Essay #2 Human Imagination in Comics (Gutter and Closure) When reading graphic novels you have to understand what is happening even in the absence of graphics in every second of the characters story. So as a reader you are forced to infer what is happening and also use past knowledge to understand the pictures. The gutter and closure are two similar things that cause the reader to use their imagination and creativity. The gutter is the space in between panels where human imagination is highly depended on to comprehend the panels. “Here in the limbo of the gutter, human imagination takes two separate images and transforms them into a single idea” (McCloud 63). This quote from Understanding Comics shows how important the gutter is to understanding the story. Many authors use this to aid to the mystery and creativity of comics. For example in the book Blankets by Craig Thompson the gutter is used many times. On page 243 Craig and Raina are walking outside in one panel, then the next panel is a car driving away. The gutter is in between these two panels, so the reader is supposed to understand that they were the ones driving the car. The reader is supposed to imagine the characters walking to the car and into …show more content…
In comics not everything is drawn out for you in panels. For example if a character is drawn close up and their legs aren’t drawn we know they are still there. This is used all throughout the novel Blankets. One important time in the book was when Craig and Raina were on the phone. It shows Raina but closer up so you can’t see her legs (Page 163). We use closure and our past knowledge to assume that her legs are there, even though they are not drawn. Another example is when Craig was talking to Raina on the phone and she breaks up with him (Page 503). All you can see is his stomach and up. Although we can’t see his legs either we know they are there, because of
The ability to make the reader immersed in the story and the main character is the best thing to have when writing a piece. It helps the reader decide whether to keep reading or not. This ability is known as imagery. Imagery is writing with metaphors and the five sense, which creates a scene for the reader. Imagery is basically the way the author shows the reader what the main character or narrator is seeing. Janet Burroway, author of “Imaginative Writing”, which is a book about writing and the components of it, states that Image is, “An image is a word or series of words that evokes one or more of the five senses.” (Burroway, 15) Imagery is very important and good authors know how to use it to add more meaning and power to their literature.
“ The horizon was the color of milk. Cold and fresh. Poured out among the bodies” (Zusak 175). The device is used in the evidence of the quote by using descriptives words that create a mental image. The text gives the reader that opportunity to use their senses when reading the story. “Somehow, between the sadness and loss, Max Vandenburg, who was now a teenager with hard hands, blackened eyes, and a sore tooth, was also a little disappointed” (Zusak 188). This quote demonstrates how the author uses descriptive words to create a mental image which gives the text more of an appeal to the reader's sense such as vision. “She could see his face now, in the tired light. His mouth was open and his skin was the color of eggshells. Whisker coated his jaw and chin, and his ears were hard and flat. He had a small but misshapen nose” (Zusak 201). The quotes allows the reader to visualize what the characters facial features looked like through the use of descriptive words. Imagery helps bring the story to life and to make the text more exciting. The reader's senses can be used to determine the observations that the author is making about its characters. The literary device changes the text by letting the reader interact with the text by using their observation skills. The author is using imagery by creating images that engages the reader to know exactly what's going on in the story which allows them to
By creating a rhyming function, the shapes, sizes and sites across panels privilege a unique composition of the image compared to all other pages. Also, the dimensions of panel 1, 2 and 4 associated with a rhetorical layout which intends to conform to the movement and track of Lucy and random gamers on the street from left-hand page to right-hand page within the pre-existing framework of narrative (Peeters, 41-60). Concerning the speech balloon of one gamer outside the gutter across panel 1 and panel 2, the words function an addictive combination elaborate and amplify the image that the reader is not able to understand why they run away without the words, and vice versa (McCloud, 154). All panels in this page interact with each other and lead to the identical sequence – Lucy runs away for Pikachu, by following this coherent narrative, iconic solidarity as an approach to the hypothesizing linear reading method across all panels (Groensteen, 114). A similar page layout emphasizes the movement of the protagonists in Michael Straczynski’s Thor comic by creating dynamism
When one actually close-reads a small segment one realizes the large amount of information that can be said about just that segment. In this case it was only four pages from Fun Home, and each page seemed to have a life of its own. Page 14 touched upon the relationship between Bruce Bechdel and his family, while page fifteen gave insights into the father-daughter relationship. Then pages 16 and 17 dealt with hidden truths and the creation of false appearances. Then there were the the literary and graphical devices: the extensive use of line, the use of gray shading, stretched panels vs. compact panels, interdependent word-picture relationships, etc. the clear illustrations and relatively simple prose made the process a bit easier, but that opinion may have been different if the process involved close-reading the whole book.
