The Secret Language of Comics

The literacy narrative pt. 3 helped me meet the learning outcomes of the class by challenging me to revise and edit a text and a comic for a third time. The visual medium of the comic helped me separate my thoughts succinctly into cohesive paragraphs. Not only did I spend extra time on the assignment, but the prior two drafts really helped my final product. For one of the first times, I felt clear minded about my vision for the assignment and looking back reading the essay I think it came out and answered the prompt in a robust, successful way. My analytical thinking process was the same each time I completed the literacy narrative, whether it was parts 1, 2, or 3. However, I believe that it was the repetition of the assignment that was actually a good thing and enabled me to dive deeper into my thoughts and not just write and submit the first good one that comes to mind.

https://wordpress.com/page/observant-bschuchat.wordpress.com/144

This assignment was a lot different than any other one I have done at Emory so far and throughout my high school career. This process was not more difficult than writing an essay, but it was different. For example, I knew I only had 20 seconds to get my argument across, so I could not be as descriptive as I wanted when writing an essay; I had to ensure I didn’t leave any essential parts out during those 20 seconds. I had to be clear and concise in my argument, while still ensuring it was persuasive. Providing my argument was compelling and concise enough for the time constraints was challenging. Overall, it was a good learning experience that taught me the importance of being mindful of time constraints when speaking. I also decided to use three books we read the semester because I did not want to make my argument sound repetitive by just using two books, which would cause me to “waste” time on my slides—conveying an argument I had already previously stated. 

The organization part of the presentation was already laid out for me, as I had 20 seconds to decide what information I wanted to convey to my audience. This assignment reminded me of the comic we had to make for our literacy narrative. Going from writing an essay to writing a comic meant that I had to be more concise in my argument and pick the more “important” parts of my argument, and I could not be as descriptive as my essay.  Similarly, in this project, I could not write down every thought and argument that came to my mind about trauma and healing through the book we have read this semester, I had to pick out the more critical parts of my argument and make sure I was being practical at the same time as well. 

For the visual part of my presentation, I decided to include pictures of the argument I was describing. The argument and the picture on the slide went hand in hand so the audience could follow my argument much better.  The slide was clear and concise, and it provided a visual representation of the points I was making. This allowed the audience to stay focused and engaged throughout the presentation. I enjoyed this type of presentation more because it enabled me to keep on track with my argument, not get too repetitive, and stray into another topic.  It also allowed me to emphasize the most critical points of my argument. Furthermore, it allowed me to provide the audience with a better understanding of my message. After watching my peers presentations I would change my to have more images from the text of the books that I analyzed, rather than finding most of my images from the web. I also liked how some of the presentation focused on one or two characters development throughout their presentation, while mine analyzed the book as a whole.

Link to presentation

Constructing this presentation in the form of half a Pecha Kucha required me to use trial and error to determine how to structure my argument and how long I’d have on each idea. After writing an outline, it surprised me that I had to cut down a lot of my writing to fit into the 20 seconds per slide. Because this wasn’t an essay, though, I realized I could eliminate lots of my descriptions and summaries of each scene, letting the images speak for themselves. 

I was unsure how to structure my presentation, and I initially thought I’d talk about Sabrina, then move onto Stitches. Partway through I changed my mind, however, and I rearranged my slides thematically. I found that I was better able to draw connections between the books I was discussing and I think it helped keep my argument organized into separate ideas. It also meant that I was structuring my ideas in a similar manner as I would with an essay. In that way, I think my analytical thinking process was similar to what it would be when writing an essay, but what differed was having the visuals serve as evidence, giving me more space for analyzing. 

I learned that evenly spacing my ideas into 20 second increments is quite difficult. I had a lot more to say on certain slides than others, so it forced me to learn how to be concise with my language. After presenting, I also learned that I spoke differently when presenting than when I practiced beforehand. I thought I had the timing down from doing several run-throughs of my slides alone, but it turned out I spoke slower when actually giving the presentation. For the future, when practicing, I’m going to make sure I have at least one person as an audience to better replicate what it will be like when presenting.  

Image credits for last slide: F newsmagazine

The process of creating an argument using the format of a Pecha Kucha required further use of consolidating all of my ideas into a single argument. I have used this process throughout the semester, the most prominent example being my Literacy Narrative and the accompanying comic.

One of the advantages of this format was the requirement to use pictures to go along with the argument. The pictures provided additional context to my argument while also allowing me to explain my own ideas, using the images as a guide rather than the central focus.

I also tried to use a linear path while forming my argument, specifically the “step-by-step” structure that Judith Lewis Herman uses in the provided excerpt.

The most difficult part about this presentation was learning how to pace myself in order to meet the 20 second time limit for each slide; this involved slowing down during slides where I didn’t have a lot to talk about (eliminating long, awkward pauses), or talking faster (while remaining understandable to the audience) on slides with more ideas I wanted to discuss.

