Comic Books and First-year Writing:

Moving Beyond Literary Analysis

Michael PembertonGeorgia Southern University

Student Success in First Year CompositionStatesboro, GA 2/6/09

Gene Luen Yang

Analyzing the Structure of American Born Chinese

What textual and graphic features signal a shift in chapters and/or narratives?

1.) White pages with graphic icons:

2.) Distinct breaks in narrative structure; new topics, characters, and conventions

3.) Chinese characters at the top of each page that signal which protagonist is the focus

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Dear Professor Pemberton,

Thank you so much for your support of my work. I'm honored that you are teaching American Born Chinese in your classes. The three characters at the top of the pages signify the three different storylines. They're written in an old form of Chinese. Most modern Chinese folks wouldn't be able to read them. I actually had them done by a chop carver I found in San Francisco Chinatown. The first is a single character pronounced "Sun." It's the Monkey King's surname. The second is a character pronounced "Jin, " the name of the second storyline's main character and my Chinese name. The third is two characters that are a rough transliteration of "Chin-Kee." They mean "Worship of the West." My mom helped me with that one.

Gene

What signals a shift of focus or tone within chapters?

1.) Double frames (pp. 23-24)

A children’s fable

2.) A change in color scheme (pp. 68-71, 82-83, 230-32)

In the presence of Tze-Yo-Tzuh

In the 490 Bakery Cafe

3.) Ragged color fill in panels (pp. 104-05)

An unreal, emotionally stunning experience

4.) Panel corners (pp. 193-94, 215-220)

A dream A story about the past

5.) Laughter and clapping on the borders (Chin-kee chapters)

Watching a sitcom – laughing at the discomfort of others

6.) Skewed panel shapes (pp. 155-56)

Transformers (26-27, 39, 217)

Repeated scenes and images (framing)

Chinese herbalist (27-29, 193-94)

Cloud as steed/permed hair (11, 98 ff.)

Monkey King rejected for being different.

Jin rejected at school for being different.

Danny embarrassed by Chin-Kee’s behavior

Monkey King makes himself look different to fit in.

Jin gets a perm to fit in.

Chin-Kee interferes with Danny’s fitting in.

Monkey King accepts who he is.

Jin resists accepting who he is.

Danny attacks Chin-Kee; Chin-kee transforms into the Monkey King; Danny transforms into Jin

Some connections between the structure of American Born Chinese and academic writing

A central point (thesis) that’s developed by exploring several subtopics

One possible thesis in ABC:

Accepting and being comfortable with who you are

Told through the experiences of the Monkey King, Jin, Wei-

Chen, Danny, and Chin-Kee

A clear, logical structure and organizationIn ABC:

Three distinct sections told in three chapters each

Repetition of key words and images that make connections to other parts of the text (coherence)

ABC does this primarily through characters and images:

Transformers, the Chinese herbalist, cloud/lightning images

Signals (such as subheadings) that announce a shift in topic

ABC uses several such signals:

Icons between sections, Chinese characters on each page,

panel borders

An introduction that sets the stage; a conclusion that ties together the points made and suggests future possibilities

Section One: introduces characters and major themes

Conclusion: All major characters appear in final chapter;

thematic conflicts resolved; Jin and Wei-Chen

reestablish their friendship.