Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud

I read the Vocabulary of Comics chapter, which I feel goes along with the questions best about combining visual and print text to contribute your ability make meaning out of it--because of it's in-depth evaluation of iconography.

I felt this chapter was EXTREMELY philosophical because of the way it challenged human perception vs. words, objective art, and more iconic, "cartoony," art.  I never thought about how by looking at a smiley face, which is just a circle with two dots and a line, I cannot restrain myself from recognizing the symbol as a face!!  He was so right on!  I also liked how he separated the picture from the actual object, as well as a symbol from the actual idea, for example, a flag is not a country, or flowers drawn on paper are not flowers, they are drawings of flowers.  He completely challenged my previous views about comics, he made it seem amazing that for all this time, I could actually look at a picture and automatically recognize it as the object it is representing, it just makes the human brain that much more mysterious and wonderful!!

The Beowulf graphic novels I felt were extraordinary representations of comics as an art-form.  Hinds' comics were much more along the left, realistic side of McCloud's triangle diagram.  They were not just comical drawings, but beautiful, detailed, colorful paintings.  I think this is just right for Beowulf, because a more cartoony version of the story would have made it seem like a joke, but the paintings made it seem like a magnificent, mystical land.  I found myself primarily looking at the pictures over the text since I've already read the story a few times for different classes, and also because, lets face it, the pictures were what really made the story interesting!!  I now totally understand why Shannon chose Beowulf as the story to compare with McCloud's theories in Understanding Comics.  Beowulf's writing alone is a very hard story to comprehend!  Translated right, like in Hinds' version, the text is vivid and exciting, but combined with the beautiful art he made for his comic book, it really becomes alive.

Beowulf

Seamus Heaney
Albert W. Healey
Kevin Crossley Holland (kids)
Dorothy Hosford

I chose the, "Grendel's Head," chapter to examine because I thought it sounded the most funny. This excerpt is about when Beowulf has to save everyone from a monster named Grendel. All of the strongest warriors have already lost against this monster, but Beowulf kills him and then he even goes on to cut off the corpse's head!
My favorite excerpt is the one by Albert W. Healey. His rhyme scheme seems a little random, but, it's most definitely victorious and inserts some comedy and surprise in at the end,

"His body now bounded
away, when he suffered that blow after death--
a hard sword-stroke!-- and then Beowulf cut the fiend's
...head off! ---"

The words, "bounded," and, "blow," and, "hard sword-stroke," give off a victorious rhyme scheme, while the last two words of the excerpt are indented and left alone, punctuated by the three lines at the end, as if to add an element of surprise. I felt like this rendition of the situation was the one I could relate to the most reaction-wise, because the other authors' excerpts don't seem the least disturbed by this barbaric feat, while this one is animated by exclamation points and spaces at all the right positions. I love the pause right before the words, "head off," as if it's so surprising. It may not have been intended to be comical, but I found Albert's text quite funny.

One thing that I found in all of the texts was that it was less about the heroism of saving lives, and more about the triumph of killing the monsters. The stories all seem to celebrate the barbarism and the killing that is going on rather than what Beowulf is protecting.

Beowulf represents the, "classic hero story," because he has superhuman qualities and tools, he is undefeatable, and he is continuously worshipped for his victories. Like other superheroes, Beowulf is deeply relied upon because he is the only one who is able to defeat the monsters.

Heroes

I believe that a hero is someone who cares about something altruistically, and not for their own personal goals. Real-life heroes don't have to be rescuing humans all of the time, although it's very possible, but I believe they can be helping other things for our world as well, like the environment and animals. Heroes are people who sacrifice a lot of their time to make something that they believe is wrong, right, and heroes ultimately always want to make the world a better place.
I think being a hero is more than just donating some money to charity every month, although that helps. A hero is a person who feels like they have to take responsibility into their own hands. Maybe it's by creating a new way to heat homes that doesn't use gas, or starting their own charity organization. Or maybe it's by helping everyone on a team get along and work together. It's definitely a mother or a father, or some kind of parenting figure. I think a hero is most of the time seen as some kind of leader, but I am sure they don't always have to be. They could be someone just defending another person. I think acts like that make a person heroic.
I think the hero that has been popularized is seen more as either a celebrity, or the classic, "superhero," in a cape, saving the entire world. But most of the celebrities I have seen, have got to where they are in life for their own personal goals. As for the superheroes, nobody has superpowers, and I'm sure if they did they would put them to good use, but I think everyone has the power to help save the world a babystep at a time, just by helping one another and defending the environment.
I don't necessarily think the world needs, "heroes," but I do think that the world needs good people, and I believe that good people are altruistic and defend what is right.

