Watchmen


 * Kiley Kapuscinski**
 * Novel Study Part B**
 * 10 March 2011**
 * EN 3051**

**A Text to Watch Out For: //The Watchmen//** **(Graphic Novel)**

Laurie Jupiter/Silk Spectre II Jon Osterman/Dr. Manhattan Adrian Veidt/Ozymandias Rorschach/Walter Kovacs Edward Blake/ The Comedian Dan Dreiberg/ Nite Owl II Sally Jupiter/ Silk Spectre Edgar Jacobi/ Moloch Hollis Mason/Old Nite Owl Janey Slater Wally Weaver John McLaughlin Pat Buchanan Eleanor Clift Doug Roth
 * i. Main Characters List**

Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ //Watchmen// (1986) is set in an alternate 1985 America in which costumed superheroes are part of the everyday criminal justice system, and America is on the brink of an all-out nuclear war with the Soviet Union. The narrative tracks one of these masked vigilantes, Rorschach, as he unravels a murder plot to kill the remaining first generations superheroes (the “Minutemen”), as well as the present generation superheroes (the “Watchmen”). Joined by two other members of the Watchmen (Silk Spectre II and Nite Owl), Rorschach discovers the conspiracy plans of a former-Watchman-turned-billionaire, Adrian Vedt, who plans to manipulate Dr. Manhattan’s nuclear technology to eliminate millions of Americans living along the eastern seaboard of America. Travelling to Vedt’s research center in Antarctica to stop Vedt, Rorschach discovers that Vedt’s plan is aimed at a greater good: to save humanity from nuclear war by sacrificing millions, thereby frightening American and the Soviet Union into alliance against the omnipotent Dr. Manhattan. While Rorschach is killed after refusing to conceal Vedt’s philanthropic plan, Rorschach’s journals, in which he records all of his discoveries, find their way to a local newspaper. The narrative ends with the public’s pending discovery of Vedt’s secret plan, and the likely return of the world to a state of nuclear threat.
 * ii. Synopsis**



While one cannot, and should not, exclusively select teaching texts based on their areas of expertise and comfort levels, one should consider the strengths (skill sets and previous experiences) and weaknesses (areas of unfamiliarity) that shape each new teaching experience. Specifically, as an avid reader of graphic novels, I will bring an enthusiasm for graphic narratives and wealth of contextual knowledge to teaching //Watchmen//. My familiarity with Alan Moore previous work, including //V for Vendetta// and //Swamp Thing//, will demonstrate to students the wider body of writing that influences Moore’s //Watchmen//. Moore’s interest in themes of political conspiracy, human modification, and international relations will become readily apparent to students when I encourage them to regard his disparate writings as a piece. Moreover, I am familiar with various popular culture websites that can be used to attract students to, and enrich students’ study of, Moore’s graphic novel, including: A. //Alan Moore Portal//: Includes various activities and mind sets (such as the WPI Personality Test, “Which Watchman Are You?”). [] B. //Alan Moore Interview Index//: Contains links to various interviews and quotations by Alan Moore. []. C. //Watchmen// //Annotations//: Includes a chapter-by-chapter annotation of Moore’s //Watchmen//. []. I am also knowledgeable of the various reading conventions required by graphic narratives, which I can share with first-time readers of Moore’s text. I anticipate that many students will be uncertain about how to read the large white spaces between comic frames, the various insertions of journalistic writing from “Under the Hood”, the unannounced episodic insertions from “The Black Freighter” comic book, and the difference between the colored and un-colored text balloons that permeate the narrative. My ability to anticipate and explain these conventions and techniques will ensure that students possess a degree of confidence in their graphic-narrative literacy as they read Moore’s text. In addition, I can continue to build on this understanding of graphic narrative conventions by reading Sara J. Van Ness’ //Watchmen as Literature: A Critical Study of the Graphic Novel// (2010)//.//
 * iii. Personal Reflection on Teaching //Watchmen//**

