The Secret Language of Comics: Visual Thinking and Writing

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My Backpack (feat. a spoon)

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  • MacBook Pro (bought specifically for film editing… also some schoolwork)
  • Beats Headphones (that came with MacBook Pro)
  • Side Converter for Macbook Pro
  • Cord to connect SSD to computer for film editing (usually I’d have my SSD but I didn’t take it over fall break)
  • Random power brick
  • Earbuds that I barely use because I already have Beats
  • 4 mechanical pencils (cause why not)
  • 2 Red/3 Black Pilot G-2 07 pens (I have done all the testing and confirmed that these are the best pens to use… I literally have a pile of 20 of them in my desk drawer)
  • A spoon (not normally there but it was when I took this pic)
  • Deodorant (cause duh)
  • The Best We Could Do (cause I gotta do some work over fall break)
  • My Netflix water bottle (this is actually one of my most prized possessions. I have been using this water bottle for years and I love it with all my heart)
  • My Astrobiology class notebook (cause I have it right after English)
  • Black Backpack (that I’ve been using for the past 3 years… I was just too lazy to get one for college)

Not to sound cliché, but a backpack really does tell a lot about someone. Usually my backpack would also have two SSD’s which I always carry because they have my film footage that I’m constantly editing, but over break I purposely left those at Emory so I could focus on other work/chilling. I did do a bit of cheating to take out some things that are only there because I have to take all of my work with me to fall break, but for some reason I felt the need to include a spoon, despite the fact that this is the first time I’ve ever had a spoon in my backpack. It’s funny and quirky so I thought I might as well leave it in there. I think that typing that catalog of my backpack’s contents is most definitely a form of writing, but I also think that every time you write something it’s a form of writing, it just might not be as “poetic” or “artistic” as other forms. With the personal quippy prompting for this particular list I can get a feel for other’s personality and there is a lot of artistic freedom to do what you want with the assignment. So I would say this is a more narrative building form of writing than one might initially think.

This assignment did make me think. I have been very particular about what I put in my backpack and over the years it has evolved. From types of books to types of pencils. I do, however, keep the same stuff in the same zipper pockets –to the point where I can blindly find any type of object if it’s in my backpack. Everything has a place. Now I just wonder what my backpack will look like in 10 years…

Back to Prompt!

I’ve got it in the Bag!

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It all starts off with my adorable, efficient, and very reasonably priced pink book bag that I acquired from late night shopping on Instagram sale ads. The next most important feature is my handy MacBook, which I subtly coerced as a gift from my grandma and could definitely not live without here in college. Along with this, my book bag holds all the necessary requirements for my course load this semester. Things such as, my PACE workbook, the It’s Your Health booklet (a $25 scam more like it), and my trusty planisphere for all my astronomical desires. My bright yellow notebook and my very efficient accordion folder, that keeps my resume on deck for any opportunity, are also utilized for every single one of my classes. My bag contains my calculator, writing utensils, and colored pencils for any emergency or creative outburst that may arise. We also have my AirPods decorated with stickers to demonstrate the love and importance that they hold in my heart because I do not go anywhere without them, along with my Emory ID and wallet which is an essential item to have at all times on this campus. Finally, I carry in my bag the best present I have ever in my life received which is my reusable straw (we have to save the turtles people!).

I believe this image does a fairly good job at representing who I am. It shows the dedication I have to my education, the planet, and all the good deals on Instagram. All things which are obviously equally important. Crafting this self-portrait was not too difficult a task for me to complete. I did not remove or add anything from this image because I believe all these objects hold value and portray my day to day life in the most accurate way possible. I appreciate symmetry and did my best to arrange my self-portrait here in a way that was organized and pleasing to me. This kind of self-evaluation is definitely a type of writing in itself. These items represent who I am, what I believe, and what I value just like my writing does. I did not find this assignment challenging because like my writing, the most important aspect was the truth and the authenticity of me as a writer or creator in this world.

I’m In My Bag

Student Posts

CONTENTS

Jansport Hatchet BackPack: This backpack was selected for its unique style and functionality. Like the rest of my daily carry, each piece is essential and intentional.

