The Call of the Wild Comic Strip/Essay

To see my comic click here.

The Call of the Wild is a story about a dog called Buck that gets dognapped and is taken to the Yukon. The comic strip shows Buck as he is being shipped away and when he learns his first lesson. The choices I made in creating my comic strip have reasons behind them. The scene, relations to the themes of the book, the way it was drawn, and the dialogue are all supported by the book.

First of all, the scene is quite important. It was full of many firsts for Buck. on page 4 in the book, London writes, "Never in all his life had he been so viley treated, and never in all his life had he been so angry." Those are two firsts the he would have to get used to. He would have to handle some abuse later in the book. On page 9 he also wrote, "He had learned a lesson, and in all his after life he never forgot it." Through out the book, buck thought back to when he learned that he couldn't beat a man with a club.

Secondly, it relates to the themes of the book. One of the themes was going from a domestic life to a primitive one. Jack London wrote, "It was his introduction to the reign of primitive law..." Buck expanded this knowledge until he became a pack leader.

Lastly, the way it was drawn and the dialogue are as close to the text as I could make it. Not many of the dogs on pixton fit Buck's description, "...strong of muscle and with warm, long hair..."(1). Therefore, I had to use the next best thing, the biggest dog. Unfortunately, the dogs weren't very big. Moving on, there weren't many descriptions of Manuel or the first one that bought Buck so I chose the characters and colors that I thought best suited the characters and the time. The only descriptions of the man in the red sweater were that he had a red sweater and was stout. There weren't any male characters that had a sweater and were stout so I had to choose the chubbiest one and make his shirt red. I chose the first background because the book said that it was night time when it happened ("...memeral night of Manuel's treachery,"(3). The building in the second square was the closest object I could find that looked like a flag station ("...arrive at the flag station..."(3). The third background was purple because it was a relatively calm when Buck was still unconscious. Also, the other squares had a lot of red since Buck was very angry at that point.

Therefore, the choices I made while making the comic strip were reasonable. I used quotes and the moods to determine the best choices. The options on pixton were not the best fit for the descriptions in the book, but I managed to make the best of it.

The Diary of Anne Frank Poster

To see my poster, click this link: Poster

         First of all, I chose the colors and images because they are related to the play in some way. Since the play was based on Anne's diary, I chose to make the background and picture frame look like old paper. I decided to make the background for the playwrights' names and cast look like newer paper because of the same reason. In act 1 scene 5, the occupants of the Secret Annexe were celebrating Hanukkah. That's why  chose that picture of a menorah. I also chose that specific picture because it symbolizes the hope and goodness (light from the candles) surrounded by the despair and evil (darkness). Everyone who hid in the annexe was sent to concentration camps and the camps were surrounded by barbed wire so I made that the images on the sides. Most of them eventually died, therefore I decided to make the sides red and black. This is all why I chose to use these colors and images.

         Secondly, I chose the cast because of their similarities to the descriptions in the stage directions. In act 1 scene 1 it says that Mr. Frank is, "...European in his middle years..." I chose Mr. Kelly to be Mr. Frank because his family came from Europe and he is middle aged. The play says in act 1 scene 2, "Mrs. Frank is a young mother, gently bred, reserved..." Since she looks young and has a personality similar to Mrs. Frank, I decided that Pauline Yu should play this part. Also in act 1, but in scene 1, the playwrights describe Miep as, "...about twenty-two..." Natalie Portman looks about twenty-two and has played a part in a different version of The Diary of Anne Frank. The playwrights described Margot as, "...eighteen, beautiful, quiet, shy..." Savanna is almost eighteen, pretty, quiet, and shy. In act 1 scene 2 Anne is described as, "...thirteen...interested in everything..." I chose Marisa because she is thirteen and curious. Mr. Kraler is described in act 1 scene 2 as, "...dependable, kindly..." Clark Bennett is dependable and kind. Also, in the same scene, Mrs. Van Daan is described as, "...a pretty woman in her early forties..." Nicole Kidman is pretty and I always imagine her as a person that speaks her mind. On the same page, Mr. Van Daan is described as, "...a tall, portly man in his late forties..." My dad, Randall Won, is somewhat tall, is chubby, and is close enough to late fourties. Again, on the same page Peter is described as, "...boy of sixteen..." Nate is about sixteen. In act 1 scene 3 Mr. Dussel is described as, "...in his late fifties, meticulous, finicky..." Andrew Yu fits that description almost exactly. Therefore I chose these people to be cast members.

Word Generation Unit 3.02 Vocabulary

Picture	Word/Related Words	Definition	Sentence
	Strategy   Strategize	a plan	I have a somewhat successful strategy for dodgeball.
	Research Researcher	to search	We always have a research project at least once a year in school.
	Cite Recite	to quote	In one series I watched, the main characters had to cite poems to defeat evil.
	Phase Phasing	to reduce by gradual stages	The bins show how people are trying to phase down how much garbage goes to landfills.
	Data           Database	facts or information	The data on whether or not we should have plastic bags is quite vast.

Annex Questions' Answers

1.In the book and real life, the Franks lived on the lower floor and the Van Daans lived on the higher floor. In the book, the main room was in between two rooms on the lower floor. However, in real life, the main room was also the Van Daans' bedroom.

2. I saw that the rooms were smaller than I thought. I also saw that Anne's room was linked the her parents' room.

English Vocabulary Assignment

1. The exposition is when the reader is told who the characters are, what the setting is, and what the conflict is.

2. The rising action is when the main character faces more difficulties.

3. The climax is the event that resolves the conflict.

4. The falling action is what happens after the conflict has been solved.

5. The resolution is when the reader learns how the characters continued their life after the conflict was resolved.