The often- mature subject matter addressed in //Watchmen//, coupled with its generally-accessible vocabulary, leads me to believe that this graphic novel is best suited to grade 12 college-level students (in ENG4C). The novel’s consideration of difficult, but socially-relevant, topics (including rape, murder, genocide, justice and the Cold War) indicates that Moore’s narrative is not suitable for, and may upset, younger audiences; however, these contentious topics are important for older students to consider so that they can become familiarized with some of the challenging social topics explored in post-secondary education. Moreover, while Moore’s text demands social maturity on the behalf of the reader, it explores its difficult social topics through the use of accessible language structures and vocabulary suitable to the literacy level of the grade 12 college-level student. As well, Moore’s use of graphic illustrations to illuminate his textual meanings will enable the ENG4C student to gain a wider understanding of how “a variety of text forms, text features, and stylistic elements … help communicate meaning” (Ministry 116). Alternately, this graphic narrative might be addressed in the grade 11 university-level class (ENG3U). While students in this class will possess the literacy skills necessary to understand and study Moore’s narrative, they may be unprepared for the mature and often-disturbing topics examined. For this reason, I would place greater emphasis on topics such as male-female relations, environmental stewardship, and the symbolism of clocks when teaching this text to grade 11 readers. Irrespective of the course in which this text is taught, teachers can expect to encounter difficulties when teaching this text. Perhaps the most likely of these is the refusal of some female students to engage in Moore’s text to the same extent as more conventional narratives. Female students are likely to be influenced by the social stigma of graphic novels and comic books as “boy’s reading”. Certainly, Moore’s text does explore issues of violence, heroism, and war that, traditionally, have attracted male readers. However, to read Moore’s as an exclusive study of these issues is to overlook the variable and manifold interests of the text that can be overshadowed by the narrative’s more explicit themes. Beyond this, some female reader may imagine that the graphic novel format itself is a male form that caters to the male reader. While researchers, such as Bruce Pirie, have yet to find conclusive evidence indicating that the graphic narrative form appeals more to male than female literacy styles, Pirie does insist that teachers “//must be prepared for the likelihood that strategies intended to help boys will also benefit many girls//” (21). To the extent that I am uncertain of how to best attract female students to graphic narrative, I recognize that teaching Moore’s text will require me to do additional research into breaking down the gender conventions assigned to specific literary forms. I anticipate that this will involve inviting female students to look beyond the “masculine” aspects of the texts (for example, its graphic violence, nudity, and profane language), for its thoughtful consideration of romantic relationships (between Dr. Manhattan and Silk Spectre II, and between Nite Owl and Silk Spectre II), mother-daughter relationships (between Laurie and Sally Jupiter), and female empowerment (in the numerous female vigilante figures). As well, teachers should openly acknowledge the fact that the majority of characters in the narrative are white middle-class figures. Given the ethnic and class diversity of Ontario classrooms (especially in urban areas), many students will recognize their lack of cultural/class representation in this text, and may, consequently, feel distant from its meanings and messages. In order to minimize this lack of connection between student and text, the teacher should introduce this text as a work that addresses a specific culture at a specific time. In order to avoid perpetuating an invisible curriculum of white European universality, teachers should acknowledge, at the beginning of this novel study, the limitations of Moore’s text, alongside its benefits. By doing so, students will recognize the gaps in representation that appear in many popular works of Western literature.
 * iv. Target Grade Level and Challenges Associated with Teaching //Watchmen//**


 * v. Summative Assignment: Watching the Watchmen**

//Developing and Organizing Content:// generate, gather, and organize ideas and information to write for an intended purpose and audience. //Using Knowledge of Forms and Style//: draft and revise their writing, using a variety of informational, literary, and graphic forms and stylistic elements appropriate for the purpose ad audience. //Applying Knowledge of Conventions//: use editing, proofreading, and publishing skills and strategies, and knowledge of language conventions, to correct errors, refine expression, and present their work effectively.
 * Curriculum Expectations:**

