This assignment was different from the triptych one since the middle of the story used two panels instead of one. This was more challenging in terms of coming up with a story short enough for four panels but still had a long enough middle to take up two panels. The organization of the story into four panels still felt similar to the triptych since I have to compact and plan certain events based off the panels. I chose to tell this story since it included an aspect of the food chain or the phrase “there’s always a bigger fish in the sea” which I find interesting. It also included the idea of perspective since the orange fish was completely clueless while the pink fish just witnessed everything.

Link to Beyond Z comic Creating my literacy narrative as a comic was a completely different experience than just writing a regular essay, and frankly, it was a bit of an adventurous and challenging journey at the same time. Not only did I have to tell my story with fewer words, but I also had to come up with ways of showing it through visuals – how to depict emotions, characters, and significant events in such a way that it would be understandable without giving too much explanation. I found out very quickly that images can communicate a lot and sometimes even more than words, so I had to be careful in the interchanging of dialogues, narration, and visuals so that the story would be coherent and understandable. In addition, I understood that pacing is also an issue in comics – each frame should smoothly connect with the following one so that the reader can continue the story logically and this made me more aware of the pace of my narrating which I hadn’t before. Little things like characters’ faces, the gutter, and the style of certain words suddenly became very significant for illustrating my development, hardships, and revelations concerning reading and writing. This assignment made me think about my journey as a reader and writer – the things I have learned, places where I have struggled, and how I have pushed myself to become better – which, in fact, are very closely related to the objectives of the class such as analyzing literacy development, linking personal experience to more substantial ideas about reading and writing, and experimenting with different modes of communication. I believed that the use of both pictures and words made my narrative more vibrant, and I gradually started to see the connections between my feelings, the manner in which I express myself, and my comprehension, which I might have overlooked if I were just writing a normal essay. Besides, it compelled me to be deliberate with my words because I could not afford to talk excessively – each word had to be of use which in turn made me consider more how to clarify my thoughts effectively. To sum up, this experience of making a comic not only pushed me to think about storytelling differently, it also challenged me to convert my personal stories into something visual and written simultaneously and it gave me a broader view of literacy beyond the traditional reading and writing perception, that is, literacy is the ability to communicate your thoughts and share your ideas creatively.

I really enjoyed the process of drawing my own comic. It felt very different from writing my literacy narrative because it required me to think narratively through both words and images. Sometimes the text I used in my comic and the drawings expressed slightly different meanings, while other times they worked together to strengthen the story and help readers understand what I wanted to convey. When I was drawing, I realized that many of the emotions I had previously tried to express through words could be communicated more vividly through visuals. For example, I could show my facial expressions and the exaggerated reactions of other characters—like my elementary school teacher getting mad at me, her face surrounded by fiery lines and distorted into a monstrous expression. This captured the way I remembered her and how that memory reflected my feelings of frustration toward studying at the time. Through visual storytelling, I could make abstract emotions more concrete and relatable. Creating the comic did not change the core story of my literacy narrative, but it did add more room for interpretation. Readers could now pick up on tone and mood through color, composition, and exaggeration. I also wanted to leave space for humor, hoping that the over-the-top reactions or symbolic drawings would make the story more engaging. Compared to the alphabetic version, the comic felt less about precision in wording and more about rhythm, pacing, and visual impact. This shift in focus made me rethink how stories can be told not only through sentences but also through expressions, body language, and panel arrangement. My analytical thinking process was also quite different from when I wrote the essay. Instead of analyzing through language alone, I had to think visually and symbolically. For example, on the fourth page, second panel, I used a metaphorical image of a person climbing a mountain to represent my struggle and eventual success in overcoming my difficulties with reading and writing in English, which is not my native language. Thinking through symbols like this made me more aware of how metaphors can function visually. It was a more creative and flexible way of representing my ideas, requiring me to communicate feelings and growth in fewer words. Transforming my alphabetic literacy narrative into a comic also changed how I thought about storytelling in general. I had to condense the plot and decide which moments were the most essential to show since comics rely on visual efficiency and I had a four-page limit. For instance, I shortened the part about how I overcame the challenge of learning English, focusing instead on a single symbolic moment that could summarize the struggle. This forced me to think more concisely and to prioritize emotional clarity over detailed explanation. If I had more time and space, I would expand the ending to show more clearly how I connect drawing to creative writing, since that link defines my relationship with literacy today. If I could collaborate with a professional comic illustrator, I would also work on condensing the text further—some of my captions still feel too long, though I kept them because they helped readers understand the context. Overall, creating this comic taught me that words and drawings can tell the same story in very different yet complementary ways.

