Ms. B: Exploring Graphic Novels

SPEAK: THE GRAPHIC NOVEL BY LAURIE HALSE ANDERSON & EMILY CARROLL On the first day of her freshman year at Merryweather High School Melinda already feels like an outcast. Shunned by her newly ex-best friend, tripped, pushed, and bullied by other classmates, and forced to take the late bus home from school all because she was the one who call the police at an end-of-summer party. Unable to speak the truth about what actually happened that night at the party, Melinda tries to forget by suppressing the memories and not telling anyone. Heather, the annoying new girl is the only person who will talk to her. Although she was once “happy” and “driven,” Melinda now feels detached and depressed. One class that Melinda finds safety in is her art class. all the students are given an object by the art teacher that they must study and draw over and over throughout the year. Melinda’s object was a tree. As the story progressed, the tree became a way for Melinda to speak when she, her...

Illustrations Can Hold A Thousand Words: Julie Maroh's novel Blue Is The Warmest Color expresses the deepest of emotions regarding love, heartbreak, death, and loss. Her story is told through short quotes from Clementine's diary, words and descriptions of how she felt that no one knew about. But also through Emma's memories of her time with Clementine, her one true love. The reader is introduced to the two women the first time they meet then follows their passionate yet tragic love story. The way that Maroh's illustrations depict and expresses a deep physical and emotional sense keeps the reader feeling like they have also gone through a these experiences of love, hate, loss, and regret.   ( https://Pixton.com/ic:cum64r01 )

Horror in the Graphic Novel “the word monster comes from the Latin word ‘monstrum’ which means ‘to show’ … there are a lot of things we don’t see everyday that are right under our noses … just maybe–monsters are right under our noses, too.” In the beginning of the book Ferris draws a distorted yet recognizable version of herself, a werewolf-like monster rather than what she actually looks like. She is drawn like this throughout the story until she expresses her desires of other women and her true identify is show. Throughout this novel we are introduced to a variety of people, some drawn as monsters and others drawn as handsome people. The reader is left trying to piece together the importance of the horrror like symbolism used by Emil Ferris.  Ferris's use of the expressionism art style is the base of the symbolism. She seeks to to express the meaning of emotional experience rather than physical reality. The monsters of her story are good people, people ...

Expressing Anxiety: When Gabby gets a call about her mother who she has not heard from in years. She is told her mother’s house has burned down, she has lost everything and is living in a tent. Bell heads to California to help her mother rebuild a home, but also to benefit herself and give her a story to write about. This graphic novel is illustrated in neat six square grids, packed full with detail and color. However, throughout the novel the reader gets a glimpse of Bell’s struggle with her own depression and anxiety she faces daily which is depicted comedically through illustrations. 

Large Panel Spreads While reading  The Outside Circle  these following pages stuck out the most to me. I really liked the way Kelly Mellings created these large panels that covered the whole page and depict multiple memories within one. She illustrates a scene in the background and overlays sequencing photos to display a vivid memory. I really liked this art style and decided I would try to create a similar effect by using real photographs of a few of my favorite memories.  Last August my boyfriend and I hiked Mount Pierce Mount Pierce, a 4,000+ ft. mountain in the Presidential Range in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. This was our first 4,000 footer and it was such an amazing trip for our one year anniversary. At the beginning of the trail there is a waterfall that we posed to take a picture in front of, and then again we posed at the top where you could see trees for miles. Every summer since I can remember for a week in the beginn...