Final Paper

The Final Paper will be composed of two parts, and is worth 120 points total.

Part I: Proposal

Worth 20 points

• 1-page
• Due as early as April 7 at 11:00 a.m.
• DEADLINE April 16 at NOON
  
• Early submission is encouraged.
• Updated from April 7–12 with extra days, no later than April 16 NOON.

Goals:

• Propose the topic for your final paper.
• State how your topic fits within our Bat-History and Bat-Timeline.
• You may expand your Mid-Term paper. 
• Or, you may write a completely different paper altogether.
  
• Not sure what to write!? Submit no more than 2 separate ideas.
• 250-500 words, no more and no less.
• Emailed to the instructor in the body of an email.

Consider writing your proposal as an abstract, see Dr. K's recommendations here.

Evaluation, worth 20 points, requires two sources that are not the comics you're reviewing: must state two sources, who wrote them, when published, what they'll provide, and why you chose them. See rubric here.

Part II: Final Paper

Worth 100 points

• 8-pages total, Times or Times New Roman font, 12 point, double-spaced
• 7-pages of writing, 1 page of bibliography (works cited)
• Emailed as PDF attachment to the instructor
  
• Early delivery Apr. 26
• DEADLINE Apr. 29th, 10:30AM
  
• Early submission is encouraged.

Goals:

• Expand your Mid-Term Paper into a long, comprehensive research paper.
• Or, write a new paper about a new topic.
• Describe the story, characters, art.
• State what you like or don't like.
• State why you don't like it.
• Compare your own opinions to another critics' opinions.
• Connect your ideas, other ideas, into 1 single research paper.
• Use 1 piece of borrowed information in your review.
• Use a 2nd piece of borrowed information in your review.
  

Evaluation, worth 100 points.
See rubric here.

Honors 392H Final Paper is worth 200 points, see rubric for more information. Minimum 12 typed pages plus 1 page bibliography, 13 pages in all. All Honors students will present their paper on our final exam day, April 29th from 8am-10:30am.

 

Bat-Podcast

Using your 1 chosen book, work together in your group. Create either 1 interpretation of a scene (drama) or 1 review of your comic. 

Each Group must present and share their work. Presentations begin April 7th in class, and end April 12th in class. April 14th has also been added as an optional presentation day.

• Minimum of 3 minutes, maximum of 5 minutes.
• Up to 8 minutes is permitted, teams needing more time should check with instructor.
  
• You may prerecord it and share it via Google Drive in class.
• Or you may perform it live during class. 
• Either method is appropriate, but if you can do it live, you'll probably have more fun. Just sayin'… 
  
• Rubric and format instructions.

Supporting Reading & Videos

Batman, Villains, The Rogues

• On Gotham, the TV series
• 10 Greatest Batman Villains
• Ranking Batman Villains
• Who is the best Catwoman, Halle Berry?
  
• Anne Hathaway screen test, Catwoman 
• Anne Hathaway on playing Catwoman
  
• Every Catwoman fight, The Dark Knight Rises
  

Drama & Review Considerations

• What makes a good podcast?
• Starting your podcast, students can do it too. 
• Will you record your piece before class and play it for class?
• If so, what's the best way to coordinate everyone's audio?
• Do a Zoom or FaceTime call, and record the audio?
• Or just record each other outside?
  

Drama Considerations, Sound, Mixing, Podcasts, Voice Work

• Batman on the original Superman radio show.
  
• How and why Tom Hardy's Bane sounds that way.
• Mark Hamill, best Joker ever? 
• Must be voiced by students. 
• Sound effects and audio effects are optional. Music is optional. Use of music or sound effects should not interfere with us hearing students' voices.
  
• How will you handle sound effects? Optional, but you may explore these performance elements. One team member may take care of sound effects—if appropriate for your work—and either perform the sound effects live during class (see here, all about WALL•E's sound) or pre-record sounds and play them during class from an audio device.
• Ask yourself, How did this work get done during the golden days of radio? Look at The Shadow, among others, as well as Little Orphan Annie. There's also Superman on the radio. BUT, be "period appropriate" meaning, don't make yours sound old-fashioned like The Shadow or Annie, just to make it sound old-fashioned. Listen to those old broadcasts to learn about the voice performance, pacing, etc.
• Share vocal and audio responsibilities, giving everyone equal work to do.
• Optional: Do you want to show a slideshow with some of the comic book art, so we can see it while you do the voice work and sound effects? If so, what work will that entail, and is it ultimately worth it?
  
