EFFECTS OF COMIC STRIPS ON CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT IN NARRATIVES

Effects of Comic Strips on Character Development in Narratives by Middle School

Writers
Bobby Graves
Lisa Scalley
Education 545
Dr. Brigette Kaiser
Autumn 2014

EFFECTS OF COMIC STRIPS ON CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT IN NARRATIVES

Introduction
Problem Statement
When writing narratives, students struggle to develop well-rounded characters.
Well-rounded characters are believable and demonstrate several personality
traits through words and actions, revealing motivations for decisions through
actions and dialogue that contribute to plot development.
In narrative writing, many students created characters for the sake of
creating characters. They tended not to consider the purpose of characters in
relation to the plot of the story when writing characters. Likewise, the students
dialogue was not developed believably or with the plot in mind. For this research,
the teacher researchers decided to come up with an intervention to help students
consider the purpose of their characters and character interactions.

Purpose
The teacher researchers, Bobby and Lisa, conducted this study because they
believed that introducing a technology-based, visually stimulating intervention like
an online comic strip would encourage students to carefully consider their
characters and the personality development of these characters. The teacher
researchers predicted that a comic strip would help students to visualize their
characters and the settings in which they existed. The teacher researchers were
interested in seeing whether this process helped students understand the
characteristics of a well-rounded character better so that they could then go back
into their narratives and make revisions to improve their character development
and create more meaningful character interaction. The teacher researchers hope
was that this intervention would encourage students to revise and think more

EFFECTS OF COMIC STRIPS ON CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT IN NARRATIVES

deeply about their characters so that after the revisions which occurred post-comic
strip, character development was more purposeful and critical to the plot of the
narrative.

Research Question
Will engaging students in the comic strip activity early in the narrative writing
process enhance character development and allow students to recognize the
importance of incorporating round characters?
The teacher researchers conducted this study to see whether or not creating
a comic strip that encouraged students to focus on character development would
ultimately help them to revise their initial narrative draft to include more wellrounded characters. The teacher researchers wanted to find out if a focused look at
character interaction with dialogue would increase the depth of students thinking
about their characters. They also wanted to see whether the visual component of
the comic strip would help students add more description to their characters in their
narratives. Students then made revisions to their narrative after they finished the
comic strip activity.

Instructional Strategy
Students brought an initial draft of their narratives to the computer lab.
Students had chosen a selection of their narrative in which 2-4 characters interact
prior to their time in the computer lab. Students were aware that they would be
doing an activity with this section of their narrative, but did not know the details
until class began. The teacher researchers distributed directions (directions page
with visuals from Jing) to students on how to use www.readwritethink.org s Comic

EFFECTS OF COMIC STRIPS ON CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT IN NARRATIVES

Creator. The teacher researchers reviewed directions and circulated while students
engaged in the creation of their comic strips. Students were allowed one 44 minute
period to complete this activity. If they did not finish in one period, they printed
what they had completed and then went into the Comic Creator on their own time
to start a new comic strip (Comic Creator does not allow users to save their work
and access at other times) that finished off their identified section of the narrative.
None of the participants in the study used this extra time.

Literature Review
Narrative Writing
Of the main types of writing (narrative, informative, argumentative), students
generally have the highest interest in narrative writing. The process of guiding
students to write coherent, tellable narratives begins with motivation and
supportive prewriting strategies (Clark 2012, Harbaugh et al. 2013). Allowing
students choice in the prompts/topics of their narrative writing gives them more
ownership of their work and thus motivates them to use language conventions that
they might otherwise ignore (Bitz 2004, Clark 2012, Harbaugh 2013, Vega 2006).
When teachers have writing workshops with their students, it helps in the overall
process of developing ideas. Students many times just need guidance in forming
dialogue that is be spoken with the teacher (Yost 2104).
Narrative Pre-Writing Activities
There are many narrative pre-writing strategies available to assist students in
planning for writing. Literacy groups that allow students a community in which to
brainstorm are beneficial to many adolescent writers (Bitz 2004, Clark 2012, Vega
2006). Writing conventions should be addressed as ways to clarify ideas during the

