Looking back on Thompson

31- I think that Thompson is setting this picture up like this for reasons more shown later in the book. He shows Phil's face as very innocent and young, and Craig kind of scrunched up in the corner of the box helpless- wanting you to think of this scene when Craig describes how he wishes he could have helped his younger brother in this very situation.
87+ 128- on both of these pages Thompson shows how the hmmmm of the heater beasically is surrounding young and then older Craig. In one instance when he is affraid, cold, and alone and in another instance when he has the perfect company.
145-147- This sounds kinda odd, but I do like how Thompson made such a scene out that can be seen as incredibly sexual and maybe even gross to some people to read about, but with this I really like how he made it not perverted. He made these pages out to be just as if Raina were to be with Craig and they were sharing this passion amoung one another, but they weren't. But to me it still felt like and looked like a scene where it shows their longing for one another.
207- On this page I feel like the parents are in a way being just as childish as they son. It appears like they would rather not being talking about this sinful situation no more than Craig does, but they have to. It just makes them come off as two people that obviously don't understand or want to understand children are children and are going to go against what they should not sometimes, that they are going to grow up a little more than they should sometimes and yes some things they do are going to be appriote and some other things aren't, but it is just how his parents handled this situation that struck me as odd in a way.
223- This page I honestly never even realized before. Having all of the stuffed animals around him while in the guest bedroom at Raina's house. This shows to me how all of these young toys or animals brought him back to his own childhood asking but knowing the same question of who touched me?

Persepolis the Movie

I loved the move ten times more than reading the book. I think that it was because the movie put you right in their situation being able to live it with them instead of trying to understand what they are feeling through reading. The movie showed you visually how affected Marjane was when the bomb had hit the area where they had lived and when she was the braclet that she knew looked familiar. While reading that part I didn't put the same emphasis on her facial expression of just how affraid she really was. But actually seeing her face it made this whole situation so much more realistic to me. The movie definitely made me appreciate this book so much more because she is truly telling her story of her home life. Having to deal with bombings and worrying if your own mother is still alive to even showing how she was so focused on this war and just how frustratd her parents had gotten with her. I never realized how serious she was to the point where they would just have to send her out of the room, for her pure misunderstanding sometimes of what was really going on with the war. I loved the same in the movie as I did in the book how outspoken she was to her teacher. The one thing that I never really got from the book was her students reaction towards what she had said. The fact that they were chearing for her and clapping just solidified how wrong they were teaching even in the school systems, and trying to lie to the children so that they would believe the way of the government.

180- End of Persepolis

Going through the second half of this book it was very difficult to get through. It was very drawn out to me- and sometimes wordy in different situations. It seemed to turn me off when blocks of dialogue were lots of writing and long lengthy speachs from when she was in a class getting a lecture. It just seemed that the reader could have gone without having to read all of that. I don't think that the political stuff would have made much of a difference in the book anyhow whether we read and remembered it or not.
What I did enjoy about this book was how it told a true story of a young woman trying to find herself. Trying to make her own mold and not conform to society. Marjane was taking the risk of stepping out of the boundaries in a country where they killed people, where speaking or out doing some of the things that she had been accused of doing such as speaking out in such a manner, I am suprised that she wasn't killed for. I did love that she did stick up for what she believed in though, she wasn't about to let anyone tell her a lie when she knew that she knew and understood the truth. I loved also her parents in this book to allow her to grow up. Though I don't think that sending her to Austria was a way to make her not be so dependent on her family it worked in that same when. She returned home knowing that there is definitely more of a world out there and she lived it and not the easy way. She returned home depressed but picked herself up. She learned from her own mistakes which is exactly what her parents seem to want to let her do. Live life learning from her own experiences. For example her marriage, her father says that he knew all along- he just needed her to do it on her own.

