Contributions of Satirical Graphic Novels to the quality of Primary Education in the US - Essay Example

Contributions of Satirical Graphic Novels to the quality of Primary Education in the US Primary education in the United States as in all other nations is a vital aspect of growth and development of children. The content and nature of education, and what the primary school children learn should thus be well expressed by educators so that the children can easily understand. This prompts the use of learning and teaching materials that are easy to understand given that these children can easily be distracted. One such example of educating material that makes up the content of primary school education is the use of satirical graphic novels that use wit and irony to bring out the real nature of a topic. Satirical graphic novels, among other graphic novels, have an aspect of encouraging the reader to keep on reading so as to grasp the intended meaning. However, not all agree to the use of these novels in educating children and think that they might have negative impacts on their leaning. This paper examines the various ways through which satirical graphic novels contribute positively to the quality of primary education in the US. The use of satirical graphic novels in primary education tremendously contributes to the understanding capacity of the children. Before looking at the ways in which satirical graphic novels contribute to the quality of primary education, we should first look at how they came into use in the education system. Historically, the use of satirical graphic novels in primary education has been a controversial issue with some people trying to contraindicate their advantages. Satirical graphic novels came to being through writers who wanted to use them to address some topics in education, especially primary education. Will Eisner produced the first satirical graphic novel in 1978, titled “Contract with God and Other Tenement Stories” (Schwartz 197). This novel represented the first graphic novel to be extensively used in primary education after discovery of the values of its use. It became widespread in primary schools, in the U.S. Satirical graphic novels have continued to gain popularity in the past 25 years, in their use, in the primary educational system. These novels can be used in the teaching of all subjects through the incorporation of the desired information into graphics mode. This incorporation of satirical graphic novels into primary education in the United States over the years has led to disregarding of the mode by some researchers that deem it as destructive to education (Brown 65). However, the educational system came up with different levels according to the age difference and the developmental requirements of children so as to incorporate the use of graphic novels. The difference in age also represents the differences in level of understanding. As such, there is a proposition that the younger populations comprehend better in easy words and pictures, thus encouraging the use of graphic novels (Schwartz 197). On the contrary, there are a few individuals, who insist that these satirical graphic novels have made primary school children less attracted and conversant with pure reading of scripts and books. As a result of this, they advise and advocate their removal from the education system in the United States’ primary educational system. However, in this paper, I will base my focus on outlining the various ways that satirical graphic novels positively contribute to the quality of primary education. In contrast with some previous researcher’s views of the damaging effects of satirical graphic novels in primary education, there are many ways through which satirical graphic novels have values in primary education. This paper hopes to highlight the use and contribution of satirical graphic novels to primary education in the United States today. In doing so, it discusses the various aspects within satirical graphic novels that can be applied to children’s learning in primary education, as well as the various subjects in which they apply to and the benefits that accrue to it. Then, it discusses the manners in which the use of satirical graphic novels enhances the quality of primary education with the aim of solidifying the validation of their use. It also discusses how the inclusion of satirical graphic novels in primary education affects the curriculum by looking at the various advantages of satirical graphic novels. However, satirical graphic novels have challenges and this paper will outline some of them. The identification of the various challenges that the satirical graphic novels bring enables a comparison between its values and challenges. Finally, I will give recommendations of ways in which the use of satirical graphic novels can be improved in primary education in the US. Graphic novels are novels that intend to ease the communication of information to the reader via the use of its various aspects. One aspect is that they combine the use of text and graphics in their presentation of information. In this way, they enhance understanding of information by the few that dislike comprehensive reading and are slow in understanding written words because of their witty and ironical nature. Another aspect is that these novels educate students as well as the community on various issues in a satirical but meaningful manner. This manner inspires interest in the reader so that they can keenly grasp the meaning of the content. In primary education, satirical graphic novels enhance the children’s understanding of information that they require to learn. There is also the aspect of easing communication of information to the reader to enhance their understanding. These novels have provided an advantageous way to communicate at ease to those in primary education level. This especially applies to those that find it hard to read and comprehend the expression of information and ideas through words only. The use of satirical graphic novels in the United States is currently a common practice in primary education. The fact that satirical graphic novels include visual imagery aspects strengthens the justification of their use in teaching to both children and adults (Katherine 45). They are used in the early stages of education to ensure complete understanding at this level as it is an essential feudatory stage in learning and development. Satirical graphic novels instill interest in students reading ensuring discussions on such novel articles. They redefine the narrow and painful expectation of literature to new, attractive novels. Students become encouraged by the themes in the comics and even use them as discussing topics of other literal works. Satirical graphic novels create an interactive nature between the students and the novels’ characters. This engagement further enhances and attributes the students understanding of information with student exploring the nature of the novel aspects, the irony, character development and tone of characters. Satirical graphic novels are attractive and appealing to the eye and brain. This is due to the presence of graphical imagery in the novels. The graphic images further describe this fact in the name satirical graphic novels. As a result, they create the desire in other people to read what they contain. This desire drives people to go through the novel regardless of the novels being of a disinteresting nature. Children easily lose interest when reading many texts and these novels become abundantly handy in dealing with teaching of the primary school curriculum. Consequently, the satirical graphic novels are extremely crucial when it comes to passing of information even where it once proved difficult. This way, they make it easier to pass information, and for it to be understood effectively by the students in a primary curriculum environment. When it comes to understanding, satirical graphical novels prove to be remarkably efficient. Students at the primary level of education are at a particularly crucial stage that is extremely sensitive in relation to the curriculum that they learn. In line with this aspect, it is crucial to use methods that are efficient and timely. Satirical graphic novels enhance the capacity to understand a text. As such, it is simpler for a person to understand a text that has graphical illustrations than just plain, ordinary texts. This enhances and fastens the capacity rate of education (Katherine 57). Through this, a young primary student can develop at the required rate in education and still get to understand the curriculum they are covering. They get the ability to cover the basics of learning, and obtain an effective foundation that is necessary for their future development in education and the various fields that they will involve themselves. The use of satirical graphical novels in primary education acts as a potent abridger of literacy levels for youngsters. In other words, they are exceptionally proficient in ways of linking something that students already know with what they are yet to learn. This is a way of familiarizing them with what they are to be advanced on, thus making it easy for them to understand once they get there. Satirical graphical novels also enhance literature reading and writing in children. This is because they get to relate with the characters in the novel, hence making it intriguing for them to accomplish what they learned from the character of novels. Unlike the use of other graphic novels such as the super hero stories, satirical graphic novels assist in the establishment and expression of character. As a mode of expression of the individuality of the author, opens tendentiousness and uncompromising judgments on the ridiculed character are characteristics of satirical graphical novels (Brown). Again, in satirical graphic novels there is the use experimental investigation of subjects that is not available in other graphic novels such as the human interest stories. In this aspect through satirical graphic novels, students are able to learn how to conduct rationalistic investigations of the character, thus creating a high degree of the expected level of the character through artificiality as compared to the current state. This is to prompt an improvement in the behavioral nature of that character. It is only through the use of satirical graphic novels that students can learn to exploit the art of ridiculing the inadequate person. This is an aspect that is the main line of satirical graphic novels, and it enables a way to learn to use ridicule to the best benefit of society. It is a way through which the nature of evil is investigated in a psychological manner, thus ensuring the establishment of the full knowledge surrounding a subject (Antoney 73). Through the ridicule and investigations into inadequacy and injustices of subjects in society, students are able to learn the adequacy and importance of rights and hard work. As students investigate and get to see the wrong in being inadequate and unfair to others, they get to learn effects of this. As such, they learn to do the best they can in everything they partake at all times. The development of morally adequate and upright citizens is thus ascertained in this critical young stage. These attributes of satirical graphical novels enable the attainment of educational goals when it comes to primary education curriculum. In this argument, it can also be projected that due to their contribution to primary level education, satirical graphic novels are a significant component of the whole educational system. This is largely due to the values that they contribute to the primary level that is the ground foundation of all educational levels. This means that the knowledge imparted at the primary level enables the subsequent understanding of knowledge taught in the next higher levels of educational learning. In view of validating the values of satirical graphic novels in primary education, in the United States, there is a need identify the challenges they face. This validates their importance in primary education through showing that the posed values exceed the challenges. The main challenge posed by the use of satirical graphic novels is the detrimental of reading cultures in the United States (Cox 45). This challenge, when compared to the numerous values to be exposed by this research, will show the significant contribution of satirical novels to primary education. In this way, there will be proof of the value of satirical graphic novels in United States primary education. Through ample research and judgment, some researchers have come to prove that the use of