Readers Response #4

Scott McCloud in “Vocabulary of Comics” demonstrates symbols and the connection they have to humans. Uniquely he showed us his views on such a topic by comics instead of traditionally writing about it. By using a comic strip it made his ideas a lot more clear. I could actually understand and connect to his concept of how we view ourselves in a less detailed drawing. It is easier to see yourself as that comic if it wasn’t so specific to an actual person.

McCloud reminded me of almost all the previous reading I have done in the past. They all manage to really get me thinking about concepts and ideas that never even crossed my mind. He was also portraying his message through framing. Greene has defined what framing was and how writers use it. McCloud made his reading dialog directly for the reader.

Before You Read:

1.       When I think of my favorite old time cartoon I think of the Power Puff Girls. Most of every girl my age could relate to Bubbles, Blossom, or Buttercup. The makers of the cartoon had made these three girls so different that while a child you at least related to one or had a favorite. The features that made the connection so strong were the hair color. Bubbles was a blonde, Blossom was a read-head, and Buttercup was a brunette.

2.       After drawing a picture of myself and then of a friend and not being the best artist I noticed that a big detail that set us apart was hair color as mentioned in the first question. My friend, being blonde and me being a brunette you could tell that most details beside that fact was mainly similar.

QD:

1.       I think adults like the simplicity of cartoons because they make you feel like a kid again. It doesn’t make you think a lot, you can automatically relate to the cartoon because its audience is so wide. I personally don’t think a cartoon can ever have an age limit. In the world we live in today there are even cartoons made specifically for adults. I think McCloud would agree with there being no age limit on cartoons. He knows the power one simple image has on drawing someone in and the power it has on relating to a wide audience.

2.       I think McCloud used the comic strip format to further express how true his argument really is. It’s a lot easier to get your point across sometimes by actually demonstrating it and he did that very well. I think by writing his points down we wouldn’t actually relate to it so well. It would be much harder for us to put ourselves in his shoes or see his point of view.

AE:

1.       I definitely think that more teaching strategies should contain visual imagery on helping to understand the piece that much more. Many people in today’s world learn better by seeing an image. They are more visual learners. I think you can get your point across by using visual images and it would help the reader see what you are seeing.

3. I think many adults give up on the idea of cartoons because they think that they are growing out of being able to relate. Little do they know that they encounter some of the same symbols in everyday life.

 

I loved everything about “Vocabulary of Comics”. I thought it was a very great way to express ideas by using examples through explaining it. I also love the fact that all of the readings require you to think about something that never even crossed your mind before. This piece really got me thinking about all the everyday symbols that we encounter every day and don’t even notice.