I was at first a little hesitant as to how I was going to be able to rhetorically analyze comics. I had never thought much about the “Garfield” and “Baby Blues” comics that I enjoyed reading every Sunday in the newspaper as a child. Before this project I just thought them as still-frame cartoons. However, I have found that they are much more than that. While expanding my view, once again, on what can be analyzed rhetorically besides just literature, I also feel my writing has improved once again. Honestly, I thought I would never like doing this kind of rhetoric: I’m much more into writing essays and speeches. My opinion has changed greatly and, honestly, I find analyzing in the ways English 151H has taught me much more interesting.
While I did not change much of my WP1, WP2 went under some major changes. At the beginning of my project I was a little confused as to what my argument could be. I choice a comic that was a little abnormal from the comics I was used to. This comic did not include “abstract representations” in the form of little cartoon characters and instead served as an art form and a form of serious thinking. I narrowed my argument down when I discovered what these comics were modeled after: romans dur. This classification of the comic allowed me to deepen my thinking.
After creating my writing project, there were many suggestions that were offered to improve it. Starting at the beginning, writing wise, it was suggested that I should cut out the first paragraph of my project. I thought about this for a while, but felt that this paragraph helped lead into my argument of romans dur. Without knowing what a comic is in a simple form, how could my audience see it in a more abstract and abnormal form? By audience I was thinking about my secondary audience that may not have the same amount of education on this subject. In my images, Ellie also suggested that I use a comic that was similar to the structure of my comic. At first, I had a comic that was only one frame. I included instead a Garfield cartoon that is split up in a similar fashion as mine. This allows for a better comparison.
A lot of my major changes throughout the body my project consisted of clarifying the many ideas that I tried to push all into my project. I did this by separating paragraphs that, before, were very long. I also chose to split up the sections describing the panel by panel differences and build that my comic presented. I split these up by including the individual frames for the audience to look at as the read. I felt that this created a better flow and understanding as the support is given.
While I included quite a bit on typography, I feel that it was needed. The typography of this comic was very important to me in supporting not only the argument I was presenting, but the rest of the comic as well. It was suggested that I shorten this section quite a bit, but I felt that it would take away from what I was trying to show. My conclusion was something I pondered on for a while. I knew, before the many suggestions, that it needed some TLC. However, I feel that in the end, I did answer the “So what” question that I was trying to answer and presented a good end to my comic.
In general, citations were edited and pictures were changed to present a better view and understanding of my project. I really enjoyed this project and have gained personally from doing it.
WP2: Final Draft
The definition of comics, deriving from Greek for “of or pertaining to comedy” (Wikipedia) explains the contemporary interpretation of what a comic is: humorous. When most think of what is classified as a comic, comic strips like the one directly above are thought of. Among the many mediums of argumentation, comics are a very effective form. This medium is commonly used as a way for people “outside the mainstream to express or question what could not be expressed or questioned in ‘traditional’ formats” (Wysocki and Lynch 509). However, while these colorful, cartoon comics are definitely a huge part of the comic scene, they are not alone. As stated in Compose, Design, Advocate, comics can “now be an art form as well as children’s entertainment, and can be a structure for serious thinking in combined words and drawings” (Wysocki and Lynch 509).
“She’s Okay,” (displayed above) photographed by Emily Horne and made into a comic by Joey Comeau, is an example of this serious thinking. The comics in the archives “A Softer World” by Horne and Comeau are modeled off of a type of writing called “romans dur,” made famous by writer George Simenon in the 1930s. This type of writing is defined by the New York Review of Books as material “in which…displays a sympathetic awareness of the emotional and spiritual pain underlying the routines of daily life” (Denny/Brookner). My selected comic agrees with this definition and gives the reader a look into someone’s silent desires, in this case, the want for everything to "be okay." This comic expresses and supports the argument of the expression of “emotional and spiritual pain” that The New York Review of Books refers to. This argument is constructed from technical elements such as structure, typography, word choice, separation and placement of certain parts of the medium, and the saturation and focus of the photograph. All of these technical elements contribute to the overall structure, or logos, pathos and aesthetic of the comic.