Sherman Alexis a Spokane/Coeur d’Alene Indian who wrote “The Joy of Reading and Writing: Superman and me”. In the short story explains how he learned to read and write even with limited resources on the reservation where he grew up. He starts his story by using popular culture describing how he learned how to read using a comic book about “Superman”. He also explained why Indian children were never supposed to amount to anything in life and that they were supposed to be dumb among Non-Indians. He wanted to let other Indian students that reading is what saved his life. It opened up his mind and made him a better person today.
The plot of the novel is creatively explained in a way that anyone can visualize through the event...
When the right words are fitted together in a sentence, they can sometimes describe a scene so vividly that an image comes to mind, an instance where the reader can visualize what is occurring. In Sarah’s Key, descriptions are used to describe the physical appearance of a character which deepens the audience’s understanding of that character. The following is the first description given of Sarah’s father: “A man appeared in the doorway, a thin man with crumpled clothes, an unshaven chin, and red, tired eyes. He walked through the courtyard, holding himself straight” (Rosnay 19). From this description, the reader can visualize the character, a worn man in the doorway, leaving his hideout cellar, moving through the courtyard without visible
Imagery plays a big part in the success of a novel. Different writers have different styles. The good thing about imagery is it makes room for the reader to put things together. The reader is allowed to interpret the story the way that they like. "Ragged Dick", Horatio Alger, Jr. did a great thing with imagery. While reading the novel readers had a change to envision many things that were mentioned in each chapter. Algar interconnected the appearances of the main character to his living arrangement. He also connected these things with the character's attitude.
When we take a closer look at the picture, we are able to depict symbols that will means something to us, it is called the paradigmatic analysis. You are able to comprehend a
objects in the story with visual descriptions to give focus to the reader's imagination. In the story,
The writer uses imagery, because he wants to let the readers into his mind. By describing the scene for the readers, makes the readers fell like they were there. Therefore, it gives us a better ability to emphasize with him.
It is very easy to agree with Moebius statement that ‘good’ picture books contain some form of invisible and intangible concepts that keeps the reader returning. In Voices in the Park it is very easy to see Moebius idea due to the ability of technology to create detailed and complex books. In contrast, Potter has produced a book that more subtle in showing this relying not on technology like Voices in the Park but working within severe limitations. Blending page turns, text, colour to create understandable concepts. Goodman comments that some would argue that these elements in pictures interfere with and detract from the text, and thus undermine the confidence of the reader. An extrapolation of this idea is that preconceived ideas and pictures of another spoil the reader’s entrance to literacy.
Stephanie Shemansky HUM3070 Directed Research Paper Assignment Stereotyping in Comic Books First were going to talk about how stereotypical male roles dominated the early scene in comic books. In many comic books the male is the one who always turns out to be the hero. For example Superman who first appeared in the comic book scene in 1938 is one of the world’s leading super hero comics (Superman in the Comics / http://www.supermanhomepage.com/comics.php#).
The Creature That Opened My Eyes Sympathy, anger, hate, and empathy, these are just a few of the emotions that came over me while getting to know and trying to understand the creature created by victor frankenstein in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. For the first time I became completely enthralled in a novel and learned to appreciate literature not only for the great stories they tell but also for the affect it could have on someones life as cliché as that might sound, if that weren’t enough it also gave me a greater appreciation and understanding of the idiom “never judge a book by its cover.” As a pimply faced, insecure, loner, and at most times self absorbed sophomore in high school I was never one to put anytime or focus when it came time
The degradation of all but one gender through oppression, dehumanized sex, and the embellishment of a false history to favor the empowered gender constructed within Brantenberg’s Egalia’s Daughters parallels the power of superiority that overrides all within the societies seen in Burdekin’s Swastika Night. The abasement of gender seen within these novels compliments the ideals of racism seen within the Nazi reign. The history created within these two novels is based on a desire to hold power over the other gender and or races involved, the desire of a utopia of ranked sexes. This power corrupted those in power and as such the “superior” gender, depending on the book, forced their counterpart into a subordinate role.