WP2 First Draft:

Today’s society is filled with “rules” and “expectations” that seem to govern the way we act. These regulations are known as social norms. You can observe them in action any time that you are somewhere public. If you think about it, almost everything you do during a day can be related to what is acceptable behavior for that certain task you are carrying out. For example, on a normal school day you wouldn’t see someone wearing formal attire to a class. At an important event, however, this would be acceptable. When you are attending a movie in theatres you don’t sit and talk to the person you came with the whole time. You could do this at a restaurant though. Social norms depend on the culture you live in. Different kinds of behavior are accepted in different parts of the world. There are different types of greetings depending on what part of the world you are in. People greet each other in various ways from culture to culture for example. The comic Valentine From the Dog by Natalie Dee makes an interesting point in regards to social norms and how people show affection. When we look at this as humans, we don’t see it as what we would normally think of a valentine consisting of. An excretion of waste is not what our culture accepts as a way to show your feelings of affection towards another. To this dog on the other hand, it was meant as a gesture to show his love for his owner. This demonstrates how different behavior and customs can be viewed differently depending on the culture you are associated with.

There is a clear visual hierarchy in this picture that helps to shape this argument. The first thing you notice in the picture is the dog’s eyes. These eyes are not realistic at all, instead they are abstract. They are wide, round circles that are looking straight at you, the comic viewer, with almost laser-like intentions. This makes it quite obvious that the viewer is intended as the vector of attention in this comic. You are depicted as this dog’s owner. This is significant because it reveals that the valentine has been left for you and not another person or animal.

The second part in the picture that your eye is drawn to is the pink heart that is above the dog’s head. It appears that this heart is used to symbolize what the dog is thinking. A heart is widely accepted to resemble love or affection. I think that is exactly what it is intended to represent in this comic. The dog has given what he thinks to be a perfect gift to his master as a way to show his feelings towards him or her (depending on the viewer).

The first object, the dog’s eyes, and the second object, the heart above the dog’s head both begin to communicate what the comic is trying to say. The eyes have established the vector of attention, you, and the heart now tells you how the dog feels towards the vector of attention. If this heart wasn’t there to symbolize this relationship, you might get a totally different impression of this comic. The dog’s wide eyes can lead you to think in many different directions. It may seem instead like the dog is worried about what his owner is going to think about the mess he or she has left a little ways behind. It could also appear that the dog is almost surprised or alarmed at what he has done. This would make sense considering you don’t commonly come across a piece of dog poop that is heart shaped. So it is apparent that the heart above the dog’s head serves as a very important piece of information in this picture.

Finally, the item that is last in the line of visual hierarchy, the waste left behind by the dog. There is also symbolism that is apparent with this second heart shaped object. The piece of poo is meant to resemble the valentine. Like the dog’s eyes, it is slightly abstract. Many times homemade valentines are cut in the shape of hearts. Chocolates are sold in heart shaped boxes around Valentine’s Day. The heart is the shape that is commonly known to be associated with Valentine’s Day. This enforces that the poop is not ordinary, but instead intended as a gift for the occasion of Valentine’s Day. Like the pink heart above the dog’s head, the picture would be perceived differently if it was either not pictured, or not heart shaped. Without it, there would aspects about the pictures that remain unclear. Why is the dog thinking about, showing or feeling love? It looks like the dog may be feeling lost if you just look at it and the heart, cropping out the right side of the picture.

When all three objects in the scale of hierarchy are put together they form a complete narration to the comic. You already know that the dog is showing affection towards the vector of attention, you, and when you add in the last object it is clear how the dog is showing his affection. He is giving his owner a Valentine. It is important to the comic that these three objects have a strong and clear relationship because there are no words to help us understand what is going on in the picture. We must rely on what the objects mean and how they play off on another to establish the intended idea of the comic.

The fact that this comic is abstract is another aspect to consider. Abstract can be defined as not applied or practical. (thefreedictionalry.com) A piece of poop is not exactly thought of as a gift that applies or is practical for someone on Valentine’s Day. However, in this instance it is. A dog cannot make anything or buy a gift like a human can, therefore, this gift can be defined as practical. The way all the objects in the picture are drawn abstractly serves to support this. It seems to say that just because the picture’s objects are not completely realistic does not mean that doesn’t make sense.

I think this comic asks us to think about what we consider to be socially acceptable in the places that we live in today. We may look at something we see as unacceptable or weird when, in some cultures it is considered normal. Like the interesting Valentine that the loyal dog is giving his owner, we may not be looking at what we are seeing through their culture’s point of view. Sometimes if we stop and think, we realize that there is more to something than what first meets the eye and maybe what we find to be unusual is actually quite normal.