Graphic novels are basically elongated comic books. Most teachers make students analyze chapter books, poems, or short stories. However, very few teachers will give students an assignment that analyzes a graphic novel. Despite graphic novels being considered on the fringe of literature, readers think graphic novels should be used in college classes more frequently. Neil Gaiman wrote a series of graphic novels, The Sandman. Volume eight Worlds’ End of Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman is a fictional story that tries to convey a sense of “reality”. Neil Gaiman’s novel will challenge readers because of the literary devices and techniques he uses such as, frame narratives and symbolism. Furthermore, The Sandman Worlds’ End should be highly considered because …show more content…
A frame narrative is a literary technique that contains a story within another story. This novel is like Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales because they both have a bunch of small stories within a larger story. In these small stories there are multiple perspectives, therefore the reader must pay attention to who is telling the story. In addition, in The Sandman Worlds’ End there are many sub stories such as A Tale of Two Cities, Cluracan’s Tale, and The Golden Boy. These substories give context clues to the main story. For this reason, the structure of frame narratives are important because they shape the overall …show more content…
Neil Gaiman is one graphic novelist who uses symbolism in his work. In The Sandman Worlds’ End there is a sub-story called The Golden Boy. In The Golden Boy Gaiman provides readers with economic awareness by using political figures like Richard Nixon and John F. Kennedy. Usually writers will make up events for their story, however, Gaiman uses authentic United States Presidents from the past. Also, Gaiman conveys a sense of good versus evil in The Sandman Worlds’ End. Boss Smiley is illustrated as a man with a smiley face as a head. Boss Smiley represents the corrupt politicians in the world because he looks as if he is nice, but he is actually corrupt and evil. Usually smiley faces are symbols that represent friendliness or happiness. At first, Boss Smiley is portrayed as a friendly and happy man. Yet, readers soon find out the he is actually deceitful. Also, the Prince of Stories is another character who looks as if he is evil because of the way he appears. The Prince of Stories is dressed in black from head to toe and his eyes are pure white. In most cases the Prince of Stories would be the bad guy. However, he is the good guy who rescues Prez from Boss Smiley’s haunting. Gaiman uses and opposite
A narrative is the revealing effect of a story from the first person point of view, which describes an experience, story or a set of events. In the story, the narrator tries to engage the audience to make the story further compelling. The narrator’s job is to take a point and a stance to display the significant point of his or her’s view.
In Neil Gaiman’s Sandman, Death represents life’s two constants, being born and dying while her brother, Dream, represents hope and hopelessness, with both Death and Dream representing humanity’s two most feared constructs. Through this comic, it is displayed that Death’s representations are based in her subsequent realm of reality as Dream’s representations are present in his alternative reality of the Dreamworld. This results in no clear ending nor beginning as exists in the circle of life, causing the alternative reality to be the more feared.
Through characters such as the monster and William Frankenstein, the motif of light and darkness helps to set the mood of the story. Light is always portrayed as good while darkness is always shown as evil. There is a direct contrast between these two characters. The monster is viewed by everyone, even himself, as dark and repulsive. While William is viewed as a shining light simply because he is human.
This can also be described as the way story events are distributed within the film by the plot. This distribution results in narration. Range and depth of information are the most important considerations when distributing story events for narrative purposes. Bordwell & Thompson, 2004, p.87
The importance of a story is to have a purpose and meaning, through this, people are able to engage and learn with what is being told to them, it has to have a connection to the past, bringing it to the present and to involve both the body and mind senses. Through storytelling the audience should gain an understanding and have a sense of emotion touched and come alive, they should also be able to explore the possibilities within their culture and feel a deep connection to country.
Neverwhere as an Intrusive Fantasy In the novel Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman, points could be made that it could fall into the category many of the fantasy types described by Farah Mendlesohn in Rhetorics of Fantasy. However, after reading more and more of Gaiman’s novel, my argument is that Neverwhere is most like an intrusion fantasy. Neverwhere has the element of bringing chaos into the normal world from London below into London above, and in turn into Richard’s life, therefore following the main baseline of an intrusive fantasy. First, it is important to understand the basis of an intrusive fantasy, as outlined by Mendlesohn. In short, and the most straightforward explanation, Mendlesohn tells us that “in intrusion fantasy the fantastic is the bringer of chaos” (Mendlesohn 21).