Overall, I feel that this presentation challenged me in all the right ways, especially in my confidence with giving presentations in a clear and concise manner. I can definitely see myself using the presentation techniques I learned in the future, both in school and professionally.

*link to slideshow presentation here

• How has the entire literacy narrative project helped you to meet the Learning Outcomes for this class?

This entire project has helped me meet all the learning outcomes. Briefly, through this project I have composed literature of different mediums, gone through many drafts, and used a website to successfully display my works.

• How was it to return to the alphabetic literacy narrative after having created your comic? How did you think differently after having worked in the visual medium and now returning to a text narrative?

Returning to the alphabetic literacy narrative was quite different since I now felt I had to be much more specific to convey my messages. With pictures, half the story is the reader’s interpretation but it’s not like that with words. That being said, from my drawings, I found new perspectives and words to include in my last narrative which added more detail. I like to think that both part 2 and 3 are adaptations of each other since each version has subtle influences from each other.

• How do you see the story you are trying to tell in different terms now? Was your analytical thinking process any different?

My story overall was pretty much the same. The major difference between part 1 and 3 is part 3 is much more refined and its flow is better. This is partly due to creating part 2 which made me focus on the most important parts of my writing/reading journey I wanted to convey, so part 3 highlights these important events more.

I have always loved reading. As far as my first memories stretch back, there was always a series I was reading: Percy Jackson, classic fairy tales, Harry Potter, among many more. My favorite genre was always fiction and whether it was mystery, fantasy, or science-fiction, each story captivated my imagination in its unique way. Often, I would go on a reading frenzy and finish these books in a few days and re-read my favorite parts again and again, until more books finally came in. I would read everywhere during my free time– on the bed, on the floor, or on the couch. My sense of time would be lost, reading for hours on end which usually ended in my mom yelling at me to get back to work.

School was a place where teachers constantly encouraged you to read, and as an early teen who loved reading, I was puzzled why some people were so averse to it. To me, reading was an escape from reality, a time to fully immerse myself in the amazing world created by the author. However, I do admit I was never that “perfect” reader. Occasionally, there were periods when I did not read for reasons such as laziness to find more books to read or the mindset that reading wouldn’t be as enjoyable as it appeared in my memories. However, once a book was picked up again, it all came back to me. The thrill, the excitement, and the anticipation for the next page: I remembered why reading was one of my favorite hobbies.
Although reading was one of my strong passions, my relationship with writing was more of a chore. In my writing journey, consistent investment in English writing projects and university preparation were the main ways I improved my writing.
My parents always said I would be a great writer because of all the literature I consumed. However, that statement turned out to be false. Although I was exposed to many unfamiliar words, I was never an active reader, so I regretfully say I never took the time to find their definitions. And even though yes, I could differentiate between the writing styles of different authors, I could never effectively replicate the techniques that worked; the hooks that drew readers in, the perfect word choices, and the cliffhangers that left the readers wanting more. To put it simply, writing never came easy for me.

On the other hand, math was never a hard subject. Growing up, especially in middle school, it was difficult to empathize with other students who struggled with it. In 7th grade, I vividly recall one English class where I came to the random conclusion that writing for me was just how struggling students felt with math. To be on the same level as my peers, I would need to put in more effort, and I felt jealous. I don’t believe my writing is subpar, however, I have often received “low” grades that I did not think I deserved. I was also influenced by my peers. For them, words and ideas flowed onto paper like the movement of water through a dam. They took much less time to complete an assignment with many more words. I wondered if writing was an innate skill since I felt my writing had stayed stagnant throughout high school; I felt like there were no major life-changing improvements to my process.

Each year in English class, I had a new teacher. At the start of each year, they would read the course syllabus, and each time they never failed to convince me that this was the year where I would finally become that great writer, or half-decent one, that I’ve always wanted to be. Maybe it was the way they spoke with their English teacher-style diction or my gullibility, but either way, I was led to believe that this was the year. Looking back on each year, I can’t say I had that eye-opening experience. Every year felt like I was just practicing my writing skills with my current skillset; no new writing techniques were being taught. However, with practice came improvements, and through each small free write or major assignment, my writing was slowly but surely becoming more refined.

However, one large milestone occurred when I was preparing my application to apply to universities. Studying for the SAT greatly improved my grammar, especially redundancy and proper punctuation. When writing my personal statement for applying to university, the exercises, and techniques for crafting an essay truly opened my eyes to sentence flow and structure. Writing my personal statement was the longest and most thorough free writing I have ever done. I spent countless hours revising each word, giving it to peers and family to check over, and attempting to read it through the eyes of a college admission officer. That experience boosted my confidence in writing since I not only got accepted, that piece was widely praised by everyone who read it.
Now as a current university student, I am utilizing my writing skills at a higher level. At Emory, there are many opportunities to expand my knowledge and I am already learning new things, for “real” this time. So, here I am now, continuing my writing journey and ready for what is yet to come.