ERIC Number: EJ1335526
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2022-Jun
Pages: 13
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0045-6713
EISSN: N/A
Picturing Silence: The Visual Grammar of "Speak: The Graphic Novel"
Latham, Don
Children's Literature in Education, v53 n2 p169-181 Jun 2022
The framework of visual grammar (Kress and van Leeuwen, 2006, via Serafini, 2014) is used to examine the artwork of Laurie Halse Anderson and Emily Carroll's "Speak: The Graphic Novel," which tells through words and pictures the story of Melinda Sordino, a girl who is raped just prior to beginning her freshman year in high school. Three key sets of images that depict the various dimensions of Melinda's silence are analyzed in order to demonstrate how Carroll's images, in conjunction with Anderson's text, work to convey Melinda's ongoing trauma and eventual recovery: Melinda's artwork, the various mirrors that appear in the book, and the abandoned janitor's closet that Melinda transforms into her private refuge. The overall purpose of the paper is not to compare the original novel with the graphic adaptation, but rather to interrogate how--and how effectively--Carroll is able to depict silence, and Melinda's eventual triumph over silence, through the visual grammar of pictures. The paper argues that the visual grammar instructs us in how to read the images, which ultimately work to show us what Melinda cannot tell us.
Descriptors: Grammar, Cartoons, Novels, Trauma, Rape, Illustrations, Adolescent Literature, Psychological Patterns, Visual Aids, Literary Devices
Springer. Available from: Springer Nature. One New York Plaza, Suite 4600, New York, NY 10004. Tel: 800-777-4643; Tel: 212-460-1500; Fax: 212-460-1700; e-mail: customerservice@springernature.com; Web site: https://link.springer.com/
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A