Key facts
UNE unit code: ENGL308
*You are viewing the 2025 version of this unit which may be subject to change in future.
- Trimester 1 - On Campus
- Trimester 1 - Online
- Armidale Campus
- Yes
- No
- No
- 6
Unit information
There are many diverse narratives in literature and the graphic novel is an increasingly important literary form. The study of graphic novels builds directly on the key concepts studied elsewhere in English Literature Studies, such as genre and canon formation.
In this unit you will develop the skills to read in new ways and examine the definitions and history of long-length graphic novels for adults. You will explore how the verbal and non-verbal work together and be encouraged to look at how identity, history, politics, and culture are presented and portrayed in diverse narratives.
You will explore texts that define and redefine the genre from the 1980s until now, with attention to specific subgenres, such as memoir, fantasy, superhero, manga and ‘bande dessinée'.
Offerings
For further information about UNE's teaching periods, please go to Principal Dates.
Teaching period | Mode/location |
---|---|
Trimester 1 | On Campus, Armidale Campus |
Trimester 1 | Online |
*Offering is subject to availability
Intensive schools
There are no intensive schools required for this unit.
Enrolment rules
Notes
Please refer to the student handbook for current details on this unit.
Unit coordinator(s)
Learning outcomes
Upon completion of this unit, students will be able to:
- critically analyse graphic novels using recognised methods of literary criticism and sequential art criticism to substantiate and illustrate those arguments;
- identify and interpret the recurring thematic and formal features of the graphic novel;
- distinguish established conventions within different sub-genres of sequential art and assess the ways in which graphic novels depart from those conventions;
- evaluate the cultural and theoretical contexts that each graphic novel speaks to and from; and
- integrate advanced reading, writing and research skills with the critical interpretation of representative graphic novels and their contexts.
Assessment information
Assessments are subject to change up to 8 weeks prior to the start of the teaching period in which you are undertaking the unit.
Title | Must Complete | Weight | Offerings | Assessment Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Essay | Yes | 50% | All offerings | No. Words: 2000 |
Online Quiz | Yes | 10% | All offerings | No. Words: 500 (equivalent) |
Take Home Exam | Yes | 40% | All offerings | No. Words: 2000 (equivalent) |
Learning resources
Textbooks are subject to change up to 8 weeks prior to the start of the teaching period in which you are undertaking the unit.
Note: Students are expected to purchase prescribed material. Please note that textbook requirements may vary from one teaching period to the next.
Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic
ISBN: 9780224080514
Bechdel, A., Houghton Mifflin 2007
Text refers to: All offerings
Saga, Vol. 1
ISBN: 9781607066019
Vaughan, B.K., Image Comics 1st ed. 2012
Text refers to: All offerings
Watchmen
ISBN: 9781401248192
Moore, A., and Gibbons, D., DC Comics 2014
Text refers to: All offerings
The Complete Maus
ISBN: 9780141014081
Spiegelman, A., Penguin Books Ltd 2003
Text refers to: All offerings
Persepolis I & II
ISBN: 9780099523994
Satrapi, M., Vintage Publishing 2011
Text refers to: All offerings
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