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How do techniques in shading, panel layout, and color scheme interplay with the meaning of each page?

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How do techniques in shading, panel layout, and color scheme interplay with the meaning of each page?

# data[].attributes.headline
How do techniques in shading, panel layout, and color scheme interplay with the meaning of each page?

# data[].attributes.subject
How do techniques in shading, panel layout, and color scheme interplay with the meaning of each page?

# data[].attributes.headline
How do techniques in shading, panel layout, and color scheme interplay with the meaning of each page?

# data[].attributes.subject
How do techniques in shading, panel layout, and color scheme interplay with the meaning of each page?

# data[].attributes.headline
How do techniques in shading, panel layout, and color scheme interplay with the meaning of each page?

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How do techniques in shading, panel layout, and color scheme interplay with the meaning of each page?

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I think hee distant past is represented by lighter shades, it looks more watercolor-esque. I think this is because she looks at her past to be a little blurred but maybe lighter than what her parents have gone through, because their memories are depicted as bolder and more intense.

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This is one of my fav images from the book. It just shows the darkness of war and migration for Viet refugees, but also the hope that’s always contained within.

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With this image in particular I feel a sense of tranquility as she swims away from her consciousness.

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The nice thing about this and the art in the novel was that during the specific scene with the stars on the boat the shading of the sky and the layout of paneling really made you focus on the scene and since the stars were the only bright think in the scene it pointed out the importance to the story.

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The water theme that you both talked about is so important here. Water as migration. Reminds me of the early boat scene from Buddha in the Attic.

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This one has a lot of open space, honestly the most open space we see throughout the book. I think she is emphasizing the fact that she felt free in her dreams

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I think one thing that always stands out to me in graphic novels is when an image takes up two pages. It feels like the author for some reason wanted us to resonate or really take in this image. Which makes me think what are we supposed to be getting from this image? Ba looking up at the stars? What do the stars represent? What does him looking upwards represent? What does the darkness around him represent? All of our answers will be different based on our own interpretation not only of the image, but the book and our previous knowledge.

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I think the seperation of the panel really emphasizes the inner battles children have to face with having families come from other countries. The wider panel at the bottom shows what she wishes reality could be and demonstrates the larger idea of how life much better life could be if she were able to think more positively about where she comes from.

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‘a symbol of something lost’ is kind of shown in the panel. the bottom picture is focused on her and there isn’t a background, kind of insinuating the “symbol of lost”

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The way she portrays the absence of vietnam in her self-identity by drawing a little hole in her body is so beautiful and moving. The way she communicates metaphors via images throughout the book is really impactful. I like how in this page the red and white is the background while she’s the main focus on black, but if you play close attention the red creates a silhouette of vietnam too, representing how that part of her stays in her background rather than define her.

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Paneling and water color shows how fuzzy and fragmented traumatic memories can be.

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the bright stars shining through the darkness of the rest of the panels showcase hope

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I think the image represent a concept of walking between the path of the living and the dead or heaven and hell as they embark into a new journey after life

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The “swimming” away is nice imagery to show what she wishes she could do to escape her current situation and way of life. Since she cannot in her everyday life, she results to escaping her thoughts in her dreams which is presented by the floating images

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With the use of light and dark the author strikes a great balance between helplessness and hope for the future. While the sky and the sea are dark and turbulent the stars shine as a guiding light

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The shadows behind the people are interesting. Sometimes the sun is behind us and our shadow is in front of us. But in this image, the characters are facing the sun with their shadows behind them. I remember this image maybe being towards the end, what does that have to do with it? Are their shadows really behind them now that the author has delved into so much of the shadows of their pasts? They have trees behind them too, did they walk through a forest and reach the edge? Does that edge represent freedom?

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they’re walking towards this bright light, kind of insinuating that they’re getting closer to the end or closer to “death”