities presented throughout the research. As is evident from the transcript excerpts, the students understood how various syntactical features of paneling, specifically the shape, size, and border style of panels, and the layout and rhythm of paneling, could be designed to express particular meanings to achieve their objectives, to realize ‘the meaning potential of their choices’ (Machin, 2007: xi). Indeed, when creating their graphic narratives, the students had to make design choices that required them to consider both the syntactic and semantic elements of paneling.
Thus, similar to the findings of those researchers who have explored student composition of multimodal texts using the medium of comics (e.g. Bitz, 2004; Hughes et al., 2011; Morrison et al., 2002), the data revealed the students’ engagement in the process, as well as their understanding and appreciation of how the unique medium of comics has ‘its own aesthetic form, codes and conventions, [and] language’ (Esquivel, 2006: 36). By creating their own graphic narrative, the students were afforded the opportunity to experience the multifaceted and complex composition process of designing and crafting multimodal texts in the medium of comics (Carter, 2009).
Conclusion
The students’ transcript excerpts and artwork demonstrate how pedagogy focused on the ‘mechanics of visual storytelling’ (Drucker, 2008b: 40) in the medium of comics can develop students’ understanding and appreciation of these multimodal texts, as well as empower students when they compose their own such texts. Analysis of the data reinforced how ‘form and content are very much bound together’ in the medium of comics, and how critical analysis of comics ‘requires that we question the whys of artistic and narrative devices’ (Rosen, 2009: 58). Although this article has focused on the semantic and syntactic qualities of paneling, knowledge of other semiotic resources of the medium of comics, as well as knowledge about particular elements of visual art and design, can develop student appreciation, understanding and interpretation of these multimodal texts.
Texts that have been completed using the medium of comics, such as graphic novels and graphic narratives, need to be appreciated as complex works that are worthy of study in their own right. As emphasized throughout, it is important that students and teachers recognize and learn about the ‘legitimate contribution to the visual and narrative arts of the world’ of the medium of comics (Bongco, 2000: 12). Indeed, educators must develop their own knowledge base, including ‘the concepts and related metalanguage’ (Callow, 2008: 618), because understanding how to read sequential art is connected with valuing, promoting and teaching formats of literature that use the medium of comics (Rudiger, 2006). Understanding and appreciating the complexity of multimodal texts that are created using the medium of comics will assist teachers as they develop appropriate pedagogical practices and assessment tools for these texts. For example, the rich information gathered during the two student interviews about their graphic narratives demonstrates the importance of students having the opportunity to talk about the content of their multimodal texts, as well as the processes involved in the designing of their texts.
Teaching ‘students to become conscious and critical of the ways in which they make meaning from multimodal texts such as comics’ (Jacobs, 2007: 24) can enable students’ development as critical viewers, readers and writers of all texts. When students develop their knowledge about and appreciation of the deliberate construction of print and visual messages, understanding that in fact all ‘text-making is a process of “design”’ (Mavers, 2009: 264), ultimately they enhance their abilities to comprehend, interpret and compose texts.
Footnotes
Appendix: Sequence of literature read by the Grade 7 students
Funding
This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors and there is no conflict of interest.
Biographical Note
Address: Faculty of Education, Department of Curriculum and Instruction, University of Victoria, Box 1700 STN CSC, Victoria, BC V8W 2Y2, Canada. [email: