Category: Javier Page 2 of 4

One of the things I noticed about storytelling in a graphic format, reminiscent of my last post, is how it offers a unique opportunity to demonstrate and illustrate the internal thoughts of characters. With an added level of simplicity. Rather than what might take paragraphs of words to explain, can be rendered down to artistic illustrations.

Metaphors can be illustrated in a very real sense. It also gives a level of guidance to the reader’s thoughts and imagination, providing a reference to a certain extent. It’s easier to convey certain concepts or thoughts that are not part of the story – such as the various illustrations of revolutionaries like Che Guevara or the scenes with God. Imagery to go along with the specific wordcraft of the author, whether it be the dialogue in the word bubbles or the narration associated with the images, creates a powerful phenomenon.

The way the author tells her story is reminiscent of actual childhood. As she tells the story of her childhood, the rather “simple” yet “deep” illustrations convey a denser tone. The art style might make one think of children’s books like Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Captain Underpants, or other juvenile books. However, make no mistake, these books are by no means the same in any capacity except for the style of illustrations.

The actual content itself is much more mature and serious, albeit easier to comprehend with the author’s brief lines of content per panel. Extraordinary in terms of how with imagery and brief sentences she’s able to convey so much of her story. Part of it is that some of the panels aren’t so much of the “story” but more relevant to her “thoughts” allowing the reader to align more with the author. Examples of this include the scenes where she interacts with God.

One of the scenes that really stood out to me was the night where “God didn’t come” and she tries to convince her parents to let her go out to join the revolution. From her past exchanges of faith, conversing with God “every night” followed by a sudden break in the pattern stands out in different ways: Fear, Tension, an approaching Climax, and perhaps even the loss of innocence.

“How have you experienced learning through your own writing? Write an essay in which you identify two different learning moments that happened for you through writing. Be sure to quote yourself (and link to the quote where it appears on the blog, if possible.) For each moment you choose, explain how this represents learning to you, and define or categorize the learning. What can you conclude about the relationship between writing and learning?”

• Does the learning content have to be explicitly from the blog? or can it be from our other articles of writing from the school year?
• Can we use writing samples from other classes that may contribute or be used to identify supposed learning moments?
• Can we describe or utilize previous writings from BEFORE the class and use them to compare with our current selves? Or utilize past learning moments that we have experienced through writing that might have occurred before the class began?

Writing the Annotated Bibliography was actually a lot easier than it was in the past. In the past, I suppose I did not understand the task’s fundamental nature was a lot simpler and different as opposed to what I usually presumed. In terms of actually constructing, the library search engine was helpful in pulling up the exact article I needed, even though I already knew my primary source beforehand. Similar search terms under the general premise of “Vagrant Laws” pulled up results that expanded my potential focus to look at Vagrancy Laws and similar policies in other states.

Since my article did not have an author, it was a little harder to analyze the source. I ended up focusing on the publisher element, alluding to the New York Times and its success. I looked at the genuine governmental order issued and signed by the Assistant Adjutant General with a deeper dive into research. It was a bit difficult because Alfred H. Terry’s reputation had not mention his tenure in Virginia.

The research did help make me more aware of a history lens that was initially unknown. The fact that the Union established districts under military “rule” in the South through the “Military Districts” was also pretty interesting.

Chicago Style Formatting is a new experience for me. Although it is regarded as one of the more common styles of citation, I have always found myself using MLA, APSA, and APA formatting. It is almost a foreign experience to me, however, the premise of an annotated Bibliography is not new to me, so that was generally alright. The content itself was almost eye-opening, as most of my annotated bibliography were combinations of both the surface-level research into author, reliability, etc. as well as an analysis as to how it can be applied in terms of my paper. Seeing it differentiate into two types was fairly interesting.

In terms of the source that I’ve selected for my Annotated Bibliography, I’ve chosen to dive deeper into the legal encodings, most notably the “Vagrant Laws.” The source referenced, that although the initial link to “gwu.edu” ended up failing and not working, I was able to find the primary document dating back to January 25th, 1866.

The exact document itself is a reference to a New York Times article in which the Union General makes an announcement that the Vagrant Laws under no means will be enforced by any civil servant under his territory and goes on to criticize the law itself over what it will do, and how white business-owners have already made agreements to not hire freedmen at respectable wages in order to force them into qualification over the vagrancy statute and work at near dirt-level wages.

