First, I was met with the difficulty of setting up a story. I chose a relatively funny one that I had experienced in my childhood. I divided the story into four panels read from left to right. I do not believe there was any real challenge for this assignment. This was actually easier to execute than the triptych because I had one more panel to explain the story. The layout of the story was done in a way that I think would be easier to read and by splitting the middle scene in two, I was able to give further perspective.
The creation of this assignment was fun to make. I found the black gloves I had used before when the weather was especially cold. I also discovered that I had Clorox wipes that I could have used on a variety of occasions but never actually used them. As for the arrangement of the things, I made it a point to keep everything square. You can see how much I desired a clean shape by my layout of the key chain.
This triptych was very fun to create. Adding some dark humor made this activity enjoyable. The three panels are not so much in the traditional comic style, however, the three panels have a clear storyline and are in my opinion, relatively easy to follow. The story of two slices of bread from their acceptance of their fate, to their reminescence of their origins, ending with their death and union afterward is a comic well titled “From Cradle To Crave”.
The process of creating this image took more brainpower than I anticipated. If it were not for my feud with technology, I am sure this would have been more smooth sailing. For the longest period of time, cropping the sausage picture proved difficult. I also used pixlr which is an editing application that I am quite unfamiliar with. At the end of the day, I gave up and used Word, cropped the sausage into an oval shape and placed on top of my fingers. Although the process was frustrating, I am satisfied with the end result. The inspiration came from the Shrek 2 movie with the insult, “Don’t you point those dirty green sausages at me!”. I don’t particularly think that this image conveys a message other than the limitations of my knowledge in a photo editing application.
During the process of creating these visual notes for my freshman seminar class, I discovered the extent of how much I understand the course content and what else I need to further spend time on in order to better comprehend it. The topic we have been focusing on in the last few weeks pertains to the Vietnam War. Because of the large number of details and events, infographics such as these also serve to organize my thoughts.
The Vietnam War Part 2
In the first illustration, a three-panel wall can be seen in the far upper left corner. This depicts the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. The scrawl on the panels is the fifty-three thousand names of fallen victims of the war. The flowers and teddy bear at the feet of the memorial help paint a picture of the several trinkets and mementos left behind at the memorial friends and family leave behind. Just below is what I imagine a Veteran chat in a modern GroupMe would appear. This specific conversation depicts the misgiving these men gave to Maya Lin, the designer of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. Similar visuals can be seen throughout the page. The country of Vietnam was enraged at the American enemy. The criticism of the site disorganization seen in both the inquisitive emoji and the Washington monument is a classic example of an “erected” monument. The absence of recognition towards Vietnamese veterans in the memorial is seen by the lack of Vietnamese names in the many tombstones. The American army demographics are rendered by the thought bubbles originating from the soldier where the audience can see that the army mostly consisted of colored men from the working class. Lastly, in the far right lower corner, a series of houses can be observed referring to the migration of Vietnamese immigrants into ethnic clusters with the intention of protection in numbers.
The Vietnam War Part 3
In the second illustration, I used meme emphasize the unusual Vietnamese decisions such as the glorification of weapons (M-16), the usage of sorrow to control the citizen’s emotions, and the ambivalence left after the war ended. The shopping bags observed in the far left top corner symbolize the memory industry that boomed after American troops left the territory.
In the third illustration, a more common diagram is seen depicting an American citizen choice of career that would be affected by the social stigmas left after the war. The conscious decision to not mention the Vietnamese in our memorial negates the possible victimization they could take on as a result of it. There are broader images and not as much text as these drawings mostly served as literal reminders of the long lasting effects of the Vietnam War.
The prompt asks for a narrative of key events that shaped the way we read and write. I wanted to include my mother in this narrative piece because she is largely the cause of me getting anywhere near literature in the first place. It was with great fondness that I memorialized those moments we spent together gushing over insignificant details of novels I had read prior to that day which later increased my interest in reading and helped improve my writing skills. I also wanted to include Mrs. Rojas, my fourth-grade teacher who gave me much confidence in my writing one school afternoon. Throughout the writing process, I was able to understand the importance of brainstorming beforehand and compartmentalizing my focus in each stage of the writing process. The X-pages exercise was an assignment unlike any I have had that helped organize my narrative essay. I was unsure of how many events I was supposed to write and in how much detail. I settled on these two key events with many motivators included within them. With regret, I learned that I do not remember much about other key events that helped push me in the specific direction regarding the English language I am at present. As for the image, it was the easiest and least time-consuming part of the assignment. An illustration created by me was included in the page in the way I remember her looking at me during those precious moments we had together.
After reading the assignment of Sunday Sketches, I went around campus searching for real life objects that would spark anything that could be used for this assignment. After finishing an assignment, I noticed the multiple lamps lined up along the exterior Thomas 1 lounge. They were oval shaped, protruding, and the top half of the lamp was covered. This lamp shape was reminiscent of an astronaut helmet , so I took a picture of the it with my phone. I downloaded the picture into my computer and used the application “Paint 3D” to draw over the photograph. I outlined the helmet and drew the rest of the astronaut body. I proceeded to add a space background and finished the image. Because I was not used to working with “Paint 3D” and did not have a drawing pen, I used my fingers to do all the outlines. This was difficult because I do not have the steadiest of hands so I had to redo most of the outlines again and again until I was satisfied with them. I used the marker, watercolor, eraser, and fill drawing utensils to complete the illustration.
This avatar represents a large aspect of what I consider to be part of my identity. Since young, I have always held an interest in cooking: during summers I would enroll in cooking classes at the local community college, I would volunteer for bake sales at the local church, and I would burn through several hours under the tutelage of my maternal grandmother. Although different cultural foods interest me, what truly captivates me is the savory Mexican cuisine I grew up with and continue to expand on.
Throughout the process of creating my avatar, I had trouble with the measurements and navigating my way through pixlr. After spending some time on the site, however, it became much easier to understand. The image was cropped into a perfect square, the lines looked smoother, and the shading more saturated. I feel that with enough practice in this site, the task of uploading images into WordPress will be done in a more timely manner.
