Author: Lily

Tracing Persepolis

When working on this Tracing Persepolis project, I found myself really aiming to tie the similarities and differences amongst my two tracings with the themes Marjane Satrapi conveyed through her memoir. Another goal for my tracings were to really focus on the color, saturation, placement of panels, perspective, framing of the panels within the pages, and the relationship between the elements on the page. They all played an integral part in the overall interpretation of the graphic novel and I really wanted to be able to focus on that by either leaving out or emphasizing certain details on the page.

I found it challenging to find the reason behind Satrapi’s different placement of panels and the different shading on some panels.  I found the differences between the tracings of the pages, but I had a difficult time figuring out what the purpose of it was. However, I went back to our notes in class and read through the themes that Satrapi seemed to convey through the memoir and I tied that in with the way she drew the panels. This project was really interesting in that I’ve never analyzed graphic novels in such a way before and it allowed me to really explore a whole different aspect of literature.

Live Blogging Persepolis

After reading the graphic novel “Persepolis” by Marjane Satrapi, I felt like it would be interesting to analyze the differences between the novel and the movie. I will be posting my responses to the movie and basically just whatever comes to my mind while watching the movie (comparisons to the book, anything interesting, anything worth noting, etc). Stay tuned :)

Cheryl Ball’s Public Lecture

Dr. Cheryl Ball’s public lecture called “The Asymptotic Relationship Between Digital Humanities and Computers and Writing” was very informative and really allowed me to understand the different areas of Digital Humanities: Electronic Literature, Media Studies, Rhetoric & Composition, and Literary Studies. Dr. Ball talked a lot about the pedagogy and emphasized the “evolution” of writing. Starting from the 1950s with writing as just a process and then going on to 1960s where they began student-centered teaching and then peer review. In the 1990s, people started using multimodels, visual rhetorics, and digital technologies as a way to teach students and for delivering presentations. I found it really interesting that the first dissertation on comps & writing was completed by Hugh Burns at UT Austin (yay Texas :D). I was able to learn about designing and assessing multimodal assignments from her presentations and enjoyed her humor.

Persepolis Panel: 2/2/15

“I didn’t want to look up. I looked at my trembling legs. I couldn’t go forward, like in a nightmare” (Satrapi 140).

I feel like this particular panel on page 140 was important in the development of the story. It really showed how Marji has been trying to take her mind off of the bombings by the Iraqis by going shopping and admiring materialistic items. However, when she heard that a missile exploded in the neighborhood where she lived, she quickly sprinted out of the store, leaving behind the jeans that she had already paid for behind. She realized that having her parents right next to her is the most she could ever ask for, especially during this time when everything she holds dear to her is on the edge of being destroyed. There was a 50/50 chance that her house could’ve been the one bombed and she never would have been able to see her parents again. Her parents also reciprocated that same fear for Marji. What if Marji was killed in the next bombing? This followed by other events led to Marji’s parents making the difficult decision to send Marji to Austria. They realized that it was better to send their daughter far away then to be close by and constantly having the fear of being the next one killed.

Sunday Funnies 3: Visual Note Taking

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It really helped me highlight the key points and allowed me to put all the main topics together. This allowed me to really focus on the key ideas and I didn’t have to be so overwhelmed with all the little details in my handwritten notes from class. By adding images, it drew my attention and really helped me retain information better. I feel like images, at times, can really convey a message better than words can. In this case, images allow me to link all the information from lectures together that words aren’t able to do (or can’t do as easily).

This alternative note-taking strategy made me realize how the information I learned in class all fits together. I’ve realized that I’m a really visual learner and that looking at pictures can allow me to recall information more. I found it pretty enjoyable to doodle around and was interestingly very relaxing. Although, the drawings took a lot longer than I expected, since I’m not a very artistic person. I also found it interesting how I was able to bring my notes together to a few main points to focus on because when I looked over my lecture notes I felt like there were many more topics that were covered. I find it really amusing how such a simple idea can really allow for me to retain information more efficiently and thus, increasing my knowledge in a particular subject.

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