The Road #4

Questions: 

1. Where did that guy on truck come from? Why those "bad" people didn't notice him?

2. Why is boy not afraid of death? 

Parallel:

"The boy was exhausted." (pg 68, 1st paragraph)

"The boy was stumbling he was so tired and the man picked him up and swung him onto his shoulders and they went on." (pg 60, 1st paragraph)

Contrast:

"When he woke again the snow had stopped and the grainy dawn was shaping out the naked woodlands beyond the bridge, the trees black against the snow." (pg 64)

"Then he wrapped him in the blanket and carried him to the fire." (pg 63)

Explenation: The trees all over are almost dead, they have no leaves, are naked. But Father never lets is son to feel cold so he always covers him with clothes.

                                         The Road #3

Questions: 

1. Where are all dead bodies?

2. Is it only America wiped out or all world?

Parallel:

"I wish I was with my mom."  (pg 46, last paragraph)

"I’ve taken a new lover." (pg 48, 1st paragraph)

Eplenation: It's very interesting that boy that basically didn't know his mother talks almost the same way as her. He wants to die.

Contrast:

"God, he whispered." (pg 51, 1st paragraph)

"Death is not a lover." (pg 48, 1st paragraph)

Explenation: God is many times described as a "love". In this paragraph mother talks about death as a lover. 

                                    The Road #2

Questions:
1. Why is boy so afraid of their old house?
2. What about radiation? Where is it?


Parallel:
"All much as he’d remembered it." (pg 22, 2nd paragraph)
"Old stories of courage and justice as he remembered them until the boy was asleep in his blankets and then he stoked the fire and lay down warm and full and listened to the low thunder of the falls beyond them in that dark and threadbare wood." (pg 35, 2nd paragraph)

Explenation: In this book remembering is very strong, father is talking a lot about memories and past.




Contrast:
"There were fires still burning high in the mountains and at night they could see the light from them deep orange in the soot-fall." (pg 25, 1st paragraph)
"He got a fire going and they set about dragging up a great brushpile of wood to see them through the night."

Explenation: Despite it that fire was everywhere and it was destroying everything that was in its' way. They needed fire to survive.

                                     The Road #1

Questions:

1. Looking for anything of color?

2. Was boy born before appocalypse?

Parallel:

"Barren, silenct, godless." (pg 4, 2nd paragraph)

"The cold and the silence" (pg 9, last paragraph)

Explenation: In the world after almost whole mankind is dead and there are no animals or any other forms of life, silence is very strong in this times. There is nothing but silence.

Contrast:

"They left their shoes on the warm painted boards and dragged the boat up onto the beach and set out the anchor at the end of its rope." (pg 11) 

"It was very cold." (pg 8, paragraph 1) 

Explenation: There is a lot of coldness in the time after appocalypse, but when he remembers past, he sees warm, nice things.

                                       It's a Bird...

                                                               Part IV.

Written contrast:

"You won't even go watch a boxing match at the garden!"   (page 50)

"Took boxing in college--gym requirement" (page 64)

Explenation: When Steve hit his friend he got mad and told him he wouldn't even watch boxing. And yet he actually did boxing at his college.

Visual parallel:

4. Will the Stephen Seagle Please Stand Up?:

I."Two headed narrator: The younger Stephen vs. the Wiser, Present-day Stephen"

-What do we make of frames where we see the modern-day Stephen jumping into the story of his own childhood? He is always in the same room with yellow background with his brother and mother. The pictures are more light with a light white shadowing. These frames makes reader feel more empathically with Steve. Background shows us Hospital which supports the sad feelings when we see this frames.

-How is Steven different than the younger Stephen? Young Stephen is very curious boy, he wants to know what's with his grandma, he wants to see her very hardly. Older Stephen doesn't seem to have so much interest in things. 

-Is he wiser? He is of course smarter, but not really wiser, he gets angry very fast just as young Steve. 