• You may not use the adaptation of a comic book, such as a movie or TV show or animation, for your source material. For example, if you choose Batman the Dark Knight Returns comic, you cannot just mimic what's been done for the animated movie. This needs to be your interpretation.

Technical Tips

• Vocal warm-up 
• More vocal warm-ups
  
• Recording good audio
  
• Saving audio for podcasts and other formats
  
• Exporting audio from Garage Band
  

Final Group Workshop

March 29–31, Goals: 

• Have read your two comics picked during mid-March's Group Report.
  
• Write a review of each, see details below under Review & Writing.
• Share your reviews with your Group.
• Group Assignments are here.
  
• Speak with your Group, and among the Group:
• Choose 1 book for your Final Group Workshop.
• Choose 1 method to share your book: radio drama or podcast review.
  
• All Group members must participate equally in your chosen method, drama or review.
  
• March 29th Group Meetings begin.
• Typed report due March 31st, at start of class.
  

Worth 15+25 points = 40 points total  

March 29th Group Meetings, 15 points.

• Have microphone on, camera on, so you can chat with everyone.   
• Group Assignments are here.
  
• Each student shares their plan in your 1 Google Doc shared among the group.
• To earn the full 15/15 for this component, be present and working during class when instructor comes to take attendance.
• Not being in March 29th's Google Meet results in absence and 0/15 for this work.
• This grade is individual, each student gets their own Group Meeting Grade.

Report DUE March 31st, 25 points.

• Each student writes a review for each book, each student reviews 2 books.
• All students' reviews shared in Google Doc: 1 Google Doc for Group, sent to instructor as 1 PDF Report.
  
• Should be 1–2 pages in all and no more than 3 pages.

Review & Writing:

• Write a review of each of your books, two total reviews.
• Each student must read at least 1 book and write a 5 sentence review covering: who, what, where, how, why, when, some tips on writing a good comic review here via Goodreads. How can your own voice be part of your review? 
• Must include 1 sentence of borrowed information, a quote from the media found in a review such as Goodreads or the NY Times, or Wall Street Journal, or another newspaper. 
• Amazon reviews are not permitted, nor are other online shopping places. 
• Cite the place you borrowed that information, who said it, and the date they said it.
• For your 2nd book, which will be considered not usable, write a 2 sentence review about why it's not worth considering and include 3 sentences of borrowed information.
• A quote from the media found in a review such as Goodreads or the NY Times, or Wall Street Journal, or another newspaper. 
• Amazon reviews are not permitted, nor are other online shopping places. 
• Cite the place you borrowed that information, who said it, and the date they said it.
• Share reviews among your Group, focusing on the YES book, and voting on which 1 book to use for the drama or review.
  
• State that 1 winning book at the topmost part of your Group Report.
  
• Decide what 1 method you will use to share the book, either drama or review, state that method at the top under your chosen book.
• Checklist: 
1. top of report, all students' names, Group Letter, such as Group A
2. top of report, 1 winning book to be shared
3. top of report, 1 method to share book: drama or review
4. rest of report: each student's 2 books reviewed (one that's a yes, one that's a no)
   
• Submit report when all of the above are done, report is due by start of class March 31st.
  

Email PDF Report to Instructor

1. Due by 11AM start of class March 31st.
   
2. Submit 1 Group Report.
   
3. Email PDF as attachment to instructor following the PDF delivery instructions here.
   
4. IMPORTANT: This 25-point writing grade is for each student, who adds to the Group Report completely, accurately, and professionally, including all of the items under Goals. 
• If you're Student XD whose writing is in this report completely/professionally/accurately XD gets 25/25
• but if Student XØ has no writing at all, XØ will get 0/25, or if their writing is partial XØ gets 19/25 for example.
  
5. This work is weighted ×5, such that earning a 5 earns you a 25 (5×5=25).
   
6. a 5 is excellent, for writing that addresses all of the above Writing Goals, little to no spelling/grammar issues, complete and appropriate use of borrowed information
   
7. if a 4, it's above average, addresses most of the topics or maybe does so incompletely, with some spelling/grammar issues, incomplete use of borrowed information
8. a 3 isn't awful, but it only addresses some of the topics, with frequent spelling/grammar issues, missing a majority of borrowed information and incomplete borrowed information
   
9. you score a 2 because it might have very little content addressed, too many spelling/grammar issues, lacks borrowed information
   
10. earning a 1–0 is for unsatisfactory, incomplete, or inappropriate work, zero (0) no work

See class calendar for complete timeline.

