Conferences for This Week!

Remember, if you  haven't signed up for a confernece, please come at one of the available times below, or e-mail me for another time. This is all we're doing this week, so if you miss your conference, it's like missing two classes! All conferences are in my office, HM  348, right next to our classroom. See you then!

Wednesday

11:00: Amanda
11:10: Matthew
11:20 Nathaniel
11:30 Stacy
11:40 Nathen
11:50 Penny

1:00 Lizbeth 
1:10-1:50 OPEN

2:00 Coleman
2:10-2:30 OPEN

Thursday

11:00: Kelsey
11:10-:20: OPEN
11:30 Benjamin
11:40 Halie
11:50 Kasandra

Friday

11:00 Joel
11:10 Annabell
11:20 Riley
11:30 Mitchell
11:40 Kayla
11:50 OPEN

1:00 Japeth
1:10-2:30 OPEN 

Conversation Paper #1: The Monsters Are Real!

I: In “The Real Question,” the alien known as Mxyzptlk says, “we are gods. You are just puppets. As long as there’s one of you, there’ll be a hundred of us.” By this he seems to mean that we can never tell all of our stories (there are too many of us), but we can tell one of their stories, since they can live in a million minds for a thousand years. In this way, the science fiction world of aliens, monsters, and superheroes can represent in an immediate, universal way the struggles of identity we all experience. We don’t have to tell our story...we can tell Superman’s story, since his alter ego is us—the awkward, coming-of-age outsider in a world we don’t understand. 

 Q: For your first conversation paper, I want you to introduce people to the conversation: why do superheroes, aliens, and monsters help tell the story of our identity as teenagers, adults, Americans, or “others.” We all feel like we’re on the outside at some point in our lives, as none of us are truly normal. We might be from another country, speak another language, have strange abilities and talents, or seem to have none of the right abilities and talents. An alien trying to make it in America is a great way to explore these very human difficulties, particularly when this alien has extraordinary (but secret) powers that might make others fear or distrust him. Similarly, even being a teenager is to be an “outsider,” since adults distrust you, fear you, suspect you, and tell you what to think. What ‘powers’ do teenagers have that adults forgot they even had...and how do you use these to become a ‘superhero,’ at least to those you love? 

 R: You must use at least TWO of the chapters from Superman: American Alien in your discussion. Remember, you’re introducing the idea that superheroes, aliens, and monsters can represent real-world identity to people who have probably never read a superhero comic. So what do you need to explain to them? What do they need to know and see? Use two of the stories to show us why Superman is relevant to a modern American teenager or adult. ALSO, I want you to use at least one of the following stories by Dale Bailey in Best American SF/F, “Teenagers from Outer Space” and/or “I Was a Teenage Werewolf.” The goal is to make these works contribute to a conversation about ‘coming of age’ in our society through the metaphors of “others”—superheroes, etc.  

Length: At least 5 pages, double spaced (though you can do more)

Format: Be sure to quote passages from the comic and at least one of the stories according to MLA format or another you prefer (but be consistent). You must cite page numbers and include a Works Cited page

Due: Monday, February 26th by 5pm [no class that day]  

For Wednesday: Bailey, “I Was a Teenage Werewolf” (pp.286-303)

Answer TWO of the following:

Q1: In the previous story, the town prefers to see Johnny “as a hero who’d saved humanity from the ascension of triumphant alien overlords” (55). How does this story also prefer to believe a convenient narrative of heroism/safety? Who is the hero? Who is the villain? What truths or taboos is the town hiding from?

Q2: Who is the narrator in the story? Even though he/she doesn’t introduce themselves as Nancy did, how can we tell who they are? Why do you think he tells the story from this perspective rather than giving the narrator a name and a character? How does it change the story?

Q3: The narrator claims that the anonymity of the werewolf gave them a certain power in their community. As he/she explains, “if we were both sovereign and slave to our terror, our teachers and parents were slaves alone. As long as no one knew who the teenage werewolf was, it could be any one of us” (296). Why does this give them power over their teachers and parents? How does this bond the teenagers together as a group?

Q4: The ending of the this story is surprising and a bit shocking: why do you think Bailey ends the story with all the adults being eaten/murdered? Is the point of the story to say “teenagers are evil and can’t be trusted”? Or does he have another intention? Why make every teenager a werewolf and every adult a victim?

For Monday: Bailey, “Teenagers from Outer Space” (pp.27-55)

 

Answer TWO of the following:

Q1: How might this story be a version of Superman if instead of one alien, a hundred aliens descended on Smallville? How can we tell that both Bailey and Landis (Superman: American Alien) are sharing the same conversation about the acceptance “others” in the heart of America?

Q2: The entire story is told from Nancy Miller’s viewpoint, and by her own admission, “much of what follows is reconstructed from second-hand reports, with all the bias and self-interest inherent in such accounts” (29). Do we trust her version of events? Is there anyplace where it seems she adds her own bias or opinions into the mix? Or does she help us see the limitations of others’ biases and values?

