Education Commons^™

Drawing Empathy: The Benefits Of Utilizing Graphic Memoirs In Secondary Classrooms, Hailey Simmons

English Senior Capstone

The use of graphic novels and graphic memoirs in the classroom is an active discussion in many schools. Some individuals who oppose using the genre with students argue that it does not provide enough depth to have an effect on the reader. By analyzing Art Spiegelman’s Maus and Nora Krug’s Belonging, this paper explains how graphic memoirs can provide depth for readers. As Spiegelman and Krug learn of their family history with the Holocaust and World War II, they utilize the techniques of representational art, the repetition of structural elements, and the use of color and shading to portray …