Persepolis -179

I find it amazing how young children want to help everyone around them, first off in this book that surprised me was her wanting to be a prophet; not for the attention she would get but because of what is around her. Helping her grandmother not have pain anymore, and so her maid could eat with them. Also, her wanting to participate in the revolution makes you think what other children thought about or wanted to do related to the revolution. At the same time I think it is in a way comical that she is a tape recorder, she takes in what any adults tells her and plays it back to anyone where the topic realtes. She is completely unsure if it is true or not but she simply goes with it anyway. But as Marjane grows up you learn that she is very outspoken. She begins to learn about her culture and debatable topics and sticks people with them. She always seemed to come off as a very young and independent girl, always saying by a teen that she could take care of herself. That obviously had shown through when her parents had decided to send her to Austria. Thats when comments such as "I'm only fourteen! You trust me?" came into her vocabulary, not being so big and bad any more now that she was going to be on her own. I found it very interesting how she was really trying to find herself in Austria, it was interesting to see how long she would truly allow herself to stay with certain groups. Such as the nuns- that was bound for failure from the beginning just because of how much of a true spirit she had.

Maus complete book

This rest of this book reveals even more the odd relationship that Artie and his father share. It also reveals how the Holocaust took its affect on not only his father, but how Artie feels about many situations as well.
Having to go out to visit his father, he doesn't want to do it but he goes. I couldn't imagine then pawning him off on my fathers next door neighbors to keep an eye on him because I, his child does not want to watch after him myself. I think that it is incredibly frustrating to Artie obviously tha this father is such a horder of unnecessary items but what can he do?
On the other hand Vladek is affected with how he buys things, especially food. He even admits on page 78 how he cannot throw away food after Hitler. How awful that must be to have an event so large as the Holocaust completely take control and affect your life not only during, but for years after the event occured. I also wonder how it affected those Germans who were killing all of those people each and every day. I could only assume how that could maybe drive a man crazy, needing to kill more and more every day. How was their life affected after the Holocaust was over? Did they feel the need to keep killing?
I also found it interesting again in the remainer of this book on how Vladek survived. How he used craft to get into the infermatory to get better treatment and food; but to also help them out as much as he could so that they would like him. He was constatly gainning more and more friends for help along the way that honestly in the end saved his life. Thinking of all of the small things that he did such as giving bread so two men would carry him to the train; I would never be able to think of such crafty things in order to stay alive. But I suppose when your life is on the line then everything changes.
The last thing that I found very surprising about this portion of the book was Vladek racism towards the black "dog" I guess in this book. I was and at the same time was not shocked at how he ached. The man was completely nice and polite but just from simple expereince Vladek didn't like him at all.

Maus II chapters 1-2

In this section it was interesting to see how Artie responed t0 his fathers past. For instance, he was feeling in a way guilty because he father had survived the Holocaust, or guilty over the fact that his life is a lot easier than their's was. Even when he describes sibling rivalry between him and a photograph of his dead brother. I think that he wants to know more the people that died such as his mother and brother rather than who was given to him; his father and Mala who bother don't seem to be much of a help.
I think that he avoids as much as he can the problems between his fathers relationship with Mala because he truly has no intrest in it. I think that he just wants his own mother for his father so that he could stop worrying about him and so his father would stop complainning about Mala.
Their relationship continues to be so odd between father and son. Only staying through the weekend even though he knows that his father is so alone and feels completely by himself. He even tried to pawn off his own father on the neighbors, who don't want to look after him any more than Artie does.

Maus 1

This book was a good story to me, I think that it portrayed the story of that time period very well. It showed step by step what Jewish people of that time really had to go through. What was a real eye opener for me what the time period of which all of this took palce. Now I have read a lot of the other books about the Hollocaust but I never realised that it occured in the fourties, that was shocking to me ralizing that that was around the time of WWII and things like that.
I really liked how crafty they had to be to simply survive. No one was family anymore, but just people trying to survive. That is astonishing becaue no one could really just help others out of the kindness of their hearts because brutal death was the consequence.
For my groups discussion there was a lot of instances where the text was related to the pictures. For example when Vladeks son comes back to his home in the beginning of the book and he hadn't been back in a while, and Mala put his coat on a wire hanger, and how upset and frustrated Valdek gets with her. Another isntance was when Anja was reading the letter from Lucia about Valdek, and how it shows her crying as she is reading.
This was book was really good, though I do get confused in some points simply because of the talking about how the book makes them speak in broken english sometimes. but otherwise I enjoy oddly reading about the Holocaust and Jewish victims of this awful time period because it is history, and it really happened to people. I think what makes this story so amazing to me is that there are still people that are alive today that lived through this, that can relate to stories that are told about this time in history.

Blankets 3-9

In the beginning of three, I loved his writing relationship with Raina. It was so real and they put so much of themselves into what they were writing that it made it all like a fairytale. The blanket that she made for Craig was nice because it made him completely connected to her, when he left her he would still have something special that she made for him. I definitely thought that her brother would turn around and end up talking to Craig and getting over him being there but he stood his ground. It was surprising that he got that mad but Laura loved him so much and his company at the house.
Craig and Raina really seemed to connect but I think that it was soon for such a visit for Craig to take, they really didn't know each other that well before he came to visit her for 2 weeks. They definitely liked the thought of one another, and the company of the other but it didn't seem within the company of one another that they both knew how to take it. It seems to me that if you like someone that much and enjoy being around them then you wouldn't care who is around to just sit next to them or hold there hand or anything. They seemed very seperated while during the day which I don't understand for how much they say they like each other. Writing to someone you do get to know them on another level which is also really good, but I think that is why they didn't connect as well when they were together all the time because they weren't used to that constant company.
Craig seemed to look up to Raina in the way that she took care of her siblings Ben and Laura. But I think that he blamed himself for what he allowed to happen to his younger brother Phil, saying on page 291, "But I'd been too weak to look out for my own little brother." I think he truly blames himself for that and is another reason why he feels so connected and says that he loves Raina so early.
When Raina asked Craig why he said that he loved her she was ocnfused, but felt as though she had to say it back...so she did. Which I forgot about, being that it didn't seem real or sincere at all. And following saying that she loved him with a where does that leave them now and so on. But when she asks him not to ever leave her and he says that he won't and promises, that seems more like she truly does want him. But more for comfort that something is her life is right, and not falling apart and stressful like her parents divorce or takingg care of her siblings. But the one line that I truly believed her on was the note that she stuck within the blanket that she helped him packed made me believe her that much more that she truly loved him. Until the random break-up of course which made complete sense with there distance, but it was a great looking relationship while it lasted.

Blankets Chapters 1-2

Blankets reminded me of a real relationship between siblings that would argue over having to share a bed but then be best friends in the next scene. It was a very typical brother to brother relationship in my eyes that Phil was much to old to be playing childish games with Craig, but when it came to making plans and ideas to get what they both wanted, such as the fan on those hot nights, they'd work together.
The drawings in this book are much different than in Fun Home, the second I opened the book I was shocked because the drawings were so loud, and etchy. Whereas in Fun Home they were actual scenes that you could fully make out and put yourself in. There house as a child in Blankets was just very sketched out and tough to get a full true picture of it.
I got very curious around pages 29-31 when the babysitter was taking the boys into a seperate room to tell them a very "funny" joke that she had to tell seperatly. It was never talked about later on in the book but the way that Thompson chose to draw Phil when he came out of the room was as in something had happened to him in that room that was traumatizing for him to brin gup again. I was waiting for some type of explination of what had went on but he just doesn't give you anything.
Also in this book the lines were much harder for me to deciphor what was important and a noticable change compared to what was not. In Fun Home it was easy to show a change in the fathers facial expressions because the drawings were much easier to see and understand, and also Bechdel made lines that would stick out and be noticable to the reader.
One other thing about Phil is that he is always timid, which makes me think that much more that something more must have happened to him as a child. Never mind all of the bullying that he had to go through his entire life, but something more real and unnoticed yet that he will uncover later in the story.