EFFECTS OF COMIC STRIPS ON CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT IN NARRATIVES

pre-writing and writing phases (Bitz 2004, Vega 2006). Through discussion in
writing groups, middle schoolers can generally recognize that the best-written
characters are relatable and are involved in interesting conflicts with themselves or
others (Clark 2012). Mastery goals such as character development require work, as
average middle schoolers do not demonstrate high levels of intrinsic motivation to
work towards mastery goals (Harbaugh 2013). Allowing students freedom to
develop characters who are interesting and creative engages many students and
also opens opportunities for interdisciplinary connections (Vega 2006).
Character Development
Giving students the opportunity to develop themselves and people in their
lives as characters in comic strips has been shown to improve motivation in urban
students in the Comic Book Project
(Bitz 2004). Students can also use comic book characters who have found their way
into pop culture as models for character development (Botzakis 2011). Classrooms
within themselves create cultures and habits of how to learn and develop ideas in
their work. Students are able learn from one another and it comes out in their
writing (Yost 2014).
Comic Strips
Comic strips and comic books have been used to support reading
development in the literacy classroom for decades (Bitz 2004, Botzakis 2011, Vega
2006, Nixon 2012). Comics are engaging to many students because of their
connections to many levels of popular culture (Bitz 2004, Botakis 2011, Vega 2006).
Comic strips have been used as an alternative means of creating narratives (Bitz
2004, Clark 2012, Vega 2006). Students who are more visual learners or who have
low self-efficacy in writing tend to prefer comics as a means to convey their stories

EFFECTS OF COMIC STRIPS ON CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT IN NARRATIVES

(Bitz 2004, Clark 2012, Vega 2006). When encouraged to consider grammar,
spelling, punctuation, and writing conventions along with the comic strip, many
students respond by considering language more carefully because they want to
communicate their ideas as clearly as possible (Bitz 2004, Vega 2006). There is a
great deal of technology available to make a connection between online programs,
communication, and comic strips, which further engages many students who feel
alienated by traditional writing methods (Bitz 2004, Botakis 2011, Clark 2012, Vega
2006). Further in research, the importance of how they play in narrative writing has
developed over the years. Comics are open to a wide variety of people and people
are attracted them because they are like illustrative novels (Williams 2012). Comic
strips can be used as an alternative means for students to convey their narratives
and still include dialogue that develops characters (Bitz 2004, Clark 2012, Vega
2006). Students learn how to interact at very young ages through drawing symbols
and made up words. They then bring these skills to school, which help in developing
their writing, especially in comic strip form. It has been shown that drawing has
helped students develop ideas because they can see their thoughts and character
interaction (Nixon 2012).

Methods
Instructional Methods and Intervention
The three student participants in this study were selected based on their
responses to the Pre-Activity Questionnaire that was given to five students the day
before creating comic strip. The three who were selected for the study clearly fit
into below average, average, and above average writing ability based on their initial
narrative drafts and their responses on the Pre-Activity Questionnaire. This occurred

EFFECTS OF COMIC STRIPS ON CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT IN NARRATIVES

in the STAR, which stands for Students Taking Advantage of Resources, period prior
to the day of the activity. (See the Setting and Participants sections for detailed
explanations.)
At the time this study was conducted, students had not received instruction in
narrative writing in 8th grade English class. Students had written personal narratives
(similar to memoirs) in 6th and 7th grades, but this narrative assignment marked
their first formal experience in writing fictional narratives based on prompts. In the
8th grade reading curriculum, students studied plotlines and character development,
along with setting and foreshadowing prior to this assignment. The teacher
researchers did not make explicit connections to the study of literary elements in
reading and narrative writing at the time of the study.
Students already completed a draft (pre assessment) of a narrative with no
instruction and selected a section of the narrative to take through the comic strip
intervention. Students had been given everyday writing prompts for four
consecutive school days prior to drafting their narrative. In everyday writing,
students had 7 minutes and 42 seconds to write on a prompt for a day. At the end
of the four days, students were be instructed to select their favorite everyday
writing piece to develop OR to draft a narrative on a more straightforward prompt
about teenage life. Students had 1.5 class periods to develop this writing into their
initial narrative draft. The teacher researchers made a copy of these students
narrative drafts before the comic strip activity began. Student participants in this
study all chose to write on the same prompt to develop into a story: Use the
following line in your story: The clouds opened and the light shone down on that
exact spot.

EFFECTS OF COMIC STRIPS ON CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT IN NARRATIVES

Students self-selected with highlighter or pen a section of their narrative in which

2-4 characters are interacting before their class in the computer lab (this activity
was done in the previous class period, during the drafting process). When selfselecting a section of the narrative to use for this activity, students were directed to
choose any part of their story in which 2 or more characters were interacting.
Student participants in the study articulated their reasoning for self-selecting a
particular part in their Pre-Activity Questionnaire (Appendix A). Because students
had already written a draft of the narrative, they were not creating characters from
scratch in the comic strip activity; rather, they were considering their characters
more deeply. The purpose of this decision was to help students focus more on their
characters rather than trying to create an entire plot at the same time they create
the comic strip.
Students received a Jing direction page taking them to www.readwritethink.org s
Comic Creator program (See Appendix B). Teacher researchers clarified directions
before students begin their activity.
Students used Comic Creator to create a 6 panel comic strip in which 2-4
characters interact.
Students selected a setting in Comic Creator for their backdrop. Students selected
comic characters to put into each panel of the comic strip. Students typed spoken
words in bubbles for each character. The teacher researchers observed, circulated,
and answered questions that do not clarify character interaction/spoken words. The
teacher researchers took observational notes during the activity. Students printed
completed comic strip and bring to class the next day.
The next day, teacher researchers instructed students to revise the section of
the story that they selected for the comic strip.