Before attempting this assignment, students should have completed their reading of the graphic novel and discussed in class the above-listed “social knowledge” and “cultural knowledge” aspects of the novel. As well, students should be offered a clear understanding of what a newspaper article is (see handout “How to Write a Newspaper Article”; Appendix A), the kind of language one employs when writing one, and several sample newspaper articles from the //Watchmen//. Moore’s graphic novel contains several modes of writing, including: written dialogue, memoir, confessional writing, and reportage. In order to increase students’ mastery of one of these (newspaper journalism), students will be asked to draft, revise, and publish a 300-500 word newspaper article covering one of the following four main events* in the narrative: · The comedian’s murder (Chapter 1) · Jon Osterman’s nuclear accident at the Intrinsic Field Center (Chapter 4) · Rorschach’s escape from jail and the prison riot (Chapter 8) · The New Frontiersman discovery of Rorschach’s journals (Chapter 12) · *An alternate event (students who are un-inspired or uncomfortable with the scenes selected above can examine an alternate scene (this scene must be approved, in advance, by the teacher). In completing this assignment, students should examine the many //New Frontiersman// newspaper articles included in //Watchmen//, and consider the intended audience for their article (students can invent a new newspaper in which to publish their work, or draw on a pre-existing newspaper, such as the //New York Times//). As well, students must include an appropriate and catchy title for their article, written descriptions of the event, and contextual details of the event and/or persons involved. Student are encouraged to include brief interviews with key characters or by-standers/witnesses, a discussion of the larger implications of this event and sketches of key scenes or people. In completing the last, students should be offered time to visit the “Origins of the Watchmen” website, which includes Dave Gibbon’s preliminary sketches for the //Watchmen// characters (I've provided an example below): []
 * Prior Knowledge:**
 * Assignment Description:**





Students are expected to submit a preliminary draft of their article to the Editor (the teacher) to receive suggestions about how to improve their piece before “publication”. Students should then revise their work, and “publish” it (alongside any sketches) on a large piece of newsprint (provided by the teacher). These “newspaper” pages will be displayed around the room, and students will have the opportunity to read them during the first few minutes of class during the week that the assignment is due. **Marking Rubric for “Watching the Watchmen” Assignment** //i. Knowledge and Understanding// Knowledge of Content (eg. forms of text, strategies used when writing, elements of style): //ii. Thinking// Use of planning skills (eg. generating ideas, organizing information, revising work) Use of processing skills (eg. interpreting, analyzing) effectiveness. || Level 4: Student uses processing skills with a high degree of effectiveness. || //iii. Communication// Expression and organization of ideas and information effectiveness. || Level 4: Student expresses and organizes ideas and information with a high degree of effectiveness. || Communication for different audiences and purposes effectiveness. || Level 4: Student communicates for different audiences and purposes with a high degree of effectiveness. || Use of conventions, vocabulary, and terminology effectiveness. || Level 4: Student uses conventions, vocabulary, and terminology of the discipline with a high degree of effectiveness. || //iv. Application// Transfer of knowledge and skills to new contexts effectiveness. || Level 4: Student transfers knowledge and skills to new contexts with a high degree of effectiveness. || ***** vi. Knowledge Possibilities
 * Level 1: Student demonstrates limited knowledge of content || Level 2: Student demonstrates some knowledge of content || Level 3: Student demonstrates considerable knowledge of content || Level 4: Student demonstrates thorough knowledge of content ||
 * Level 1: Student uses planning skills with limited effectiveness. || Level 2: Student uses planning skills with some effectiveness. || Level 3: Student uses planning skills with considerable effectiveness. || Level 4: Student uses planning skills with a high degree of effectiveness. ||
 * Level 1: Student uses processing skills with limited effectiveness. || Level 2: Student uses processing skills with some effectiveness. || Level 3: Student uses processing skills with considerable
 * Level 1: Student expresses and organizes ideas and information with limited effectiveness. || Level 2: Student expresses and organizes ideas and information with some effectiveness. || Level 3: Student expresses and organizes ideas and information with considerable
 * Level 1: Student communicates for different audiences and purposes with limited effectiveness. || Level 2: Student communicates for different audiences and purposes with some effectiveness. || Level 3: Student communicates for different audiences and purposes with considerable
 * Level 1: Student uses conventions, vocabulary, and terminology of the discipline with limited effectiveness. || Level 2: Student uses conventions, vocabulary, and terminology of the discipline with some effectiveness. || Level 3: Student uses conventions, vocabulary, and terminology of the discipline with considerable
 * Level 1: Student transfers knowledge and skills to new contexts with limited effectiveness. || Level 2: Student transfers knowledge and skills to new contexts with some effectiveness. || Level 3: Student transfers knowledge and skills to new contexts with considerable


