Thesis

In the past few months of this class, I have learned that highbrow and lowbrow are not mutually exclusive. As in the Star Trek episode "The Inner Light" that we watched in class, a very highbrow and puzzling element can exist in a very lowbrow source. And through a mysterious mental maneuver we can go from one to the other and find that both are enjoyable.

For years before taking this class, I have been a huge comic book fan (I wore a Wolverine shirt on Friday!), but after taking Emergent Lit. I can return to this passion over the summer and enjoy the stories so much more.

My argument, to prove that highbrow does not exclude lowbrow (or vice versa), is to illustrate the five themes we studied in class in perhaps the least likely of places: Marvel Comics.

1) The Myth of the Eternal Return- X-Men 101, etc.
2) The 20 Minute Lifetime- Daredevil 81
3) Life as Fiction and Language- Spider-Man 611
4) The World as Myth and Dream- House of M 1-8
5 Dolce Domum- X-Men: Deadly Genesis 1-6