Graphic Novel Considerations
“A picture is worth a thousand words” is an idiom most of us have heard in our lifetimes. But, what if those thousand words could create a more meaningful image in someone’s mind through their imagination, that in turn fosters a personal connection with the text. Marjane Satrapi chooses the graphic novel format for her personal memoir, Persepolis, which enables her to add emotion, relay meaning, and visually imply unsaid information into her story. However, this may not be as easily achieved by all authors and in every context. When considering whether to choose the graphic novel format for your own novel, there are many considerations to be made that may vary depending on its genre and intended purpose. For
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Specifically, because if the interdependence between text and graphic is not cohesive, the readability may suffer. For example, the story would most likely need to be told in a linear format to enable the reader to effectively follow the storyline, without the graphics becoming a distraction from the text or vice versa. Satrapi moves in a non-linear format in the first few chapters of Persepolis, which may have instantly created confusion for readers who were not familiar with this format or the subject matter, Iranian history, in these chapters. Furthermore, to produce an effectively written graphic novel, the author would need to also be a good artist that not only has a thorough understanding of art elements, but who can very purposely create images that display meaning not already generated by the text it accompanies. If considering working with an illustrator one would have to also consider if they could recreate your intended meaning effectively. This seems like it could be a very time consuming process and if not crafted carefully, the book’s readability could …show more content…
Even though in Satrapi’s work her graphics may have added to the validity of her personal experiences, she strategically created them to reinforce her motivation for writing the book as mentioned in the introduction. It can even be argued that due to Satrapi’s personal opinion and perspective on the issues addressed in Persepolis being projected on the reader , a one-sided view may have developed. Marjane’s account has also been described as “sketchy” and readers are suggested to further explore her background in context with issues she discusses by critics (The Complete Review). Satrapi begins to project her personal beliefs beginning on page one, which sets the tone for the reader’s experience. One critic is quoted, “Although Satrapi stays fairly true to the historical timeline of the political revolution, she had a distorted perspective on events due to her social class standing as well as religious beliefs” ( Barzegar 8
Persepolis is a inspirational story written by Marjane Satrapi in the perspective of a young girl’s life during a powerful, historical moment in Iran. The Islamic Revolution was a life-changing moment that impacted her view on the world around her and her innocence shaping her into the woman she is today. Not many people understand what it feels like to feel pain, hurt and abandonment as a child from major and minor things. The author writes this story and decides for it to be a graphic novel to allow the not only young readers, but also for those who do not understand what happens everyday in the world they live in. Satrapi uses all rhetorical stances, ethos, pathos, and logos to show problems, purpose and emotions.
Piper’s use of imagery in this way gives the opportunity for the reader to experience “first hand” the power of words, and inspires the reader to be free from the fear of writing.
The graphic essay “Show and Tell” by Scott McCloud is written in the form of a comic book as he explains the importance of words and images, and how to effectively use the two components when creating a comic. “Show and Tell” explains to the reader how creating a successful comic does not occur easily, as numerous components must be used in the right way and amount in order to create a product that is worthwhile to its readers. This insightful graphic essay portrays to the reader how in a comic, words and images can successfully be used in numerous ways if they are kept in balance with one another. Society traditionally believes that in a piece of literature words and images should be kept apart, whereas McCloud opposes this
Words and images are the couple that should never be separated. As mentioned in Scott McCloud’s, “Show and Tell,” we are taught from childhood that we should mature out from using images in our writing. Comics are viewed as amateurish in the professional field of English. We are continuously told that comics and usage of images in a text are pretty “childish” and should not be tolerated by the “higher” level of English. If the meaning of a text is transferred through the employment of images and words, then it is done correctly. Readers across the nation admits that demonstration of images and words in any literary work amplifies the understanding of the work, as also mentioned by McCloud.
the book’s literary content and the power of its simplified artwork, however, such an easy
During our class discussions, the issue of identity in Marjane Satrapi’s novel, Persepolis (2004), became a contentious issue. The question was asked whether Persepolis might be understood to being in-dialogue with western ways of seeing and did the effects of modernization influence the identity of Marjane’s protagonist in Persepolis. How does the novel involve the issue of identity? I will extend the argument and, through the exploration of Marji’s changing ideologies, I will attempt to prove that Marji is caught between the traditional eastern culture and western modernization.
