I chose the topic "Elderly in America" because since I can remember I have always been fond of the older generation. I find older people very interesting and I think they have a lot to offer to the new younger crowd. I wanted to focus on them so people know that they live normal lives and still find time to have fun. My graphic novel focuses mostly on facts about the elderly population in America but also has characters that give insight to the changes that are occurring with the elderly.
I really enjoyed doing this project because of the topic I used and also because I like activities that you get to show your creative side and a bit of your personality in the work. I had six pages in my graphic novel. The first was the title page, which has two cartoon images of an old man and woman. This was used to open up the story and add a funny quote. The second page was an overview on the elderly in America. I had a picture of a large group to show the population of the elderly is increasing rapidly. I also used a picture of a man who looked like he was thinking so 1 could have him say that he couldn't believe all of the changes that were going on. The third page was about work. I had statistics on how many people work and their reasons for not retiring. I had a picture of a woman working in a field, a man teaching, and another man in an office to show the variety of jobs older people take on. The fourth page was about retirement. I used a picture of a woman volunteering, a couple walking, and people in the airport to show the types of activities they engage in during retirement. The fifth page was about nursing homes. I had facts about how many people live in nursing homes and their reasons for being there. There was a picture of a woman being helped by an aid, friends playing scrabble, and people eating lunch together to show what a typical day is like. The sixth page is about having fun. I had pictures of couples dancing, a group at a party, and a couple with party hats to show that older people can have fun too.
I was extremely satisfied with my final graphic novel. I feel that I really captured the elderly in America and the different stages of their life. I think I did a good job incorporating facts and a storyline to make it enjoyable to the reader. This was a great project and I really learned a lot while working on it.
When we were first assigned this project, I honestly wasn't too excited about it. I usually have a hard time being creative and I wasn't really sure what topic to select or how to even begin making a graphic novel. Once I saw the Comic Life program being used and watched a presentation on different kinds of graphic novels, my opinion of the project started to change. When I first heard the term graphic novel, I immediately thought about comic books, which I know nothing about. Then 1 realized that we had a lot of freedom with this graphic novel and it didn't have to be set up like a traditional "super hero comic book". I flipped through a sociology book to find a topic and the section on organized crime caught my attention. I thought this would be an interesting and fun topic to explore since I knew so little about it. While doing some preliminary research online, I found an article about the facts versus fiction in the film, The Godfather.
My main purpose for writing this text was to present a story that many people do not know much about. Very few people know that the main character in The Godfather, played by Marlon Brando, was based on a real Mafia boss. I found the story interesting and entertaining. I also found it interesting that Americans viewed The Godfather in two very different ways when it was released. Some people came to believe that these mob bosses were similar to "Robin Hood" characters, whereas others were furious that American cinema was making criminals look glorious. This was new information to me and I found it interesting and wanted to share it.
I chose visuals that would compliment my story. I didn't really rely on having my pictures tell the story for me. Instead, they were visual aids to my text, 1 had a limited amount of pictures to work with since there seem to be very few photographs of the mafia bosses. Since most of my pictures were head shots of these men, as opposed to action shots, I couldn’t really tell the story through character dialogue. Instead, I decided to cover the page with pictures and to tell the story through captions.
Overall I am pleased with the way this project turned out. Comic-Life is a great program that gives you so many options. I felt like barely tapped into what this program has to offer. If I had spent more time playing around with the program and experimenting with different backgrounds and different effects, I think the finished comic may have been much moree interesting.
This project proved to be quite fan. By creating a graphic novel about a sociological issue, I feel that I was able to relate more extensively with my topic. If the assignment was to simply write a paper about how tobacco companies target adolescents, I would not have learned as much and have received so much as I did from the topic. After doing my research and becoming more familiarized with the topic, I was able to take a more creative license with the graphic novel, I soon realized that the choices I made would strongly affect the outcome of the novel.
The visuals are what truly support the graphic novel. I made sure that each visual could easily represent the topic which would be discussed on its respective page. For example, the "Lies of Omission" page discusses the different ingredients in cigarettes, of which tobacco companies do not freely tell their customers. I included pictures of the different ingredients, on this page. This way, the reader would be able to identify the topic of the page visually before even reading the captions. I followed this pattern throughout the entire graphic novel. Visuals were also chosen upon the basis of dramatic effect. The purpose of the novel was to inform youths that tobacco companies purposely target them to be tomorrow's customer. I wanted to convey the message that teenagers are just a dollar sign to tobacco companies.
I believe I was successful in stressing the point of the graphic novel and I am very much satisfied with the result of my labor. The vivid pictures matched with some witty and sarcastic captions, create an uneasy feeling about the topic. This was my goal. I wanted the reader to feel uneasy about the topic because the more uneasy they feel about the tobacco companies, the less likely the reader is to fall subject to the companies' lies and manipulations. The words on each page were effective in delivering the point, however, without the pictures, the novel would have been incomplete.