II. Identity:

-What does It's a Bird suggest about how we construct our identity? It shows us that even when on the beginning Steve did not want to write about Superman after he started to think about it more and more he changed his mind and realized it might not be so bad. This shows us that our "first" thoughts does not necessarily have to be the right ones. That we can always change no matter what it costs.

-To what extent are our clothes a uniform? Well I think it's pretty big thing. A lot of people wear exactly the clothes their personality looks like. 

-What are your secret identities? Well I have a lot of different personalities. In one point of view I'm always trying to be the cool guy, genius and just the best I can. On the other hand I'm really selfish. I can show people I don't like that I really do not like them. But on the other hand people I like know about it.

                                         It's a Bird...

                                                                    Part III

Written contrast: 

"Some sick bastard wrote word "kryptonite," and suddenly superman is vulnerable" (page 38)

"In action comics #1, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster declared their man "super" invulnerable. (page 33)

- In this part of book Steven Seagle mentions words "vulnerable" and "invulnerable" many time. This made me think he might mean something by this. He wants to show reader that this thing is bothering him very much about superman. 

Visual parallel:

Both Achilles and Superman are in position of "defeated" persons. They are not so immortal. They have a "weak" point.

3. "Words, words, words..."

-Words or lack of thereof- 

Are there a places where words have been omitted and the image speaks by itself? Well in whole "Part III" of the book there is not a single picture where there is not a single word written. But in previous part there are some. And those pictures usually shows face of person, even without words you can easily read his emotions.

Consider the impact of there choices. I think some pictures, especially those on which people's emotions are shown don't need word to describe what's going on. The picture speaks by itself. And because there are no words that reader would focus on, he can more focus on picture.This way picture gets more serious.

-How the words are presented-

Write about how Seagle's words are packaged within a frame or picture. He tries to never put words over someones' face, which might mean that he wants reader to see persons' emotions. Also he always uses bubbles when people speak. And he uses rectangles when there is no person shown speaking. Just picture and the words describe the picture.

                                         It's a bird...

                                             part II

Written parallel:  
     "Jason Dobson was a star."  (page 15)
     "Jason Dobson was Superman." (page 15)

- For many people name superman means someone "super", someone who never does bad thing, someone who is perfect! The same thing is for the word "star".


 Visual contrast:

 
These pictures shows the chnge in Jason Dobsons' life. First he was just a "shadow" in comunity. No one liked him, he didn't have friends. No one knew who he is. But all of it changed at Halloween when he dressed as a superman. People started to like him!


2. Images:
- foregrounding and backgrounding-
    1. What seems to be privileged in the image? I think it's usually the person who is speaking or makes some significant move.
    2. What dras your eyes the most? Expressions on peoples' faces. THat's the first thing I notice when I look at the picture.
    3. What's emphasized in the foreground? In most cases it's the person who is speaking or person who writer speaks about.
    4. In the background? Almost in every picture it's people who don't speak. But sometimes, when there are no other people on the picture, there are just a simple things like door or window in the background.
    5.Why? Well, I think it's just something that gives the picture complete look, if there was nothing but the person speaking it would be very uninteresting.

- shadowing/lighting-
   1. How do light and dark images function within the frame? For me it looks like all the dark framed pictures are in present and all light framed are just memories.
   2. What's shaded? Why? Ithink shaded parts of picture are usually unimportant things or just a backgrounds.
   3. What's lightened? Why? Most lightened parts are faces of people speaking. So I think it's the part of picture writer wants readerto look at with most focus.

- "shots"-
    1. Where do you see close-ups or distance shots? To me it looks like most close-ups are in the pictures with dialogues, not all of them but most of them. And distance shots are in "memory" pictures and pictures when we are just getting into dialogue- not the middle or end of dialogue.
    2. What effect do these choices have on the image? It tells reader what dialogues are more significant are which ones are not so important.
    3. Are there any angles used in interesting ways? I would say there are just some high or low angle shots. And if there are, they represent who is the "stronger" one in conversation.