When I was brainstorming ideas for this assignment, I wanted to create something personally relatable, so I thought about my experiences studying at Kaldi’s Café on the weekends. I often find myself getting distracted by everything happening around me—people chatting loudly, baristas calling out orders, and the general bustle of the café—until I eventually give up and leave to find a quieter place to study. The most challenging part of this process was deciding how to present my drawing: whether to make it simple, colored, or more detailed. I ultimately chose a simple style to emphasize the humor and goofiness of the situation, making it more universally relatable. Crafting this four-panel comic strip felt different from creating the triptych because the addition of an extra panel allowed for more plot development and creative freedom. Instead of showing just one source of distraction, I could include multiple moments—like an annoying person on a phone call and a whining child—which made the story more dynamic. Having the middle act stretch across two panels also gave me space to build up the conflict more gradually before reaching the punchline. I chose to tell the story of an average college student struggling to find a peaceful study spot because it’s something I—and many others—have experienced, making it both funny and familiar.

I wrote about a robot coming across.a robot detector test and asking a human to complete it for him. There wasn’t much of a challenge when completing this assignment, I just knew I wanted to do something a little ironic and funny. This was different from the triptychs because you had to add another middle event, you couldn’t just go from beginning-middle-end, with each panel having its own role. It’s different to have the middle act stretch across two panels rather than one because you have to make sure the two panels are both relevant and not too repetitive. I told this kind of story to have fun and be a little unserious compared to my literacy narrative comic.

Creating my comic presented many challenges as well as new learning experiences. Unlike my literacy narrative, which had a lot of imagery in the writing, my comic was able to be much shorter because I could use visual context. The drawings in the comic helped convey meaning without needing as many words. Once the visual components were added, I had to think about how to incorporate words into the comic. I started off by adding narration to the top of some panels, and within the images, I added speech bubbles for the characters’ interactions. I realized that the dialogue in the speech bubbles needed to be more casual and couldn’t use the exact wording from my literacy narrative. Although this process wasn’t difficult, it took time and thought. I had to consider what would happen in the next panel when deciding what to include in the current one. Throughout the process of making my comic, I had to add and change aspects that were either originally part of or completely new to the story from my literacy narrative. Specifically, at the end of the comic, I added more about what it was like to go to a specialized middle school for dyslexia and where I am today. As a result, I took out some parts about seeing the school specialist in second grade during social studies. The hardest part of this comic for me was creating the characters. Since there were so many panels, I couldn’t make the characters too detailed because it would take too much time. Therefore, I made my characters somewhat stick figure like, mainly focusing on their faces and hair to show who they were. The way I formatted my panels was somewhat strategic. I started by placing them right next to each other with no gutter space, but then I realized that’s not how comics usually look. So, I took screenshots of each panel and reorganized them on a new page in a way that made more sense visually. Throughout this process, I took some inspiration from Spinning and Stitches specifically with the Winter and Fall panels in my comic. I needed to show a change in time without actually writing it out or having my characters say it. If I were a better artist or had someone illustrating for me I think I could have shown the seasonal changes more clearly through the imagery. One part of my comic where I had a clear sense of what I was trying to accomplish was setting the scene. More specifically, the panels where I illustrated the different schools I attended. I thought this was a good way to show the setting rather than explicitly saying where I was. For each school, I made sure to include the name so the reader could clearly understand which part of my life I was representing. Overall, this process was fun, and I enjoyed turning my writing into images.