MacBook Air: While this laptop is the source of all my work and productivity in college, it is also the source of all my frustration when WordPress decides to crash.

Dot & Weekly Planner: Disregarding the fact that I have to use two different planners to make sure my life doesn’t fall apart at Emory, the system I’ve developed for keeping track of everything has been fairly successful.

3 Subject NoteBook: I use this notebook to take notes for the three classes that decide to ban technology.

Beats/AirPods: Some days require a low-key drizzle, those are AirPod days. Other days require a moderate drip, those days are for Beats. Most days my friends talk so loud I have to use both at the same time.

Hydro Flask: Housing the contents of Emory’s weirdly tasting fountain water

PowerBank: I charge this thing more than It charges everything else…

Pencil Pouch: I always put my writing utensils back in here and yet somehow every time I open the pouch, there seems to be less every time.

This sketch has been my favorite assignment thus far, I often see a lot of YouTubers creating videos about their bags and when deciding what I wanted to carry in college I watched a lot of these videos. I also think this self-portrait is fairly representative of myself. Each item has a certain color way that I find pleasing to the eye. Black is one of my favorite colors because its very cool and low-key and I believe that’s how I am as well. However, black can be boring and basic so I like to give it some depth with camouflage. The mot challenging aspect of this assignment was actually taking the picture. For some reason I ended up taking the picture on the pool table in the south tower of the Student Center and I definitely got a lot of side glances when people saw me unloading my entire backpack in the middle of everyone.

I think that the catalog of my stuff is a form of writing because it accomplishes the same purpose of writing. Writing literature is all about allowing people to understand the author’s inner thoughts, just like an inside look of my bag.

Less Is More

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My Bag

When I took things out of my bag, I was surprised by how under-utilized my backpack was. For all the classes, extra-curriculum, and daily life, a laptop, a tablet with an electronic pencil, a loose-leaf binder, stationery, a wallet, and a set of keys are enough. From this photograph, my self-portrait is a tech-savvy and open-minded person, embracing new technology and innovations. Getting rid of piles of books and paper, students from my generation that grow up with electronic devices tend to embrace the disruptive technological changes in our daily life. All my textbooks are stored in my laptop as pdf, and other reading materials are available through the online library. I take notes on my iPad, and the traditional loose-leaf binder is merely used to collect handouts and other hard copies. The wallet carries a little cash that serves only as emergency use. Credit cards still prevail, but online payments like Venmo and Apple Pay are changing the game. Overall, this image is very representative of me, as my budget is the only thing that will prevent me from upgrading the technology in my life. 

I believe that this kind of representation can be counted as a type of writing. First of all, like an author, I can choose what to be included in the photo. I have the power to lead my audience’s thoughts since they will not have information from other sources. Through adding and omitting information, it is feasible to create the representation that I want, just like shaping a character in writing. Nevertheless, the audience of this photograph will have their own interpretations of the items’ purposes. They cannot help but use their own experience with the specific item, like the laptop, to analyze the author’s use of that item. This kind of engagement is also similar to that of reading a text.

The Backpack Diaries

Student Posts
  • Big green backpack. Pretty color and amazing pocket space. Gives me back pain :/
  • Grey planner for an organized queen. I think I check it once a week. Oops
  • Some random books that are normally in my bag (shout out hlth 100 and pace go freshman!). No notebooks in photo, but normally notebooks in bag. Big notetaker over here
  • Giant overpowering water bottle because hydrate or die-drate and save the environment
  • Shades to block out the blinding Atlanta sun, not the haters (too basic a reference)
  • Way more writing utensils than I need. Pencils for the base of my doodles, pens to bolden outline the doodles, and highlighters to really make the doodles pop. Pens can also be used for annotation purposes I guess, maybe some notetaking here and there
  • Now, the necessities: gum (I normally go for fruity gum), air pods, lip gloss and chapstick, my room key, and one representational tampon (there are more)… go women!
  • Missing: my laptop…she was charging, sorry. She is a pain anyway because she makes the bag super heavy so I guess this is her punishment, sitting in the corner alone. 

