Graphic novel studies are a great way to galvanize students’ appreciation for literature. In a media saturated culture, students are constantly engaging with content and narrative through images, and graphic novel studies work to leverage that exposure and interest so that teachers can introduce new ideas about image literacy and the narrative characteristics of image sequencing. Students who love traditional literature are often challenged and impressed by the level of detail and cognitive play that goes into constructing graphic narratives, finding appreciation for a new modality that they might not have had the opportunity to explore.

The genre of the graphic novel has already started to form a bit of a cannon in the English classroom (Persepolis, Maus, Fun Home, American Born Chinese, etc.), and these works are a great starting points for teachers who are just familiarizing themselves with the the genre. There are a lot of teachers who use these works in the classroom, and there’s a lot of support and sample assessment work on how to approach a literary analysis of these works. For teachers who are more comfortable with the genre or who are ready to try something new, I would highly recommend using graphic novels for a guided inquiry or literature circle unit.

Graphic novels are a fast-growing genre, and each year there are so many thoughtful, high quality narratives being published in different cultures across the globe (some available in translation). Because many of these works have been recently produced, they deal with contemporary issues that are set in a social world familiar to adolescents (even when it is fantastical). Graphic novelists are renowned for finding creative ways to collaborate with their readers and communicate abstract phenomenon both on and in-between their panels. The reader must engage and be an active participant in the “reading” and meaning making of the story. Because of this, I am often able to make the most ground in convincing students that they are, in fact, active participants in the reading process when studying graphic literature. Because every action, thought, or speech cannot be explicitly laid out on the page, many students are able to have epiphanies about the ways in which our minds draw connections and make inferences while reading. The genre easily invites metacognitive activities as well: because the student’s mind is playing such a large role in inferring meaning, there are many opportunities to pause, reflect, and discuss what is going on in the reader’s experience, with acknowledgement that it might be different for each of us.

For students who receive academic support services or are EAL learners, graphic novels can provide some welcomed relief from the constant stress of linguistic decoding. Many of these students are working 3+ times as hard as other students just to decode and comprehend content (or plot) that by the time they get to activities that engage with higher level thinking, they are worn out or out of time. Because the literal content or story is often easier to decode in graphic texts, students get to spend more time using critical reading strategies that focus on the way structure, details, and choices are affecting the reading experience. Not only does this help develop critical thinking skills, but it also helps students understand what all of those “hard questions” are trying to get at when we return to studying linguistic based texts. These early revelations often help students persevere later in the course.

I would encourage teachers to keep an open mind about students’ graphic narrative choices when facilitating a guided inquiry. Because there are additional elements introduced into the critical reading process (graphic structure and images), students will always find something to analyze and discuss. One year, I hesitantly allowed a group of three students study Naruto, and I was blown away by the sophistication of their ideas and the ways in which they were able to connect cultural traditions, identity, and values to the form and structure of the narrative. Another year, I allowed two students to study a few volumes of Made in the Abyss, and this was equally instructive as they were able to appreciate the ways in which narrative content can limit the sophistication of a text, yet still be aesthetically enjoyable and equally entertaining for a reader. Manga continues to be a sub-genre of graphic literature that I am not as confident or familiar with, but I have found that students who tend to choose it are very comfortable and knowledgeable about it, and the humbling process has made me appreciate that I can still be an effective literary coach even when the content or style falls outside of my comfort zone. In fact, sometimes I am even better because I don’t have to pretend that my questions are “naive”.

While choice (especially choice in a new genre) can be scary, I encourage every teacher to dive in at least once. The reality is that when it comes time for students to make their selections, many students choose books they’ve heard of or are popular. Some will read the “top” lists that you provide them and make personal and interesting choices, but many kids use the opportunity to explore something they’ve heard of or are curious about, or ask their family or friends for recommendations which helps forge connections in their personal lives. Every year when I do this, many students choose to study the popular graphic novels. So why do a guided inquiry unit? Because choosing makes a world of difference to the adolescent learner: from the onset, there is a question, an interest, and a path of curiosity to follow. To a teenager this can make all the difference.

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Teaching Resources

A Note about the Resources

The Graphic Novel Activity Portfolio takes students (loosely) chapter by chapter through Scott McCloud’s Understanding Comics work and asks them to apply his theories to their individual graphic novel. You will see that each section focuses on a particular graphic aspect, and that the titles of mentor texts (graphic short stories) are provided for each graphic narrative element. These graphic short stories are taken from Eleanor Davis’s How to Be Happy and Lille Carre’s Heads or Tails and were chosen because that particular graphic element played a key role in developing meaning and effect in that particular story. Should you wish, using the mentor texts as the text of study could be an introductory unit of its own; both collections are rich in content, form, and idea while being stylistically different from one another.

Assessment

There are assessment and presentation options outlined in the assessment description sheet below. While wordy, the assessment description attempts to tackle the complexity and ambiguity of the nature of each holistic assessment option. Holistic assessments can be challenging for students who are looking for a path with concrete steps; the verbose responses are meant to offer some clarity to students as well as instill confidence in authentic choices.

Helpful Links and Other Resources

• Scott McCloud’s Understanding Comics (full PDF)
• Let’s Get Graphic: 100 Favorite Comics And Graphic Novels, NPR (2017)
• The 50 Best Non-Superhero Graphic Novels, Rolling Stone (2019)
• 9 Translated Graphic Novels About Inequality, Electric Lit (2020)