EFFECTS OF COMIC STRIPS ON CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT IN NARRATIVES

Students were directed by the teacher researchers to consider the thinking

process they used through the comic strip to better develop their chosen selection.
Once student participants in the study have completed their revisions, they
completed the Post-Activity Questionnaire (Appendix C). The Post-Activity
Questionnaire gave student participants space to communicate their reflections on
the comic strip activity. Specifically, the questionnaire guided student participants
to consider how much the comic strip activity influenced character development
during the revision process. Teacher researchers made copies of these students
revised narratives.

Setting
This study was conducted at a grades 6-8 middle school in the Midwestern
United States. This school district lies in a middle class to upper middle class
suburb, although approximately 16% of the population is eligible for free or reduced
lunch. Currently, there are approximately 960 students in this school. The eighth
grade class is unusually large at 360 students; the sixth and seventh grade classes
are 300 each. The school building is a large, one story building set up in pods.
Each grade level has two (in sixth grade, three) teams of academic area teachers.
The pods are proximally arranged, so that language arts, science, math, and social
studies classrooms are contained in a four room block. The school has a large
media center and two computer labs; each pod also has a 30-laptop cart. Language
arts instruction is broken into two classes: English (which consists of writing,
grammar, and word study instruction), and reading (which consists of instruction in
comprehending and interpreting fiction, non-fiction, and vocabulary).

EFFECTS OF COMIC STRIPS ON CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT IN NARRATIVES

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The English class involved in this research is comprised of 26 eighth graders

(13-14 year olds) who fall in the below average to high average ability range in
writing based on their performance prior writing assignments. This study occurred
over the course of four school days, one of which occurred in one of the schools
computer labs. This class occurred from 1:10-1:54 p.m. every weekday. The
teacher researchers selected this class because it offered a wide range of ability
levels from which to select participants.

Participants
Three students from the class were selected for full participation in the study
(pseudonyms are used): a below-average student (Peter), an average student
(Connor), and an above-average student (Elizabeth). Determinations of ability level
were based on students performance on previous formal writing assignments
(literary analysis essay) an informal everyday writing prompts (fictional narrative
prompts).
The entire class participated in the comic strip activity and subsequent
revision of narrative; five students, including these three student participants, also
completed Pre-Activity and Post-Activity Questionnaires (Appendices A and C).
The three participants in this study were chosen based on varying ability
levels, as well as STAR (Students Taking Advantage of Resourcesa period where
half of the 8th graders are in physical education and the others have access to their
academic teachers for intervention; STAR rotates with PE every other day) class day
(all 3 participants, as well as the 2 extra students who were not used in the study,
had A-Day STAR, which allowed the teacher researchers to meet with them on the
day before and after the activity to complete the questionnaires).

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The teacher researchers wanted to investigate the effect of the comic strip
activity on the writing of below-average, average, and high-average students in
order to find out if the activity is more useful to students at a particular ability level.

Data Collection
The teacher researchers collected a variety of data in this study. The PreActivity Questionnaire (Appendix A) provided qualitative data about student
participants thought process behind their initial creation of characters. The teacher
researchers collected the students comic strips and made copies of them in order
to see whether or not the comic strip had an impact on their revisions. The teacher
researchers also made copies of the narrative before the comic strip activity was
conducted, and new copies after students revised the narrative the day after the
activity. The teacher researchers assessed the narrative with a checklist they
created to focus on the development of well-rounded characters. During the comic
strip activity, the teacher researchers also made observational notes of student
participants while they worked.

Methods of data collection:

Questionnaires were completed by student participations. The teacher
researchers believed this to be an effective data collection strategy because it
allowed students to answer important questions without being inadvertently led by
teacher questioning or reactions.
The Comic Strip Activity Evaluative Checklist (Appendix D) used for the preand post- activity evaluation of the narrative draft and its revisions was used to

EFFECTS OF COMIC STRIPS ON CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT IN NARRATIVES

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assess students character development and show whether or not any growth was
made as a result of the comic strip activity.
Observational data was used to collect anecdotal data on students questions
and reactions to the comic strip activity. This helped teacher-researchers reflect on
the meaningfulness of the activity, as well as any frustrations that students had
during the activity so that these can be improved in the future.

