Greg Warman
9-9-12
English 1510
McCloud Assignment
Before You Read:
1)
A character I have always thought was hilarious
is Kyle from Southpark. The show is
hilarious and every character brings their own humor to the show and I’d like
to think of myself as being a funny guy.
I like Kyle because he is always pointing out how Cartman, a fat,
deviant friend, is always wrong and how his ideas are always dumb. I usually point out to my roommate that his
ideas are dumb. That is the only way I can really relate myself to Kyle; I just
really like the show Southpark.
QDJ:
2)
McCloud explains the reason behind his comic
book format to be the fact that our minds are drawn to the cartoony and
abstract pictures of him. Since his
cartoon picture is so abstract, though, the reader focuses more on what he is
saying instead of extraneous things about him. Basically the cartoon brings us
in, but also allows us to take in more of what he is saying.
3)
This statement is true because by giving the
narrator more of realistic depiction, the reader would be more focused on the
features, causing the reader to begin to ponder more about the messenger
instead of the actual messenger. A messenger with a more detailed look
distracts the reader. Cartoons do have
an overall blank state. By not having many features, it allows the reader to bypass
their background and focus on more of what they are saying because the reader
has no interest, and no real need to be interested, in the cartoons background
for they are just an abstract picture.
This is why the cartoon figure turns into a figment of our mind that we
use as a median between the information and our own mind.
AEI:
4)
McCloud’s
concept of my face and figure being only a figure affects my perception of
myself and others by causing me to construe people, and myself, to the
face. My mask operates by giving me a
perception of myself and everyone around me.
Without my mask, I wouldn’t fully be aware of everyone around me because
I wouldn’t have the perception of the world around me through my own eyes, or
mask, so it would taint my views of others also.
Summary:
McCloud
takes a very interesting approach to making known of his theory and belief of
visual conception. He explains how the human mind and the readers’ masks allow
the perception of a cartoon character to be a “blank slate” which causes the
reader to focus on the abstract messengers message instead of the messenger himself. McCloud argues how this allows for more
information to be obtained by the reader because they’re drawn into the cartoon
but not so much the character of the cartoon but to the information the cartoon
is providing.
Synthesis:
McCloud
takes a different approach to presenting his argument. His approach ironically presents his argument
by not only explaining his argument but actually providing an example of his
argument while doing so. Instead of
bringing together his argument in an article-like, paragraph after paragraph
filled paper, he goes the route of using a cartoon like comic. By using this,
he simplifies his idea in a creative format.
Personal Response:
McCloud’s
comic-like format is a very creative and effective way to get information
across to a reader. He explains the
reasoning behind his theory of using a cartoon character by actually using himself
as a cartoon character. McCloud explains
exactly what I was feeling and focusing on as I was actually focusing on it,
which I found to be extremely intriguing and interesting. McCloud’s way of going about presenting his
argument was ingenious because his presentation itself explained itself as he
was explaining it in the comic.
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