Q3: Writing about Johnny (who is proclaimed as a hero after the aliens leave town), Nancy says, “Maybe he thought he was innocent, courageous, whatever...People do it all the time. People want to be blameless. People want to be brave” (47-48). Who is the hero of this story? If this is a traditional aliens vs. humans story, who “saved the world”? For the reader, who is most brave and selfless? And why might the people telling the story later not see this?

Q4: How might this story be a metaphor for women growing up in American society, especially in the 1950’s? What might Bailey mean that every woman has to choose between “freedom” and “slavery,” or “aliens” and “duty”? Why might he also explain why Joan makes the decision she does?

For Friday: Landis, Superman: American Alien, “Eagle,” “Angel,” and “Valkyrie”

Answer TWO of the following:

Q1: In “Angel,” Pete is arguing with Clark about the future of Superman and what role he intends to play in society. He finally tells him, “Superman will never be able to retire.” What is it that Pete sees that Clark doesn’t here? Why is Superman bigger than one hero or one alien or one costume? (and related to this, why should he start talking to the other people who are  “like him” in the world)?

Q2: In “Eagle,” Clark reflects that “It feels good to help people. No, I’m not afraid…what’s there to be afraid of?” What hasn’t he figured out yet about being a super hero, and how do the next three stories show him why there’s a lot to be afraid about? Also, why is a superhero more than simply saving lives and feeling good about yourself?

Q3: “Valkyrie” is the only comic that doesn’t have the name of a bird. What is a Valkyrie, and why is this significant to the comic? Why end the bird metaphors with this title? What changes in this comic that we don’t see completely (or as developed) in the others?

Q4: Each one of these comics is about taking a large step into adulthood from the illusions (and delusions, sometimes) of childhood. If we stop reading this as a superhero comic and consider that it symbolizes what we all go through in this process, which comic relates the most to our journey? What can Superman teach us about our own identity as we become a new, more responsible person capable of saving the world day in, and day out?

For Monday: Superman: American Alien, “Parrot” and “Owl” (and the two mini-comics between them)

Answer TWO of the following:

Q1: “Parrot” seems to allude to the fact that parrots can imitate human speech and ‘pretend’ to be something they’re not. While Clark Kent is literally pretending to be Bruce Wayne (Batman) in this comic, what other identities is he “parroting”? What does his one-night fling with Minerva teach him about finding his “true” self (or does he)?

Q2: The style of these two chapters is dramatically different from one another and from the pervious comics, as “Parrot” is bright and humorous, while Owl is angular, fuzzy, and tense. Why might Superman in particular be so adaptable to all these different stories and approaches? It might be harder, for example, to tell a Batman or Wonder Woman story this way.

Q3: In “Owl,” Clark Kent meets Superman’s arch-rival, Lex Luthor, and has a one-on-one interview with him (though of course Luthor doesn’t know who he really is). During this interview, Luthor tells him “People aren’t important. Not as a whole...That’s why you see people throughout history rising above the masses. Those are the changers. Those are the doers. You are not important. You’re not. I am.” How are we supposed to read this speech? Is it true? Is he helping Clark to understand/embrace his own identity? Could these words ever be expressed by a superhero? Or are they fundamentally a sociopath’s point of view?

Q4: In the short comic after “Parrot,” which is entitled “The Real Question,” the alien known as Mxyzpltlk breaks down the “fourth wall” and talks directly to the reader. Why are comics able to do this more effectively than a traditional novel? And what does he mean by the sentence, “We are gods. You are just puppets”?

For Wednesday: Landis, Superman: American Alien (“Dove” and “Hawk”)

NOTE: Read the first two stories/chapters of the book, "Dove" and "Hawk" for Wednesday's class. If you're confused about where to stop, you can stop reading where you see the full page of Clark on a boat with a with a bunch of women and champagne glasses.

Answer TWO of the following:

Q1: Discuss how the art in one of the chapters helps to tell the story, and is also appropriate for that story. Why would this story be much different if we just had the words? Discuss at least one specific panel or page in your response.

Q2: What does Clark mean in “Dove” when he tells his father, “When you break something, you’re not just breaking the thing, you’re like...hurting everyone who made it the way it was”? Why might this also say something about Clark’s relationship to his powers and his mysterious identity as an “alien”?

Q3: In class on Monday we discussed how modern heroes, and especially super heroes, are often more “gray” than “white,” and how they often resemble the “dragons” in fantasy stories. How does “Hawk” discuss the thin line between being a hero and a villain for Clark? According to this story, what makes him a hero rather than a “monster”?

Q4: In-between the two chapters, there is a two-page illustration called “The Castaways.” How does it connect the two stories without “telling” us outright? Why can  single picture do this even more powerfully than a paragraph or an entire story?