It raises questions as to what other laws were encoded into their system as attempted loopholes, as well as who were other figures who stood up to fight against the Law? The Vagrancy Law, while not enforced, was still in effect in Virginia’s Legal System until 1904 which means over the course of close to four decades it was in effect.

The reading for today offered interesting insights into how Richmond and by extension the South as a whole instituted racism into a more systemic form than before. Their use of segregation to exercise control was effective to a concerning degree. Even more concerning, was the extent that most Virginians were willing to go. The Confederacy burned Richmond akin to a scorched earth method of warfare in order to not let Richmond fall into the hands of the Union, a move that ultimately did not succeed in the long term.

The author writing about how the people reacted with rejoicing at the first victory but were awoken to the cruel reality of war was an effective method to stir the hearts of readers in also recognizing the depth of the experience even further. It struck me deeper than other components of the chapter because while much older, it calls back memories of societies where we have seen the wagons of bodies and soldiers returning home while wounded.

The story of the fourteen-year-old boy who saved the flag and proceeded to hoist it up the flagpole 17 years later as the Union arrived in the city of Richmond is a story of admiration and persistence. A symbol of how resistance endured even within the hearts of those whose views did not line up with the Confederacy. As the city slowly rebuilt however it was clear that racism at the very least, if not slavery, was here to remain.

The south’s continued attempts to find loopholes appeared repeatedly throughout the two chapters. Trying to loophole or put off the integration of schools, their philosophy of “end of slavery doesn’t mean equal rights or suffrage…” among other attempts to district them off of race by neighborhoods, trying to uproot those neighborhoods, etc.  demonstrates just how deeply their values were seated within their hearts. It also goes to show the flaws of the system which allowed them to get this far without proper reinforcement. Although they were still criticized by the North, and even the Supreme Court reissued that integration should move along “quickly at all costs” — they still held on to their outdated views.

• As disappointing as this is, it is still reflective of similar concepts held today whereby political groups or even corporations exploit loopholes in the system, coupled with an influence in government in order to push through their views.

Another component I noticed is that there was fairly limited progress until after World War 2. There’s almost a jump between the late 1880s near the end of the chapter whereby it describes the ways that Segregation and systematic racism were ingrained via the One-Party-System, etc.

• At the same time, it was a period of development for the city itself, and even under this systemic pressure and oppression, Richmond’s African American population had managed to find more success before the start of the Urban Renewal.

The chapters from Four to Six were interesting in that they revealed a side of history that I’d never noticed before. It goes in depth into the transition of how Slavery which was initially less race-centralized (with an emphasis on European Slaves) eventually shifted and over time became more and more systemic against Africans in the Americas. The earlier chapters detailed the general fundamentals of slavery that were Present, however, as the chapters progress, the transition becomes more and more clear.

The first warning sign was how Indians slowly had their rights weakened, and then a similar element occurred for Black Slaves. The shift from Anti-Native sentiment against those in power was a shift that I had not recalled in terms of focus, but also later elements — As to how slavery was relatively stable without influx and although still harsh, was also accompanied by both mixed congregations, the role of faith and religion in this transition was also an interesting element. it becomes clear that things go even more downhill with the sudden Cotton Burst in the state which increased demand for slaves exponentially.

I had not heard or recognized certain attributes such as revolutions before being confronted with them. It’s clear just how disturbing and rather morally unjust it was during this time period and how they rationalized it. While some used faith to promote equality and abolition, others utilized faith as well as other means in order to justify the necessity. The irony is how some slave owners would advocate against slavery. The transition from the start of the chapter to the end emphasizes a shift to focus on “slavery.”

An interesting component was the establishment of Liberia and the role it played in one of the chapters. It was a piece of American History that I’d never heard of before, which although a noble ambition, still had its flaws that were identified in the book.

The founding story of Virginia actually goes back even further to before Jamestown was established. The story starts a little bit further in Europe with a tale revolving around gaining support to establish a colony, starting with the stories of Roanoke and Jamestown. It has to do with the competition between the countries and other players competing for a slice of the New World, and it also is significantly intertwined with the “native people.” The original inhabitants, their interactions with the foreigners and how they banded together to fight the “invaders.” The book depicts a story that starts even before the story of Richmond actually began, with the interactions of the Powhatan and their allies eventually being pushed out.