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Technology impact on our mass media and media use
Technology impact on our mass media and media use
History of comic books
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In the essay “Kids’ Stuff” Michael Chabon argues that comic books have become too centered around adults and need to be more focused on youth readers like they were during his childhood. Chabon claims that the authors goal audience has changed over the years.Comics that were once written for children are now written to appeal to adults. Throughout the essay, Chabon disagrees with the authors choice to aim comics toward adults instead of children. He feels that authors should write children stories for children. Chabon asserts that comic books used to be extremely popular among people of all ages, but children were the main audience. Through the years, authors aimed to get a larger adult audience interested in comics. They started changing …show more content…
Some authors think that there is no point in writing for kids because they assume that children would rather use technology than read a book. Chabon counters at this statement by saying that if the kids of this generation had opportunities like he did, to read a good mind blowing comic, then they would choose to do so. Obviously, every child is not going to be interested, but many would be. Chabon makes the point that, in the 60s, kids had other fun things to do too. However, because they had access to appropriate kid level comics, they chose to read them. The problem now is that there are no authors willing to “compete” with technology because they do not realize how much a child would actually enjoy a comic book. In the 40s, comic books had a large audience. There would have been at least a dozen people in your class who read comics, claims Chabon. A few years later in the 70s, there would have been less than a dozen but more than one or two people who read comics. Now, it is hard to find more than a few people that you know who actually read comics. If you read comics today, you are considered unique. Children are loosing interest in everything that stimulates the mind in a positive way. Chabon claims that the obvious decline in interest in comic books should make authors want to take initiative and fix the
Michael Chabon author and Pulitzer Prize winner for fiction, writes a short keynote speech called “Kid’s Stuff.”
Inspired by the way comics were able to illustrate the events of WWII I decided to investigate to what extent did comic books influence American perceptions during World War II. Comics turned into an apparatus to exploit racial and social contrasts and outlet for wartime purposeful publicity. The Golden Age of Comic Books portrays a period of American comic books from the late 1930s to the mid 1950s. During this time, present day comic books were initially distributed and quickly expanded in notoriety. The superhero model was made and some surely understood characters were presented, for example, Superman, Batman, Captain America, Wonder Woman, and Captain Marvel.
Steven Johnson’s use of age does effectively support his theme. He believes that everybody should know the joys and benefits of reading. Although this is true, the younger generations of kids are more affected by video games because of the increased popularity of technology. Johnson writes, “I suggest you begin to foster in your children a love of reading and the printed word from the start...” (197). He is saying that to be an ardent reader, a person should acquire a great love for reading at a young age. In “Kid Kustomers”, young children are highly affected by these commercials. Little kids can’t tell the difference between advertisements and TV. Some kids can even recognize a brand name before they can recognize their own! One really intriguing idea is that, “... a person’s ‘brand loyalty’ may begin as early as the age of two” (354). It is very attention grabbing that a kid could have brand preferences before they can even dress themselves! Though this difference is a small one, it makes a big difference in the
In a world dominated by technology, reading novels has become dull. Instead of immersing into books, we choose to listen to Justin Bieber’s new songs and to scroll through Instagram posts. We have come to completely neglect the simple pleasures of flipping through pages and getting to finally finish a story. Sherman Alexie and Stephan King’s essays attempt to revive this interest in books that has long been lost. They remind us of the important role that reading plays in our daily lives. “The Joy of Reading and Writing: Superman and Me,” for instance, demonstrates how being literate saved the narrator from the oppressive nature of society. The author explains that even though he was capable of reading complex books at an astonishingly young
Why comic becomes famous? Comic is sequential art or text. According to the Wikipedia, The Pride of Bahgdad is the graphic novel written by Brian Vaughan. This story considered as anthropmorphic story (using animals/ rocks/ flowers as symbol) books since Animal Farm. The four main characters in the story are Zill, Noor, Safa, and Ali. The Lady and The Tramp is the love story between Cocker Speniel Dog and Streetwise downtown Mutt that launched in 1995.
“It’s not just the books under fire now that worry me. It is the books that will never be written, the books that will never be read. And all due to the fear of censorship. As always, young readers will be the real losers” (Blume 1999). Judy Blume can not explain the problem of book censorship any clearer. The children are the real losers because they are the ones that are not able to read the classic works of literature which are the backbone of classroom discussions all across the United States.
Every child in the United States has heard or read the Marvel and DC comics books. If you have not then you have probably have heard of their characters like the famous star spangled hero, Captain America, or the Dark Knight himself, Batman. Both Marvel and DC has influenced the children and adults of American in its darkest times. The great wars affected many by its poisonous grasps, and its victims sought comfort with the antidote provided by the marvelous illustrators and writers of comic books. Now their cinematic counterparts are here to inspire the 21st century. The Marvel and DC cinematic universes have similar content, they both have unique characteristics that set them apart.
