Mapping Fun Home Project

I have just published my Mapping Fun Home Project which looks at the shapes of different themes throughout the book. The themes that I examine are sexuality and internal conflict  both through the lens of the narrator, Alison. I have mapped not only the progression of these themes for Alison but also for her father. I chose to do this because the relationship between Alison and her father is very complicated and since the story skips around time-wise, it is hard to get a cohesive perspective on how the characters develop chronologically. These graphs, side-by-side, show the big difference in each character and how their relationship functions because there is such a large difference.

 

This project was very difficult for me because I have never made an infographic. I wanted to do something new. Along with this, while writing my reflection I had a little trouble making sure that I wasn’t completely summarizing everything but instead adding analysis to my reflection which I think I ended up balancing well. Overall, I am very proud of this project.

 

Here is the original project.

Sunday Funnies #7: A Human Document

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Here is the original Sunday Funnies #7 Assignment.

My poem is taken from a page of the book, Ishmael by Daniel Quinn:

 

just the way I remembered it.

an earnest desire

An earnest desire to save the world!

An earnest desire to save the world

for the rare privilege of sitting

a big hug

 

You will wonder:

It’s a fair questions. I fact, it’s a question I was asking myself.

That’s right.

 

Stupid, no?

mentally dumb

just old enough to understand

It’s true.

When I opened my eyes,

the sky was a brighter blue

I expected to hear laughter.

 

Sunday Funnies #6: Visualize a Quote

PicMonkey Collage

I chose this quote by Socrates for my  Sunday Funnies Assignment because it really made me think. Often times we do not let ourselves try something because we do not think that we are ‘supposed’ to do that. Or, when we do go to something or see something we are left disappointed because we pictured it turning out differently or being different. I chose these photos to portray this quote because the one on the left was of my high school tennis team in 2013 when we were at the semi-finals of our state tournament. We took this photo as a joke and did end up losing the match (the photo and losing have nothing to do with each other). But, the photo on the right is us after we won our regional tournament for the first time in six years. If we don’t think that we can beat a certain team, we don’t but when we do take a risk and don’t have expectations, we are able to accomplish everything.

Quote: “Socrates Quote.” Goodreads. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Mar. 2015. <https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/719142-what-screws-us-up-the-most-in-life-is-the>.

Pattern in Fun Home: ‘Ideal Husband’

Throughout this chapter, many major events take place, all contributing to the idea that perhaps life is becoming much more real for Alison. There are numerous instances in Alison’s immediate life as well as the life of those around her where they must face the truth and by the end of the chapter, they do. There are three very clear examples: Alison’s Father seeing a psychiatrist, Nixon’s impeachment, and Alison getting her period. Alison’s Father is a little reluctant to let his family know that he is seeing a psychiatrist at the beginning. Alison even calls these meeting a ‘secret’. But, as the chapter progresses, Alison refers to “the sessions” (Bechdel, 184) very easily and like a normal part of life. Alison’s Father and her entire family face the truth and acknowledge that this is just another part of their life. Another interesting cycle where Alison must learn to face the truth is when she gets her period. Originally, she kind of brushes it off and decides that she doesn’t have to tell her mother about her period for a while. But, by the end of the chapter, Alison does get the confidence to talk to her mother about what happened. Although her mother doesn’t seem to care that much, Alison’s secret does come to light and Alison is able to face the truth which is a very big breakthrough. Lastly, Nixon’s impeachment process begins. At the beginning of the chapter this is just an idea but when we are nearing the end of the chapter, Nixon “threw in the towel” (Bechdel, 181). He realized that if he wanted to leave office without the reputation of being impeached, he had to resign. Nixon faces the truth. These are just three of the many examples of characters facing the truth throughout this chapter.

 

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Tracing Persepolis Revision

In my revision of my project, Tracing Persepolis, I tried to add more physical evidence from the pages. I included an analysis of the page layout and sizes of the frames to help my arguments in certain areas, specifically under the ‘Unhappiness’ and ‘Loneliness’ pages. I think that this makes my arguments stronger as it provides physical/visual evidence as opposed to contextual evidence.

Along with this, I took a look at Lily’s project. Her analysis on the relationships between child and parent (Marji and her parents) really add a new dimension to my claims and project. I looked at the idea that Marji is very lonely and how it is evident through my pages but Lily ponders that Marjane may be the way she is because the relationship between Marjane and her parents is so separate/distant.

Although there were no major changes to my project, the small changes make the finish product more clean and put together.

 

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Tracing Persepolis

Satrapi uses a graphics along with captions to get across the message of her memoir, Persepolis. Because of this, it is very useful to trace various aspects of the memoir. In doing this project, I physically traced two pages from the book and then closer analyzed what the graphics and artistic choices mean in terms of the story. I really wanted to get a clearer understanding of Marjane as a character and how different aspects of the sketches played into this.

I had a few challenges while doing this assignment. First of all, it was extremely difficult to trace the pages of the book without smudging my drawing everywhere. I solved this problem by printing the pages that I planned to trace so that I had a completely flat surface and then used a paper towel to put under my hand while tracing. Another problem that I came across during this process was figuring out how to set up the pages and subpages. I am not tech-savvy so this took me a while but in the end, I was able to figure it out through trial and error. The last challenge that I had was making sure that each of my themes stood alone. I naturally connected them together so I had to revise my work so that they were independent. Although the process was a little frustrating at times and very challenging, I am very happy with my finished product.

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