Fun Home Chapters 3-7

In these chapters, it reveals how she has her first lesbian experience which is ironic that it came in the same chapter when she found out that her own father was gay. Relating his death to other books made sense, and was something that I would have never thought of. She new he loved books obviously but it would always be a great wonder if that is actually what his intentions were, to kill himself close to when other writers or characters had died. In chapters following that it was always shown with emphasis that he alwways tried to make her as much of a girl as he could make her.
On page 97 when he is shoving that hairpin back in her hair, I don't think he would have honestly had that much concern wheather it was in her hair or not if she didn't show such great signs of wanting to be a boy.
I thought it was incredibly weird how her father had a picture of Roy within their family photos. Anyone at any given point could have found it wheather he was dead or alive and brought up questions about it. Also how he would bring his latest boyfriend on family vacations would be a giveaway in my mind. Who has a male babysitter that is in high school that you want to travel with you and your family when your wife could? But he always would go places where he knew she wouldn't, so it always seemed to solve that problem for him.
When she explains seeing the woman in the lunch place in Philadelphia she says that she recogonized her with great joy. I think that it must have been incredbily difficult for her to try and figure out and harness those feelings that she had about her sexuality. But now actually seeing a woman looking, dressing and acting exactly how she wants to made it settleing i think to let her know that there are others out there but heartbreaking because she can't be that person now.
Showing time in this novel simply through words and not through the gutter or anything is when she explains on page 168 how life continues after the play had ended when she is still getting her period. Also, movement is also shown when they are showing talking to two people like on pages 167 and 181.
Lastly, on page 191 when she talks about looking at herself in the mirror and calls herself a faggot, I think that he father raised her (not intentionally but just by chance) to be completely ashames of her sexuality. And by her not knowing what to feel or think that is exactly what had happened, and she further explains how she made no parallel to her and her fathers sexuality. But yes I think that being a homosexual can be a learned act depending in some cases maybe how or who you are raised by, but in her situation I don't think that it could have been that way. Her fathers sexuality choices were never out in the open like that to his children so I don't think that would have had much affect on any of them anyway.

Fun Home Chapters 1-2

I don't really know where to go with this book, or what to really say about it. In the beginning of it you already could get kind of an idea that as a child this little boy didn't get that much attention from his father because he was trying to enjoy every second that he got being lofted in the air to fly like an airplane. But then as the story went on further, it seemed like the author droped huge news on your lap that made me literally gasp because it was so unexpected but then not refer back to it. For instance when he is talking about his father he explains how many people think that he is a great guy, but would a great guy have sex with little boys. That made me keep reading, wondering if he was having sex with his own sons.
Also I got confused who the narrator of the story was. At times I thought it was a son of his, and then it would change to his daughter it seemed? But it would do so without any hint or of it.
When one of the kids says that he began to resent his father, it explained it perfectly as to fit his fathers personality. Sayaing "I grew to resent the way my father treated his furniture like children, and his children like furniture." His father was in love with art and placement in his home, but more treated everyone in the home as a figurene instead of an actual human being. He wanted to palce his children in places and have them stay and make his scene perfect it seemed.
The fathers death too came as a huge surprise but you can't really feel sad because of how he treated his family. They said how he would try and make scenes into things that they weren't, to appear to be great while his family was hating every bit of it. His mother as well never seemed to be enjoying herself. Never the less the children hadn't either.But you would think that a mother who stays with a man like this would love him in a way, but she doens't show any love for him or her family much. Though in the end she asks for a divorce, even when they shows her children when they were babies she looks miserable.

Second Half of Understanding Comics

This seemed like a very similar read to the first half of the book. You got tired of reading it, and it over explained everything that he was trying to get across. It was incredibly repetitive when he was talking about one comic artist getting farther than the next artist, and then the next artist, and then the next artist. It definitely made me want to just put the book down!
I did like when he broke down the different ways of writing comics, and how the words realte to the pictures and visuals differently. Also when he related to the 6 steps of writing, how no artist is initially looking at that but in the end they always end up exaclty in that order of idea, form, idiom, structure, craft, and surface. I also found it interesting how comic artist showed movement and how not even thinking about that when we read we automatically know what that character is doing without the writer telling you that, "he is running very fast". Uniting senses and art must be a difficult thing to incorporate but once the artist found that gap it came to be a great piece.
When he speaks about the balance to comics being as much of an additive as well as a subtractive; but with too much or too little of one or the other is crucial, reminded me of our portrait essays. That is because with too much or to little description of the person we have chosen to write about can either make or brake our essays.