In our society, certain ideals are held in high regard. Individuals relentlessly pursue these ideals to achieve a perceived perfection. These principles are often depicted in media that further glorifies and establishes a desire to pursue these paragons. In a medium such as comic books, however, these standards and perceptions are heavily distorted by the characterizations and settings. Particularly, the superhero genre absorbs the ideals we strive towards and regurgitates them in an extreme and unrealistic manner. The superhero genre is often reflective of societal changes in ideas and morals. These ideals are then molded into misleading representations that influence the behaviors of viewers. Comic books absorb elements of our society and transform them. For example, as the enemies of America change, so do the enemies of our superheroes. However, the enemies are transformed into supervillains that are extremely dark and villainous. Such characterizations cloud people’s understanding of real threats and enemies affecting our society. Also, to cater to the value that American society places on intelligence, attractiveness, and physical strength, comic books create characters that epitomize these characteristics. Though the represent society’s ideals, these characters manipulate the ideas and convey them back to the audience in an unrecognizable manner. In developing such distorted representations, the superhero genre affects human behavior and perceptions of these ideals.
“The Golden Age of Comics” PBS. PBS, 2011 Web. Retrieved on February 11 2014 from http://www.pbs.org/opb/historydetectives/feature/the-golden-age-of-comics/
Most people believe that graphic novels are just an art book with minimal text. They believe it is just for entertainment for kids or young adults. They think that graphic novels are just like comics. But to get to the point, graphic novels are just like all the other novels. They are a piece of literature that tells a story and pulls out the reader’s imagination, so that they feel that they are a part of the story or can even relate to the story. Graphic novels have changed and developed into such remarkable pieces of literature and should be accepted by all scholars to be placed in that category. According to John Ridley, “There are still some people out there who believe comic books are nothing more than, well, comic books. But the true cognoscenti know graphic novels are-at their best-an amazing blend of art, literature and the theater of the mind”.
However, this popularity has fluctuated throughout history. In the past few decades, demand for comics in the print media had been falling, in part due to the successes of other children 's media, such as cartoons. “Our biggest fear was that that audience was going to get to a point where we weren 't able to build it up again,” says Dan DiDio, co-publisher of DC Comics, “and a lot of what we do would be branded lost because there was nobody out there reading it" (Martin 14). Luckily, comic creators realized that the stories were perfect for screen adaptations: "they 're full of spectacle [and] adventure with an emotional arc for the hero. That 's what movies have always been about” (Humphries). The promise of lucrative merchandise sales and cross-promotion undoubtedly encouraged production, as well. Comic books were first adapted for television in the 40s and 50s, and met with huge success. Thus, superhero television programs set the stage for the inevitable point when comics took to the big screen with the first Superman movie in 1978 (Humphries). This cinematic moment ushered in a tricking of other superhero feature films, which eventually became the flood of superhero films that is taking place in the 21st
A children book is an extremely substantial and significant form of literature. It educates, affects and amuses at the same time. Although its main audience are the small children, the majority of adults in fact enjoy this type of literature as much as children do. This can be explained by the capacity of children literature to deal with great themes and topics that are too large for adult fiction. (Philip Pullman) For its great importance, the style and technique by which it is produced, is a major concern for both of the authors and critics. One technique has a particular impact in the children book, that is to say, illustration. Bearing the visual nature of children in mind, we understand that their books should be delivered with
Wright, Bradford W.. "Origins of The Comic Book Industry." In Comic Book Nation: the transformation of youth culture in America. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2001. 4.
When one sees a cute illustration for a product or business, or perhaps if an animated show happens to catch an adult’s mature eye, no matter what the content, the first thought to pop in their head would be whether or not the topic or content is appropriate in the eyes of a child. A mischievous 10 year old watching a show like Scooby-Doo could soon want to solve mysteries or an affectionate seven year old could watch a superhero show and become passionate about protecting something. This is because of the younger mind’s ability to easily select a role model. The younger the child is, the more impressionable they can be. And therefore, the viewing of cartoons could have a large impact on a child, especially between the ages of four and twelve. The cartoons that children watch could be positive or negative, and it largely depends on a combination of the child’s personality and attitude, as well as the cartoons they view.
Many children continue to be intimidated by the growing size of books, and back down from the challenge. An argument was made by Motoko Rich that “Although they (the Harry Potter books) have been cited as motivating children and adults to read, they have not led to an increase in reading among children or adults, nor slowed the ongoing overall decline in book purchases by Americans.” Though there are numbers aiding the claim that the series has so strongly affected children and their reading habits, the percentage of children who read for fun continues to drop at the same rate as before the books. As kids grow to teenagers, the longing for reading decreases at a decently alarming rate. It was estimated after the release of the Philosopher 's Stone in 1998 that 43% of fourth graders read for fun, whereas 19% of eighth graders read for fun. The same test and results were taken and recorded in 2005 after the release of the sixth book, The Half Blood Prince. As these numbers have shown, one novel every few years could not prove strong enough to reverse the decline in reading. The diminishing reading habits, as stated earlier, can however be blamed on obstacles such as growing social lives, school required reading and other sources of entertainment rather than the “failure” of Joanne and her