McCloud

Chloe Brotherton

English 1510

September 10, 2012

“The Vocabulary of Comics”

Summary

“The Vocabulary of Comics” by Scott McCloud is a comic strip about how our brain is programmed to view an icon as the actual object.  For example, seeing a picture of yourself and thinking “that’s me!” when in actuality it’s not you, it’s a picture of you; except it’s not a picture of you, it’s a pixilated figure on a paper like item.  That’s how the whole comic is written, a breaking down of everyday icons. 

Synthesis

“The Vocabulary of Comics” is hard to compare to other pieces we have read this year, because it was a completely different style of writing.  Instead of the usual bland article written about how to properly research a paper or construct an argument, McCloud’s comic pokes fun at how the brain works and technically unless it’s the actual object, everything is an icon.  I found this reading particularly interesting.

QDJ

2.  Cartoons tend to draw more attention and focus opposed to the average article, and McCloud is aware of this.  Getting your point across through a comic is effective because people like the simplicity of pictures and words; it makes one feel at ease opposed to reading a 10 page article.  I would take a comic strip over a reading article any day.

3.  McCloud is right in ways of the reader becoming more distracted by focusing on the details of the pictures instead of the actual point being made.  He made a good choice by keeping the comic plain with little detail.  Pretty pictures can easily consume one’s mind; notice how cartoons on t.v. are more successful and watched if the cartoon characters are appealing.

AEI

4.  The concept of one having a mask is interestingly true.  Without a mask, one’s emotions would be available for all to see which isn’t okay in society.  Maybe it’s better off if everyone had masks.

After Reading Thoughts

I enjoyed reading this piece because it wasn’t your typical boring article.  I liked the pictures and word bubbles because they kept my attention and made the reading interesting.  I definitely wouldn’t mind if more of our class readings were like this.