Results
Data analysis:
Pre- and post- activity questionnaires are summarized later in this final paper.
The teacher researchers looked for common phrases and ideas as well as change in
the definitions of well-rounded characters from the students. Because the data
collected did not lend themselves to a graph, all data are summarized in narrative
form. In addition, observational data collected by teacher researchers are
subsequently summarized for each student in this paper. Data are organized by
student to help the reader understand the impact that the comic strip had on a
below average, average, and above average writer.

Peter
At the time of this study, Peter (all names are pseudonyms), aged 13 years
and 7 months, was a student in the first quarter of his 8 th grade year. He treated
teachers and adults inside classrooms respectfully and was eager to help in the
classroom. In class, Peter generally worked to please adults who checked in on him,
but tended not to have motivation to follow through with finishing his work at home.
When he knew that a teacher was paying attention, he went through the motions of

EFFECTS OF COMIC STRIPS ON CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT IN NARRATIVES

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diligent work and was able to articulate his thoughts on a learning target or
assignment. When left to his own devices, the quality of work (particularly written
work) dropped substantially. Based on prior writing assessments, Peter fell into the
below average category in terms of mastery of writing standards in informational
and narrative writing.
Peter was motivated by praise and positive attention from adults, as well as
candy. Peter did not appear to be motivated by grades, but he focused and worked
hard for adult approval. Peter was eager to help the teacher-researchers in this
study, articulating that he really likes writing stories. He was proud of his initial
draft of this narrative and completed the Pre-Activity Questionnaire without
hesitation or questions.

Peters Response to the Comic Strip Activity

During the comic strip activity, Peter displayed several instances of social,
occasionally off task, behavior. He talked animatedly with the friend that he sat
next to, laughing and playing around with character shapes on the screen. He
asked questions in mild frustration about how he was supposed to depict angels and
demons with the limited selection of characters offered by the Comic Creator.
Eventually, after discussion with the teacher researcher, he settled on a dinosaur for
the demon. After prompting from the teacher, he moved on from his perseveration
over the lacking selection of characters and added (some) dialogue in the comic
strip.

Questionnaire Analysis

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Peters Pre-Activity Questionnaire revealed his thought process about

character development. He focused a great deal on description of characters: I
give detail about how they look and what they do. Also I try to show the
background of the charictir as if there a trubble maker of if they are a realey smart.
He provided both physical and personality details for his characters, describing
character 1 as a tall man from the countrey that is jenoris [generous] and caring to
people that need help. He also wrote that a well-rounded character has detail and
you can use words that befit a character aditude. The details, however, were not
apparent in the first draft of the narrative or in the revisions, as the characters are
not described in much detail. In fact, there are no individual characters in the
narrative, only angels and demons.
Peter stated in his Post-Activity Questionnaire that The comic strip made me
put dialog in my story. And gives charicter traits to the charicters. This indicated
that he understood the purpose of the activity, although his revisions were minor
and did not actually add dialogue or individuality to any of the angels or demons.
When asked if he felt his characters were well-rounded, Peter wrote that I show the
dinamic aspect to the charictor. It has a personality to some of the charicters. This
response indicated a lack of understanding of the question but an attempt at using
terminology from his reading class (dynamic character; a related but different
concept from a well-rounded character). Because Peter was working for adult
approval (and candy), it was likely that he wrote down an answer that he believed
would look like an answer the question. His revisions also showed no change in the
development of the angels and demons in the story.

Checklist Evaluation of Peters Work

EFFECTS OF COMIC STRIPS ON CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT IN NARRATIVES

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Before the comic strip, teacher researcher 1, Bobby, evaluated all four
categories of character development (personality traits, meaningful dialogue,
believable interactions, motivations revealed through actions and words) to be at
level 1, indicating no understanding or evidence of each concept. Teacher
researcher 2, Lisa, evaluated the first three concepts at level 1 but ranked
motivations revealed through actions and spoken words at level 2, believing that
some motivations were revealed through actions even though there was no
dialogue in the story.
After Peter had time to complete the comic strip and revise his narrative,
Bobby and Lisa evaluated his updated work. Bobby noted that 3 of the 4 categories
remained at level 1, with only meaningful dialogue increasing to level 2 with the
revisions. Lisa also saw little change after the revisions, indicating that only the
category of personality traits improved to level 2 because of the demons laughing
at the falling angels. Overall, Peters character development improved very slightly
as a result of the comic strip activity.

