Pyongyang and Traveling in North Korea

In Pyongyang, we follow our author as he travels to North Korea and the events he encounters there. This excerpt and story tell us a lot about North Korea that I for one had no idea about. The fact that he had to leave his cell phone at the air port and then he could pick it back up when he left shocked me. I knew that you could not take pictures everywhere and that is why North Korea is such a mystery to most of the world, but I had no idea they were as strict as that. When he was going through the airport at the very beginning and the officer was checking his stuff and asking so many questions, it was a great way to begin because it gives the reader the sense of how important this trip and national security is for the people of North Korea. It leaves the reader on edge and makes it seem like at any moment something terrible could happen and our author would be jailed or worse. I think it is super important to use graphic novels/ comics as a median for news reporting and journalism because it can give an image to a place that words might not be able to. In places like North Korea where pictures can not be taken, it is useful for the writers and authors to take mental pictures and draw them out for the audience to be able to step into their shoes and see what they are seeing. It is also a good medium for places that are war stricken because it is easier for the general public to digest. To me, it is very difficult to see pictures of pain and suffering which makes me not want to look at is and learn about it. If it is drawn, the audience can still receive the message without being desensitized to it.

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The Two Faces of Anarchy in V for Vendetta

As someone who has only seen the movie version of V for Vendetta once many years ago and have never read the graphic novel, I wasn’t exactly sure how similar or different the movie version would be to the graphic novel. I was in for a surprise when I discovered just how vastly different, they are from each other. With that being said, they do have some similarities when strictly looking at the motives of the characters. Let’s dive into those motives and how the author and illustrator of V for Vendetta achieved getting these motives across to their readers. In Scott McCloud’s chapter of Understanding Comics “ Blood in the Gutter ” we are presented with different panel – to – panel transitions, and an introduction to the term “gutter” as being the white space between the panels which is where the audience of reader “takes two separate images and transforms them into a single idea” (McCloud, 66). After finishing reading V for Vendetta , several themes or ideas that were most prevalent...

Sita's Ramayana, a struggle not that much different from others.

As I began the graphic novel it came clear to me, that I had to do a bit more research in order for to understand where this novel was coming from, where it was going and what I and it's target audience could get from it. So off to research I went. I found out that Ramayana is an ancient Sanskrit tail, that is a major text in the Hind religion. It was written between 500 and 100 BC. The story line is about Prince Rama and his wife Sita, who is kidnapped by King Ravana, who tries to convince Sita to marry him though she refuses. By the way King Ravana has ten heads is quite evil... ( no wonder she refuses, I think I would have as well..) So with the history of the tail in mind, the graphic novel is easier for me to understand. Sita's Ramayana is an adaptation of these Hindu tails that were originally paintings. I think it is awesome that it is now written as a graphic novel which also uses pictures to get it's point across. The use of color in this graphic novel is simply ...

Our world: Anyone can make a change

Are you a social activist? Do you do your part to make the world a better place? Even small acts can make a difference. First, I’d like to point out that a social activist is someone that takes a stand, someone who campaigns for a social change, an advocate that stands for what is right, it is someone who promotes environmental, social, political, and economic reforms to make that change in society. Now that I have defined it, let me explain some acts of social activism. Volunteering at any local shelters, whether it be for babies, kids, adults, and even to help to care for animals, your time makes a difference. You’d be amazed at how rewarding it is for yourself, as well as giving than receiving will make a whole positive change to your persona. Another example of social activism is going green. Recycling papers, boxes, and plastics, makes a whole positive change into saving our earth, as well as saving the ocean alongside the animal’s habitats, and stopping global warming. ...

ENG 4433: Topics in World Lit

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