Modes of a Story

 

I think that after reading Adventures in Depression it opened my mind to how other mediums or modes of conveying a story can add different elements to a story than words alone can. The topic of the story is very sad, depression. A few times the author mentions how depression feels like, "But trying to use willpower to overcome the apathetic sort of sadness that accompanies depression is like a person with no arms trying to punch themselves until their hands grow back.  A fundamental component of the plan is missing and it isn't going to work." That is a very sad image, depression is a very hard thing to battle with and is very hard to cope with while trying to carry on with everyday life. However, the addition of the comic book photos gave the article almost a satirical tone. A story that would usually be very uncomfortable and sad, turned into something relatable and easier to speak about just with the addition of cartoon images. In one of the images the cartoon says to itself, "if you don't start cooperating I'm going to turn on the garbage disposal and listen to the sound until it makes you cooperate." That image added a light hearted and witty tone to a story that would have otherwise been very difficult to read. I think with images and the tone it set, it automatically became accessible to a wider audience. I think children could read that and learn about mental health, but I also think it can make it easier on an adult to talk about. 

After reading Jead Coffin's "Out to Sea" I really liked the way it was written. At first I could not see or predict where the story was going, though I found it very interesting. But by the end I found myself getting emotional as a very little detail from the beginning of the story carried its way to the end. That is my favorite way a story can tie itself up, especially when a good metaphor is used to convey deep emotional meaning of something much bigger. The image at the top of the article also adds to the story. At the beginning, it did not have any meaning. But at the end seeing the father and the son staring at each other over the ocean, but the son is on the shore and the father is 'out to sea' added a whole other component to the meaning of the story.