Pictures are Good
It has been a while since I made a post. Sorry for the delay. A month ago, in my English 384 class, we were assigned to read Maus by Art Spiegelman. The book was actually interesting. I did make extra effort to finish the book before class discussion. I do not do this very often with other readings. I usually have several pages unfinished coming into class discussions. It’s not my fault. The vocabularies usually are very esoteric. Reading it was like performing surgery without first going to medical school. I find myself holding and flipping through the pages of a dictionary more than flipping the pages of the book. Reading Maus gave me a different experience. It allowed me to focus more on the narrative instead of the brain puzzling vocabularies. So, how was Maus different compared to my other readings? The story of Maus was outlined in a graphic novel. What is a graphic novel? I looked through two different sources and found two definitions.
Graphic novel is a fictional story that is presented in a comic-strip format and published as a book. Source: Webster Dictionary
I disagreed with describing graphic novels as a fictional story because Maus was based on a true story. So, I searched and found a better definition.
Graphic novel is a novel whose narrative is related through a combination of text and art, often in comic-strip form. Source: American Heritage Dictionary
After reading Maus, I paused and asked make is it that makes graphic novels more appealing than non-graphic novels? I came up with a few ideas. First, the vocabularies are very simplistic. The conversations do not contain words that only medical doctors know or only lawyers use. The words are used in everyday conversations which helped me understood the storyline more. Second, the actions are easier to see because the pictures allow me as a reader to visualize what was taking place without having to resort to the dictionary constantly. This allowed me to follow the story more smoothly without interruptions. Third, the facial expressions on the character made it easier for me to sense the emotional rollercoaster the characters were sensing in times of sadness and happiness. The pictures made visualizing the character, actions, and the surround easier.
While reading two articles from Aljazeera’s website, I noticed the articles are similar to graphic novels. They are mini graphic novels.
Car bomber strikes Iraq Army Base
Summary: A suicide bomber crashed into an Iraqi army base killing 10 soliders and wounding 30 people. In addition, on Sunday armed men in three cars starting shooting at pedestrians iin Baghad killing around seven people and wounding 16 others. The incident took place in Zaafariniya…
Source: Aljazeera
At the beginning of the article is a picture of a man whose facial expression tells the tragic story vividly. He looks in another direction in disguised of the sight before him. The picture like the pictures in a graphic novel helps readers visualize the story easier.
Another article that I found to be a good representation of a mini graphic novels deals with conditions of Iraq.
“Bush says Iraq surge is “working”
Summary: President George Bush said that the troop surge was success in establishing stability in the region. He adds, “because of the troop surge, the level of violence is significantly down. Civilian deaths are down. Sectarian killings are down. Attacks on American forces are down.” But a Middle East analyst, Hady Amr, had a different view. He says the Iraq invasion was a disaster. About 104,000 and 223,000 have died between March 2003 and June 2006. The economy is deteriorating; unemployment rate ranges 25-50%.
Source: Aljazeera
At the end of the article is a picture of a family living in a tent-like structure. The image helps the reader visualize the harsh conditions that some families in Iraq are facing.