Understanding Comics- Chapters 1-4

In these four chapters it was over all a pretty easy read. I felt that the author broke down a lot of things, like how people look at objects and relate most of them to human faces. I thought that was very interesting because I do that a lot without even noticing it.
But I also agree a lot with what the class was saying today about how it can get slow and confusing sometimes. I definitely lost interest a lot during the four chapters, but then he would find a way to make it interesting again by an explination.
I also found this not difficult so much but more different because I'm not a big comic reader, and following the flow of writing wheather it had been up and down to more side to side was hard for me personally to follow. But Overall it described a lot of things in a different way that I really liked. For example, how he was explaining how when using simple words can work to your advantage so much more because it describes the picture a lot easier. Where as if you use large words, the pictures will have to be so much more desrciptive.
Also with this book I found that I was simply trying to get through it, more ignoring the pictures all together and just reading all on the text.

The Fishing Story

The start of this story shares a lot of her great-grandmother and certain habits that she always did around her house. This section of the story was close to a narration because of the stories that she was sharing, how her great grandmother would rake her sandy front lawn and about the only plant that she allowed close to her home.
After that story she shared things about her own grandmother, which I strongly envied the realtionship that they shared, explaining some of their favorite things to do with one another. Saying how they like to watch the armadillos across the yard and the peircing blue summer sky or the full moon. All of this is strict discription of their shared enjoyments together which I truly liked. This showed in another way how to share a portrait of someones personality, like our essays have to be, by simply describing what the two of you enjoyed doing together.
The point of exposition in this essay was when she explains how she just wishes that she could tell her grandmother to "Just stop it!", but she knows that she can't. This point is exposition to me because she is viewing the whole situation, in realizing that yes this can get annoying and stressfull to hear the same things over and over agaiin but she doesn't have a choice. The family knows that the grandmother is sick with this disease and cannot help what the side affects are. This is a point of true struggle for the granddaughter because she needs to find ways to cop with this constant repetition in her life by herself.
The argument in this story or the point to be made was when she is describing how she can remember the color and pattern of her mothers dress 89 years ago but cannot remember what she did three minutes ago. The point is that her grandmother has a solid 5 to 10 minute memory and the narrator needs to deal with her repetition and constant unknowing of the world around her and take it in stride. Having to re-explain things hundreds of times or even listening to the same stories over and over again.

My Sister/ Bumping into Mr. Ravioli/ The American Man at Age Ten

Starting with My Sister, it seemed like a very pointless story to me. It simply showed an odd connection- maybe not odd but different connection between a girl and her older sister who she was unsure if she even wanted her around most of the time. But in the end sticks up for her, simply showing the sibling connection.

Mr. Ravioli on the other hand I really enjoyed. I thought it showed how funny children can be at that age and hoe much they truly do imitate their surroundings. Her parents I thought did a great job in trying to find out if it was normal for their child to have an imaginary friend, thinking if it was my own child I think i would be very nervous about imagiinary friends but seeing how his sister broke it down in an explination it seemed normal. I thought it was comical how she did make a friend that was even too busy to play with her, I think it showed a lonely child truly looking for something interesting and "grown up" to talk about with her parents.

Lastly, The American Man at Age Ten first off was a good read mostly because at more than one point within the essay it made me laugh out loud. And standing in line reading and laughing to yourself looks kind of weird but that was me! But anyway, I completely thought that the narrator was ten aw well? At points it was very obvious all up until she said that he asked what profession her husband had, and she said a lawyer and so on. But right in the beginning of the story she said that she wanted to marry Colin. So that was a bit confusing, maybe I just missed something. And just one line that I can remember off of the top of my head was the line about him wanting to go to college at Oklahoma City State College University, OCSCU, which I thought was so cute for some reason. And also loved his contradiction with woman. He loved them, he hated them, but the most beautiful was his mom, that was relaly cute. Which shows at that age that boys are still unsure if they want to like girls or not, if its cool, ut definitely liking your mom is okay. But even some of the things that he knew at ten years old was shocking to me; abortion, sex and money and marriage. Also when he highlights race for a second in the reading seemed odd and out of place.

