WP2 Exercise 2:

The comic I have chosen is by a woman named Natalie Dee. This is also the title of the comic that she writes and illustrates. She is 30 years old and lives in Columbus Ohio. She is also the co-author to Married to the Sea, a comic she writes with her husband that is also posted via the internet. There are over 1500 comics that she has composed on the Natalie Dee website. These comics date back all the way to year 2003. They are all illustrated in the same manor, stick like figures and text in the form of hand written letters. They are all relatively simple drawings that depict one or two characters. These characters are either humans or different random animals. She also has a few that feature non-living objects that are given human characteristics. Most of the pictures require you to rely on your imagination and past experience to either make your own assumptions of what the character or characters are thinking, especially the drawings that do not have any text to go along with them. Most of them, however, do have at least some sort of caption to go along with them that serves to narrate the picture. All of her comics that I have looked at have been one picture. There were no comics that I observed on her web site that consisted of multiple frames.

I did some investigating to find out what the exact date was that this comic was posted. In was in the section for the month of February. I counted up from the bottom of the page and it appears that this was the selected comic for the date around February 12th 2009. The comic from the day before and the day after (approximately sometime between the 11th and 14th) also both have subjects that are based around love. Valentine’s Day is February 14th so it is obvious why this was the subject for her comics at this time of the year.

I think it is interesting that she featured the comic with the dog for a date that was before February, 14th. After taking a look at the comic and thinking about what the possible arguments of the illustration could be, it seems very logical for her to choose to display this comic on the day that she did. It appears that this dog is alone and possibly missing his or her significant other. Maybe they are no longer seeing each other or perhaps this other dog is just simply on his or her mind because they cannot be together and the dog in the picture is missing its company. Either way, I think this comic does a good job showing the feelings some people have around Valentine’s Day when they are single or without their significant other. Like the emotions expressed on the dogs face, Valentine’s Day can be sad or depressing in some cases when you do not have anyone to share it with. This was a good way for Natalie Dee to relate to her audience. Also, the object left behind by the lonely dog probably provided some humor to cheer the lonely people out there this past Valentine’s Day.

WP2 Exercise 1:

In this illustration by Natalie Dee, she depicts a dog with a heart above its head. The dog’s facial expression seems to make him look rather lost, sad or confused. In the background you can see that the dog has recently gone to the bathroom. Instead of a normal looking piece of waste, this dog has pooped in the shape of what appears to be a heart.

The dog seems to be the main focus of the cartoon because it is closer in the line of view and takes up the most space out of all three objects that are depicted. It is also the object that has the most detail. Although it is by no means a perfect picture of a dog, it gives enough evidence to be a convincing depiction. Natalie Dee uses black outlines and two different colors of brown to outline the shape of the dog’s face. In the darker brown color the dog has two ears which further develop the head as one that would belong to a dog. She also draws a blue band with a gold circle attached to it which you can recognize as a collar, something a typical domestic dog would wear.

The dog’s facial expression is something that I think is an important part of this picture. His eyes are wide and perfectly round. There are many emotions that you can associate with this for example, surprise, horror or maybe being possessed. If you move down to his mouth, it is slightly opened and his bottom teeth are showing. This can be associated with emotions involving the drop of the jaw like confusion, sorrow or perhaps disbelief. To me, this dog looks like he or she needs help, almost like it is looking for an answer.
There is a pink heart located right above the dog’s head. Hearts are usually associated with love so this could be some sort of symbol in this illustration. There is a short line between the top of its head and the bottom of the heart which makes it look like the dog and the heart are connected. This could mean that the dog is thinking about love or maybe it is a status marker, he is in love or someone else has his or her heart.

The last object in the picture is the piece of poop left behind by the dog. It appears as though the dog did his business and has now walked closer to the viewer where he is pictured. The interesting thing about it is that it is also heart shaped. This brings about the question of why Natalie Dee depicted it this way.

The dog, heart and heart-shaped poo all work together to make a scene that could almost tell a story within itself. When you take into consideration his facial expression along with the heart, you realize some form of love or relationship is on the dog’s mind, but when you see this shape repeated in the background, it enforces this theme ever farther.

Statement of Purpose:

My purpose as a writer for the second writing project of this semester is to analyze the comic I have chosen. In doing this I need to distinguish an argument that the author of this comic, Natalie Dee, could have been trying to make. I will need to present this argument by describing in detail the specific elements of the comic and how they were used to achieve the argument. I also need to address ethos, logos and pathos and how these elements I will be outlining were used to develop these key components in writing. In order to do this I will be expanding off of my initial inferences I have already made during the first writing exercise. I will also incorporate what I discovered in the second writing exercise where I completed a historical analysis of my comic. I will be looking at how the comic uses icons and symbols to make the viewer focus on specific parts in the picture and how the comic is understood a certain way because of our human knowledge. I will also relate this comic and its elements to the time we are living in as a society.

I will be viewing this comic through a cultural perspective. This is an important part in my essay. Analyzing this comic while considering today’s society and the social norms that go along with it during and around the holiday of Valentine’s Day will be crucial to my essay. There are many connections you can make when viewing the picture and keeping these norms in mind. Incorporating this into my essay will establish a clear context for my readers to think about while reading my piece of writing. In turn, I will be able to outline a believable argument that can be easily understood by my audience.

In this writing project my audience consists of anyone who reads my blog, specifically though, this mainly includes my classmates and my professor. This writing assignment is graded so I need to consider the guidelines that were posted on the blog by my professor. Although this is an academic piece of writing, it is posted on the internet, therefore anyone can read it. This is also an important aspect to consider. I need to write in a style that can be appreciated by a wide variety of readers. In order to establish ethos through my writing I will need to use a language that my audience can relate to and understand. Another thing to think about in this writing assignment is how the style of Natalie Dee’s comics can be interpreted in a wide variety of ways because the illustrations she depicts are slightly abstract. This means I will have to present my argument clearly with effective evidence. I will also be able to use multimedia to help explain my argument in ways that words might not be able to communicate. In addition to covering my points in a way that is convincing I also want to leave my audience with something to think about and take away with them after they finish reading. I believe I can compose a successful piece of writing if I am able to complete all the goals I have outlined above.