Bringing Superman Into the Classroom

I just had what felt like a very productive 110 class this morning. Maybe productive isn't the right word, how about participatory. Although is was productive as well. I am on of the few GAs, it seems, that still does the Critical Analysis paper early on in the semester, and so I was not able to share the "Writing What We Teach" paper that we did for 603 with my students while they were in the midst of writing their own critical analysis papers. Now that my own paper is completed, while my students are getting close to a Final Draft of their Research papers, I decided to bring my paper in and use it as a jumping off piece to talk a little bit about the position paper.


I should tell you now that my paper was about Superman. I had come across this article by Lawrence Watt-Evans that suggested Superman has many deep personal issues, mostly based on the fact that he wears his baby-blanket as his suit and that he must be lonely because he has to keep his real identity a secret to everyone that he knows and loves. I found it an interesting read and a fun article to analyze. I brought my paper into class and asked them to take a few minutes to read it and then write at least 1 page on whether they agreed or disagreed with the issues and points made in the paper, using quotations when necessary. I was only going to give them 10-15 minutes to write, but every student was still heads down, pencils flying at the 15 minute mark, so I let them contine for another 15 minutes. Even after 30 minutes had passed, I had to ask at least 3 students to go ahead and find a stopping point, so that we could have some class discussion.


Usually when I start asking questions to the class as a whole, I get blank, staring faces and eyes that say "Are you freaking serious? Do you really expect me to give you an answer?" But today, (whether it was because Spring Break was upon us or they just wanted to appease me, I don't know) they all had an opinion about Superman. Most decided that they felt sorry for the guy having to keep such a big secrect, having to keep all his friends at a distance, and not being able to go have a beer and slap a good friend on the back like everyone else does. Some even brought up instances that probably should have been added into Watt-Evans' original article to help make the argument a little stronger, like how Clark Kent must feel watching Lois Lane swoon all over Superman while treating him like a nobody. Two students even went back and forth adding facts from the Justice League Unlimited Animated Series that proves Superman is a lonely creature and that he can be broken emotionally.

As time wound down, and I tried to wrap things up all nice and pretty, I told the class that they had just verbally written their next paper. And I explained that my plan was to bring in a few more articles for them to read and that the paper would be arguing for, or against, a stance taken in the article, using a little bit of research as support of course. And it was nice to see the light go on, and maybe even a cloud of knowing that they already Know how to write their next paper. At least that's the story I'm telling myself.