WP2: Second Draft

Society, by definition, develops an extensive set of norms, whether they are explicitly coded into law or remain informal. When the environment changes, so must the norms to match new conditions. Since the advent of the Internet and the even more recent rise of social networking websites, the norms of the new medium have continued to evolve. The particular case of employers finding inappropriate posts of employees brings this to light. Although many sites give false senses of anonymity or privacy, more content is openly available than people sometimes expect. This has lead to situations where people have gotten in trouble with current or future employers because of their online posts. It is situations like this one that have lead to the questioning of what is acceptable and what is not in the digital world. [Transition]. Although it is indeed these set of norms that allow society to function as it does, to what extent should these norms extend and how strictly should they be adhered to? The xkcd comic Dreams speaks to this question with the argument that although we will always live within society, people shouldn’t constantly water-down or hold back from fear of breaking the norms. This argument is supported by the break from the norms of comics and the small number of elements.

The first break from the norms of comics that Dreams makes lies in the paneling. If asked just to indicate a comic, one would likely draw three squares aligned in a row (like the Garfield minus Garfield comic strip below). This strip of panels (hence comic strip) is the most basic norm of comics, with additional panels being added, sometimes in a second row below the first. Looking at most Sunday newspapers, the comics will be found almost entirely in this format, with a few arranged vertically or some single panels. Although the comic Dreams still maintains the use of panels and aligned edges that identify it as a comic, it doesn’t follow the simple format so often seen. Still left to right, the comic has a vertical orientation. More importantly and noticeable is that the third and central panel dominates the comic; in fact the rest of the panels could fit into this one alone. This is contrasted by the last three panels that if were taken alone would at least follow the form of standard comic strips.

The second break is the use of text over art in this comic. The comic contains only the necessary graphically, but, especially in the large third panel, has an almost overwhelming amount of text. The difference is very noticeable from the standard of full panel art and little text accompanying. The large amount of text and its high density in the third panel is leaving the norms so far to as approach the format of an essay, line after line of text organized by paragraphs. This causes the third panel to become the focal point of the comic, juxtaposed by the final three panels which each contain a single, large, bolded word (following the conventions of comics to imply a loud/emphasized and segmented statement). Although the final three panels are closer to the norms of comics, their content continues to not follow them, especially given the context of comics’ preeminence in family-friendly forms like newspaper.

These breaks from the norms of comic strips emphasize the comic’s argument that we shouldn’t mold ourselves to the “curves of societal norms”. Limiting comics to the standard of three panels necessarily undermines the “infinite possibilities” of the medium, following the restrictions of text to graphics balance resulting in the same effect. Dreams on the other hand intentionally does not fit into the mold of comics and looking at the last three panels, it doesn’t water itself down either.

There is also a very purposefully small number of elements in the comic. First, the only graphics included are those necessary to the story, two figures talking and a computer that the second is initially working at. Without even so much as a hint of background, we are left to focus on the figures remaining and the text of their “speech”. In fact, after the first two panels, when it is no longer necessary, the simple computer is removed. Similarly, the first figure, which is only differentiated by a slight difference in “hair” to distinguish speakers, is not included in the final three panels when he is no longer needed. This clearly emphasizes the remaining content that was included.

The simple nature of the graphics also makes the situation more relatable. By taking the abstraction of the figures to the extreme of stick figures, not even showing a face or gender, the comic allows the audience to fill in the details with whatever or whoever they want. The computer, desk, and chair are similarly kept at their most simple shapes. Because of the lack of background, we can’t even tell if the two figures are at work, school, home, or even anywhere with a computer. The resulting universality makes it an “everyone issue”, something everyone can relate to.

By breaking the norms of comic strips and emphasizing its universal content through simplicity, the comic Dreams forwards the argument that we shouldn’t “temper [our] lives to better fit into a mold”, to “hold back for fear of shaking things up.” People are always making decisions (often subconscious) of which norms to fit in and which to break; whether to “go with the flow” on introduce novelty. Especially as the environment of the Internet continues to grow and evolve, we will have to ask ourselves not only which norms to adhere to but what the norms of the new medium are to become.

WP2: First Draft

Society, by definition, develops an extensive set of norms, whether they are explicitly coded into law or remain informal. When the environment changes, so must the norms to match new conditions. Since the advent of the Internet and the even more recent rise of social networking websites, the norms of the new medium have continued to evolve. The particular case of employers finding inappropriate posts of employees brings this to light. Although many sites give false senses of anonymity or privacy, more content is openly available than people sometimes expect. This has lead to situations where people have gotten in trouble with current or future employers because of their online posts. It is situations like this one that have lead to the questioning of what is acceptable and what is not in the digital world. [Transition]. Although it is indeed these set of norms that allow society to function as it does, to what extent should these norms extend and how strictly should they be adhered to? The xkcd comic Dreams speaks to this question with the argument that although we will always live within society, people shouldn’t constantly water-down or hold back from fear of breaking the norms. This argument is supported by the break from the norms of comics and the small number of elements.

The first break from the norms of comics that Dreams makes lies in the paneling. If asked just to indicate a comic, one would likely draw three squares aligned in a row. This strip of panels (hence comic strip) is the most basic norm of comics, with additional panels being added, sometimes in a second row below the first. Looking at most Sunday newspapers, the comics will be found almost entirely in this format, with a few arranged vertically or some single panels. Although the comic Dreams still maintains the use of panels and aligned edges that identify it as a comic, it doesn’t follow the simple format so often seen. Still left to right, the comic has a vertical orientation. More importantly and noticeable is that the third and central panel dominates the comic; in fact the rest of the panels could fit into this one alone. This is contrasted by the last three panels that if were taken alone would at least follow the form of standard comic strips.

The second break is the use of text over art in this comic. The comic contains only the necessary graphically, but, especially in the large third panel, has an almost overwhelming amount of text. The difference is very noticeable from the standard of full panel art and little text accompanying. The large amount of text and its high density in the third panel is leaving the norms so far to as approach the format of an essay, line after line of text organized by paragraphs. This causes the third panel to become the focal point of the comic, juxtaposed by the final three panels which each contain a single, large, bolded word (following the conventions of comics to imply a loud/emphasized and segmented statement). Although the final three panels are closer to the norms of comics, their content continues to not follow them, especially given the context of comics’ preeminence in family-friendly forms like newspaper.

These breaks from the norms of comic strips emphasize the comic’s argument that we shouldn’t mold ourselves to the “curves of societal norms”. Limiting comics to the standard of three panels necessarily undermines the “infinite possibilities” of the medium, following the restrictions of text to graphics balance resulting in the same effect. Dreams on the other hand intentionally does not fit into the mold of comics and looking at the last three panels, it doesn’t water itself down either.

There is also a very purposefully small number of elements in the comic. First, the only graphics included are those necessary to the story, two figures talking and a computer that the second is initially working at. Without even so much as a hint of background, we are left to focus on the figures remaining and the text of their “speech”. In fact, after the first two panels, when it is no longer necessary, the simple computer is removed. Similarly, the first figure, which is only differentiated by a slight difference in “hair” to distinguish speakers, is not included in the final three panels when he is no longer needed. This clearly emphasizes the remaining content that was included.

The simple nature of the graphics also makes the situation more relatable. By taking the abstraction of the figures to the extreme of stick figures, not even showing a face or gender, the comic allows the audience to fill in the details with whatever or whoever they want. The computer, desk, and chair are similarly kept at their most simple shapes. Because of the lack of background, we can’t even tell if the two figures are at work, school, home, or even anywhere with a computer. The resulting universality makes it an “everyone issue”, something everyone can relate to.

By breaking the norms of comic strips and emphasizing its universal content through simplicity, the comic Dreams forwards the argument that we shouldn’t “temper [our] lives to better fit into a mold”, to “hold back for fear of shaking things up.” People are always making decisions (often subconscious) of which norms to fit in and which to break; whether to “go with the flow” on introduce novelty. Especially as the environment of the Internet continues to grow and evolve, we will have to ask ourselves not only which norms to adhere to but what the norms of the new medium are to become.

