“Texts that are connected to ‘real and imagined material and social worlds’ (Gee, 2001, p. 716) include the type that many readers have always found appealing: powerfully engaging narratives. Engaging with a compelling narrative is what Morrison (1994) called “radical, creating us at the very moment it is being created” (p. 27). Readers can thus be transformed by their encounters with a story in ways that can alter habits of thinking or living. Consequently, a narrative in the form of a graphic novel can potentially influence students’ lives. Reading these powerful narratives gives students a sense of ownership over these texts through their intellectual and emotional engagement with them.” (from Chun, 2009)

This segment stood out to me in that it touched on two crucial elements especially evident in socially conscious graphic novels. These books elevate students’ understanding of the larger world, as well as engaging them in connecting stories to their own lives. Additionally, this format may be more accessible to ELLs. However, this passage also caught my attention in that it stated something I have always felt to be extremely true, and a very important truth at that. Of course literacy and reading a wide variety of texts in schools is crucially important for many reasons; success in the future, ability to navigate life as a productive member society, and knowledge for the sake of it. But it seems to me that one of the greatest purposes of literacy is to produce students who are understanding, culturally sensitive, curious, and empathetic. Reading these types of texts, such as Maus, can indeed be “transformative” in that they cause students to reflect on the larger questions of life and what it means to be human. I read Maus in sixth grade, and again in high school. For me, as a very sensitive person and a Jew, it led me to consider what my cultural and religious identity meant, the problem of man’s inhumanity to man, and several larger philosophical concepts. And especially as a sixth grader, perhaps before I found the true meaning of the story (or at least before I understood it entirely), the story and images engaged me. The characters drew me in, and the illustrations brought a greater understanding. In these stories, students of all types can learn important lessons about themselves and the human condition, and they can do this in a way that is interesting and accessible to them.