English Lang/Lit LPs

 Conceptual Focus Qs How can the writing/reading of a text transform the author/reader? How do form and structure interact with meaning? How is the cultural context of a work/text relevant to an interpretation of it? Daytripper Structure is an integral tool for Daytripper in how it weaves its story. Daytripper is a comic(or graphic novel) meaning that structure is immediately noticeable. Daytripper is one of many comics that use structure creatively to not only create a better flow for the story but also to deepen and highlight certain parts of the story. Choices like panel style, the shape of dialog boxes, and letting some panels bleed into each other all create an effect that can lend itself to the meaning of Daytripper. Daytripper also has large influences from its cultural context, Brazil and Brazillian culture are intertwined with this work and it's an important thing to keep in mind when reading Daytripper. Works are always influenced by their authors, through this cultural c...

 We've started doing comic analysis for Daytripper. Daytripper has been interesting, at least for the first 4 chapters. Stories that have an interesting take on death or otherwise deal with it in a relatively high-concept way are usually interesting. The comic isn't overt or in your face about what it's saying either. The main theme is death, but also life it would seem. Life, or more accurately how to approach/live your life is explored through death. Chapter 2 stood out for this reason because one of the characters Brás meets seems to have a lot to say about how you should approach life. Although not directly related I also noticed that the same-ness of each chapter's progression drew attention to the specific meaning/message of each chapter, at least for me it did. Overall Daytripper seems to be an interesting piece of work with some thought-provoking ideas in it.

Independent Lesson 5   The conceptual guiding questions are used to help improve one's analysis in English. The questions are pretty fundamental to literary critique and help create a well balanced and nuanced analysis of a text. They also are pretty interesting with regard to thinking about the text generally and may provoke a better understanding of the text, its message, or biases in it. While discussing Martin Luther King Jr and Kendrick Lamar, we used conceptual focus questions(i assumed these were the same thing, very sorry if they're not). In my group specifically, we were discussing how authors facilitate communication through authorial choices. There were also questions like "In what ways do texts lead to transformative actions?" These types of questions are good because they highlight a certain focal point for analysis and also get you to show the methods used in the text, but they also are able to get you to discuss the effect of the writing. These question...