Radical Blogging- bookhenge

I understand the idea of Radical Change. I know that the shifting world will constantly shift how literature is being produced, published, and distributed. A lot of our classes at NC State manage to challenge us to teach in light of these changes. I think that is a good thing. However, when it comes to literature, to poetry and prose, I am not particularly open to "Radical Change". This was only further confirmed by my reading of "Skeleton Sky". My reaction was honestly, "who cares?". I know this isn't the most open perspective to have, but I can't really help how I read something. I'm so used to artistic productions of literature. To reading Seamus Heaney's poetry and watching how he artistically breaks the rules involved, that this particular poem was just noise to me. I clicked, and clicked, and clicked. It seemed to lead me no where.
What does this mean for me?

1) I personally won't make too much poetry or prose that is under the radical category. Do I want to write a multigenre book one day? Yes, I have it planned out. But this poetry accessing digital tools so that it can be viewed in that format was just odd to me.
2) Would I use this as a tool in a classroom? Absolutely. I'd probably have to read a lot more literature and figure out what that poetry is supposed to look like/express/be. I thought about Skeleton Sky from two perspectives... As a creator, I didn't really find it that appealing. As a teacher, I would have no idea how to grade a work like that. I suppose I need to know the person, and knowing them would help, but I just had no reference for hw good/bad or acceptable it is.
     

I actually read a lot of the books on Dresang's list. I remember liking a lot of the books listed because of the reasons described for making them an agent for "radical change" at a given point in history. I thought of Will Grayson, Will Grayson as a representative of radical change. The way the two authors incorporate facebook posts, IM, etc. It brings the true high school experience further into the picture by accessing something that is digital. I also thought of Persepolis. Graphica continues to enhance literature by adding a second sense (that of sight) and appealing to a new way to read something. I really enjoyed the read because it was no longer just on me to imagine what the author had to go through. It enhanced the comedy AND sincerity of the work in my opinion. I thought Angela's surveys were very telling... For whatever reason, I assumed that most students would have read a graphic novel. I figured they were a popular feature of that generation and thus were very common amongst students. It seems clear that a lot of students have heard about and want to read graphic novels, but some don't even understand the concept. Still others have attempted to read them, but found them confusing and unenjoyable. For the most part, however, students wanted them to be incorporated in curriculum.

The key to me in Angela's article is the general belief that graphic novels bring out desires to read in "reluctant readers, especially males." Say no more. If getting guys to read is a particularly challenging part of English classes across the nation, why aren't we implementing the things they respond best to? Also, I love the thought taht most graphic novels are redos of classic stories. We don't have to jump to something completely new and foreign that way. It acts as a way to ease into adding these to the curriculum. I just think we should constantly strive to include things that make reading more attractive to our students. If that means incorporating graphic novels into our classroom, then it needs to happen.

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