ENGL 3280: Graphic Novels

ENGL 3280: Graphic Novels is an upcoming 3-credit course that will be offered for the first time in the Fall 2026 semester. Taught by Assistant Professor Taylor Rose-Dougherty, this class will explore the rhetoric of graphic novels with an emphasis on graphic composition by students.

The inspiration for this course came from Taylor’s ENGL 3040: Perspectives on Writing and Rhetoric course, which also focused on graphic novels, as well as her experiences in secondary education.

“As a high school English teacher, I saw some of my freshmen and senior students do their most rigorous, creative work when reading and responding to graphic novels,” Taylor explains.

“As I began teaching in higher education spaces, I noticed that university students similarly benefitted, so I geared much of my research and scholarship toward the literacy affordances of both reading and multimodally composing in response to graphic novels and narratives.”

Taylor wants to use this class to explore the thought and detail behind texts that traditionally aren’t seen as academic. She sees them as rich sites for discussion and analysis.

“Graphic novels uniquely layer certain rhetorical moves that completely transform the reading process, so in addition to reading and analyzing complex story structures and narratives, a focal goal for the course is being able to analyze an author’s craft in ways that many are unfamiliar reading or reading academically,” Taylor says.

This course will examine books such as Watchmen, Long Way Down, The Complete Persepolis, Maus 1 & 2, and more. Taylor plans to mix student analysis of these texts with the creation of their own graphic media. Assignments will include reading responses, book talks, and analysis essays, as well as weekly sketches, the Rhetorical Analysis Unessay (an essay told in any format but writing), and the creation of their own graphic narrative.

Taylor wants this class to support readers both familiar and unfamiliar with graphic novels: “This course challenges all readers and writers to analyze deeply the choices of author-illustrators and to step into the identity of author-illustrator themselves. Furthermore, the texts for the course are diverse in content, voice, and style. Beyond getting a broad survey of how varied graphic approaches can be, there’s something for everyone to enjoy!”