Conclusions: Impact of Comic Strip on Peters Work

After completing the comic strip activity, Peter added two lines to his
narrative: The demands [demons] lafing at the angels as they fall. As the angels
get up, They dont flee they take out what the can until. These revisions seemed
rushed and clearly did not include dialogue, despite Peters claim that the comic
strip made me put dialog in my story. The revisions, like some of the responses in
the Post-Activity Questionnaire, felt as if there were included for the sake of
including them rather than because the comic strip stimulated any reflection on the
characters in the story.

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Both Bobby and Lisa noticed slight improvements in different areas, but these
improvements only improved Peters work from no understanding of the concepts to
a partial understanding. In this case, the data show that the comic strip activity had
little effect on improving character development in a below average students
writing.

Connor
At the time of this study, Connor, aged 13 years and 8 months, was a student
in the first quarter of his 8th grade year. He was an enthusiastic participant in class
and enjoyed the opportunity to assist teachers in any way. Connor was a hard
worker who thrived on positive feedback from adults. He worked quickly, both
because he wanted to impress teachers with his speed and because he was
motivated to finish work quickly so that he could work on other homework (which
was always an option in the classroom setting that was observed). Connor eagerly
participated in class and could clearly articulate learning targets verbally and in
writing. On previous writing assignments, Connor earned scores in the average
range in informational and narrative writing. Connor had tremendous enthusiasm
for narrative writing and exhibited pride in his work on multiple occasions
throughout the pre-writing, comic strip activity, and revision process.
Connor was strongly motivated by positive feedback from adults, peers whom
he considered friends, as well as grades. Although he completed his work quickly
and tended not to edit and revise unless directed to do so, he verbalized that he
wanted to get As on all of his assignments. Connor articulated that he was going
to write the best story yet on the prompt used in this study. He connected the

EFFECTS OF COMIC STRIPS ON CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT IN NARRATIVES

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inspiration for this story to the television show The Walking Dead and took special
pride in the action scenes that he wrote in the narrative.

Responses to the Comic Strip Activity

During the comic strip activity, Connor displayed highly focused behavior,
apparently wanting to be the first student in the class to be done with the activity.
He asked questions about whether he could change the setting to better fit his
story, and articulated frustration because he could not turn the characters in the
comic strip to face each other. He exhibited signs of frustration including sighing,
and asking the teacher researcher if there was a way to turn the characters to face
each other, and he was the first in the class to finish. His struggles with the Comic
Creator are evident in his Post-Activity Questionnaire; because of his annoyance
with the program, he did not feel that the activity was very useful for him.

Questionnaire Analysis
In the Pre-Activity Questionnaire, Connor articulated his thoughts on
developing well-rounded characters. When he responded to the statement Tell me
about your characters, he provided appropriate details of what type of person each
character is. It was easy to understand exactly who his characters were from the
few words he wrote about each of them: Mason: Leader of the group. Lost family.
Trying to find his brother, Collin. However, he did not transfer the knowledge he
demonstrated in the Pre-Activity Questionnaire into the writing of his narrative preassessment.
In his Post-Activity Questionnaire, Connor expressed his feelings that the
comic strip wasnt very effective and didnt have a lot of elements [he] needed.

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By elements, Connor referred to the limited selection of characters, props, and

settings in the Comic Creator. He also notes that this section really didnt change
in the Post-Activity Questionnaire. Connor did not believe that the characters in this
section were well-rounded because there isnt much dialogue. Although he says
that he gave them more lines in his revision, he only added Theres to men
into the boys dialogue.

Checklist Evaluation of Connors Work

Before the comic strip, Bobby evaluated Connors demonstration of
personality traits and meaningful dialogue at level 2, indicating that he saw partial
understanding of these concepts in the section of the story on which Connor
focused. Bobby evaluated character interactions and motivations to be at level 1,
because he saw no evidence of these concepts in the initial version of Connors
story. Lisas evaluations were similar, differing only in that she evaluated Connors
character motivations to fall into level 2, noting some evidence of why the
characters were entering another characters home.
In Connors post-revision evaluations, both Bobby and Lisa noted no
noticeable growth in any of the four criteria. Both teacher researchers had identical
before comic strip and after comic strip ratings for Connors work. They
concluded that the comic strip activity had no impact on Connors ability to develop
well-rounded characters in his writing.

Conclusions: Impact of Comic Strip on Connors Work

Bobby and Lisa agreed that the comic strip activity did not spark any
noticeable improvement in Connors narrative. As discussed above, he made no

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significant revisions to this section of the narrative. Upon analyzing Connors data,
it became apparent that if he had chosen a different section of his narrative to
complete the comic strip and revisions on, he might have had more success in
better developing the characters. He selected his section because he thought it
was the most interesting, but it did not delve deeply into characters at all. Had
Connor selected a scene with less action and more character interaction, it might
have been possible that comic strip activity would have had a greater effect on his
revisions.

