Transitions in Maus

Art Spiegelman uses a variety of transitions in Maus. He doesn't stick to just one type of transition. In a graphic novel it is important to use a variety of transitions to add more effect in the story and to make the reader more invested in what is going on.

The first example of a transition that Spiegelman uses is on page 62 of Maus in the bottom panels. Vladek is being shot at in one panel and in the very next panel he ducks into a tent. This a good example of Action-to-action because the single subject (Vladek) is peeing in one scene and in the very next panel that subject is going into the tent (which is the second action).

The second example of a transition that Spiegelman uses is on page 55 of Maus in the four middle panels. This depicts Vladek and another individual talking while in bed. They are in the same bed for four panels but each panel they are moving different parts of their body. This is a good example of Moment-to-moment as the characters in the adjacent panels are the same subject characters for all those panels.

The third example of a transition that Spiegelman uses is on pages 46 and 47 of Maus. At the end of page 46 Vladek is getting a physical for the army and the very next page he is on the battlefield. This shows a timelapse between the two and shows the process of getting into the army and how it can feel like to end up on the front lines when at one point physicals were being conducted before. Little reasoning is required to explain the transitions between the two pages.

Art Speigelman is a brillaint author when it comes to using transitions because he does not stick to just one transition. He uses many types of transitions in his work to illustrate the extremeness of the story.

 

COMM 203 Blog # 2 - Manti Te'O and The Case of the Invisible Girlfriend

It is very easy to trick people using the internet. So many stories could be fabricated and believed to be true. These stories can be fabricated through many means. This story is the perfect example. Most famous people would not lie about having a fake girlfriend but with the internet it makes the lie more believable. If we didn't have the internet Manti Te'O maybe wouldn't lie about such a thing. Not only football players do this sort of thing. In online gaming many gamers disguise their gender and they end up "dating" someone else playing that game. Little do the people dating them know that they are of a different gender. Some gamers do this gender swapping for several reasons. The most common reason is to get free items in the online game. It is scary to talk to someone on the internet without knowing if they are real or night. Dating websites become dangerous in this aspect. When someone goes to meet a person they are talking to on a dating website that person could turn out to be not what you expected. They could be a criminal, a rapist, or a killer. A perfect example is the Craigslist killer. Being someone else on the internet is easy and it's scary to think about sometimes. Each time someone puts personal information on the internet they may get worried that some random person online may use that information to harm them. A good simulator of this is takethislolipop.com is a good replication of what someone could do with simple information someone puts online. It shows that a crazy person could travel all they way to someone's home and harm them. When it comes to the internet people should be proceed with caution and not believe everything they see or read.

COMM343 3 Assinged Graphic Novels

The three Graphic Novels I plan to read are The Walking Dead, Watchmen, and V for Vendetta


The reason I chose the Walking Dead is because I already own the First Compendium (Which I have still not finished) so this will motivate me more to finish it. Also it is the original source work for my favorite tv show. I will gain more knowledge of storytelling with this graphic novel because I always used to think that all American graphic novels were just about super heroes and I am interested in how a graphic novel can tell another story.

The reason I chose Watchmen is because I have heard many good things about this graphic novel from everyone who has read it. I believe I will learn more about transitions as I know that the cover automatically transitions to the first page of the novel.

The reason I chose V for Vendetta is because I am interested in the premise of the story. I am also interested in why it is very popular. I think I will learn how a story can be so widely known. I also want to see variations in artwork that is different than the other graphics novels as well. I want to see how a particular style of art does or does not have to match the story it is telling.

COMM203 Blog #1 - The Obama Digital Re-Election Campaign

I agree that the internet had a huge help in Obama winning the campaign. During the election everywhere I looked there was always Obama supporters and Romney haters. Rarely did I see someone support Romney. On Tumblr almost everyone made some sort of joke about Mitt Romney and how he wasn't fit to lead the country. The effect is as big as they claim in the article. The success of a campaign is planted in all age groups not just targeting one. Obama was able to target every age group and social group. He reached out to the gays and he reached out to the elderly. He also reached out to younger voters on Reddit. The social media and the internet are going to be the main tools in bringing about change. A good example is Kony 2012. One 30 minute video online got so many people to stand up for this movement. It was widely talked about everywhere. This video was not originally played on television so this says that the internet is going to be the primary source for making changes in our growing society.

COMM 343 Comparing Maus and Understanding Comcis #1

One of the concepts that is presented in Understanding Comics that is used in Maus is the use of symbols. Symbols are used to represent concepts, ideas, and philosophies according to page 27 of Understand Comics. The example that is clearly seen in Maus is the symbol of the Nazi regime. This symbol is the swastika. The swastika is seen on the front cover of Maus and on page 32. You can tell what the characters in the story feel when they see that symbol on the flag. One does not need to know what ideals the flag represents because they can simply tell by the way the character’s eyes widen when they see it. On page 33 there are several panels where the swastika is in the background. In these finals on the foreground are evil acts being committed. When these two are seen together it is easy to tell that the swastika and the acts being committed in this panel are related. Just from this you can tell what the swastika entails and how it is represented. If the symbol is seen throughout the rest of the story then the reader can know what the symbol means just from looking at it. It is interesting to think that the reader won’t even need to read the text to know how to react when they see this symbol. Also the fact that the members of the Nazi regime are shown as cats and the members of the Jewish faith are shown as mice can also show the superiority and the discrimination that came along with this symbol. The size of the panel on page 32 of Maus also can show the importance of this symbol just by the fact that all the mice are looking at the flag and the panels before showing the terrors in their expressions.