Monomyth

I chose Lena from, “The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants,” to be my character for this assignment. As I was most interested in her side of the story, I decided she would be the one to move through the structures of the monomyth.
At the beginning of the book, the birth/home of Lena and her three friends, also later known as the sisterhood of the traveling pants, is literally, at their birth. Their mothers befriend each other during their prenatal class and when the girls are born, they become playmates. As they grow, the girls become inseparable despite their differences in appearance and interests and become each other’s source of consolation and friendship.
The plot begins when the girls have to separate for the first time, their call to adventure, when all of the girls have to go to different places over the summer, except for Tibby, who stays home. Carmen goes to her father’s house, who is divorced from her mother, Bridget goes to soccer camp, and Lena goes to Greece to visit family. Before the girls depart, they all visit Tibby’s house to say their goodbyes. Rummaging in the back of Tibby’s closet, Bridget finds a pair of jeans that wonderfully fit all of them perfectly, from petite Lena to shapely Carmen. The girls decide that these pants are to be their magical connection to each other while they’re away and have a little ceremony in the old 80’s workout room where their mothers’ prenatal class used to be. To make the, “Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants,” official each girl promises to send the pants to each other back and forth while they’re away. These pants become like their own little helper or amulet, and make each girl feel stronger on her adventures as she wears them. The girls cross the threshold when they make way for their summer journeys.
Lena's tests begin at her arrival in Greece. She is greeted by brilliant sunshine and her enormous, cheerful family. She feels awkward and unsure of herself at first because she doesn't know how to speak her family's native language. Lena, I should tell you, is also extremely beautiful in the novel, but is very shy and tries to cover it up. That day, her grandmother tells her that a, "nice boy," is coming for dinner, and that Lena should dress up nice. This angers her because she hates being set up. In an effort not to dress up, she defiantly puts on the traveling pants, which end up looking even better on her than usual. Later that night, Lena tries to escape the setup by moving to the terrace, but the boy, named Kostos, ends up following her there and asking her out. Because of her bad experiences with boys in the past, she thinks to herself that she might of liked him if he hadn't.
The next morning, Lena, wearing the pants, is on her way out the door, when Kostos shows up with a plate of pastries. She denies his attempts to get her to snack with him saying she needs to go outside and, "catch the light," but then he follows her out. She then tricks him by telling him she is going in one direction when she is actually going another, despite a, "lust," to paint a boathouse the other way.
On Lena's last day of her turn with the pants, she decides she needs to have a real adventure. She walks down the island a bit and discovers a little pond. Wishing she brought her bathing suit, Lena strips down to her underwear, but then, feeling encouraged by the pants, decides to go nude. She swims in the pond when suddenly she sees a figure. She sinks to the bottom until she is aware that someone is there, so she gets out. Kostos appears behind a tree and Lena becomes EXTREMELY angry and embarrassed, believing that he followed her there and spied on her. Later, Lena arrives home, clothing askew, and runs to her room crying, "Kostos is NOT a nice boy!!"
Kostos' grandfather and Lena's grandfather get into a huge fight about what they have seen and Kostos steps in to stop the old men from hurting each other. This time Lena feels bad because he hasn't done anything wrong.
Later Lena finds herself sitting between her grandfather and Kostos' at the hospital waiting room. One man has a few stitches and the other has just bled a lot. She promises herself to explain everything once things calm down. This is the climax, and the final battle she must face before she goes home...I also believe this could be the flight because of how long she avoids the situation.
Finally, Lena explains everything to everyone and soon everything is back to normal. She and Kostos fall in love eventually and they promise to see each other again. Lena returns home a little sad, but also happy for the adventures she has had.

What is an American?

In my opinion, an American would somehow have to be associated with the United States in order to even consider calling themself one, whether it be by living there or being born there. I believe that anyone who can call themself by a certain title has to show some kind of loyalty to that title. I hear many, "Americans," put down their own country from time to time. To me, calling yourself by a name that you do not even like or have respect for is like insulting yourself, so when Americans insult the United States, I can't help but feel they are somewhat hopeless by not even giving something that they are a chance. I feel a true American would be someone who has pride in their country.

Literary Theory

For some reason I am very fascinated with mythology, probably because I've always loved the idea of believing the fantastical since I was a very little girl. A story my mom likes to tell everyone was when I was four years old. I was sitting in the backyard, holding my arm out with my finger pointed for hours and hours...Finally my mom came outside to see what was going on, and I started crying because no birds would land on my finger like on the disney movie princess, "Snow White." My interests in ancient times and the ceremonies and the fairy tale-like folklore they believed makes me very interested in the Philological theory.

Even though the idea of deconstruction seems almost tedious, I really like the idea of breaking something into parts and questioning whether it is the way you think it is...I've never liked the idea of being one-minded about anything. When I study for a test, I tend to think way more deeply into the vocab than most of it actually is, and then I get the answers wrong because I've broken apart the, "correct," definition so completely. I like that in literature, this is allowed.