WP2:Statement of Purpose

My comic is clearly one of inspiration and hope in dark times. I think that it is trying to state that one person doesn’t make the idea, the idea lives on in the people who believe, and that idea will live on through person to person. That idea is one of hope and freedom. The idea that one person can kill an idea is very foolish. As we have seen throughout history that the people who have inspired many different ideas might have died but, we can clearly see that this idea lives on in many different people. Sometimes this can be a bad thing, or a good thing.

My comic is coming from a historical context. One instance that truly sticks out to me is that of idea of hate, inspired during World War 2. We might have killed Hitler and his Social Darwinistic ideal of anti-Semitism, and a perfect race, but they still live on today. We still have people who call themselves neo-Nazi’s and still go around preaching hate and anti-Semitic ideas. Even though this isn’t the most happy of examples, it is still clear that even though the person who inspired the idea is dead, his idea still lives on in the people who believe in it.

I think that my target audience is going to be very diverse. I think that my audience is going to be one that has felt some type of unfair oppression or anyone who wants to think outside the box and rebel against injustice in their government. Because of this my comic will be viewed by basically anyone old or young. I think the cut off would probably have to be that of a teenager, my reasoning is that the subject manner would be too intense for someone younger than that. My audience will be that of any walk of life, because I think we have all experienced some type of injustice in our government or everyday lives.

I think that my comic will be read just about anywhere. Because it is a small part of a graphic novel, one of the most obvious places it will be read at will have to be a comic book store. Another place would have to be a library, because you can check out graphic novels at libraries. Last but not least my comic would have to be read on a computer, and this could be just about anywhere if you take into consideration laptops.

There are many good things that could come from my comic. I think that it could help some people change the way that they look at their lives and what they handle certain situations. I can see it inspiring people to stand up for their ideals and change their certain living condition. It could drastically change people’s lives for the better, and help them strengthen their ideals. There is also some negatives that can come from my comic and writing. I think some people can get angered by my comic and my paper.

There are many people out there that do not like to “stir the pot”. They like everything the way it is, and get angry when people try to challenge and change the way things are. I can see those people taking one look at the subject matter of my paper and rejecting my argument right off the bat. I think if I also bring up some times historically where some touching subjects come up in terms of ideas and they still living today, could anger some people. There are a lot of bad ideas out there that have not died that probably should have. I think these can sadden some people and turn them off to my paper.

WP2: second post

After I conducted research for my comic, I was able to see it in a whole new light. Since my comic is an excerpt from a graphic novel, I decided that it would be wise to read the whole novel itself. After reading it, I got a lot of insight about the story as a whole, and what exactly it was trying to portray. The historical context of this novel is almost that of communist Russia under Stalin. The setting of a futuristic London under a dictatorship rule definitely changed the way I perceive this comic and how I am going to analyze it.

One of the biggest misconceptions I had with my comic was that the main character was some sort of vigilante. That he was more of a terrorist with anarchy on the brain. I couldn’t have been more far off. V (the main character) is more of a fighter of freedom. He is one who fights against the dictatorship, because he believes that the people should live in a world where they can speak freely and think for themselves.

I think that this is the perfect type of medium to fight out against oppression and tyranny. I believe that the written word is a great way to get across ones opinion to many different types of people. I think that he chose a comic book hero to do this for obvious reasons. I think people look up to comic book heroes. They embody ourselves in a way that we wish we could be. People will listen to the author’s ideas, when they are spoken through that of a hero.

When I first started to talk and think through this comic, I was thinking of the concept of killing an “idea” as killing an idea like communism. I couldn’t have been more wrong. It wasn’t about killing some type of tyrannical idea; it was more about promoting ideals that we as humans all share. It was about promoting that idea of freedom. That we cannot kill our undeniable rights that we as humans where given when we were born.