Elizabeth
At the time of this study, Elizabeth, aged 13 years and 10 months, was a
student in the first quarter of her 8th grade year. She was an outgoing student who
frequently (at least once a day, sometimes several times a day) declared her love of
writing. She was an engaged participant in all class activities as well as an avid
reader. She enjoyed helping other students edit their writing and discussing her
work with peers and adults. She has earned above average grades on all of her
writing assignments this year, informative and narrative.
Elizabeth enjoyed adult approval, but she also appeared to have a great deal
more intrinsic motivation for success in writing. She has articulated several times
throughout the school year that she hopes to be an author as an adult. When
instructed to develop her narrative, she went home and in two nights, wrote a 23
page (handwritten) story that she could not wait for the teacher researchers to
read.

Responses to the Comic Strip Activity

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Elizabeth did not find the comic strip activity to be useful. Like the other
students in this study, she expressed frustration about the limitations of characters
and props in the Comic Creator program. She completed the comic strip
assignment, but in her Post-Activity Questionnaire clearly indicates that it was not
helpful to her. Because she is so engaged by the arts, she suggested that students
be allowed to draw their own comic strips, although it seems that she still did not
need the activity to help her develop characters in her narrative.

Questionnaire Analysis
Elizabeth demonstrated a strength in developing well-rounded characters
even in her Pre-Activity Questionnaire. Her reasoning for selecting this section was
because it shows a softer side of each of my characters, which demonstrates
Elizabeths awareness of character traits. She correctly defined well-rounded
characters as having many different personality traits. Elizabeth developed Emma
as a guarded and scared person who doesnt want to get close to people and be
let down and heart broken again.
In her Post-Activity Questionnaire, Elizabeth articulated that I think it would
have been better if we had made our own [comic] and that the website wasnt all
that good. Apparently, that she would appreciate more freedom in designing her
comic strip. Elizabeth did not make any revisions to this section of her narrative
after the comic strip activity because she felt that her characters were kinda wellrounded because you see Emma laughing then being really serious and almost
agitated and Alexander was sarcastic and joking but also serious and defensive.

Checklist Evaluation of Elizabeths Work

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Elizabeths narrative pre-assessment was evaluated by both Bobby and Lisa

at mastery level (level 3) for all of the concepts being studied. She made no
revisions to her narrative after the comic strip, and the teacher researchers agree
that her first draft met all of the criteria. The comic strip activity did not help
Elizabeth improve her character development, which was intentionally written
before the comic strip exercise ever occurred. This above average student did not
benefit from the activity because she already demonstrated mastery of the
character development criteria that the teacher researchers were studying.

Conclusions: Impact of Comic Strip on Elizabeths Work

Elizabeth did not feel the need to revise this section of her story after the
comic strip activity. She kept to herself during the comic strip activity, not asking
many questions other than whether she could somehow use additional props in her
comic strip. She believed that this section of her narrative already included
meaningful dialogue and well-rounded characters, and the teacher researchers
agreed in their evaluation of this section of her narrative. Elizabeths insight into
character development was already rich, so she did not benefit from the comic strip
activity.

Discussion and Conclusion

After completing this study, the teacher researchers found that in the small
sample of students evaluated, the comic strip activity did not have any significant
impact as far as improving the quality of character development in narrative
writing.

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The teacher researchers learned several important ideas throughout this

study. During the literature review, it became apparent that comic strips are
generally used as alternative forms of a narrative rather than as a during writing
technique to improve any aspect of narrative writing. The teacher researchers
acknowledge that this use of the comic strip has great potential, particularly for
below average students like Peter who struggle to put their ideas in writing.
During the students experience with the Comic Creator, the teacher
researchers learned that this particular software had limitations that, instead of
focusing students on the task, frustrated them. Solutions to this issue are discussed
in the next section of this paper.
The teacher researchers would recommend that any teachers considering to
pursue this study take several suggestions into consideration. First, it would be
effective to allow the comic strip to serve as an alternative means of creating a
narrative rather than a brainstorming tool. It would also be important for teachers
to choose a program that is more accessible to students, or to give students who
are confident in their artistic abilities the option to draw their comic strips. Teachers
wishing to use comic strips to bolster character development in a traditional
narrative should build structured revision time into their plans after the comic strip
activity. It would be effective to show students models of how to revise so that
they do not rush through it, uncertain of how to actually make revisions in an
existing piece of writing. In this study, the teacher researchers wanted to see how
students performed with very little guidance; the lack of growth from revision after
the comic strip indicates that this was not the most instructionally effective choice.
The implications of this study on education are unclear. Because this was
both teacher researchers first true experience in formal action research, planning

EFFECTS OF COMIC STRIPS ON CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT IN NARRATIVES

23

the study was difficult. With the knowledge gained from this experience, the
teacher researchers would be able to conduct more efficient studies in the future. It
is not evident whether the comic strip activity itself or the limitations of the study
were responsible for the negligible amount of growth in the students writing.
Further research is necessary to truly evaluate the usefulness of the comic strip as a
prewriting strategy.