Creating my comic presented many challenges as well as new learning experiences. Unlike my literacy narrative, which had a lot of imagery in the writing, my comic was able to be much shorter because I could use visual context. The drawings in the comic helped convey meaning without needing as many words. Once the visual components were added, I had to think about how to incorporate words into the comic. I started off by adding narration to the top of some panels, and within the images, I added speech bubbles for the characters’ interactions. I realized that the dialogue in the speech bubbles needed to be more casual and couldn’t use the exact wording from my literacy narrative. Although this process wasn’t difficult, it took time and thought. I had to consider what would happen in the next panel when deciding what to include in the current one. Throughout the process of making my comic, I had to add and change aspects that were either originally part of or completely new to the story from my literacy narrative. Specifically, at the end of the comic, I added more about what it was like to go to a specialized middle school for dyslexia and where I am today. As a result, I took out some parts about seeing the school specialist in second grade during social studies. The hardest part of this comic for me was creating the characters. Since there were so many panels, I couldn’t make the characters too detailed because it would take too much time. Therefore, I made my characters somewhat stick figure like, mainly focusing on their faces and hair to show who they were. The way I formatted my panels was somewhat strategic. I started by placing them right next to each other with no gutter space, but then I realized that’s not how comics usually look. So, I took screenshots of each panel and reorganized them on a new page in a way that made more sense visually. Throughout this process, I took some inspiration from Spinning and Stitches specifically with the Winter and Fall panels in my comic. I needed to show a change in time without actually writing it out or having my characters say it. If I were a better artist or had someone illustrating for me I think I could have shown the seasonal changes more clearly through the imagery. One part of my comic where I had a clear sense of what I was trying to accomplish was setting the scene. More specifically, the panels where I illustrated the different schools I attended. I thought this was a good way to show the setting rather than explicitly saying where I was. For each school, I made sure to include the name so the reader could clearly understand which part of my life I was representing. Overall, this process was fun, and I enjoyed turning my writing into images.

For this comic strip I found it a lot easier than the triptych because I had more room to tell a story. However, like the triptych, it was really hard to think of an idea. Like last time, I went on the internet in order to take some inspiration from other stories. Although I didn’t find anything specific, I was able to come up with an idea. I chose to make a character playing basketball and shooting a shot. The story starts with him asking for someone to pass him the ball. Then him receiving it, then him shooting it and making it. I told this story because it made the most sense to me in a comic strip of only 4.

After writing my literary essay and drawing the comic based off of it, I was able to really understand and comprehend the learning outcomes. I checked off pretty much every box, learning to compose texts in a variety of ways while simultaneously summarizing and evaluating those ideas in a scholarly manner. Additionally, I also went through a researching, drafting, revision, editing, and reflection process for all of my assignments. I worked with peers too while doing this, improving my collaboration skills as I utilized technology to post my work in a responsible way. I found it very different to translate my literacy narrative into a comic, as this was a medium I had barely dipped into my entire life. However, once I added the visual components, it became a lot easier to progress the story as I am a visual learner myself and having the layout all set made it way easier. This also allowed me to tell the story in a different way, a way in which I am sure many are unfamiliar too. It is not your stereotypical essay with the introduction, conclusion, and three main body paragraphs. Instead, this was split into four pages, each with several panels that contained drawings and transitions. There were so many more factors at play that also helped tell the story in so many abstract ways instead of the linear format that we are all used to that is your standard essay. This also changed my analytical process as I had to include images and not just words. I also had to think of where to fit the words and images, something that I had never done before. After doing all of this, my thoughts have changed significantly, as comics and essays are both very different mediums. However, it has also made me realize the numerous ways that we can transfer knowledge to one another, whether it be through kids drawings or a scholarly narrative. I decided to pace my comic into three pages initially, but realized I needed more space. This followed closely to my main body paragraphs, with each page being a different phase of my life (elementary/kid, middle school, high school). I felt that my drawings could have used a little more polishing or detail, and I could have done this if I had more time. However, I am not the most artistic person and never have been, but I am happy with my work. I would have aded a lot more shading if I could hire an illustrator. I tried my best in the sunset scenes to mirror each other, but it was not perfect and the shading was pretty terrible. I would have also tried to draw the lines a little more straight, spacing them out evenly by measuring and tracing with a ruler. I did not have the time to do all of this, and I felt like my rough, hand-drawn lines, while they were not the best, got the job done. Overall, I really enjoyed making this comic. It was unique and something that I had never done before.

Learn to Read, Read to Learn Comic