 * A. Textual Knowledge **

A1. Tone: **The tone of the //Watchmen// is established in the opening chapter as dark, neo-gothic, and dangerous. The opening lines of the narrative, in which Rorschach describes a “dog carcass in alley this morning, tire tread on burst stomach” (ch.1) introduce this tone with vivid and horrific imagery, and this tone remains constant throughout the narrative. Documenting a damned society in which there seems little hope for salvation, the //Watchmen// uses this tone to create a sense of uneasiness in the reader, and to prepare the reader for the difficult topics to be explored in the coming pages.**

A2. Genre: dark comedy: **given the centrality of the Comedian to the main murder plot, the reader becomes aware, early on, that Moore is interested in the concept of dark comedy. However, it is only through the unfolding of Rorschach’s investigation that the reader becomes aware of the bleak future of humanity, and how the Comedian’s joking is inspired by, and reflective of, the failure of human kind. Moreover, the reader suspects that the Comedian’s dark humor and doomed outlook has darkened the optimism of the other Watchmen. Following his discovery of his city’s corruption and Adrian Vedt’s murderous plan, Rorschach reflects on how “humans are savage in nature, no matter how much you try to dress it up, to disguise it. [The Comedian] saw society’s true face, chose to be a parody of it, a joke” (ch.10).**

A3. Embedded Narrative I: Journal Writing: **Rorschach keeps a personal journal (that is signaled by yellow text balloons and that readers are privy to from the opening lines of the narrative) which documents his investigation into the murder of the Comedian and the larger scheme to kill all of the aging Minutemen and Watchmen. Prior to his travels to Antarctica, Rorschach delivers his journal to the major newspaper publication, “New Frontiersman,” to expose the corruption of American society, and the conspiratorial plans of Adrian Vedt to kill the Comedian (because he had discovered the controversial experiments that Adrian was conducting in Antarctica). The impending publication of the journal’s contents at the end of the narrative suggests that the truth will prevail-- regardless of the measures we take to hide it-- and that the personal voice remains powerfully present amidst the efforts of corporate super powers to control all media and their messages.**

A4. Embedded Narrative II: Comic book of the “Black Freighter”: **Moore offers “Tales of the Black Freighter”—an apocalyptic comic book read by a young boy (Bernard) beside a newsstand—as a second embedded narrative in his novel. Detailing a pirate invasion of a young man’s ship, the young man’s survival of the invasion, and his subsequent turn to madness as he seeks to return to his family, this sub-plot comments on the impossible situation of life in modern society. Specifically, “Tales of the Black Freighter” suggests that, no matter how corrupt one’s society is, isolation from one’s society (similar to that of the young male survivor), is also horrific, full of despair, and a pathway to madness. Despite his eventual return to him hometown (Davidstown), the young survivor recognizes the madness and despair that has ensued following his isolation: “God has damned us all. Truly, life is hell, and death’s rough hand our only deliverance,” and he becomes the murderer that he initially reviled.** A5. Symbol: **the conventional yellow happy face marred by a stream of blood emerging from its temple appears early in the narrative after the death of the Comedian. However, this symbol re-appears (in varied form) throughout the narrative in the Doomsday clock (ch.12), and the moon behind Nite Owl’s ship as he saves his neighbors from an apartment fire (ch. 7). This image is a potent symbol of the complex and seemingly contrary social context in which we live: the utopia and that we long for, and the corruption that we inevitably face in social living. When this symbol appears for the last time on the t-shirt of the young and oblivious news writer for the //New Frontiersman// (ch.12), the narrative intimates that the outcome of this contrary social life is in the hands of the country’s youth, who seem entirely unprepared for the incredible challenges that they will inherit.**