Comments on the Use of Action Research

After completing this study, the teacher researchers have identified a few
points of the study that could be changed to receive better results. First, the Comic
Creator program, which was selected by the teacher researchers for its simplicity,
turned out not to have enough options for the students to choose characters or
props. Since they did not have options, they were more caught up on what to use in
each block to properly show their story. This distracted their focus from the dialogue
in the comic strip. There are many programs available to make comic strips, but
some require a sign up and cost money. Even though these are not ideal, perhaps
the programs would be more useful to students since they have more features.
Additionally, students do not necessarily have to use a technology based program
or app to make their comic. If students are artistic and creative, they could draw
their comic. This would allow them to add what props or backgrounds they would
want and would eliminate frustration at comic strip softwares limitations.
The teacher researchers would also select more students for more accurate
and specific data. Three students in each ability rangebelow average, average,
and above averagewould most likely yield more insightful data. Some students in

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24

the class that participated in the comic strip activity but who were not selected to
be part of the study truly did find the comic strip useful in helping add dialogue and
develop characters. One student in the average to above average range added an
entire page of dialogue into her story because of her work with the Comic Creator;
however, the teacher researchers could not count this as part of their data because
this student had not participated in the Pre-Comic Strip Questionnaire.
During the data analysis phase of the study, the teacher researchers realized
that it would have been more effective if they had picked the part from the preassessment with which students would work throughout the activity. The students
selected parts of the narrative that they found exciting but that did not fit well with
the goal of further developing characters and dialogue. While analyzing students
revisions, especially Connors, the teacher researchers noticed that other parts of
the narrative offered better opportunities for character development and
interaction. The students did not realize that they should have looked for these
sections, so it would have been effective for the teacher researchers to select the
section with which each student would work.
Throughout this study, the teacher researchers recognized that using comics
could be used as a tool for improving aspects of narrative writing besides character
development. Plot development, conflict and character development can all benefit.
Comics allow students to use their creative mind, which will allow for ideas to form
and ultimately improve their writing.
Students could also benefit by using a comic strip before they have
completed any writing at all. This would get them to think about any character
interaction before trying to create a narrative from the start. This method would

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25

most likely be better than asking students to make revisions to an existing draft
because most students do not like spending time on revisions in the first place.
The class time that available was not enough to accurately evaluate the
impact of the comic strip on students narrative writing. The student participants
themselves seemed to feel rushed, particularly in the revision process. More than
one class period for the comic strip and more structured class time for students to
analyze their comic strip and make revisions would make it more likely that this
activity would be beneficial to the students in improving their character
development.
Teacher researchers conducting any kind of study need to know that many
times the results do not turn out as planned. There are many variables that impact
the results of a study, such as the technology working, students responses to
intervention, and time constraints.
Bobbys attitude toward research changed a little throughout this study. He
felt that it was been helpful to go through the process which overall can be used for
all types of research papers. Teachers can use action research to help themselves
and other teachers. It is a reference for teachers and allows them to figure out what
they should and should not do in their everyday teaching. Regarding future
research, Bobby felt that more time to complete a study would be beneficial. He
recognized that the purpose of this course was to get a taste of action research,
but the time constraints of the semester prevented this from feeling like an
authentic research experience. He noted that it was difficult to only collect data
from one time of narrative writing with comic strips.

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26

Lisa learned that action research is an accessible practice for improving the
education of students in her classroom. She agreed that the practical constraints of
the class made the research process difficult at times through this particular study,
but learned from the mistakes made in planning and conducting the research. Lisa
felt more confident about the possibility of using a more informal version of action
research in the future to continually better herself as a literacy teacher.

