General Directions: Write a 6-7
page paper addressing one of the following. Below, please find a number of questions
focusing on the works we’ve read during the first half of the term. It’s important that your readings from Scott
McCloud factor into your essay. Use the
terminology McCloud introduces in Understanding
Comics to unpack the particularities of the text you choose to
explore. You may also want to use
scanned or photocopied images to support your argument. These images will be in addition to the 6
page minimum, rather than a part of the 6 pages. We can discuss how to “quote”
from images. If you would like to use other theoretical sources on comics, I
can help you find them.
Some general guidelines:
Handing in your paper late will lower your grade. As a rule, it is good
to avoid using the first person in a formal paper. Be certain to use spelling and grammar check
on your computer; I am expecting that I will not have to focus unduly on this
aspect of your writing when grading your work.
Back up your arguments with quotes from the reading and properly cite
these quotes in MLA format. If you have
questions about citation practice, there are a number of online resources that
can help you and I am happy to give you input, as well. If you wish to work on a topic not listed
below, just make sure to discuss it with me before beginning the work so we
ensure it is narrow enough to fit within such a short paper. I would be pleased to meet with you over the
course of the next weeks to discuss your midterm paper if it would be helpful.
Do not plagiarize! I am expecting that you won’t, but, if you do, it results in
an automatic “F.”
Maus:
Persepolis:
1.
1. Both Maus and
Persepolis
are memoirs written in graphic narrative form.
However, Spiegelman and Satrapi’s narratives differ in key ways. How does Satrapi’s choice to frame the story
of the Islamic Revolution in Iran
through the eyes of a child affect your reading of her story? How does this choice contrast with
Spiegelman’s more cynical, by-proxy narrative of the Holocaust? How do Spiegelman and Satrapi use imagery
differently/ similarly?
2.
2. Satrapi’s Persepolis
proves unique in the comics genre because it is centered on the viewpoint of a
female child and, later, young woman.
How does gender factor into your experience of Persepolis? Does Satrapi suggest something about the ways
in which revolutions affect women in particular? How does Satrapi’s focus on
female experience challenge our idea about the conventions of comics?
3.
3. Persepolis is
very much a narrative about place and the role it plays in the formation of
identity. The characters in Satrapi’s
memoir struggle to stay in a chaotic homeland or deal with the complexities of
exile. How does Satrapi use the physical
space of the comic to comment on the power of geography during a period of
social tumult?
American Born Chinese
1. As we discussed on the blog, the history of caricature and
comics are intertwined. How does Yang use caricature and offensive
stereotype in American Born Chinese? What visual and narrative choices does he make that demonstrate to us as readers that he is trying to undermine stereotype?
2 2. Yang combines folklore with more realistic, contemporary
narrative, as well as sitcom-style storytelling in his book. He also
combines Eastern and Western religion in American Born Chinese.
What sort of story about culture do these cross-pollinations tell? How
do they complicate or extend the immigrant stories we normally hear?
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