 * B. Social Knowledge **

B1. Violence Against Women: **Providing a grim context for Sally Jupiter’s later revelation that the Comedian is the father of Laurie Jupiter, Sally silently recollects how, as a young woman, she was sexually assaulted by the Comedian at a party. Mis-understanding Sally’s provocative clothing as a sexual invitation, the Comedian explains to Sally that “You gotta have some reason for wearin’ an outfit like [that]” (ch. 2), and proceeds to force himself on her. While the Comedian is ultimately stopped by H.J (a fellow Minuteman) who happens upon the scene and forces the Comedian off Sally, the impact of this event on Sally is apparent when she vividly recollects the scene decades later. Moreover, the Comedian’s violence towards women continues when the Comedian, while serving in the Vietnam war, gets angry at the news that he has impregnated a young Vietnamese women. When the young Vietnamese women confronts the Comedian and insists that he “remember [her] and [her] country” (ch.2), the Comedian shoots and kills her. Not surprisingly, the Comedian’s actions remain un-justified in the novel, and contribute to reader’s growing awareness that justice was served in the Comedian’s grisly murder.** B2. Mother/Son relationships: **In the moments before he dies at the hands of his intruder, the Comedian states “Mother forgive me” (ch.1), demonstrating his understanding that his murder of the pregnant Vietnamese woman, and his sexual assault of Silk Spectre I, are a betrayal of the respect that he has for his own mother. That is, the reader learns that the Comedian compares his relationships with women to the relationship that he has with his mother, and that he views a transgression against other women as a transgression against his mother, whom he loved and revered.**
 * Conversely, Rorschach’s violence occurs because of, rather than in spite of, his relationship with his mother. After learning, as a young boy, that his mother was an impoverished prostitute, Rorschach bears his mother’s hurtful words, and her claim that she “shoulda listened to everybody else … [and] had the abortion” (ch.6). Tainted by his damaging and uncertain relationship with his mother, Rorschach grows into a sociopath who believes that his mission is to reform and purify his corrupt society.**

B3. Dystopia: **The fictional American city portrayed in the narrative resembles a dystopia, in which corruption and hate characterize most human interactions, and life, for most, has been reduced to the pursuit of sex, money, and oblivion. While these pursuits are commonly imagined to bring happiness, Dr. Manhattan observes the truth: “they claim their labors are to build a heaven, yet their heaven is populated with horrors” (ch.4). While the spirits of the crew massacred by the Black Freighter recognize that “there is no heaven … I would know by now” (ch.6), Rorschach is perhaps the most astute observer of this dystopia: “Now the whole world stands on the brink, staring down into bloody hell: all those Liberals, intellectuals, and smooth talkers” (ch.1).**


 * C. Cultural Knowledge **

C1. American Anti-heroism**: In the wake of WWII, Americans celebrated the Minutemen as a powerful and respected vigilante group; however, this perception of the Minutemen changed over the decades and as the world loses its faith in heroes, and Congress passes a Bill that prohibits persons wearing masks (and, thus, the Watchmen who wear them to protect their identity). In response to this turning of the cultural tide, Nite Owl asks “Whatever happened to the American Dream [of heroes]?” (ch.5). Growing up amidst this cultural shift, the Comedian develops into an anti-hero figure to the extent that he helps the Watchmen maintain social order, yet when met by resistance from community members who remain skeptical of the legitimacy and morality of vigilante justice, he resorts to violence, and attacks the community members he portends to protect. Failing to identify and protect the innocent in an angry riot, the Comedian rapidly forgets his good intentions, and announces to the angry crowd, “Lissen, you little punks, you better get back in ya rat holes! I got riot gas, I got rubber bullets” (ch.2).**

C2. Mega-corporations as our Salvation: **Moore’s narrative challenges the North American cultural belief that corporations will bring about an end to our humanity by rendering us slaves to our consumption by suggesting that corporations can alternately bring about our salvation. Adrian Veidt, owner of a multi-billion dollar corporation and former-member of the Watchmen, believes that his company “can save this world, with the right leadership”, yet his vision for saving the world entails using Dr. Manhattan’s nuclear technology to kill millions of Americans. Adrian claims: “The Comedian was right. Humanity’s savage nature will inevitably lead to global annihilation. So in order to save this planet, I had to trick it with the greatest practical joke in human history.” Adrian’s plan wipes out the entire Eastern seaboard of North America using technology and energy signatures he steals from Dr. Manhattan. Yet Adrian’s larger intended effect is to create a human disaster and enemy so large that the US and USSR have no choice but to join forces and end the threat of nuclear war. In this way, corporations demonstrate their ability to achieve salvation, but at an unimaginable cost.** C3. Urban violence in America: **Addressing the rise of urban violence in North American cities, //Watchmen// suggests that urban life cannot escape the increased violence that necessarily occurs when large numbers of people are forced to live in small spaces. Reflecting on this lamentable coupling, Rorschach states: “I’ve seen [the city’s] true face. The streets are extended gutters, and the gutters are full of blood … The night reeks of fornication and bad consciences” (ch.2). Moore’s decision to forego naming the city in which the narrative takes place suggests that all major American cities face a similar crisis, although students living in urban areas will recognize that this violence also pervades Canadian cities. The teacher should invite students to discuss whether or not Moore’s fictional city resembles Canadian cities that they are familiar with.**


