Teaching Graphic Novels in the English Classroom

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-vii

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2. Introduction

   • Alissa Burger

   Pages 1-8

3. Reading, Writing, and Graphic Narratives

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 9-9

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   2. Not Just Novels: The Pedagogical Possibilities of the Graphic Narrative

      • Andrew Bourelle

      Pages 11-28

   3. Understanding Rhetoric, Understanding Genre: A Rhetorical Genre Studies Approached Writing Course

      • Sara Austin

      Pages 29-41

   4. Writing Through Comics

      • Riki Thompson

      Pages 43-65

4. Graphic Novels in the Literature Classroom

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 67-67

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   2. Teaching the History and Theory of American Comics: 20th-Century Graphic Novels as a Complex Literary Genre

      • Lauren E. Perry

      Pages 69-85

   3. “What Is the Use of a Book … Without Pictures or Conversations?”: Incorporating the Graphic Novel into the University Curriculum

      • Alison Halsall

      Pages 87-101

   4. “Does Doctor Manhattan Think?”: Alan Moore’s The Watchmen and a ‘Great Books’ Curriculum in the Early College Setting

      • Guy Andre Risko

      Pages 103-116

   5. “If He Be Mr. Hyde, We Shall Be Mr. See”: Using Graphic Novels, Comic Books, and the Visual Narrative in the Gothic Literature Classroom

      • Allison Powell

      Pages 117-132

5. Graphic Novels, Empathy, and Social Engagement

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 133-133

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   2. Teaching March in the Borderlands between Social Justice and Pop Culture

      • Susanna Hoeness-Krupsaw

      Pages 135-147

   3. Revising the Rhetoric of “Boat People” through the Interactive Graphic Adaptation of Nam Le’s “The Boat”

      • Jennifer Phillips

      Pages 149-166

   4. Performative Texts and the Pedagogical Theatre: Alison Bechdel’s Fun Home as Compositional Model

      • William Cordeiro, Season Ellison

      Pages 167-186

6. Back Matter

   Pages 187-192

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This collection highlights the diverse ways comics and graphic novels are used in English and literature classrooms, whether to develop critical thinking or writing skills, paired with a more traditional text, or as literature in their own right. From fictional stories to non-fiction works such as biography/memoir, history, or critical textbooks, graphic narratives provide students a new way to look at the course material and the world around them. Graphic novels have been widely and successfully incorporated into composition and creative writing classes, introductory literature surveys, and upper-level literature seminars, and present unique opportunities for engaging students’ multiple literacies and critical thinking skills, as well as providing a way to connect to the terminology and theoretical framework of the larger disciplines of rhetoric, writing, and literature.

• critical thinking and writing skills
• composition and creative writing classes
• pedagogy
• multiple literacies
• Invitational Rhetoric and Transfer
• curriculum
• english

“The essays in this collection are well-written, timely, and practical, leaving readers with smart takeaways they can adapt to their own pedagogical needs. The diversity of readings offered demonstrates the applicability of graphic fiction to a number of disciplines from literature and writing, to courses on social justice, visual culture, and ethnic and American studies.” (Jenn Brandt, Assistant Professor of English and Director of Women's and Gender Studies, High Point University, USA)

“This is an excellent collection for college instructors, specifically those interested in multimodal composition and literature. The articles contain practical suggestions and in-depth ideas that have helped me reconsider teaching techniques for my own comics courses.” (Rachel Dean-Ruzicka, Lecturer in Writing and Communication, Georgia Institute of Technology, USA)

• Department of English, Culver Stockton College, Canton, USA

  Alissa Burger

Alissa Burger is Assistant Professor of English and Director of Writing Across the Curriculum at Culver-Stockton College, USA. She teaches courses in research, writing, and literature, including a single-author seminar on Stephen King. She is the author of Teaching Stephen King: Horror, The Supernatural, and New Approaches to Literature.

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