Author Archives: s.mohammed

ABC: Check-In #2

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In response to your comments, Samantha is the most experienced using Adobe, but she will be giving me a crash-course workshop so I can aid in creating graphics. I am familiar with the programs but will be needing a helping hand to master the more difficult parts of illustrations. We are considering a mix of hand drawn and computer illustrated as a way to differentiate answering the questions posted specifically for the project. For obvious reasons our images will mimic Yang’s original work but will also have our own take on it. For example, for our presentation, Samantha cropped out the characters from the graphic novel to show how each character looks like. We will use a similar method to add/retell some part of the story. We have decided to focus on a particular scene to elaborate on but since we have not yet picked out of the options, we will omit from saying which scenes we’re considering. In regards to the aesthetic difference between the way we will produce the images and the way Yang produces them, we will be a disclaimer in the beginning explaining that we are using Yang’s characters but hopefully will be changing their tone of voice once we develop the particular scene.

As mentioned briefly before, we are trying to zero in on a specific scene to add on to. We believe that this would give us a little more creative freedom as we will be able to manipulate the story and the tone to make it ours. We have also been conducting some comic book-making research in effort to closely recreate a comic book. Having visited creative blogs and various livejournals, we found that saddle-stitch binding a book is what most comic book writers do. Therefore, we are going to saddle-stitch our final products. We are also going to stick with the book dimensions of American Born Chinese.

That being said, we plan on incorporating the characters to help answer the various aspects/information the assignment asks us to include within our book content. Samantha and I have been able to meet up and discuss ideas on how to creatively execute this but we are yet to make final decisions. We hope to come to a consensus by the middle of the week so that we can begin working on the creative as soon as possible. As a group, we have already began outlining and answering the questions and information that the assignment requires us to include. We have taken your suggestion of creating a forward/blurb to incorporate the information and we will be working on which would be a best fit for our graphic novel. If we were to do the blurb approach, we were thinking of doing something similar to the back of the novel. It has “ABC” with blurbs explaining what the book is about. We also will be incorporating the page block dividers when we see fit.

Samantha and I also visited Harper & Brothers to HarperCollins Publishers: A Bicentennial Exhibition at Columbia University, Kempner Gallery, Rare Book & Manuscript Library. We drew great inspiration from the books on display and have taken into consideration how important typefaces (commonly known as fonts) are to a book. We also will be using a different typeface for answering the basic requirements and when we add our specific scene. Aside from the block dividers this will be the best way to differentiate the parts.

Whut kin Ah do?

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While reading “FIRE!!”, I was particularly drawn to the play due to my interest in scripts. In “Color Struck” I was admittingly thrown off by the language when I first started to read. It was honestly a bit difficult to read along at first until I got the hang of reading it. Since it is a script, it’s meant to be read out loud and understanding this made the reading experience that much more pleasant. The style of the language is assumingly meant for emphasis on the southern accent for example, “Whut kin Ah do?” (page 10) meaning “What can I do?”. It is interesting how the “broken english” sounds fine when used in spoken word but is much more difficult when written. The emotions, (written like this), also adds to understanding the scenes better as it is more apparent to see the contrast between emotions such as nervous, dull, awkward and etc.

The poem, “From the Dark Tower” by Countée Cullen, felt sad and heavy yet it also showed a sense of hope and potential. The sadness can be felt through the first line “We shall not always plant while others reap”. According to when this poem was written, I assume that the reference in this line has to do with the treatment of African-American slaves. The hope and potential that could be seen is in the last line of the first stanza, “We were not made eternally to weep.” My interpretation of this line is that this is a cry for help or maybe even a cry for justice. Saying they aren’t made to weep forever means that they too have more to live for than the white man’s orders.

The Herbalists’ Impact

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(Click on image for higher resolution)

I decided on adding a new scene just because I felt as though there could’ve been more about the herbalist in the story. I personally believe that she played a crucial role in subconsciously influencing Jin and it was a pity that she was only seen again during Jin’s dream as he was experiencing his transformation into Danny.

The scene in which I have roughly drawn above was inspired by page 204 when Danny was dragging Chin-Kee away from school ready to fight. I had the idea of Danny passing by the herbalist again and being recognized as Jin but was unaware of the herbalist actually seeing him. It is a simple scene but I feel as though it personally adds a little more on the foreshadowing of being able to see through someone for who they really are despite wearing a facade. After the fight as Danny transforms back into Jin and Chin-Kee into the Monkey King, Jin has the shocking realization that he had passed by what he thought was the herbalists’ shop again. This triggers him into remembering what the herbalist had told him all those years ago and it’s taken him the entire back and forth transformation to realize that he had actually forfeited his soul and was lucky enough to get it back.

Although I was not satisfied with the ending of the graphic novel, I chose to add a trivial part into the story instead of creating a new ending because I was unsure of my storytelling ability to create a new ending.

Longing for Youth

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After reading “Little Annie’s Ramble” by Nathaniel Hawthorne, I decided to try the follow the trail close reading method. While using this method I came to realize that there is repetition of variations of the word “child”; words such as children, childish, and childhood. It seems to have an ongoing theme regarding youth. As far as I understand, during my flat-footed reading, this story is being narrated from the perspective of an older gentleman in the town, which is interesting because I thought it was strange at first, for an older gentleman to just sweep away a little girl and take her around town. I also thought that the explanation of the animals seemed flashy and enticing, but in a way that would be attractive for a younger reader. This made me believe that the story’s intent was for a younger audience, perhaps even being a children’s story.

The follow the trail seemed to be too general so I decided to look into a particular part that caught my attention. Paragraph 3, the last 6 sentences or so, gave off a sense of sadness and the inability to perform in a certain physical way. I also felt a sense of longing for youth whilst reading this particular part of the story. Annie seems to represent youthfulness as the narrator is reflecting on his life and the life he sees in front of him. There’s a sense of realization that older folk can’t exactly do things like they use to in their youthful days. I felt as though the narrator was strongly emphasizing the restrictions that are placed upon elders that stop them from being Annie’s dance partner even if they wanted to. Instances in which he said “stiff with age; feeble with disease; … their bones would rattle,” there’s a heavy sense of solemness in these words.

Additionally, when the narrator said, “their hearts are far heavier than lead. It is a sad thought that I have chanced upon” I was given the impression that growing old seems to be more of a burden than anything else. I find this amusing because most people believe the older one grows, the wiser they become, but I get the impression that the sadder they become as well. I personally feel as though this applies to the overall perception of aging and how the older one grows the more they crave for things they once had. The more longing and perhaps regret fills their minds and clouds their hearts.

Excerpt:
“None but myself and little Annie, whose feet begin to move in unison with the lively tune, as if she were loth that music should be wasted without a dance. But where would Annie find a partner? Some have the gout in their toes, or the rheumatism in their joints; some are stiff with age; some feeble with disease; some are so lean that their bones would rattle, and others of such ponderous size that their agility would crack the flag-stones; but many, many have leaden feet, because their hearts are far heavier than lead. It is a sad thought that I have chanced upon. What a company of dancers should we be! For I, too, am a gentleman of sober footsteps, and therefore, little Annie, let us walk sedately on.”