KAPOW!

Samples of Students' Analysis

"I did not think that this assignment and the book that I chose would bring me so much joy. I absolutely loved the graphic novel and will be buying the rest of the books for my sisters and myself. I thought that it was socially conscious, funny, and critical of the way we commit gender as an action as opposed to seeing it as an innate trait. I sped through it, but it is something that can be read over and over again...The characters are extremely well-rounded: each of them have well developed internal and interpersonal conflicts."

Bryanna Adams '17 on Jeremy Whitley's Princeless

"Ashley Spires’s color choice is also an important aspect of Binky. She keeps the entire book light-toned and monochromatic, having fairly little bright colors. Nothing ever really stands out on the pages. This keeps all the images equally relevant, forcing readers to look at every individual image—which they should, because they tell even more about the story through the character’s expressions. The basic color scheme keeps Binky’s emotions and Spires’s humor front and center."

Emily Russo '17 on Ashley Spires's Binky the Space Cat

"On page 9, Robot picks up a movie from the library which happens to be “Castle in the Sky”. On page 202 Raccoon and Robot are reading together in the living room. Looking closer at the books they are reading, one can see that one is The Rabbi’s Cat, which is a French comic written by Joan Sfar. The other book is Project Telstar, which is an anthology devoted to robots and space, featuring the works of Gregory Benton, Jeffrey Brown, Renee French, Jay Geldhof, Paul Hornschemeier, Ellen Lindner, Scott Mills, Bernie Mireault, John Pham, Joel Priddy, Paul Rivoche,Vince Stall, Rob Ullman and others. It’s interesting to point out that all of the books/movies that Robot is seen holding are about robots."

Rafael Marmol '18 on Sara Varon's Robot Dreams