Another thing I have reexamined my comic another thing stood out to me, the way certain words where bolded and italicized. At first I really didn’t know what to think about this. I thought it was more of an emphasis on key words with no real background to them. Once I read the novel itself, I learned more about the relationship between these two characters. V thinks that this man is no more than a monster. These words are emphasized because he hates this man. The man in the comic has caused him much pain, and now he is exacting his revenge that he has sought out so long ago.

In the end I think that this comic is the final result of a struggle of vengeance and freedom. The main character has been wronged, and he is now exacting his revenge. He has also been oppressed by a tyrannical government and is a victim. He no longer wants to see others suffer the same fate that he has seen others and himself face.
Works cited:
"Communist Party of the Soviet Union"Oct 28. 20010 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communist_Party_of_the_Soviet_Union>
Moore, Alan, and David Lloyd.V for Vendetta.Us:Dc Comics, 1982

WP2: First Post

The comic that I chose is from graphic novel V for vendetta. The comic itself is about a masked vigilante, who decides that he isn’t going to take the unfair actions of his government anymore, and is going to rise and up inspire hope and anarchy in this alternate world. The panels I chose depicts the hero of the comic named V. In the two panels he is explained some of his philosophy that he has about people and an oppressive government. As I think through some of the content in chapter 15 in compose design advocate, it makes me think a lot about the content that is in the comic.

I think the aspect that we can understand a comic because of where we live, and what we have seen is extremely apparent in this comic. Because of history and what we have seen, what V is saying in this comic is very true. One example is the idea of communism. One might try and destroy the structure that has put the idea of communism into practice, but they can never really kill the idea itself. That idea will always live on the people who believe in it.

I think that the multiple panels of the comic are put together in a stereotypical, but effective way. With most comics I have seen, there are a lot of reoccurring themes. One that I have noticed is the dramatic statement made by a hero in a comic. There is always a buildup in one panel of the comic. Then in the next panel the hero drops a memorable line that sticks with the reader. A lot of times is will zoom in or make the hero the center of that panel.

This comic is no exception. We see V make is set up in the first panel, then drive it home with the memorable line “Ideas are bullet proof”. This really helps the flow between the two panels; you have the set up and the finisher. I also notice how idea in the first panel is in all capitals, and italicized. I think this emphasis on the word makes the comic flow. It makes you as an audience to read on and finish the comic.

The interactions between the characters in the comic are developed right off the bat of the comic. At first glance you can notice a gun, and V says “Did you think you can kill me.” Right off the bat you can tell that these two are not friends and are in fact enemies. If you look at the face of the other character, you can see what looks like shock, or fear. This leads you to believe that the man is scared or even intimidated by V. Finally the interaction is established with the closing statements of not being able to kill an idea. You might be able to kill a person, but the idea that he has inspired in people will be able to live on forever.

WP1: Final Draft

Authors Note:

The writing process for WP1 was a very long and tedious process. The first thing I had to do was to pick out my photograph from a slew of different choices. It took me a while, and I narrowed it down to a couple of photographs. Then I took these photographs and gave each one a solid look. I asked myself if I could relate to this photograph in any way, and does this photograph initiate any type of emotion in me. In the end one photograph really stood out to me and caught my eye, Boys fishing in a bayou, Schriever, La. Cajun children in a bayou near the school.

The reason I chose this photograph is very simple. It reminded me of simple times when I was a little kid, like the ones in the photograph. I also really enjoy fishing and being out in nature. So it was a no brainer why this photograph would be appealing for me. Last but not least, the photograph looked very calming and relaxing, which drew me to the photograph.

After the first rough draft I knew that I had many different things that I needed to do to refine my paper. The first thing that I noticed is I wasn’t very clear on my theme. I really didn’t know what I thought the argument of this photograph is. After I did some research on the internet, I learned a lot about what was really going on in World War 2. I learned a lot of about propaganda, and how everyone was pulled into supporting the war. After hearing this, I refined my statement of purpose to that of, making an argument for hope, and to think for one’s self.