When I first glanced at the requirements for this graphic novel, I cringed. Without ever reading a comic book or taking a class in sociology, I went into this assignment blind from all angles. To begin, I brainstormed issues and one path led me to the theme of energy consumption and waste at the Marine Academy. I was excited about this topic because I am annoyed by our society's wasteful and careless behaviors; with this topic I could pinpoint the exact inefficient habits and there was the potential to make some change in our concluding month as seniors. I sat down and planned out the panels for my project.
Part of my reasoning behind focusing on energy consumption at MAST was my idea of taking original pictures for the pages. This way, I could customize each scene and I was not restricted to what was available on the internet, I would be able to use the same two characters throughout the graphic novel, and I could get into a deeper scheme because I would not need to introduce each new figure. The different subplots of methods to reduce energy use would flow together well with ''Madame Energy " and the "Board of Education" - and this would all be done in an on-site photo shoot. Also, taking pictures for the graphic novel was not common throughout my class, so I was excited to do something unique. I had a lot of fun physically taking the pictures, too, which was an added bonus.
My mail goal in writing the text was to expose the ways we are not economically and environmentally savvy at school. I noticed that we - myself included - do not turn off computers and lights, we do not separate recyclables from garbage and we all use our cars too often. I wrote my character's text in a comedic way, so that the audience would not feel bored. Hopefully this conveyed a sense of fun more than a sense of assault on our practices -1 was trying to bring the issue to the attention of the student body and faculty rather than attack them for their routines.
After my Media Center sessions, I think I am more satisfied with my final result than I had anticipated. I love the ComicLife program we used, and everything looks so professional. My novel was special because of the customized topic and pictures. The pages turned out really well; the text that accompanied the photographs was a good balance between thought-provoking and comedic. After showing my classmates some of the panels, I feel that I accomplished my goal of bringing energy consumption to their attention without having them feel harassed. I cannot overemphasize how much fun I had with this final project, but I regret not having done something like this before my senior year—1 want to make my graphic novel a series!
For my graphic novel I chose the topic of immigration. This sociological issue is one that has affected our country since its inception. Everyday there is talk on the news about immigration reform or problems with immigration. As I drive to school every morning I can see illegal Mexican immigrants waiting to be picked up for work. To get the impact if this issue across I chose to compare two immigrant groups. Irish immigrants, who began a massive influx to the U.S. in the 1840s and 1850s, faced many of the same problems that the Mexican immigrants are trying to overcome today.
Each group was/is looked down upon by the majority of the U.S. population. They face prejudice and stereotypes at every encounter. They often have/had a hard time getting jobs. The images that I chose to put into my graphic novel reflected the message that each page was trying to convey. When discussing the Irish immigration, I used pictures that portrayed the hunger and desperation the Irish faced. I put each picture in teal and gave them all the same filter. This olden touch to the picture went along with the feeling of the past that I was trying to get across. The pictures I chose to use when talking about the Mexican immigrants were ones that showed them crossing the border and being arrested and working in a field. I used the same filter, but this time made them peach colored. This was done to give them a western desert feeling.
For the text, I chose to include a lot of factual information. I did this because the issue of immigration is important and I don't think that I could have made up a story about an immigrant. By giving facts and telling what actually happened I am telling the story of all the immigrants who faced trials and tribulations in the U.S.
I am very satisfied with the end outcome of this project. I think I did a good job illustrating and providing text for this graphic novel. I think that the end result was exactly what I wanted it to be and did a good showing the ins and outs of immigration.
When we were first assigned this project, I looked forward to doing it with nothing but dread. I'm not the artistic, creative type, and I kept saying how much I would have rather taken a normal written exam. First of all, we had to pick a sociological issue. I don't know. but news and politics just aren't my area either. Obviously I was off to just a fantastic start. Well finally I chose a topic which I could say I knew at least a little something about. When I chose the issue of gun rights versus gun control. I wasn't quite sure where it would take me, but as I worked on my project, things started falling into place.
My first page is just a general overview of the situation, followed by pages of the individual standpoints and background information. I must say that as I was writing my comic, I tended to be more biased towards the gun rights end of things, generally because that's my standpoint and I found it hard to stand up for the opposing viewpoint. The graphics I chose each meant something to me and I understood them, but I'm not sure that others would have the same understanding. Also, it was hard to find visuals to match what I wanted to say in some circumstances, so I feel as though some of my pictures are not as good and related to my topic as they should be.
Overall, I wrote my comic on the issue of gun rights because I thought it would be a good way for myself and others to compare the two sides of the argument. I am satisfied with my final product, as I put a lot of time and hard work into developing it. I wish I had made more of a story line with it and turned it into more of a comic strip-like outcome, but I still think the final product was pretty good, I did have a lot of fun playing around with the program Comic Life and it gave me a chance to express that hidden artistic side of me, if there is any.