Maus Misery

In recent years, Art Spiegelman's Maus has been viewed as a breakthrough in the use of comics to create something of literary merit. While comics are often seen by intellectuals as disposable content that remains outside the literary canon, comics like Maus have proven otherwise. In Scott McCloud's Understanding Comics, McCloud points out the flaws in generalizing comics as something for "little kids", and goes in depth to describe the details and complexities in comics that give it literary merit.

In the second chapter of his graphic novel, McCloud describes the use of "Icons" to communicate ideas in various ways. McCloud goes in depth to point out various levels of abstraction in these Icons and the repercussions it has on readers. On page 36, McCloud says that "when you look at a photo or a realistic drawing of a face, you see it as the face of another. But when you enter the world of cartoon you see yourself", this type of abstraction is utilized extensively throughout Maus in order for readers to relate easier with characters. McCloud also points out that artists frequently use a combination of both detail and abstraction in a juxtaposed way to point out details or emphasize certain subjects. In page 72 of Maus II, this strategy is used specifically in the bottom panel. While most of the page uses a simplistic mouse face, Spiegelman uses the entire bottom row to create a much more grotesque, detailed image of mice being burned alive. The detailed eyes, where in other panels are simply dots along with open mouths and drawn teeth force the reader to react differently to this panel. The mice no longer seem cute or lively, but in genuine pain and torment.

Wacky Writers

At first glance, Maus and The Things They Carried contain an obvious crossover in the affects that war has on an individual. However, beyond being stories that contain the subject of war. Both novels contain a narrator that uses writing as a channel to release stress and confusion regarding their identity and place in the world. One of the most interesting features of Maus is the multi point narration that the story is told from. The graphic novel frequently breaks down the third wall, as the writer's process of writing the story is included in the graphic novel itself. More importantly, this allows the reader to see the true intentions and struggles that the author goes through, dealing with family members affected in the holocaust. The Things They Carried does something similar to this, where the narrator acknowledges that the story is a novel, and comments on writing as an avenue for coping with post war situations.

Shakespeare Takes the l in Twelfth Night

According to many critics, Shakespeare's Twelfth Night is one of his greatest comedies written. However, because of Shakespeare's large reputation as the greatest playwright to have lived, it becomes hard to gauge how groundbreaking Twelfth Night really is. In fact, the reason behind literary reputability in general is something hard to define objectively. If Twelfth Night were to be written today by Ms. Smit, would it garner the same praise? Of course Twelfth Night has its reasons for its widespread recognition. However, I would like delve in to some reasons why it should not be deserving of such a title. While reading Twelfth Night, finding a purpose deeper than simply entertaining an audience is hard to find. Of course this may be Shakespeare trying to fulfill the very purpose of entertaining an audience which is respectable in its own right. However, Twelfth Night is far from anything satirical or socially critical for its time. Though it does contain some witty and profound statements that undermine issues and social inadequacies regarding love. Much of the play is focused on getting a good laugh out of the audience. Something that lower case literature does today.

Hey Joe! It's 2017

You've been married to your wife for 23 years, and just recently a close friend of yours tells you that she has been having an affair with another man. What do you do?

Well, shoot her of course!

At least this was the sentiment regarding adultery in the 1960's. Jimi Hendrix's song "Hey Joe", is centered around the idea of a man rightfully shooting his wife in response to her unfaithful behavior. While this sort of response has never been totally accepted, the attitude towards adultery in recent times has dramatically changed in comparison to the attitudes of generations past.

With the emergence of technology and changing social expectations regarding marriage, Aziz Ansari explores these generational differences regarding marriage in his book "Modern Romance". At one point, Aziz Ansari mentions the divorce revolution, and the increase in divorce rates during this time. Ansari also found that many women from older generations married in order to gain independence. While this may have granted them liberty from the restrictive homes of their parents, it only led to male dominated relationships in marriage. While women in past generations were restricted, Ansari found that a desire for independence was always present in their lives. This explains the continuing issue of adultery, and the large increase in divorce rates when the women's right to divorce was granted. While Jimi Hendrix's song may not have represented the case of every marriage at the time, it represented an attitude towards adultery and divorces that differs from the views that we see today.

Things Fall Apart in China

Achebe's Things Fall Apart contains the distinction between the colonizer and the colonized, the assimilation of both cultures and potential clashes between the two. While reading Things Fall Apart, I noticed that the novel for my midterm paper, Amy Tan's The Hundred Secret Senses, contains a setting that closely resembles the colonial clashes of Things Fall Apart. The Hundred Secret Senses contains a separate frame tale that takes place during the Taiping Rebellion. Like Things Fall Apart, the main character's homeland is met with the likes of European missionaries. Of course, the native people find the missionaries to be odd but not harmful. So, they allow for the assimilation of these colonizers. However, when battles turn violent it is too late for them to fight back, as many of the locals have already joined with the other side. Much of the same symbols are used for the spread of western culture in both texts. The Hundred Secret Senses' pastor amen is much like like Mr. Brown in their adaptation to cultures and spread of Christianity. General Cape and The Commissioner both show a spread of government and capitalism.

Come See The Nutcracker Tomorrow

A good 4 hours of my day was spent rehearsing in the pit for the Nutcracker Ballet (Come to the Ford Community Performing arts center in Dearborn on 12/2 at 7, 12/3 at 1, or 12/3 at 7 to see the ballet!) . Being a christmas tradition in the united states, I delved deeper to find out why the Nutcracker has the become the christmas staple it is. At its premier, the Nutcracker as a ballet recieved rather poor reviews, and didnt recieve widespread acclaim until 1954, when George Blanchines staging premiered in New York. Prior to this, the concert suite was widely popular. However, this differs though from the full Ballet as it only includes a select few dances from the second act. These of course, are the most popular tunes that people associate with the Nutcracker. Pieces like "The waltz of the flower", and "Trepak" are some of the most widely renown works, not only during the holiday season, but for classical music as a whole. As to why audience members enjoy these tunes so much, one could look at the concert suite being composed of mainly waltzes. This correlates with a more lively and engaging experience for many people. The first act, mostly composed of eastern european dances in odd time signatures may not be the most enjoyable to the average listner. Also the length of the first act may be rather tiring to the listener, as it is considerably longer than the second act. The Nutcracker ballet's setting is based around the christmas holiday, and thus is likely as to why performances revolve around the christmas season. But its popularity has to do with nothing except the pure writing genius of Pyotr Illych Tchaikovsky.

Kwan and Spirited Away

Amy Tan's The Hundred Secret senses, revolves around a girl and her chinese immigrant half sister. The main character, Olivia first encounters her sister, Kwan as a 7 year old. Being a young child, Olivia finds it difficult to understand her sister's cultural difference. One specific example is Kwan's spiritual beliefs, and chinese superstitions. Kwan claims that she has "Yin" eyes and is able to see ghosts. This at first scares Olivia, resulting in Kwan being sent to a psychiatric ward.While in western culture, Halloween is celebrated, belief in ghosts and spirits is absent from everyday life. For the most part, in western culture ghosts are feared, but in Kwan's case she sees ghosts as beings that are there, a part of her daily life. In the film "Spirited Away", a young girl is also faced with many spiritual encounters that put her on a similar level to Kwan.While Spirited Away and The Hundred Secrest senses differ in many ways plot wise, they both share the cultural backgrounds and spiritual understandings in their characters. Both characters share a sense of spirits as beings, and at some points friends who are no more than a part of their everyday life. In some ways this shows the difference between western and eastern culture in regards to a belief in spirits. While western culture spirits are often seen as ambiguous and mysterious, asian culture often sees spirits as a part of life, or its absence.