Reference no: EM133792742
Assignment:
Task: First skim Vann and Clarke, Rat Hunt, Part I, "The Graphic History," Prologue and Chapters 1-4 (pp. 1-68). Then watch Chaney's TED talk on comics at. Reread Part I and skim the following sources from Vann: (P) Anonymous, "Poem on True Heroism" (ca. 1900), 180-82, (P) "Citizens of Hanoi to Governor General" (1906), 184-86, and (P) "Superior Resident of Tonkin to Governor General of Indochina" (1906), 186-89. Finally, give short answers (5-6 sentences) to the following questions.
In your answers, you should refer to specific pages to illustrate your ideas. Submit your responses on Brightspace as a file in a readable form (e.g. doc, pdf) and have them, and your copy of Rat Hunt, available during your discussion section.
If you want to think more about comics, you can read an optional text by Scott McCloud, Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art (New York: William Morrow Paperbacks, 1994).
Questions:
1. In Chaney's TED talk, he states that comics work well when the reader identifies with the characters. Do you identify with any of the people in Rat Hunt? Why or why not?
2. How does the "fantasy of immediacy" of Rat Hunt help you understand the history of colonial Hanoi better? How might this immediacy hinder your understandings of this history?
3. Comics often cast suspicion on more "realistic" representations of reality such as reporting or photography. The document, "Superior Resident of Tonkin to Governor General of Indochina," is supposed to be a realistic recording of the past. Describe one way in which the graphic history Rat Hunt makes the reader suspicious of this primary source.
4. Imagine that you were a historian asked to help turn the film from Week 2, White King, Red Rubber, Black Death, into a graphic history. Do you think this film would well in graphic form? What might be some strengths and/or weaknesses of this conversion? What changes might you make to the telling of this history?