For this week, I decided on
reading "Alice in Sunderland," an exploration of famous literature
and how it relates to the numerous "wondrous" events that occurred at
the city of Sunderland, in North East England. Specifically centering around
the famous accomplished writer Lewis Carroll, this sort of biographical novel,
sort of review of decades of literature is an interesting mix of art and
writing styles. It
explores the various connecting factors between the writer, Lewis Carroll and
the Sunderland area,
with wider themes of history, myth and storytelling. The greatest bulk of the
story is told from an elderly “rabbit” performer in a near empty theatre, save
one loudmouth youngster, who starts off very detached and jaded from his work
and focused more on something as “mundane as age.” This relatively relatable,
realistic setting as our basis for the story only furthers the imaginative themes
discussed in the novel, and makes for a nice reliable background to go back to
in between discussions. These kinds of comics as contemporary literature allow
for a more visually sophisticated, (and very diverse representations) exploration
of themes, and used very effectively by the writer and artist, Bryan Talbot.
What could have been just another simple, (and let’s face it kind of boring) history
and/or philosophy textbook recounting the accomplishments of other people is
instead a recounting of epic storytelling and real-life human accomplishments;
all while creating interesting art, imaginative literature, and producing
memorable and engaging work that stands upon yet separate from the works
discussed in the comic.
Jarod Frank Analysis of Shaun Tan’s, “The Arrival.” Shaun Tan's, “The Arrival,” is a fantastic example of conveying narrative themes and complex character interactions without the use of dialogue. Through the emphasis on gestures, body positioning, and facial expressions, we are able to “fill in” to a great degree what we imagine the characters are conveying; regardless of anything literally being said. One such fantastic example of this is when the main immigrant man is trying to find an apartment, beginning by asking another man where it could be. We see the quizzical look he local man as he looks over the immigrant, who pulls out a drawing pad and draws a bed, pointing to it. Such a natural progression of actions, reactions and continued actions are the basics of human communication, not necessarily needing words to convey an experience we all are familiar with: questioning. While the situation is mundane, the comic being able to convey this series of emotions here and n...
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