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27

References
Bitz, M. (2004). The Comic Book Project: Forging alternative pathways to literacy.
Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, Vol. 47, (7), 574-588. Retrieved from
http://eds.a.ebscohost.com.bw.opal-libraries.org/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?
sid=b02f10c8-c293-440b-9d5d-952fb27c22ea
%40sessionmgr4002&vid=0&hid=4202
Botzakis, S. (2011). Visual and Digital Texts. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy,
Vol. 57, (1), 72-74. Retrieved from http://eds.a.ebscohost.com.bw.opallibraries.org/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=8cdada18-5370-4bf0-a73ccad0f6cd7e96%40sessionmgr4004&vid=0&hid=4202
Clark, S. (2012). Guiding the noticing: Using a dramatic performance experience to
promote tellability in narrative writing. Clearing House Vol. 85 (2), 65-69.
Retrieved from http://eds.b.ebscohost.com.bw.opallibraries.org/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=4ba33eee-3fed-43f5-b0a75197b39c4f0c%40sessionmgr113&vid=7&hid=120
Harbaugh, A., Lawrence, A., Shankland, R., Troia, G., & Wolbers, K. (2013).
Relationships between writing motivation, writing activity, and writing
performance: effects of grade, sex, and ability Reading and Writing, Vol. 26
(1), 71-44. Retrieved from http://eds.b.ebscohost.com.bw.opallibraries.org/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=0d1166de-3d75-4b67-b8a76947b7d63780%40sessionmgr115&vid=2&hid=120
Vega, E. & Schnackenberg, H. (2006). Integrating Technology, Art, and Writing to
Create Comic Books. Middle School Journal, Vol. 37, (4), 30-36. Retrieved from
http://www.jstor.org.bw.opal-libraries.org/stable/23024484

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Nixon, R. (2012). Teaching narrative writing using comics: Delainey and Rasmussen,
the creators of Betty, share their composing strategies as rich literacy
resources for elementary teachers. Literacy, 46(2). Retrieved from
http://search.ebscohost.com.bw.opal-libraries.org/login.aspx?
direct=true&db=a9h&AN=77602203&site=ehost-live&scope=site
Klkaya, F., & Krajka, J. (2012). Can the use of web-based comic strip creation tool
facilitate EFL learners' grammar and sentence writing?. British Journal Of
Educational Technology, 43(6), E161-E165. Retrieved from
http://search.ebscohost.com.bw.opal-libraries.org/login.aspx?
direct=true&db=a9h&AN=82468996&site=ehost-live&scope=site
Corkery, C. (2005). Literacy Narratives and Confidence Building in the Writing
Classroom. Journal Of Basic Writing, 24(1), 48-67. Retrieved from
http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?
direct=true&db=ufh&AN=17542523&site=eds-live
Yost, Deborah S., Ling L. Liang, and Robert Vogel. (2014). "ENGAGING YOUNG
ADOLESCENTS IN SCHOOL-BASED WRITING." Middle Grades Research Journal
9, no. 1: 71-84. Education Research Complete, EBSCOhost.Retrieved from
http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?
direct=true&db=ehh&AN=97816657&site=eds-live
Williams, P. (2014). Comics and Narration. College Literature, 41(3), 152154.Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?
direct=true&db=a9h&AN=97083059&site=ehost-live&scope=site

EFFECTS OF COMIC STRIPS ON CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT IN NARRATIVES

Appendix A

Pre-Activity Questionnaire
Directions: Please answer the following questions in complete sentences.
1. Why did you choose this section of your story?

2. How do you develop your characters?

3. What is a well-rounded character?

4. Tell me about your characters. (2 or more characters)

a. Character 1:

b. Character 2:

c. Character 3:
Appendix B

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Appendix C
Post-Activity Questionnaire
1. How did the comic strip prewriting affect the development of your
characters?

2. Compared to the rest of the story, do you feel the section that you
used with the comic strip enhanced character development? If you
answered yes, how/why is it different? If you answered no, explain how
or why.

3. Do you feel that your character(s) are well-rounded in this section?

How do you know?

4. Tell me about your experience using the comic strip to enhance

character development.

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Appendix D
Comic Strip Activity Evaluative Checklist
Rating Scale
3 = Mastery of concept; fully present in narrative
2 = Some understanding of concept; partially present in narrative
1 = No understanding or evidence of concept; not present in narrative
Before Comic Strip
____ Characters demonstrate several personality traits through words and actions
____ Characters dialogue is meaningful and contributes to plot development
____ Characters reactions and interactions are believable (not overly dramatic,
excessively violent, or
using onomatopoeia without purpose)
____ Characters reveal motivations for decisions through actions and spoken words.

After Comic Strip

____ Characters demonstrate several personality traits through words and actions
____ Characters dialogue is meaningful and contributes to plot development
____ Characters reactions and interactions are believable (not overly dramatic,
excessively violent, or
using onomatopoeia without purpose)
____ Characters reveal motivations for decisions through actions and spoken words.