Yep, "Fun Home(work)" just may be the worst pun ever. But I couldn't resist. . . .
There are two things to do this weekend:
1. Please read chapters 1-4 of certified genius Alison Bechdel's, Fun Home, then write a discussion question for class. (Please write your question on paper: I'm going to collect them at the start of class.)
Your question can be about any topic from Fun Home that interests you. But please write a question that will help us to investigate the deeper significance of Bechdel's text. In other words, avoid purely factual questions (like “What's a 'girandole'?”) and purely evaluative questions (“Who's a better artist -- Bechdel or Tomine?"). Instead, try to craft a question that will help us dig really deeply into the text's themes and its artistry: that is, what it means, and how it creates that meaning.
2. Read the first project assignment carefully and write a 300-500-word pitch for your idea. The first paragraph should briefly sketch the plot of your story. The second should describe the larger theme your story will explore (or, as Alan Moore would put it, your story's "idea"). The third paragraph should describe the artistic strategies you'll employ: i.e., how will you use the visual and verbal resources of the comics page to tell your story and explore your theme in the deepest, most compelling way possible. (Please post your pitch to Google Drive.)
(By the way, if drawing really isn't your thing, there are a bunch of comics-making sites online that you may want to explore. I've linked to a bunch of them on our "making comics" tab.)
Finally, I thought some of you would be interested in this fascinating and all-too-brief interview with Bechdel, in which she talks about her creative process:
