Authors Note:
xkcd (proper capitalization) has been one of my favorite comics and I scanned through all 600 or so to find one to analyze, maybe not the funniest but the best to find an argument in. This comic Dreams worked great for that analysis with both its very simple graphical natures and its self-referencing breaks from the norms of comics.
Compared to Writing Project 1 where I found it initially difficult to find a unified argument, relying on the development of the technical elements to reveal it to me, finding the argument and supporting elements was relatively a simple task for this comic. The simple nature of the comic (as I discuss in my essay) creates additional emphasis on that that remains and the character (second figure) is fairly clearly forwarding an argument himself through the text that is his implied speech.
Subsequently I didn't change the direction I was taking with the main argument or any of the supporting ones although I did add in a couple small pieces to re-emphasize the connections to the thesis. First I added just a little to emphasize the self-referencing breaks from the norms. I also added a note of another break from the norm that I had not originally included that the simple stick figures are a far cry from the expected expertise of professional comics (which is really saying something). Overall I attribute not needing many changes to a lucky first draft and not needing/wanting to utterly change the direction of the essay.
Final 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. 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 - a parody of the popular Garfield comic). 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). The simple graphics and stick figures also break from the expected expertise or detail of "professional" cartoons; the artwork is something that just about anyone can do (and many could probably do better). 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 self-referenced argument that we shouldn’t mold ourselves to the “curves of societal norms” by providing example in itself. 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” or 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.