 * D. Topic Knowledge **

D1. Cold War**: Set in alternate 1985 in which the US faces rising tension with the Soviet Union, Moore’s novel examines the nuclear devastation that nearly occurred during the Cold War that occupied almost the entire latter half of the nineteenth-century. Moore picks up on major events and themes that characterized the Cold War (including tensions between American and the Soviet Union, technology competitiveness, space travel, propaganda, and the nuclear arms race), and adapts them to fit his narrative. Most notably, Moore creates “the walking nuclear deterrent” (ch.3), Dr. Manhattan, as an embodiment of the nuclear threats that were the focal point of Cold War tensions.** D2. Vietnam War**: In providing the personal history of Jon Osterman, Moore describes how Dr. Manhattan was first used as an American national weapon during the Vietnam war. Recalling the military conflicts that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia between 1955-1975, Moore’s depiction of the Vietnam war focuses on the events that occurred in Vietnam, and on Dr. Manhattan’s capacity to completely obliterate large numbers of Vietnamese troops instantaneously. Similar to his adaptation of historical events in his depiction of the Cold War, Moore suggests that the Vietnam war ends one week after the placement of Dr. Manhattan on the front lines. As well, Moore addresses the personal (and, at times, romantic) relations that developed between American troops and Vietnamese individuals in his imagining the relationship between the Comedian and the Vietnamese woman he impregnates.** D3. God: **Throughout the narrative, Moore considers the parallels between Dr. Manhattan and a modern-day deity. This is perhaps most clearly seen when, after the appearance of Dr. Manhattan in Vietnam, the Vietnamese troops want to surrender to Dr. Manhattan personally (ironically, believing him to be a deity figure who can save them from American domination). Elsewhere in the narrative, various American critics are cited as saying that “god exists, and he is American” (ch. 6). These events suggest that science is related to religion, and that the advances we make in the physical world reconfigure our understanding of the spiritual world. Ironically, Dr. Manhattan believes otherwise: “I don’t think there is a god, and if there is, I’m nothing like him ”; “Perhaps the world is not made; perhaps nothing is made. A clock without a craftsman” (ch.12). However, readers are also left to wonder, if Dr. Manhattan has become a god figure, would he really be aware of it? These discrepant beliefs suggest that our society contains a multitude of beliefs about a supreme being, and that none are more legitimate than the other.**

References


 * //Alan Moore Interview Index.// 11 January 2011 < http://www.alanmooreinterview.co.uk/>. **
 * //Alan Moore Portal//. Website. 11 January 2010 . **
 * Atkinson, Doug. //Watchmen// //Annotations.// 11 January 2010 <[]>. **
 * British Film Institute. //How to Write a Newspaper Article//. 10 January 2011 . **
 * Ministry of Education. //The Ontario Curriculum Grades 11 and 12 English//. Revised. 15 January 2011 . **
 * Moore, Alan. //Watchmen.// Illustrated by Dave Gibbons. New York: D.C. Comics, 1986. **
 * “The Origins of the Watchmen.” //Guardian//. 27 October 2008. 11 January 2011 . **
 * Pirie, Bruce. //Teenage Boys and High School English//. New York: Heinemann, 2002. **
 * Van Ness, Sara J. //Watchmen as Literature: A Critical Study of the Graphic Novel.// New York: McFarlane, 2010. **

Appendix A How to Write a Newspaper Article **

! The headline should be accurate and in the present tense. ! The first sentence needs to be short and dramatic. Surprise your reader! Make them curious. ! Be clear from the start – put the facts of the story first. ! Remember to use the 5 W’s – __w__ho is involved; __w__hat happened; __w__hen did it happen; __w__here and, most important, __w__hy? ! Be accurate - get your facts correct. ! Use active verbs wherever possible. ! Keep the article brief – don’t bore your reader and don’t make it too complicated to understand. Be incisive. ! Be fair – there are at least two sides to every story. Let the readers make up their own minds. ! Avoid clichés – find new ways to describe familiar people and events. ! Search for a special ingredient – make your story stand out from the others