Rap point 1
Cover reproduced with kind permission of Walker Books Pty Ltd.
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Rap point 1: Term 1, Week 3: week beginning 9 February
This week’s blog task
In the light of the concept of belonging, post a response to the blog about one chosen text:
- Choose 3 examples from your text which illustrate the notion of belonging OR not belonging
- For each example, outline the techniques used by the composer
- For each example, comment on how effectively it works to convey ideas about belonging/not belonging. Has the author convinced you of the significance of belonging?
Use the Programming and planning activities, Rap sheet 2 and Rap sheet 3 to help you respond to these issues in Rap point 1. You will find Reading graphic fiction helpful.
Go to Comment or Leave a reply at the bottom of this page to post your response. You will need to log in, post a response and wait for moderation.
February 10th, 2009 at 10:08 pm
Welcome everyone – this week we are looking forward to hearing your thoughts about the TECHNIQUES used to convey belonging/not belonging and whether you think these work well. We would like to hear about the impact of images/words in the text you have chosen to analyse this week. Once more, Cathy the rap author, will coordinate this rap with me to give you feedback on your ideas. We look forward to hearing your thoughts and feelings!
February 10th, 2009 at 10:12 pm
The page I have chosen from The Red Tree is the one where she is in the bottle. This shows that she is feeling lonely, unhappy and has no reason to feel a sense of belonging. Shaun Tan uses techniques such as his use of colours to show mood. He uses dull, grey, washed out colours. This shows she is feeling down and lonely. Towards the end of the book, the girl walks into her room and finds a small red tree growing. She then feels happy again and begins to gain some hope.
February 10th, 2009 at 10:19 pm
I’ve chosen a page from The Arrival – the page where the man is being welcomed into the new country and its environment. This shows the man is being accepted by his new country and its people – as a result of this he CAN belong in the new country.
February 10th, 2009 at 10:28 pm
I’ve chosen a page from The Red Tree – it is the one where she is sitting in a bottle wearing an old fashioned diving helmet. This shows the little girl feels very alone and isolated. She doesn’t look or feel like she belongs anywhere. Tan uses many techniques, such as colour. He uses dull, grey colours that make the picture look sad. He uses shapes and symbols that help the book express what she is feeling. The size of objects too – many are way bigger than her. This conveys that she feels small and insignificant. At the end of the book, she walks back into her room, where the book started. She opens the door and finds a bright red maple leaf and she suddenly feels hope as the maple tree grows.
See you soon.
Rhonda
February 10th, 2009 at 10:36 pm
How are you going? I’m reading the graphic novel The Arrival by Shaun Tan. I’ve chosen the page where there are multiple frames displaying the main character’s confusion, in not understanding the new language – depicting the sense of not belonging. The colours representing this are gloomy and dull, which emphasises the feeling of the character’s wanting to understand. His facial expressions undermine the communication between him and the person – giving us the reality of him not belonging.
See you later
Kisuke
February 10th, 2009 at 10:47 pm
Hi there – The best example of the feeling of not belonging would be Shaun Tan’s book, The Red Tree. A specific page is when the girl sits in a bottle all by herself, with her head down. With just two words creating the feeling of sadness and sorrow, “nobody understands”, she’s alone and stuck, so small in such a huge world feeling alienated and isolated. The dark colours give a sense of coldness, signifying how sad and depressed she feels until the second last page where the red maple tree implants itself and starts growing. This shows that there is always hope and that when she’s at her lowest point maybe life isn’t as bad as it seems. It gives her a feeling of contentment with her new feeling of belonging…
Rebecca
February 10th, 2009 at 11:02 pm
Hi everyone,
In the visual text, The Red Tree, by Shaun Tan, with the page which depicts the little girl looking out the window, as all the wonderful things pass her by. The little girl looks as if SHE is on the outside looking in, feeling alone and depressed. Shaun Tan uses dull colours juxtaposed with bright colours to emphasise how depressing her life is and how wonderful, bright and happy the world outside is. Also, having that little red leaf in every picture shows hope – but the little girl can’t see it until the end where she lets hope in, and her life doesn’t seem that bad. In the last scene with the maple leaf growing into a tree, as the tree grows so does her hope. This little alienated girl who was once alone realises that she belongs to herself and she is alright with it now.
