This article argues that instructors can effectively implement visual and multi-modal methods often used in beginner and intermediate courses as effective building blocks to develop skills of literary analysis. The article presents aspects of a mini-curriculum based on "Die Verwandlung," the graphic novel, and examples of student work and feedback from a 200-level graphic-novel course. Corresponding to the format of a graphic novel that combines pictorial and visual information, items in the curriculum consistently incorporate methods to build visual literacy to move students toward verbal literacy. The article contributes to language pedagogy in explaining the use of graphic novels in the language classroom to develop literary analytical proficiency. Field-tested examples demonstrate ways students learn to use illustrations and literary products to support higher-level analysis. The article suggests that carefully crafted questions can emphasize the visual exploration that has typically gone into reading graphic texts, but has less frequently been associated with building skills of literary exploration.