College prep comic books

[Skar]

First off, how is it that we have SE as a root-level member here but there is no section devoted entirely to comic books?  No matter.

I ran across this and thought that people here would get a kick out of it, and since it does have something to do with comic books, and SE is a root-level member here, that I would post it.  Fun, no?

http://www.lewrockwell.com/reed/reed130.html

[Nessa]

First off, how is it that we have SE as a root-level member here but there is no section devoted entirely to comic books?  No matter.

Not that he hasn't tried to get one. I still don't know why we don't have one. I mean, right now we post comic reviews and etc in the Books section, and I find lumping them together rather annoying.

[Gemm: Rock & Roll Star; Born to Rock]

Wild Thought: This guy's obviously never read himself many comics and is only bashing on them because Kaplan has decided to take a really dumb route to "educate" their users to profit more, but he didn't take the time to see this because he's too busy trying to roll every other point he has into his "I Hate the Education System" which would have been just fine and dandy without the need to bash on comics. Dick.

Sorry, but that article upset me a bit. I'm not going to say comic books shouldn't be taught in a college setting, but when they are the professor who's using them ought to know his material. I had a professor who taught a comic book, Watchmen, in one of his classes up in Canton NY. Guy knew the material and handled it well.

What kind of a "kick" did you get out of that article Skar?

[The Holy Saint, Grand High Poobah, Master of Monkeys, Ehlers]

yeah, the author's ignorance was evident from paragraph one. A classic victim of DTMS

[Fellfrosch]

I tried to read it, and I understand that the guy was shooting for and over-the-top, Seanbaby style of rant writing, but it was too much. I've rarely read something so simultaneously condescending and uninformed.

[Skar]

I enjoyed that article on a stylistic level more than anything else.   

He didn't push any of my particular buttons, but then, I haven't read many comics since high-school.

He makes his living writing sarcastic, intensely negative columns about everything.  It's a niche market.  And even I can only take a bit of him at a time.

[The Holy Saint, Grand High Poobah, Master of Monkeys, Ehlers]

It just seems odd to push a columnist as good when he's clearly trying to tear things down -- good, worthwhile things -- without understanding them.

[Skar]

Good heavens.  Who is "pushing" him as "good"? 

I said some people here might get a kick out of it.

And I'm slightly mystified by the violent reaction to his "bashing on comics" when he didn't really bash on comics.  As Gemm pointed out he was really bashing on Kaplan and the education system.  The closest he came to bashing on comics was when he claimed his daughter doesn't read "dimwit comics"  I presumed that this was as opposed to the OTHER kind of comics, presumably the NON-DIMWIT comics.

And, frankly, I'm totally ok with him tearing away at the idea that spoon-feeding basic vocabulary to high-school students through graphic novels is fine and normal and NOT a telling indicator of the state of our educational system.

If I inadvertently offended anyone by posting that link (I'm looking at you SE) I sincerely apologize.  Giving anyone a bad day was the furthest thing from my mind.

[stacer]

Actually, there are some really great graphic novels out there that can be just as much literature as a novel. So I just don't really understand the objection.

[The Holy Saint, Grand High Poobah, Master of Monkeys, Ehlers]

I wasn't offended, I, in turn, am sorry if I gave that impression.

Lines like this, "But no, that’s not it. We’re using comic books to prepare high-school graduates for universities! So help me. Honest"

That's a *very* loaded sentence. OH NOES! Not comic books! NOOOOOOO! I have no problem with spoonfeeding high school students *anything* from *any* type of book. They're not learnign the vocab in school, so they go to prepare themselves for a test elsewhere, and you want to bash them for it? Ok, fine, it's an indication of the school system problems, but he's tearing down the solution, not the problem. That's silly.

[Skar]

Yes, he does that a lot.

[Peter Ahlstrom]

These Kaplan books are our books, and they're getting a LOT of press. The media loves these.

I'm not sure if they're selling, though.