satirical graphic novels in primary educational curriculum is extremely destructive to the reading culture in United States. Consequently, there are arguments based on the fact that satirical graphic novels make it easier to go through information and as such, resulting in the growth of a much lazier generation towards reading (Brasco 34). As a result, they avoid going through substantial amounts of literature readings as these people get used to the ease of reading information through the means of satirical graphic novels. This argument is substantial in its idea but in itself is no match for the various values obtained in primary educational system through the inclusion of satirical graphic novels in the curriculum, in the United States. It is especially not validated that they do cause damage to the reading cultures of the people in that there are various remedies provided to guard against this. As such, for those that do believe that satirical graphic novels are killing the reading cultures they may apply these remedies and their fears would be resolved. In order to check against this fear that satirical graphic novel use in primary education is detrimental to the reading culture in the United States, various aspects may be considered. The best way to check against this is to have an equal percentage of representation of the text and graphics in the novels. This is a merging of the two aspects. It would lead to the development of a new model that is inclusive of both graphics and texts at considerable depths. Consequently, the many advantages of graphics will remain in use as people will continue using them in primary grade learning. At the same time, there would be enough text representation in the novel for it to be conclusive that substantial reading still occurs with the use of satirical graphic novels in primary education. The use of satirical graphic novels in primary education should not be as a sole unit of the curriculum either. This is to say that only part of the curriculum should be presented through the use of satirical graphic novels. For instance, they could use these novels in subjects identified to be extremely challenging to students in understanding to ease and simplify the information. The other subjects can be presented in the form of pure text literatures in that they made conversant with extensive reading cultures to understand the information they learn. In such a curriculum of mixed subject units, the values of using satirical graphic novels are obtained and established as well as the benefit of a proper reading culture in students through the use of extensive text literatures. The combination of these two aspect values in primary education would provide the best outcome in the education system. In summary, the values obtained in primary education through the inclusion of satirical graphic novels in education are particularly substantial. At the same time, the use of satirical graphic novels does indeed deprive the reading culture in the United States although the various recommendations discussed above can be applied to eliminate this occurrence. This includes establishing equal text and graphical representation in the satirical graphic novels. It will ensure that the use of these satirical graphic novels is mixed with pure literature books in the curriculum units. It is thus in my conclusion that using satirical graphic novels in primary education systems is immensely beneficial to students. They have a lot of contribution to the education system as a whole through efficiency in the primary education level that is the foundation of all educational system levels. The topic of satirical graphic novels in primary education and other levels of education have been studied by many. The studies have focused on both the values that satirical graphic novels contribute to primary education in the United States, and the adverse effects that they have on various aspects of education in the United States, such as detrimental of the reading culture. This research investigated the contribution of satirical graphic novels to primary education and here is a brief description of research design I used this paper. There was the use of secondary data sources in the obtaining of the information required. This included review of previous research done on the subject matter or related subjects. A review through their data such as administered questionnaires at the time was also noteworthy. Media sources and formal remarks of teachers and individuals were also essential. Such sources gave views of the different stakeholders in the subject matter. Crucial deductions for this study came from comprehensive compilation and review of such sources. Works Cited Antoney, N. Using Graphics to Enhance Education in Children. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2001. Print. Arnest, H. Ascertaining Graphics in the Educational System. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999. Print. Brisco, S. Are Graphic Novels Giving You a Headache? Berkeley: University of California, 2002. Print. Brown, B. Graphics Transforming American Reading Culture. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2005. Print. Carter, M. Transforming English and Graphic Novels. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996. Print. Cox, M. Debating Significance of Graphic Novels. London: Sage Publications, 2004. Print. Crawd, H. Beyond Graphical Entity. London: Sage Publications, 2004. Print. Frey, N. Using Graphics in Learning Carriculims. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996. Print. Larvin, C. Comic Books and Graphic Novels for Libraries. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996. Print. Katherine, M. Bringing Graphic Novels to Classroom Curriculum. Berkeley: University of California, 2002. Print. Magdalene, K. Reading Cultures and Graphics. London: Sage Publications, 2011. Web. Mccloud, S. Understanding Comics: The Inside Art. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 2003. Print. Schwartz, M. Graphic Novels for Multiple Literacies. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2001. Web. Thompson, T. Reluctance on Shying Away From Graphic Books. London: Sage Publications, 2005. Web. Young, R. Transforming Educational Curriculum. Princeton: Princeton University Press. 2001. Print. Read More