• Each Group's individual drama or review is due in-class April 7th or April 12th.
• Minimum of 3 minutes, maximum of 5 minutes; up to 8 minutes is also acceptable, check with instructor.
  
• You may prerecord it and share it via Google Drive in class, or you may perform it live during class. 
• Rubric and overview here.
  
• Format instructions forthcoming.

 

Group Workshop March

Wednesday March 17th students will work in their Groups:

• Sign into your assigned Group Google Meet at the start of class
• Attendance will be taken in your Group Meet
• If you're not present, you're marked absent 
• Groups are viewable here
• Attendance in and discussion during March 17th Group Meet 15 points
  
• Writing 1 Group Report worth 25 points due March 22nd
  

Worth  15+25 points, 40 points total

Goals:

• Review the reading list
  
• Look at "Recommended, Pick Any 2" and discuss the following books in each topic:
• The "New" Classics 
• Batman the Animated Series 
• Batman the New Wave 
• Tricksters, Fun, Games, Madness.
  
• Each person in your Group should pick at least 2 books.
• You will have one month to research both books.
  
• Nobody in your group reads the same book.
• You should pick a book you haven't read.
• State why you chose each book, and give us more than, "I chose this because I have not read it." 
• Did you choose the book because of the characters, a character, the genre, the art, the writer, the title, and why?
• If one or more of your Group Members are not present for your meeting, let them know which books went un-selected, so they know what books they have left to choose from.
  

15-point Meetings Wed. Mar. 17

1. Use class time for small group work.
2. Groups from Instructor are viewable here.
   
3. Be prepared to have microphone on, camera on, so you can chat with everyone.   
4. Decide who will research which books from the reading list.
5. Each student shares their plan in your 1 Google Doc shared among the group.
6. Example: seven students each share their 2 books, so your report should have a total of 14 books listed, 2 books per student with reasons the student wants to research that book.
   
7. Should be 1–2 pages in all and no more than 3 pages.
8. To earn the full 15/15 for this component, be present and working during class.
   
9. Not being in the Google Meet room results in absence and 0/15 for this work.
10. This grade is individual, each student gets their own Group Meeting Grade.
    

25-point Report DUE Mar. 22

Email PDF Report to Instructor

1. Submit 1 Group Report Mar. 22nd before the start of class.
   
2. When ready to send, export as a single PDF, following the PDF delivery instructions here.
   
3. Be sure to email PDF as attachment to instructor.
4. IMPORTANT: This 25-point writing grade is for each student, who adds to the Group Report completely, accurately, and professionally, including all of the items under Goals. 
• If you're Student XD whose writing is in this report completely/professionally/accurately XD gets 25/25
• but if Student XØ has no writing at all, XØ will get 0/25, or if their writing is partial XØ gets 19/25 for example.
  
5. This work is weighted ×5, such that earning a 5 earns you a 25 (5×5=25).
   
6. a 5 is excellent, for writing that addresses all of the above Goals, little to no spelling/grammar issues
   
7. if a 4, it's above average, addresses most of the topics or maybe does so incompletely, with some spelling/grammar issues
8. a 3 isn't awful, but it only addresses some of the topics, with frequent spelling/grammar issues
9. you score a 2 because it might have very little content addressed, too many spelling/grammar issues
10. earning a 1–0 is for unsatisfactory, incomplete, or inappropriate work

You do not need to have researched your 2 books by Mar. 22nd. In your Group Report, you're only stating which books you will research and why. 

You must have your 2 books researched by Mar. 31st for in-class Group Work, when students learn about April–May Group Work: choosing between a vocal dramatization (like on the radio) of 1 scene from their chosen comic, or doing a podcast-like review of their chosen comic. More details to come on Mar. 31st.

Guests in March

Monday March 8th during class: Artist and comic book creator Asiah Fulmore graduated from Winthrop, has interned with award-winning comics creator Sanford Greene, and her comic Amethyst Princess of Gemworld will be published by DC Comics.

Wednesday March 10th during class: Jacob and Logan, Winthrop graduates and podcast hosts, will talk about school, leaving school, finding your way in the world, and of course Batman movies, including their work on the podcast We Minored in Film.

Attendance will be taken at the start and end of class. Students should learn about our guests by reading their social media profiles, digging around the web, and taking notes. Be sure to take notes during their visit too since we will have a survey this month "testing you" about what our guests do, why they do it, and how they do it, and of course, how it all relates to comics.