Class Reflection

My two favorite books from this class were The Complete Maus and Night. Although these texts did not relate to my life i have always been interested in the Holocaust. These two texts taught me the importance of family and especially parents.

Before this class I had never even heard of a graphic novel, and after I did find out what they were i will admitt i was a skeptic. However after reading my first graphic novel I got a better understanding of graphic novels and in turn a greater appreciation. The main reason that I like the graphic novels so much and especially Maus is because when you read a graphic novel you can really picture what the author intended the reader to see in the illustrations.

If someone were to ask me to read the texts before this class, I probably would've missed so much. I can honestly say that before I never really thought critically about the texts i was reading. I would have to say that Oranges are Not the Only Fruit was the most difficult book for me to read. There wasn't really any suspense, to keep me interested. So I had to read little parts at a time and then take a break, to keep from falling asleep. As said earlier I didn't really know what to think about the graphic novels at first but now i can say that I really enjoy them, I really loved all the grahic novels. American Born Chinese because of the colors and the storyline, Blankets for the beautiful illustrations, and Maus was fun to read because of all of the animal characters.

Neil Gaiman The Sandman Dream Country

Neil Gaiman's adaptation of a Midsummer night's dream was somewhat hard to follow it was as if there was too much going on. The characters seemed to be somewhat dark , puck especially who looked like a goblin from a horror movie. I didn't really like this adaptation i prefer the manga.

This is performed on a hillside in front of creatures from faerie even those who are in the play are watching the play, and then there is also a play within the play with the commoners, which intertwines the real world into the play just as Shakespeare's original version.

The set of panels that interested me the most were the panels with puck on page 85 he just looks so dark and scary almost like The Grinch.

A midsummer night's dream part 2

When looking for an different interpretations for A Midsummer Night's Dream I found an Indian Interpretation of A Midsummer Nights Dream which is said to be "Performed in English and six languages of the Indian subcontinent while remaining true to Shakespeare's poetry, this exotic and passionate production is a dazzling new interpretation."

I believe that Shakespeare should be able to be interpreted and performed in different ways it doesn't always have to be exactly as Shakespeare first wrote it. With the different interpretations it allows for more people today to be able to relate to the play because they can see things from a different point of view. I believe that Shakespeare would have wanted people to relate to his plays and the many different interpretations can make that possible.

Manga Shakespeare Romeo and Juliet
In Manga's interpretation of the Romeo and Juliet Death scene I don't think that the interpretation of the images do it any justice because in the book they are in just a regular building but in the play they are in a tomb and i think that with them being in a tomb in the play it sets to tone for the end of the play.

Oberon and Puck
Oberon and Puck make me laugh when they are together. When puck messed everything up in the magical forest Oberon was so mad at Puck while Puck just laughed and thought that it was funny. Almost like two brothers who are always making eachother mad. A little while later Oberon decided that they would leave what puck had done, done and then later undo it. Oberon was getting less and less mad and then towards the end of the play they make ammends and they go back to being "partners in crime".

Soliloquy

HELENAHow happy some o'er other some can be!Through Athens I am thought as fair as she.But what of that? Demetrius thinks not so;He will not know what all but he do know:And as he errs, doting on Hermia's eyes,So I, admiring of his qualities:Things base and vile, folding no quantity,Love can transpose to form and dignity:Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind;And therefore is wing'd Cupid painted blind:Nor hath Love's mind of any judgement taste;Wings and no eyes figure unheedy haste:And therefore is Love said to be a child,Because in choice he is so oft beguiled.As waggish boys in game themselves forswear,So the boy Love is perjured every where:For ere Demetrius look'd on Hermia's eyne,He hail'd down oaths that he was only mine;And when this hail some heat from Hermia felt,So he dissolved, and showers of oaths did melt.I will go tell him of fair Hermia's flight:Then to the wood will he to-morrow nightPursue her; and for this intelligenceIf I have thanks, it is a dear expense:But herein mean I to enrich my pain,To have his sight thither and back again.





Helena is comparing herself to Hermia which is normal for a young woman and she just can't understand why if she is as beautiful as Hermia why doesn't Demetrius love her, seeing as how Hermia loves lysander. This is because love is blind, and he has obligations, meaning an arrangement with Hermia's gather. Despite Demetrius' love for Hermia Helena is pretty sure she will win him over.

A Midsummer Night's Dream

On page 68 in A Midsummer Night's Dream is the scene where Helena is grasping onto Demetrius' legs and telling him how much she loves him. Helena's dialogue is shown in heart word bubbles where as Demetrius' is shown in a jagged spiky bubble showing his frustration. Because Helena is grasping onto Demetrius' legs as shown on page 68 it emphasizes how desperate Helena is to be with Demetrius. Helena looks a little down on luck with her hair all a mess and a leaf in her hair. Demetrius' aggravation grows stronger you can see it in his face, he has a water drop on his cheek from being so frustrated he is grasping his face and as she keeps talking he grasps harder. Without Manga's interpretation of this scene it would be hard to see exactly what is going on, and how these characters are really meant to be portrayed.

War is Kind by Stephen Crane

This poem was interesting to me because the author Stephen Crane kept repeating the line "War is kind", when everyone knows that war is anything but kind. He talks about how it is so great that these men were born to die and basically that they are fulfilling their destiny so war is kind. Its almost as if Stephen is saying be happy that your loved one died because this war is a good thing. However when a person loses a loved one in a war they resent the war and think it is anything but kind so it is kind of ironic that Stephen says that it is kind.

MAUS Part Two

In Maus Part Two on page 204 I thought it was really interesting how when Artie is talking to Pavel how he says "No matter what I accomplish, it doesn't seem like much compared to surviving Auschwitz". Within these couple of pages Artie is shown really small like a child even though he is an adult, showing how small and unaccomplished he feels compared to his father and other survivors of the Holocaust.