Understanding Comics
During my IBH Literature class, we were required to read a book called "Understanding Comics" by Scott McCloud. The author explains that comics use language and sense perception, both of which are ways of knowledge in TOK, to help understand comics.
Inside the comic book, the author states that “language was becoming even
more direct, conveying meaning simply and quickly, more like pictures.” By
saying this, Scott McCloud emphasizes that words have become so developed that
it has become similar to pictures where an event is visually told. Instead of
distracting the reader from the story, language is now helping people have a
balanced understanding through both words and pictures. In addition, the caption
in comics and the dialogue used by the characters can portray a huge range of
human experiences and emotions.
If there is no language used in comics then people will tend to
interpret the same event differently. Pictures merely help the reader visually
see the event but they will use reasoning in order to make sense of an event
using their own logic, judgment and experience. Sense perception is used when people perceive the pictures used in graphic
novels differently. Our internal constructions (cognitive) may differ from the
external world (reality) and the different interpretations of what people see
may be equally valid.
Through this comic book, which explained the history, techniques and
other important usage in comics, I acknowledged that the ways of knowledge is
relatable to many subjects. It was quite surprising to find that both language
and sense perception was important in understanding comics. This book helped me
analyze and understand another graphic novel I read in IB Literature Higher Level
class, “Persepolis”, which proved the fact that learning the different ways of
knowledge can be applied to comics and further my understanding. I was able to
comprehend that the ways of knowledge in Theory of Knowledge is used widely in
many sources.
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