The traditional structure of comics defined by Scott McCloud's essay, "The Vocabulary of Comics” describes them as a representation “filled with icons that we call pictures” (McCloud) and words that help support the pictures and guide the audience in the frame-by-frame storyline. In “She’s Okay” the structure is a little different than the structure found in most comics (such as the example at the top to the page). Instead of presenting a hand drawn picture background with bubble letters emitting from the characters’ mouths, we are presented with a digital interpretation of an edited photograph with what looks like white strips of writing pasted on top of the picture. The “cut and paste” look of these typography strips give this comic a “crafty” hand-done look, even though it was digitally made. The audience can also see this by the uneven cutting of the frames. The audience is not introduced to any cartoon characters or even given a background to where this comic is taking place. This "crafty" look to the comic makes it more realistic and believable to the audience. People relate better to things that aren't super "high tech"and visually accurate. The crafty look of "She's Okay" makes the audience look at the comic as something that they could "re-create". It does not come off as outstandingly professional, but as something an average person could make. This makes a connection between the audience and the comic on a "average Joe" basis.
When first looking into the content of the comic, the audience is first attracted to the typography. This is the primary vector of attention of the comic. Typography can be presented in many different ways to emit different reactions, or displays of pathos, from the audience. Typography, however, can also be altered for what the type is meant for. As described in Compose, Design, Advocate, “in old hard-calligraphy manuscripts, pages have large ornate letters” and “these manuscripts were usually meant to be read aloud, slowly” (Wysocki/Lynch 279). This text was very drawn out and formal, which took a longer time to comprehend. In contrast, the text in “She’s Okay” is a very mechanical, universal form of typography, similar to what is found in newspapers. It is very straight forward and functional, making it easy to skim across the text quickly and get the idea the typography is trying to convey.
The similarities in font between newspapers and "She's Okay" also helps invoke emotions within the audience. The connection between fonts allows the audience to think of places that they could find stories that reflect the emotional pain that can be felt through this comic. This is a very effective rhetorical choice, reflecting back on the simplistic style of the comic and the mention of newspapers within the typography. It is almost like these words belong in the newspaper. The addition of the aspect of newspapers in this comic also bring a sense of false reality. It is ironic that something so realistic is mentioned in a very dream-like comic like "She's Okay." This realistic addition of the newspaper connects the idea that this "emotional and spiritual pain" is not just felt in a "dream world," but very much in reality.
Along with rhetorical choices in font, this mechanical and functional typography is also presented in a very interesting way. Instead of being placed directly on the background, the designer decided to give the comic a “cut and paste” look with strips of writing placed over top the photograph. This separates the words from the photograph and makes the argument of an underlying thought placed upon the photograph. Similar to how some people write on the back of photographs describing where and when the photograph was taken, the designer of this comic adds thoughts which cannot be displayed by the photograph alone. The overlaying aspect of the typography on this comic supports the argument of presenting the "underlying emotional and spiritual pain" that romans dur are defined to present. The typography that is added in this comic whispers the thoughts and story behind the pain the narrator in this comic feels.Along with being separated from the background picture, the text is actually separated from itself as well. The text is separated panel by panel and also within the same frame. This separation of the typography allows the audience to take the comic step by step, paying attention to each word. The text develops as it goes on frame by frame.
In the first frame, it starts out with “I’d like to read a story in the newspaper that ends with….” This beginning tells the audience a “background” as to what may be talked about. As an audience, we are aware that this comic is directly talking about a newspaper article that the writer would like to see. Within this frame the text is split up between “a story in the newspaper” and “that ends with.” This separates the background that the designer is giving and the beginning of the “desired article” that is about to begin. The separation of words within the frame allows the audience to take, not only the whole comic frame by frame, but each frame itself slowly.
