Western Michigan University ScholarWorks at WMU Dissertations Graduate College 8-2009 From Picture to Word to the World: A Multimodal, Cultural Studies Approach to Teaching Graphic Novels in the English Classroom Shannon Renee Mortimore Western Michigan University Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/dissertations Part of the Education Commons, and the English Language and Literature Commons Recommended Citation Mortimore, Shannon Renee, "From Picture to Word to the World: A Multimodal, Cultural Studies Approach to Teaching Graphic Novels in the English Classroom" (2009). Dissertations. 708. https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/dissertations/708 This Dissertation-Open Access is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate College at ScholarWorks at WMU. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks at WMU. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. FROM PICTURE TO WORD TO THE WORLD: A MULTIMODAL, CULTURAL STUDIES APPROACH TO TEACHING GRAPHIC NOVELS IN THE ENGLISH CLASSROOM by Shannon Renee Mortimore A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of The Graduate College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of English Advisor: Gwen A. Tarbox, Ph.D. Western Michigan University Kalamazoo, Michigan August 2009 FROM PICTURE TO WORD TO THE WORLD: A MULTIMODAL, CULTURAL STUDIES APPROACH TO TEACHING GRAPHIC NARRATIVES IN THE ENGLISH CLASSROOM Shannon Renee Mortimore, Ph.D. Western Michigan University, 2009 Sequential narratives such as comics, graphic novels and Manga (Japanese- style comics) have long been popular in youth culture. Recent attention has shifted to the potential of utilizing these alternative texts in the secondary classroom, yet very little information for English teachers exists regarding how to engage students in close, careful, and culturally informed analysis of these works.