# data[].attributes.body
"A story without a challenge simply isn’t very interesting."
-O'Hara, 2014, page 1

# data[].attributes.body
"Participants use multimedia literacy in digital storytelling to make sense of their past and present lives and to reflect on their life trajectories"
-Jocson, 2008, page 170

# data[].attributes.body
"Dynamic changes in the object of inquiry, brought about by both social and technological change, have challenged literacy researchers to revisit foundational principles and constructs to deal with new contexts and new data"
-Baynham & Prinsloo, page 2

# data[].attributes.body
The three images of my graphic novel selection that I have included here are each chosen for unique reasons:

One, I chose because the way the author timestamps the main character's chronicle through the 20th Century. I found the author (Ann Marie Fleming) using the sidebars with the "main" events of each year for multiple reasons. First, to provide a unique and unrelated column sporadically throughout the book; second, to provide history lessons (Fleming includes many other styles of history facts/lessons across the pages in various modes); and third, to provide a recognizable time period for the stories that occur on each page throughout Sam's life.
The second page I chose because it provides a great example of how many modes of art that Fleming uses to tell her story. From real pictures, to cartoon drawings, to stick figures providing text boxes, the author captures the reader's attention through so many means of art that it provides a captivating read during the entire book.
The third page I chose because it reminded me of the subjects of the famous graphic novel Maus, dealing with the rise of Nazism in Germany.  It also reminded me of how the author of Watchmen (another graphic novel dealing with wartime social issues) used engaging art to convey an interesting perspective on a morbid war topic.

# data[].attributes.body
While reading this graphic novel, I was amazed at Fleming's ability to create such an engaging story by using so many forms of multimodality. Even when discussing serious topics like Mina's activism for female emancipation through physical fitness, the author uses pictures, comic art with text overlaid, and stick figures beside text boxes to provide a unique perspective that captures the reader's attention. The author's use of multimodality has resulted in a story that contains so much information, but in "snackable" pieces. The reader doesn't dare to miss a single page, since there's so much happening on every single page throughout the novel, but the way the author presents the story leads to a constant connection to the reader through various forms of media.

# data[].attributes.body
Baynham, M., & Prinsloo, M. (2009). The future of literacy studies. Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave Macmillan.

Fleming, A. (2007). The Magical Life of Long Tack Sam. New York, NY: Riverhead Books.

Jocson, K. (2005). ―Situating the personal in digital media production. Hill, M., Vasudevan, L. New York, NY: Peter Lang Publishing, 2008, 167-193.

Moore, A., Gibbons, D., & Higgins, J. (2013). Watchmen. New York: DC Comics.

O'Hara, C. (2015). How to Tell a Great Story. Retrieved from https://hbr.org/2014/07/how-to-tell-a-great-story

Stitt, Ralph. Marx Brothers Headshot.  Library of Congress's Prints and Photographs division. Public Domain.

Spiegelman, A. (1992). Maus. New York: Pantheon Books.

# data[].attributes.body
When considering the novel through the lens of a character confronting nodes of difference, I instantly thought of pages 81-83, where it is clearly highlighted that the famous white vaudevillian actors of the same period as Sam, including those that actually performed with him (Cary Grant, Marx Brothers, etc.), were able to find success in California as full-fledged actors. In direct opposition, Sam could not work in Hollywood, and was forced to continue touring in 1924, even while he built a house for his family (and newborn child). Recognizing the difference between different types of vaudevillian actors, Sam had to forgo his family's stability and continue touring simply to afford to survive.