What becomes possible when a story on paper is told using both text and image? What are comics, when did they become “graphic literature,” and how do we know how to read them? This course will consider how graphic literature broadly—with a particular focus on graphic memoir and graphic nonfiction—employs the tools and techniques of narrative. After a brief survey of the form’s grassroots history and present, we’ll zero in on contemporary works as we consider the elements of what Will Eisner called “sequential art”: the immediacy of the visual symbol, the temporality of the panel and the strip, the use of dialogue and exposition, and the effect of visual style and storytelling. Authors may include Julia Alekseyeva, Lynda Barry, Alison Bechdel, Thi Bui, Zareen Choudhury, Nick Drnaso, Will Eisner, Ebony Flowers, Tessa Hulls, Scott McCloud, Richard McGuire, Deena Mohamed, Kristen Radtke, Art Spiegelman, Adrian Tomine, and Chris Ware. While no prior experience is expected, students will be welcome to introduce examples of graphic literature they know and love to the class. Assignments will include close reading and literary analysis, sustained contribution to class conversation, and creative and critical applications of the techniques we analyze together.