The second frame states “but she was having a bad dream.” This frame builds on from the previous frame by giving us more information on this newspaper article. This text is very shocking as a reader because in most newspaper articles, the victim is unfortunately not having “a bad dream.” Dream is a very important word in this panel and is part of the foundation for the whole argument. This comic, discussed later in this essay, is a representation of not only "emotional and spiritual" pain that can be felt, but the dreams and wishes that can come from this pain.
The last frame continues this thought by say “really she’s okay.” The parts of the typography referencing the newspaper article evoke an emotional response. It makes the audience think about what newspaper articles really say: the horrible things they report in the world and how things, for the most part, are never “okay”. This makes the typography seem unrealistic: contributing to the argument of a deep desire, or dream. Overall, the typography is a huge part of the support system of this comic. The typography not only gives the audience information into the story or issue that the comic is trying to present, but also helps lead the audience into the picture and the comic as a whole. This is shown by the way the font sets the tone, the structure develops thinking, and word choice sparks thoughts and emotions.
After looking at the typography included in this comic, attention is shifted to the photograph. The photograph follows the same format as the typography and brings even more pathos to the comic. The photograph is one single moment split into three frames, framed by thick dark lines. Compose, Design, Advocate mentions how this effect can “suggest how we think while we scan a scene around us: the scene does not change, but the words in our head do” (Wysocki/Lynch 512). These sections are obviously supposed to be considered on a frame by frame basis. As we scan the photograph from left to right, culturally what we normally do, we learn more about the photograph. At the first frame we only see what looks like grass and a black triangle in the lower right hand corner. As we continue, the black triangle molds into something white, with grass still present. It is not until the last frame that we see that the black and white object is a hood of a car. We are also introduced to another form of life other than grass: people. These people consist of a large and smaller person. It is inferred that the larger subject is a woman by the many bracelets and what looks like painted nails, but this cannot be proven. The smaller person’s sex is also not obviously displayed. What is, however, obvious is the emotional connection between the two subjects. The placement of the subjects is in a tight embrace. They obviously know each other and are very close. This embrace brings feelings of security, happiness, and comfort to the comic. This is another "false reality" and/or desire that the comic presents. This comic is not reality, and this embrace can not happen because unfortunately, "she" is NOT okay. It is hard as an audience member to grasp this feeling of emptiness and being left without comfort unless they themselves have experienced an event that the narrator of this comic has experienced.
The main concept of the photograph that is important in the understanding of the argument is the concept of a dream. The text refers to an event or happening being “just a dream.” Evidence from the photograph supports this. The photograph is highly saturated and blurry. These characteristics portray a “dreamlike” scene. Similarly to dreams that you may have had, the photograph is also split up. This is similar to the fragmented memory you have after you wake up- you remember bits and pieces, but not always the whole thing. Not only is this “fragmented view” of the scene shown in the split up manner of the photograph, but also in the photograph as a whole. When piecing the three parts of the comic together, there is still not a very detailed “big picture” look to the photograph. This dream aspect of "She's Okay" helps support the argument of revealing the ''emotional pain" that is secretly in everyday life.Scientists studying dreams say that within our fantasies we can reveal our deepest wants. It is a way to escape reality for us. This comic does just that: its shows a person's most secret desire that they carry along with them everyday and their attempt to escape the holds of reality through a "dream-like" thought. This "dream-like" thought is captured in this comic by the use of technical elements to develop pathos and logos throughout. When looking into this comic it is hard not to feel like you are intruding on someones deepest secret...and imagine yours in its place.
Works Cited
Wysocki, Anne Frances and Dennis A. Lynch. Compose, Design, Advocate: A rhetoric for integrating written, visual, and oral communication. New York, NY: Pearson-Longman, 2007.
"Comics." Wikipedia. 18 March 2010. Web. 24 March 2010.
Denny, Norman and Brookner, Anita. "Red Lights". The New York Review of Books. 27 March 2010. Web. 26 March 2010.
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