I also noticed that I had been repeating myself a lot through the paper. I noticed that some of my ideas where out of order and that they should redone, as to fit and make sense. I rearranged my paper and combined certain ideas that seemed repetitive and out of place. I also noticed that I had been using a lot of different rhetoric terms, but really wasn’t getting too in depth. I decided that I should take some of them out so that my paper would have more evidence to make a detailed argument.

The writing process in between the second rough draft and the final copy was not so much coming up with new ideas, more of refining those ideas and solidifying my main argument. I started off by going into my paper and fixing some things that didn’t make sense. It was nice being able to look at the rough draft again with some more feedback, and to be able to see some things that didn’t really make too much sense the second time around. After I fixed those errors, I went back and added the correct citations to the statement and facts that I acquired through research. Then I went through and looked at the rhetoric arguments I was trying to make, and I made them even more detailed then the first time around. I changed my conclusion to make it fit the “so what?” statement that needed to be made. Last but not least I made sure that I had a proper works cited.

Rough Draft 1

Rough Draft 2

Statement of Purpose

Final Draft:





The photo I chose was taken in the year 1940 by Marion Wolcott, it is titled Boys Fishing in a Bayou, Schriever, La. Cajun children in a bayou near the school. It depicts two young boys, fishing in a bayou near a school yard. In the 1940’s propaganda ran wild. The American people were told to believe that they needed to support the war and that the enemies were complete animals. Sometimes the enemy would even be depicted as inhuman characters. It was like the American people were not able to think from themselves, and they were told that they should put most of their effort and lives into the war. (Wikipedia: United States home front during World War II). I think this picture is a statement, that the children have choice to think for themselves, and do not have to follow the propaganda. This becomes apparent when you look through a rhetoric lens and use the brightness, hue, cropping, and vectors of attention techniques shown through this photograph.



The vectors of attention are depicted by Compose Design Advocate as a way to direct your attention to a certain spot by the way the people-or objects-are arranged in the photograph. (Wyscoki, Lynch) In this particular photograph the two boys have their attention on the bayou. This arrangement directs the viewer’s attention to that of the bayou. This example of logos in the photograph inspires pathos in the viewer. The boys looking at the bayou brings up a mysterious even scary feeling to the bayou. It is like the bayou is the propaganda that the boys are supposed to follow. It is like the boys are looking at the bayou and wondering to themselves if they should conform to this way of thinking.

The pathos inspired by the vectors of attention can really help the audience relate to the boys and the situation. With all of this propaganda, and being told what to do, it would be very scary and confusing to be in these boys situation. You can almost relate to this by thinking about the war today, and different propaganda going on through the media. We can relate to the boys, because we are in a situation that can be very confusing. It is very difficult to determine what is fact and what is being made to make us side with the government.

When you look at this picture with a historical context, the statement of hope, freedom, and peace become extremely apparent in this situation. During this time and age, Louisiana and the rest of the world was trying to cope with World War II. They were forced to ration their food and gasoline, so that it could go to the war efforts. (American History society) Thousands people left Louisiana to pursue jobs that were abundant in many other areas to once again help support the war. (Wikipedia, History of Louisiana, Thee Great Depression and World War II) Many Americans where fighting overseas in the Second World War. These people where fighting other human beings just like themselves. I don’t really think it is fair for one to be depicted and treated in such a inhuman way.

If you also look at the clothing of the boys, you will notice that they are not necessarily dressed to impress. This tells you a little bit about the boy’s financial situation at the time. The boys are dressed in overalls and sunhats, with no shoes on. This reminds me of the story of Huckleberry Fin because of this style of dress. In the book Huck Fin, the main character is depicted wearing a sun hat, overalls, and no shoes. They are sitting on a tire for some sort of car, which makes me question if they can afford a nice chair to sit on at the bayou. They are also using a makeshift fishing pole, from a stick. This makes me wonder if they are able to afford a real one. The boys’ clothes do not look that well off and this brings up another point someone could make. The boys could be fishing in the bayou, representing propaganda, looking for some aspect of truth. One could see this bayou being the vast unknown that the boys need to venture into. They have given most of their money and effort to the war, and they want to find something that they themselves can take from it. There is also that element of the old tree that looks almost dead. This element can represent the older people in America that have given all they can in war effort, and are now burnt out.

