Tag: David Small

            My thesis for this assignment is: Both authors go through traumatic experience that mask their lives in veils of silence which prevents them from living their lives to the fullest but eventually, trusted adults allow the protagonists to overcome the trauma through being there for them. My argument focuses on David’s interaction with his therapist and Tillie’s singular interaction with her cello teacher about her assault. Tracing and annotating Spinning and Stitcheswas a very fun process for me. I had the opportunity to look closely at the pages that I was tracing, closer than I had looked before by just reading the pages. Annotating the graphic novels was also good for my understanding of the texts because my annotations were based on similarities and differences between the two novels, so it made see similarities between the two texts. I really enjoyed writing an inductive essay with my thesis at the end of the paper because I didn’t trap myself at the beginning with what I wanted to write but instead I let the analysis shape the thesis at the end. If I have the opportunity to write another inductive essay I would definitely choose to do so. Looking closely at the both of the texts, I now want to look at every panel in fine detail. It seems that every brush stroke or seemingly random stroke of color could have a huge significance in the novel. For example, in Stitches, towards the end of the novel, David has less shadows over him than when he is younger in the book showing that he is relieved of the burden of his family and childhood. If I hadn’t flipped through pages to choose for the assignment, I do not think I would have looked closely at this small but significant detail. 

You can find the link to my essay here