In spite of pervasive opinions graphic novels are not the same thing as their original novels. There are many dissimilarity between the two such as the length of the texts, the freedom of imagination, and the diction. Admitting that both the graphic and genuine version of a novel is told in a different method, they both tell an identical story. In the resolution of both novels, the objective ultimately gets across in each of the novels granting that it’s told a dissimilar way.
When writing any sort of narrative, be it novel or poem, fiction or non-fiction, scholarly or frivolous, an author must take into account the most effective manner in which to effectively convey the message to their audience. Choosing the wrong form, or method of speaking to the reader, could lead to a drastic misunderstanding of the meaning within an author’s content, or what precisely the author wants to say (Baldick 69). Even though there are quite a bit fewer words in a graphic novel than in the average novel, an author can convey just as much content and meaning through their images as they could through 60,000 words. In order to do that though, their usage of form must be thoughtfully considered and controlled. Marjane Satrapi, author of the graphic memoir The Complete Persepolis, took great pains in the creation of her panels in order to reinforce and emphasize her narrative, much like a novelist utilizes punctuation and paragraph breaks. Through her portrayal of darkness and lightness, Satrapi demonstrates that literary content influences, and is primary to, the form.
In conclusion, illustrations help set the proper mindset for your readers to accept the points you make. The perfect quote, example, or fact ties everything together for your readers and lets you continue sharing your thoughts because your readers are ready to receive them. Essentially, without the use of illustrations you are losing the opportunity to leave a strong impression on your reader and help them develop their opinions on the topic at hand.
To begin, the author’s usage of graphic imagery over the course of his literature allows him to express his
People usually mistaken Graphic novels and Comics to be the same, but the truth is they are different. Graphic novels are mediums with sequential arts to tell stories. Today, Graphic novels are used in many ways to enhance and improve the development of education for student. The issue is that we still approach graphic novels with caution, as their content has often been seen as controversial and somehow damaging literacy. Some teachers and librarian do endorse the use of graphic novels but they sometime encounter colleagues who feels that this isn’t right because their content has often been seen as controversial and somehow undermining literacy. To use this medium both libraries and schools will have to approach graphic novels with a certain standard to be followed.
There are many times when problems in a country affect one's life. Persepolis by Majarne Satrapi recounts the coming-of-age of a girl during a period of war. Utilizing a graphic novel to illustrate, Marjane recalls the struggles of her family and herself living in warfare. For instance, in Persepolis, Marjane's external conflict result in her internal conflict.
The visual description of a text is the perfect way to wrap the reader’s senses into the story.
Thus, it is crucial that she effectively communicate this humanness of Iran to the literary audience in America. Since the literary devices in a work are needed to correctly convey a message, she found it necessary to include these and manipulate them in her favor. Satrapi uses the innocence of a child along with morals in her pictures and a relation of cultures to effectively communicate her message. It is necessary to examine how she manipulates such literary devices in order to gain a full understanding of the text. To begin with, Satrapi writes Persepolis from a child’s point of view.
Persepolis 2: The Story of Return is anchored around how Marji is affected by the social injustice that occurred during the Islamic Revolution. Growing up as “a westerner in Iran and an Iranian in the West,” (Satrapi 274) changes and molds her into the young woman she is at the end of her journey. In this second chapter of Satrapis life she moves away from the comfort of Iran and finds a life in Vienna. Marji desires to find her purpose and identity during her brief time here and faces many battles with language barriers, people and herself. Marjis past from Iran haunts her and instills the idea that she needs to make something of herself while in Austria. Finding that Austria took her down a darker path where the light was scarcer and the