Statement of Purpose

My meta-purpose of writing this essay is to earn a good grade for my class and learn in its process. The main purpose within the writing the essay is to find and then present a main argument forwarded by the xkcd comic Dreams. I'll explain how the technical elements and content within forward this argument. After settling with a final and primary argument to analyze within the comic I will seek to explain how the technical elements and the content of the comic combine to develop an ethos, pathos, and logos that support the main argument.

My primary audience is my teacher for this class, the one who assigned it and will eventually be analyzing my analysis and grading its presentation. It is for this audience that this text (Writing Project 1) is being created and considering which it will be sculpted. Specifically, first, I will be following the guidelines for analysis that we have discussed thus far in class and established by the texts that our class was provided with (Compose, Design, Advocate: a rhetoric for integrating written, visual, and oral communication, particularly from Chapter 15: Analyzing Comics, and the section from Scott McCloud's book The Vocabulary of Comcis). Secondly for this audience, the technical wording from that text will be invoked in the explanations of the comic with its elements and the arguments that they forward.

There are also secondary audiences that may find, and with the will to, read my project, the first group being my classmates. This includes not only those in my class currently (who will be looking more likely out of interest although possibly an after-the-fact peer review) but also those future students who may be taking this class (most likely with the same teacher) who may look back at my project as an example (hopefully not for things not to do), just as we have looked back at the project of a former student already.

The rest of the possible secondary audiences include nearly everyone that can read English and has Internet access. In this era of expansive and yet growing connectivity of all things information, the Internet has created a network facilitating authors, photographers, creators, etc, to reach nearly endless audiences. Posted on blogger, my project will be completely open to access, meaning that, given the will to find it (possibly searching for information of the photographer or photograph specifically or the photograph's subject) or the coincidence of wondering upon it, the project will be fully visible to see. For this audience, although using the technical wording provided in our book, I will attempt to keep everything understandable for outsiders who may not know the language set up or may use a different wording of their own.



The main context of my Writing Project 1 will be as a blog post on this blog (given the links and hierarchy of the class' blog) and will thus be viewed from the Internet digitally, (although because of its open access and the adaptability of digital text it may be easily be moved or even transcribed to non-digital contexts; i.e. printed off for review). The main impact of this context is that it means that the audiences will also have access to the rest of the information available through the Internet, some of which I will be utilizing directly in my project through the use of multimedia elements and hyperlinks, just as I have been in this statement of purpose.

WP2: Pre-write 2

The main back story for this comic comes from the fairly recent stories of people getting in trouble, particularly with their employers, because of things they have posted online (often social networking sites), whether text or photographs. People that had posted either rude or threatening things online or inappropriate pictures of themselves have been caught by employers or otherwise and were punished. A lot of this comes from the fact that the Internet and social networking websites are still evolving, especially in terms of rights and privacy. What social networking sites and other websites most often do is create a false sense of anonymity or privacy. This has lead to either peoples current or future employers, etc, to find said posts and invoke repercussions. This leads to the first figure in the comic telling the second to be careful about what he posts online.

Another set of contexts of note is the norms of modern comic strips. The most general stereotype is the three aligned square panels in a strip, with more being added, particularly a second row for many longer comics, or some panels being widened. This said, the comic at hand doesn't neatly fit such a form, although the outer boundaries are still aligned. The comic has a much more vertical flow with a large blank panel in the center. The last three frames taken by themselves would constitute a more normally expected comic strip.

Secondly, the difference between comics and pure text being the drawings (or less so pictures), this comic also breaks the norms of art to text balance. Most comics have full panel art and little text. This comic breaks from that pattern by first limiting the drawn to the very minimum of telling the story at hand while, especially in the third panel as it becomes the focus, it contains much more text than would be expected in a comic, very condensed. The art of the comic is limited to the stick figures and the basic desk/computer that the second is initially sitting at, a slight difference in the "hair" used to indicate who is speaking in the latter frames. After the first two frames, when the computer is no longer necessary to the story, it is removed, giving additional focus to whats left, the simple figure and especially the text that he is "saying" (the first person is even removed after the first two frames when he no longer has anything to say). The last three panels again return to more of the norm, containing little text, although the content still breaks the expected of comics.