Clark, J. Spencer. “Encounters with Historical Agency: The Value of Nonfiction Graphic Novels in the Classroom.” (2013)

Graphic novels, a widely used medium, have been developing for twenty years expanding in both the genre and medium. While graphic novels have been in publication since the 1970s, it was not until Art Speigelman’s graphic novel Maus: A Survivor’s Tale, that the genre became more widely known. In 1992, Speigelman won a Pulitzer Prize for his work Maus and many began to see the graphic novel as a legitimate medium for history. Since Maus there have been many graphic novels which emulate and depict historical genres and are useful for the classroom as they offer complex historical events in narratives that are multi-faceted and complex. This article strives to discuss the relevance and usefulness of graphic novels in the history classroom and education by describing the findings of a study. The article also seeks to discuss the value of graphic novels as resources to develop historical thinking skills in students.

While the usefulness of graphic novels in education has been explored in literature and study, few studies and articles are written about the relevance of graphic novels in historical education and social studies. Nonetheless, there have been a myriad of historically based graphic novels. Regardless of the subject matter of the graphic novels, many educators are wary of their use in history classrooms due to their association with comic books. Clark continues the chapter with examples of other authors who have advocated for the use of graphic novels in the history classroom and the benefits that accompany their use.

The study that Clark uses in the article, as well as the examples from other authors, led him to postulate that graphic novels can be used to promote historical thinking and are viable resources for the history classroom. His study discussed the potential of nonfiction graphic novels to promote historical thinking, and was completed with preservice teachers who read two graphic novels and then evaluated their usefulness in the history classroom. The evaluations were then analyzed which led to the initial conclusion that graphic novels used multiple perspectives to effectively engage students in reading about historical events. Clark concluded that the examples that the preservice teachers gave offer evidence that nonfiction graphic novels can be used as resources in the history classroom.

Clark begins by defining a graphic novel. He uses examples from other scholars to solidify his description of nonfiction graphic novels, which were used in the study, including a blend of secondary and primary sources. Graphic novels offer students a new means to engage with historical narratives through the juxtaposition of text and images. Clark then discusses historical agency in terms of how it has been described in the literature and why it is important to historical thinking. He also discusses the nuances of historical agency through examples of other authors’ work and applies these notions to the preservice teachers’ experiences with graphic novels.

Clark also discusses his qualitative case study which detailed how preservice teachers valued graphic novels as a medium for use in the history classroom. There were 24 participants in the study who partook in an undergraduate social studies research methods course at a midwestern state university. The participants were chosen for two reasons: they took Clark’s course and they were the best candidates due to the material of the course. The data from the study included discussion forum posts, notes jotted down by participants while reading the graphic novels and written analysis of the graphic novels. The data were analyzed and coded for common themes, with historical agency as one of the main threads.

Clark then discusses in turn the five findings of the study and historical agency. Graphic novels portrayed injustice, expanded the typical historical narrative, humanized the subjects being studied, described events that were inconceivable, and displayed the choices of historical agents. In each section, Clark uses descriptions from participants’ experiences to enhance his findings. He concludes with a discussion of how his findings suggest that graphic novels can promote historical thinking in the classroom through the ways that they portray historical agency. He also reiterates why graphic novels promote historical agency and, in turn, historical thinking in students.