The style of this photograph brings up a sense of peace and tranquility emotionally. If you look at the picture overall and do some cropping you will see that there is nothing in the photograph that will make one believe anything bad is going to happen in the photograph. The process of cropping is to take each of the elements in the photograph and look at them individually. (Wysocki, Lynch) When I do this I notice the peace and the tranquility of every element except the bayou. First of all take the boys who are sitting near the edge of the bayou. They both have their back turned and one is sitting down. The other has his hands on the fishing pole just relaxing and fishing. Looking at the boy’s clothes and posture there doesn’t seem to be any wind or negative weather that would ruin their fun. It promotes their innocents, and inspired hope that they are not tainted by the propaganda.

The brightness of the photograph really adds to the logos and the visual higharcy. Because of the light being in the position that it was in, it drew my attention to the two boys first as opposed to anything else. This light inspires that hope and peace. It draws on the boys innocents, and lets you know that they are the future, and don’t have to listen to the propaganda. If you look at the photograph, everywhere else is pretty much in the shadows except for the two boys. The shadows are the propaganda that has taken over America. The light and brightness also plays a big part with the hue.

The hue plays a big part of the peacefulness of the photograph. If you look at the colors of the boys clothes, they are very vivid and bright. The sunhats that they are wearing really stand out in the light that is shone from the sun. If you also look up at the tree, there is also a lot of light and an abundance of color with the leaves in the tree. This makes me feel an inspiration of hope. It is almost like they are being shown upon from a higher power. The higher power is like a blanket of protection that inspires that feeling of hope and peace. Given the darkness and unknown of the bayou it’s almost like the darkness and hatred that is going on in America. The boys are representing the hope that America has to think for themselves.

In the end it is clear that this photograph embodies the purpose of peace, hope, and freedom during a tough time, and the need to think for one’s self. We as Americans know how scary and misleading propaganda can be. Since we are in a war ourselves, it is difficult to figure out who we can trust, and who is just feeding out lies from the government. When we look through a rhetoric lens, it is clear that we can relate to these boys situation. We have a lot more in common than you might think, and we need to stand up against bias propaganda, and think for ourselves.

Works Cited:

"History of Louisiana." 18 Oct. 2009 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Louisiana#The_Great_Depression_and_WWII_.281929.E2.80.931940s.29>

"United States home front during World War II." 18 Oct. 2009 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_home_front_during_World_War_II>

"World War II Rationing." 18 Oct. 2009 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_home_front_during_World_War_II>

Wysocki, Anne, F. and Dennis A. Lynch. Compose Design Advocate. 1st ed. Pearson Education, Inc., 2007. Print.

WP1: rough draft #2

The photo I chose was taken in the year 1940 by Marion Wolcott, it is titled Boys fishing in a bayou, Schriever, La. Cajun children in a bayou near the school. It depicts two young boys, fishing in a bayou near a school yard. The 1940’s propaganda ran wild. The American people were told to believe that they needed to support the war and that the enemy where complete animals. Sometimes the enemy would even be depicted as inhuman characters. It was like the American people were not able to think from themselves, and they told that they should put most of their effort and lives into the war. (Wikipedia: United States home front during World War II). I think this picture is a statement, that the children have choice to think for themselves, and do not have to follow the propaganda. This becomes apparent when you look through a rhetoric lens and use the brightness, hue, saturation, chirping, and vectors of attention techniques.