The Love of my Life/ Ashes

First, I didn't really love either of the essays honestly. Ashes was very opposite of how my family is so relating or trying to understand living in a family without hugs, I Love Yous and affection in general is pretty much close to impossible. On the other hand, The Love of my Life was a shocker in a way because I have never really heard of anyone turning to sex to cure their grief.
Ashes was a story where I truly felt bad for the mother not because she had cancer, but because it seemed as though she was living a life that she really didn't want to. She was no stereotypical mother, not really wishing for marriage for her children, and very outspoken about having no alcohol at her daughters wedding. But even when her children are trying to be supportive of her and her sickness she rejects it at all angles. Even with her own husband, who seems to be a royal ass to her, she doesn't seem to mind but imagine how hard that much be for her to live with someone who constantly critisizes your life style and the choices you make. For her it is about her smoking and drinking all the time that he blames for her having cancer. The way that she even gives up on life shows that she never really wanted to truly live it after a while, giving away all of her jewelry and such things to her children shows defeat. It is true that some people diagnosed with a disease like cancer have strong religious beliefs and that is how they make it through, but for this family, what are they supposed to rely on? And why aren't her children enough for her to want to keep living? I think it is because she never truly wanted the life, family, children, or husband that she has now.

The Love of my Life was a heart breaking story simply for Mark because he was truly in love with his wife. He had no clue that she was doing as much as she was behind his back and it probably killed him even more to see how her life unraveled even more after their separation. Also, how loving and caring, and attentive he was with her showed that he would truly do anything to just try and make her happy. Only thing that I did but didn't understand was why she even told him that she had cheated on him to begin with. She knew how truly devastated that he would be, so it would have just been that much better for her to stop having sex woth so many other men and stay loyal to her husband. Her life truly turned to shit after leaving Mark, with the drugs, the abortion and to top that all off the loosing the ring int he river. I'm sure she felt that she had nothing left to live form rightfully so, but it must have been a hell of a ride trying to get through life with the incredibly heavy burden of constant depression.

101 Way to Cook Hamburger/The Fourth State of Matter

101 Ways to Cook Hamburger was a relly good story I think because it showed how someone was truly trying to defeat something within themselves that they truly couldn't control. It was completely unexpected to read that the girl thought he was gay, and it ended up that he was. thinking of a situation when someone is kind of unsure of something such as that, but then they find out that they like their best friend, it is a debate if you should say something to them or not. It seems like that would be a tough situation to have to deal with- fighting with ever telling them or not. When he asked his mother what a fag was, I think she had some inclination that people may think her son way gay but never figured anyone would call him a fag. So when he asked I think it took her by surprise and she was more concerned with having her son go through that bullying. After seeing how hurt she truly was is what I think made him want to change himeself so much more. But certain comments on description of a male teacher just shows how no matter what he can't help his attraction or hgiher intrest that he has for males.

The Fourth State of Matter I felt was very random. Jo Ann lead a very sad life I thought and was a complete people pleaser. I didn't like it because I felt she was a character that was compeltely walked over by everyone including the squirrels in the upstairs of her own house! But I hated how her husband treated her and how she just excepted it, and still in a way expected him to call her. I wish they made her more of an independent character that was in control of her life. And I really didn't like how she lost the only person that she truly loved. Loosing Chris took so much more away from her life, loosing her dog and then marrying Chris would have been so much better. But something even worse and more sad to read would be her life now after Chris and how she goes on knowing that her husband doens't love her, and her best friend just died.

About Me!

I am here at the Univiersity of Hartford because I was recruited to play basketball. I am a member of the team starting my freshman year and hope to have just as a successful season as the women had last year. I love to play all different sports, and other hobbys of mine are singing and reading. I really look forward to taking this class and viewing things in a different manner than I have been, and I'm also very excited about improving my own writing!