Standing alone, my backpack is not the most representational of myself, but compared to other backpacks, it probably becomes clearer who I am. Part of what is meaningful about what is in my backpack is what isn’t in my backpack. I do not carry chargers around because I do not like to use my phone enough to drain it regularly. I do not carry around binders because I prefer notebooks and folders. I don’t carry around a hairbrush because I only brush it in the shower so it doesn’t frizz. My essentials are all crowded on the left (except my water bottle because I thought it looked more balanced on the right). Chapstick, air pods, my room key, and the not-so-controversial but still uncomfortable tampon. At first, I wasn’t going to include the tampon because I felt embarrassed, but then I thought, realistically this is one of the most important things I carry around and therefore it deserves to be seen and normalized. This assignment was challenging because I felt the backdrop (my dorm room floor) was limiting and ruined the aesthetic of the photo. I hoped that the arrangement would pop a little bit more because I left space in between the objects similar to the gutters in comics, but the multi-hued rug slightly took away from that. Still, I feel that representing myself through a photo of my “stuff” is a legitimate form of writing. I felt more comfortable using my sassy personality when describing the contents of my bag because I felt the photo spoke for itself. The saying “a picture is worth a thousand words” is exactly what this assignment is about.

Intermission for class today: Fun Home

David's Posts

Here are three pages from Alison Bechdel’s Fun Home (Houghton Mifflin, 2006). The first two — from the first chapter, “Old Father, Old Artificer” — contrast young Alison and her father. He was a high school English teacher who invested considerable energy and skill into restoring the old 19th century Gothic Revival house that they lived in to exacting and authentic standards. 

And then this page from the beginning of chapter three, “That Old Catastrophe,” describing her parents’ response after she comes out to them while she’s in college. Not long after she sent that letter, her father was killed when he was struck by a Wonder Bread truck in what might have been an accident or might have been suicide.

Behind the Fancy Limo

Student Posts

When looking through the examples of triptych’s, I noticed that my favorite ones were the ones with surprise endings and dramatic shifts in meaning from panel to panel. In my first panel, we see a well-dressed family standing next to a limo. In the second panel, the family is in the background and a new man appears next to the limo. We begin to realize that the limo is not for the family. It is not until the final panel, however, that we realize that the well-dressed family is actually homeless and the clothes that they are wearing have come from a cardboard box that they are living out of.

This comic symbolizes how people’s lives may not be as beautiful as they seem at a first glance. After viewing only the first panel, the reader assumes that this is a high-class family. It is not until the later panels that the reader is able to let go of these assumptions and discover the truth of the family.

This Sunday sketch was more difficult than the previous ones were because it required crafting an entire story out of art. The other assignments challenged us to create an interesting visual, whereas this one challenged us to utilize creative visuals in order to construct a narrative. While this took more time to plan and create than previous assignments did, I believe that my final product for this assignment is of higher quality because I enjoyed the structure and very clearly understood what I was expected to do.

Reflecting on Tracing Pages

Student Posts

The thesis of my essay is that David Small and Tillie Walden give gendered narratives of trauma in their respective books. The process of tracing (Stitches and Spinning) helped with the brainstorming process more than I anticipated. I noticed light, organization and motifs more clearly than I had just reading the book. The process of writing an inductive essay was somewhat difficult because I kept feeling that my final point argument had already been discussed in my essay earlier or that my point of induction did not actually reveal any new information. To combat this, I tried to keep my paragraphs very segregated in topic and remind myself to check my essay for the desired ‘1+1=2’ style of argument instead of the deductive style to which I’m accustomed. I feel as though I have more of an analytical understanding of the details of each book after completing this assignment. However, I do not feel as though completing the assignment revealed some hidden truth about the books that wasn’t before readily accessible.

Sugar

Student Posts

When I first started working on this assignment I spent a good amount of time scrolling through A Softer World. I started to notice that most of the triptychs they created had a saying acompanied by some relevant photo cut into three parts. I decided to create a similar triptych focused on deception. I found the saying by Maryum Ahsam shown above and wanted to add an additional layer of deception. To do this I used a picture of a mound of cocaine and a line leading to a rolled up piece of paper. This picture was perfect because the mound pictured in the first two thirds could be either salt or sugar. It isn’t until the last third that it becomes apparent that it is infact cocaine.

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