Need help/opinion on graphic novels

[vivalaultra 0]

So, this coming year, I'm going to be teaching 8th and 10th grade English at a charter school here in Houston. The teachers pretty much have free reign over what texts they'll use in their classes, so, I basically can teach any novel or such that I want (as long as it has 'literary merit'). For my 8th graders, I put in Neil Gaiman's Coraline. Then, I had an idea that I think would be interesting. All of the novels I'm doing in my 8th grade class are fantasy-based and I was thinking that, in the last grading period, instead of doing like, an actual novel, I would use 'The Sandman Vol.1: Preludes and Nocturnes' and teach the literary elements of the story and also look at the artwork and how that relates to the story and then, for a project, have the students break into groups and design and create a 'graphic novel' based on a scene or scenes in one of the books that we've already read that semester. I think kids would really enjoy something like that, with the whole 'reading comic books in school' deal. So, anyway, my question is...I'm pretty familiar with Gaiman's work and have sporadically read 'The Sandman' on and off for the last few years, but, I was wondering what the 'expert' opinion might be-Do ya'll think something like 'The Sandman' would go over the heads of 8th graders (14-15 yr. olds), or do you think that I should go with a diff. graphic novel, perhaps? I'm certain that if the students wouldn't comprehend Gaiman, I shouldn't even consider Frank Miller or Alan Moore. So, whatcha guys think?

[Vampiro69 0]

I seem to recall that Gaiman wrote one story for the Sandman series based on Shakepeare's The Tempest. Maybe as test run with the idea you could go with that issue for your class. Sadly though I can't remember what issue number that was though.

 

This seems like an interesting idea you have. The trouble would be whether or not the students would understand the ideas that Alan Moore and Frank Miller were presenting.

[TheBigSwigg 0]

I'd be wary of using Preludes & Nocturnes, because of the nature of the first few issues. Especially if you're in a overly religious area of Texas. My mom got one glance at the first page and proclaimed it "The Devil From Hell." You'd be better off using the "Shakespeare" issues. A Midsummer Nights Dream, especially. It's award winning, and you can use that as justification if you ever hit problems.

 

Keep in mind that there are lots of parents who have issues with nudity & "satanic imagery" when making your choices. Especially since it is a charter school.

[vivalaultra 0]

Yeah, it had been a while since I looked at P&N before last nite. I had forgotten how uh...'dramatic' it is. If I do something from The Sandman, I'll probably either do 'Dream Country', 'Fables and Reflections', or 'World's End'. I'm not too worried about the content as far as religious content/imagery, but the violence is a factor a little bit. Although I could probably get anything approved (if just because I don't think any of the English higher-ups at the school are familiar with what's in the graphic novels), I definitely don't want a bunch of parent complaints. If all else fails, I'll just use the graphic adaptation of 'Neverwhere'.