Brook
February 10th, 2009 at 11:25 pm
Hi – It’s Jerome here. I’ve chosen a page from The Arrival where the unnamed immigrant takes in the full scenery of his new home. Immediately the reader can see that the picture shows buildings of unorthodox structures and shapes, literally non-sensical and odd in design. This image serves to show the immigrant’s fear of his new home. He does not know what anything is. The image primarily represents the immigrant’s confusion. He has never seen buildings of such shapes and sizes. he has never seen such designs as these buildings. The billboards and messages contain a language unknown to him. In essence, he is lost. He is confused. He is alone.
February 10th, 2009 at 11:34 pm
Hi there – It’s Lochlan. The text I have chosen is “The Red Tree” by Shaun Tan. I have chosen the page where the little girl is outside a locked window and birds are flying past her. The page says “wonderful things are passing you by”. This shows that the girl is so distracted by her feelings of depression that she doesn’t notice the wonderful things behind her. On the lock on the window, there is the word “regret” which is an insight into the girl’s feelings. The second last page shows that the girl has found hope. The red maple leaf is the symbol for hope in this book and it isn’t until the last 2 pages that she has found it. It shows that the girl isn’t depressed any more and has found belonging.
Cheers
Lochlan
February 10th, 2009 at 11:48 pm
Hi there – it’s Nadine. Like many others in this blog, I’m talking about the girl in the bottle in The Red Tree. This image shows isolation – she feels she has noone to talk to or to understand the way she feels or what she’s going through. Like other people, I noticed that Tan’s image uses dull colours to convey an insecure, unhappy feel to the story and this creates a mood and an atmosphere. The bottle relates to an old saying “bottle up your feelings”. This bottle is like a barrier which stops her from telling and showing her feelings. She also has an old diving helmet over her head which covers her face and makes her unable to express her feelings. The size of the girl in the bottle shows she feels small – like she can’t be herself and show her feelings. Instead she bottles herself up. Also, the placement of her in the bottle shows she is the main character and shows her isolation and the emotions lost to her life.
Nadine
February 10th, 2009 at 11:57 pm
Hi there, it’s Lasi. I’ve chosen a page from The Red Tree where the little girl says “or where you are”. This page shows that she is smaller than everything and this makes her feel belittled. Tan drew this hill with dark colours and weird shapes. There is a cave which is a black hole that looks like it’s sucking her into nothing. I’ve also chosen the last page in The Red Tree – this page shows how much she has progressed throughout her journey of being alienated and depressed. It shows the hope that she has waited for and she now knows that she belongs to herself.
See you all
Lasi
February 11th, 2009 at 12:08 am
Hi – it’s Middian here. I’ve chosen a page from The Red Tree where the young girl is walking in the dark street. Shaun Tan conveys a strong message of not belonging through the link between the pictures and text – the different sizes and shapes of the writing and the bold letters symbolise the loneliness and troubles she feels – which allows the audience to identify the focus of her sense of not belonging.
Middian
February 11th, 2009 at 12:21 am
Good day – it’s Devoe here. The page I have chosen from The Red Tree is where the llttle girl is sitting inside and there seems to be a celebration outside. The WAY Tan shows this strengthens the feeling in what he says. As the colour of the celebration is different from what is shown in most pages, the impact is strong and shows how she is alienated from this society. How it shows hope is that you see this little hope [the red leaf] is everywhere but she doesn’t notice it. But in the last two pages it shows that she notices the hope – in the light of when she LETS it in, it seems to grow.
Devoe
February 11th, 2009 at 12:31 am
Hi there, it’s Aaron. I’ve done something a bit different – I started by looking at the clues offered in the two front illustrations before the story starts. The opening illustration in Shaun Tan’s ‘The Red Tree’ shows the girl in the shadow of a seemingly blossoming field and speaking into a megaphone with words falling out of it. In my opinion, this shows how her voice is not heard and how she wishes to be kept in the dark away from the light. Do other people agree with me? She is also seen standing on a stool trying to stand out among the grass. However, since her voice is not heard and she is amongst the shadows, she undeniably cannot grow out of her situation.
See you
Aaron
February 11th, 2009 at 12:39 am
Hello guys – it’s Aaisha here. Like Aaron, I’ve looked at the first illustration from Shaun Tan’s ‘The Red Tree’ which shows a sense of not belonging, and depression. The image of the girl is shadowed in a darker shade of green but in the distance you can see a brighter blooming field. The girl standing on the stool makes it seem as if she wants to stand out and be heard. By seeing the girl’s words falling down from the megaphone, this immediately catches the viewer’s attention and brings the realisation that the girl doesn’t belong.