Some of the greatest villains in literature are characters who have merely been misunderstood. While we are drawn to literary heroes and admire their strengths, we often forget to consider the point of view of their enemies. Many of these enemies also possess strengths that the reader does not realize. Along with traditional heroes, the villain in a story can be considered an anti-hero. In the story Grendel, by John Gardner, the reader is challenged to contemplate the thoughts and feelings of the anti-hero, Grendel. Exploring heroes like Beowulf, and anti-heroes like Grendel, and the Beast in Beauty and the Beast, causes the reader to develop a better understanding of the relationship that exists between the characters and their society.
... other. Although Peter is considered evil and cruel, the novel never mentions him killing any human being. Ender is another perfect example of good and evil coexisting in one body though he is generally seen as good, he has his moments. Finally, Card expresses his thoughts on his theme of good versus evil with symbols that can describe the deception of looks; not all who look innocent are innocent, and not all those who look guilty are guilty. Good and evil lives within us however it is up to each individual person to decide which side of the fence they would rather be on: good or evil.
Symbolism is what makes a story complete. In "The Great Gatsby" Fitzgerald cleverly uses symbolism. Virtually anything in the novel can
Narratives/ Narrative Frames The narratives are a necessary component. Narratives lead the audience to think about the event that the speaker talked about. Expression of values and goals is the main aim of narratives. (Hampton, 2004) stated that stories provide frames for understanding experiences, explaining and solving problems, and giving emphasis to moral value.
In the story “The Adventure of the Speckled Band” the author Conan Doyle portrays many different narrative techniques. He uses these techniques to provide meaning for the audience as well as help them visualize the situation that was being described. The different techniques used are narrative discourse, suspense, conflict, close, and focalization in his story. Narrative discourses are events, to describe a series of events that are contingent one on another. Typically focuses on one or more performers of actions. Personal experience can influence narrative discourse due to the explaining of significant events in the life of the narrator. Narrative discourse is made up of setting, developing
A set of practices concerning the narrative structure compose the classical Hollywood Paradigm. These conventions create a plot centering around a character who undergoes a journey in an attempt to achieve some type of goal (). By giving the central character more time on screen, the film helps the audience to not only understand the character’s motivation but also empathize with his/her emotional state. Additionally, some antagonistic force creates conflict with the main character, preventing immediate success(). Finally, after confronting the antagonist, the main character achieves his or her goal along with growing emotionally(). This proven structure creates a linear and relatively easily followed series of events encompassing the leading character and a goal.
The 'frame-break' is an elusive concept derived from Erving Goffman's study into narrative structures and linguistic frameworks, and is meant to question the reality/fiction dichotomy (1974: 560). Goffman suggests that our sense of reality is strong enough to cope
...verything around us is made by our actions. Positive or negative they cause an effect that will ultimately lead to a different story base on how we interpret life. Narrative elements are used as a bridge by the directors in their film to create any master plot that is currently known. Any modification at any narrative element used by the director at important moments inside the story can help you portray a different master plot. This used of narrative elements can be best described as an ever changing process that takes place inside an individual’s head. Depending on the individual that may be exposed to those narrative elements can create different meanings. This new interpretation can be different for everyone. We have to be aware that one change in the surface scenery can lead to many ideal outcomes in our minds and that is the main power the audience has.
Literature has learned to grow and progress over the years, but still till this day graphic novels are having trouble with being accepted as literature. Good literature is a piece of work that can incorporate writing and illustrations that pulls the reader in and leads them throughout the book. After reading a couple of graphic novels I have to disagree with the scholars who believe that they aren’t a piece of literature. Each graphic novel tells a story just like “regular” novels do. They each capture your imagination and keep you interested. They may look childish to some, but you should never judge a book by its cover. “Graphic novels that succeed as literature escape the norm and invite critical discussion, analysis, and, often, comparison with text-only books featuring similar situations, climactic crises, or aesthetics” (Goldsmith). Graphic novels tell a story, draw in a different audience, and expands a reader’s imagination, so with that said, they should be considered as literature.