The vectors of attention are depicted by Compose Design Advocate as a way to direct your attention to a certain spot by the way the people-or objects-are arranged in the photograph. In this particular photograph the two boys have their attention on the bayou. This arrangement directs the viewer’s attention to that of the bayou. This example of logos in the photograph inspires ethos and pathos in the viewer. The boys looking at the bayou brings up a mysterious even scary feeling to the bayou. It is like the bayou is the propaganda that the boys are supposed to follow. It is like the boys are looking at the bayou and wondering to themselves if they should conform to this way of thinking.

When you look at this picture with a historical context, the statement of hope, freedom, and peace become extremely apparent in this situation. During this time and age, Louisiana and the rest of the world was trying to cope with World War II. They were forced to ration their food and electricity, so that it could go to the war efforts. Many people left Louisiana to pursue jobs that were abundant in many other areas to once again help support the war. Many Americans where fighting overseas in the Second World War. These people where fighting other human beings just like themselves, I don’t really think it’s fair for one to be depicted and treated in such a human way.

If you also look at the historical context of the picture, you will notice the boys are not necessarily dressed to impress. This tells you a little bit about the boy’s financial situation at the time. During that time, overalls and sun hats would have been a very popular dress for young boys. This reminds of the story of Huckleberry Fin because of this style of dress. In the book Huck Fin, the main character is depicted wearing a sun hat, overalls, and no shoes. They are sitting on a tire for some sort of car, which makes me question if they can afford a nice chair to sit on at the bayou. The boys’ cloths do not look that well off and this brings up another point someone could make. The boys could be fishing in the bayou, representing propaganda, looking for some aspect of truth. One could see this bayou being the vast unknown that the boys need to venture into. They have given most of their money and effort to the war, and they want to find something that they themselves can take from it. There is also that element of the old tree that looks almost dead. This element can represent the older people in America that have given all they can in war effort, and are now burnt out.

The style of this photograph brings up a sense of peace and tranquility emotionally. If you look at the picture overall and do some cropping you will see that there is nothing in the photograph that will make one believe anything bad is going to happen in the photograph. The process of cropping is to take each of the elements in the photograph and look at them individually. When I do this I notice the peace and the tranquility of every element except the bayou. First of all take the boys who are sitting near the edge of the bayou. They both have their back turned and one is sitting down. The other has his hands on the fishing pole just relaxing and fishing. Looking at the boy’s clothes and posture there doesn’t seem to be any wind or negative weather that would ruin their fun.

Another element would have to be the bayou. When I crop the bayou and take under closer examination, I notice how calm it is. It actually looks like that of glass and barely has a ripple. The bayou is like the propaganda, solidifies my main theme. First of the all the brightness of the photograph really adds to the logos and the visual higharcy. Because of the light being in the position that it was in, it drew my attention to the two boys first as opposed to anything else. If you look at the photograph, everywhere is pretty much in the shadows except for the two boys. The shadows are the propaganda that has taken over America. The light also plays into that mystery surrounding the bayou

They bayou itself is in some extreme shadows. This brings me back to my point that it is the propaganda that the boys must have to face some day. The brightness also plays a big part with the hue and the peacefulness of the photograph. If you look at the colors of the boys clothes, they are very vivid and bright. The sunhats that they are wearing really stand out in the light that is shone from the sun. If you also look up at the tree, there is also a lot of light and an abundance of color with the leaves in the tree. This makes me feel an inspiration of hope. It is almost like they are being shown upon from a higher power. This inspires that feeling of hope, and peace. Given the darkness and unknown of the bayou it almost like the darkness and hatred that is going on in America. The boys are representing the hope that America has to think for themselves.

In the end it is clear that this photograph embodies the purpose of peace, hope, and freedom during a tough time. It uses the unique arrangement in inspire a great sense of pathos. It also uses many different rhetoric terms to solidly its argument and states its purpose. It usage of brightness and hue also play a huge part in the overall ethos and logos of the photograph. Its key elements solidify its argument, and it is argument of being able to think for one’s self, in a time of propaganda.

Works cited:

http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/huckfinn/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_home_front_during_World_War_II

http://enlou.com/time/years1931-1940.htm