Directions:

Type a 1.5 to 2-page, double-spaced response in Times New Roman 12 point font with a title that reflects the focus of your response. Ensure that your response is structured and organized. Most importantly, your response must thoroughly address the writing task(s). Use textual evidence as necessary and CITE quotations/paraphrasing using MLA style citation. Since this journal is based on a visual text, you may choose to include screenshots of panels or frames to help illustrate any point you make. 

Topic:

When we hear the word “text” we typically think of a body of words. We associate the word “text” with short stories, autobiographies, essays, and novels. However, a text can be a number of things, such as a movie, television show, art, and even a comic book. All texts lend themselves to criticism and they can all be analyzed through many lenses. For example, a text such as a comic book can be analyzed through looking at the rhetorical strategies the creator employs throughout the text. As Delkic points out in “How Graphic Novels and Comics Can Move a Story,” sometimes text can only go so far in the minds of readers, but text and images together can convey deeper meaning. Speaking of comics specifically, Delkic says “Comics can evoke meaning from small moments like pauses in conversation, nuances of facial expression and internal turmoil” (2018). Visual texts seem to communicate what words alone cannot. Looking closely at the expressions of characters or the colors being used, one can draw conclusions about a visual text that speak to its overall meaning. Taking this unit’s visual text into consideration, respond to the following:  

Writing Task: 

• How does the visual text illustrate its purpose? Be sure to point out specific examples from The Ordinary Devoted Mother.

MLA Style Citation: 

Bechdel, Alison. “The Ordinary Devoted Mother” Ways of Reading: An Anthology For Writers. 11th ed. Editors David Bartholomae, Anthony Petrosky, Stacey Waite. Bedford/St. Martin’s, pp. 73-108.

Delkic, Melina. “How Graphic Novels and Comics Can Move a Story.” The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/28/insider/graphic-novels-comics-book-review.html