Max Bledstein’s analysis of “Asterios Polyp” by David Mazzucchelli
This work focuses on the analysis of the article by David Mazzucchelli “Beyond Stereotypes”, which examines the literary work Asterios Polyp. The main themes are racism, sexism and characterization. I believe that the essay has fulfilled the necessary requirements, as it provides a complete look at the social issues being discussed. An interesting aspect of the work is the consideration of the use of colors to describe the characters.
Moreover, to support the hypothesis put forward, the author gives several examples. Thus, it is noted that men occupy a central place in the work, prevailing over female protagonists. However, it is noted that these representatives of the population are distinguished by a special level of creativity. Another interesting aspect is the consideration of how different shades and depth of tone of coloring of a character gives insight into their change and development in various situations of the story. This information, which the author says, gives a clear and understandable picture of the context he is considering.
A valuable aspect is that the author provides his own opinion and does not agree with the opinion of the work under study in all aspects. The missing part of this work is the absence of a conclusion that would group the main thoughts and main points of view of the writer of the work. A positive aspect, however, is the smooth transition from one thought to another. Despite this, more introductory constructions would not hurt the work to ensure even more smoothness of information. Since the essay does not have a title, I would suggest using the title “Representation of characters through colors”.
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The next work that has been analyzed also touches on the Asterios Polyp comic by David Mazzucchelli. It is noted that the reader can notice the author, through the representation of characters, pictures and replicas skillfully conveys their characteristic features. We can say that this essay fulfills the assigned tasks, but it needs some small changes. Some aspects, such as introductory words describing sentences, the definition of certain concepts, can significantly improve the work under study.
The main advice I would give to the author of this essay is to shorten some long sentences. This aspect may make it somewhat difficult to read and follow the main idea that is conveyed in the work. The strong point is to provide examples based on the work under study, which contributes to a clearer understanding of the point of view provided. A weak aspect should also be noted is the lack of a conclusion that would group the main message and points of the essay.
Moreover, it would be worth providing more details about how, for example, color rendering affects the perception of characters. It would be possible to add information about how visualization plays a significant role in such works. For example, it is achieved by using visualization lines that stand for the shape of the characters. It is also worth noting the main functions that color rendering, lines and other aspects of comics play in the transmission of characters, emotions and feelings. Hence, visualization, for example, helps to describe not only the external characteristics but also the inner world of the protagonists.
Works Cited
Aguirre, Mercedes, and Richard Buxton. Cyclops: The Myth and Its Cultural History. Oxford University Press, USA, 2020.
Miller, Dellen N. The Cyclops in the Odyssey, Ulysses, and Asterias Polyp: How Allusions Affect Modern Narratives and their Hypotexts. 2016. Dissertation. University of Oregon.