Rosa and Coleridge

[Matthew Williams]

Just a footnote to my earlier posting: the Rosa handout went pretty well!
The students didn't jump up and ask where they could get subscriptions to
Disney comics at, but I think their understanding of Coleridge was
definitely enhanced!

On a similar note, last week my students came to my office for individual
conferences where I would read their rough drafts, and then we would discuss
their work.  In the past, the experience has always been slightly awkward
because the students don't really have anything to do while I read their
work.  This time I brought in a volume of the Carl Barks Library and it went
over pretty big.  At least one student had read "Trick or Treat" before, in
an Austrian comic book no less!

Earlier in the semester too, I came up with a handout entitled "Carl Barks
and the Elements of Narrative."  I basically photocopied "The Lemonade
Fling" and defined a bunch of literary terms (like round character, climax,
internal conflict, etc.) through it.  It met my objectives quite nicely, and
it was neat to have a class reading a Barks story!

Anyway, I really like the comics and education stories!  I 've always
believed that growing up reading Barks and Rosa and watching DuckTales gave
me a leg-up as I went through college and even grad school.  The whole world
of the ducks brings together history, literature, and science quite well and
really helped me to contextualize as I went through school.  Even  though
some stories and details may not be 100% factual, the comics still inspired
me to learn more!

Matthew A. Williams