Bye for now
Aaisha
February 11th, 2009 at 12:50 am
Good day – It’s Nick here. To discuss not belonging, I’ve chosen the page from The Red Tree with the picture of the girl in the bottle wearing the diving bell. It shows the girl feels suffocated and alone. It shows that she is drowning in her own sorrows.
On the page “Just as you remember it would be” with the maple tree on the page, this tree is a ray of hope – it manipulates the page and is the main focus. The girl smiles which shows she feels happier and comfortable. The one maple leaf scattered throughout the book ‘grows’ into a tree and shows hope.
Nick
February 11th, 2009 at 1:02 am
Good day – it’s Stephen here. The page I have chosen is from The Red Tree by Shaun Tan. It shows a little girl in a single bed. She is huddled in the corner. The words state “sometimes the day begins with nothing to look forward to…” This page shows that she is sad and every day wakes up to nothing and doesn’t seem to belong. Usually a bedroom symbolises safety, most people who are alone go to the one place they feel safe – their room. But for this girl – she is so sad that even her room does not help her.
See you
Stephen
February 11th, 2009 at 1:09 am
Hi, it’s Nick here again. After having a read of The Red Tree, I have chosen the second last page where the young girl has realised she has hope after being completely isolated throughout the book. She has realised that she has found a sense of belonging – this is represented by the start of growth of the red tree.
Nick
February 11th, 2009 at 1:35 am
Hi there. The first book I have chosen is The Red Tree by Shaun Tan. One page that I felt effectively showed a a strong perception of not belonging is where Tan writes “wonderful things are passing you by.” Here the little girl is shown at the bottom corner of a window which is padlocked, with the word “regret”. Outside the window is the reflection of a brightly coloured vision of a floating ship and clouds. The girl has a sad look on her face and looks locked away from the rest of the world, portraying a sense of exclusion and not belonging.
In comparison, the last two pages in the book show a change in feeling and a new sense of hope for the young girl. The second last page portrays a single red maple leaf in the girl’s room. Light is shone only on the bright red leaf and not the rest of the room. Through this technique, Shaun Tan effectively allows the audience to recognise the importance in the leaf’s connection – to the girl’s new feeling of belonging – and to the rest of the world.
See you
Felicity
February 13th, 2009 at 9:54 am
Hi there, rappers. Thanks for these comments which are so full of insight and wisdom!
Many people noted that Belonging can be when you feel AT HOME IN YOURSELF, in YOUR OWN SKIN. When this doesn’t happen, then depression and alienation can result for people.
You were asked to comment on TECHNIQUES in picture books which convey the notion of Belonging/Not Belonging and you have mentioned these aspects in a very telling way:
* Use of SYMBOLS
* Use of COLOUR – contrasts between colours also
* PLAY between WORDS/IMAGES
* PLACEMENT of characters – alone, centre, edge – to show isolation, involvement
* SIZE of character or object – to show power/powerlessness
* JUXTAPOSITION of images – to heighten contrasts
Make sure to read Cathy’s sheet on READING GRAPHIC FICTION which will add a number of other techniques to your analytical toolkits!
Cheers
Lizzie
February 13th, 2009 at 2:29 pm
To comment do I have to use Shaun Tan’s book or can I use any picture book?
February 14th, 2009 at 1:58 pm
Hi taylors09,
You can comment on any of the books set for the rap. See the list on the introductory page of the rap. We would love to share your ideas.
Cheers
CS
February 14th, 2009 at 2:08 pm
Hi Bloggers for Rap point 1,
All of you offer some very thoughtful examples from the books you are reading. Perhaps you have noticed that when you closely read pictures they reveal a great deal. I really like the way so many of you give examples of how the colours selected convey a mood and make you feel something about belonging or not belonging. The wonderful comments you have made so far should encourage other students to share their ideas. Comments need not be confined to Shaun Tan’s books. What about Jeannie Baker, Nadia Wheatley, Neil Gaiman, or Matt Ottley?
Some of these books are quite challenging, but feel free to have a go. How do they look at ideas of belonging or not belonging?
Looking forward to your comments,
CS