Students will study the picture-book from an aesthetic and semiotic perspective, considering the ways in which visual and verbal text interact to produce various kinds of meaning. Nineteenth and early twentieth-century illustrated books are discussed in relation to their artistic and literary contexts, leading to a focus on recent and contemporary picture books. Students will be given the option of writing a picture-book text and will receive instruction in this form of writing.
Essay 30%
Reading journal or essay 30%
Picture-book text or essay 40%