Michael Chao

English 5 - 49

6 March 2020

Rhetorical Analysis Essay

When I think of a graphic novel, I picture god-like individuals with enough power to

destroy the world fifty times over, working together or fighting against one another in an all-out

war. I imagine waves of monsters and terrifying mythical creatures attempting to conquer the

brave forces of heroes, fighting for their very lives. In the end, graphic novels are just books of

fiction, a figment of incredible imagination. But what is it that makes graphic novels sound and

look so surreal and fascinating? What components are combined together and ultimately makes

the reader wish that the story of a troublesome kid and his friends that would eventually become

Earth’s heroes come to life? Just as I said: a story, but not mainly just a story. To create and

expand on a graphic novel, to make a story that binds itself with the reader, consists of many

rhetorical choices. In a graphic novel, the rhetorical choices I have come up with in regard to

creating a phenomenal graphic novel is based on its style, theme, tone, and pathos, a lot and lot

of pathos.

Graphic novels have a very unique way of telling their stories. What really makes a

graphic novel so unique compared to all the original text-only based novels is the style: box

panels that alway contain visual drawings and pictures with narrations and or character dialogue.

These panels are the driving force in creating the setting of the story that is being told, as readers

are physically able to see the type of situations the characters are in and what they are having to

deal with. Panels are also the foundation that eventually roots to the types of tone and theme that

is constantly changing as the narrative changes, as these pictures can either be concrete or as
ambiguous as they want as long as it relates and connects to the story, giving visual support to

the text. This style of writing, combining text and pictures together, also leads into the graphic

novel conventions, aside from the panels, words, and pictures that I have already stated. The

style gives way to an interesting twist of narration, time, perspective, and transitions. Instead of

trying to imagine the setting for yourself, panels practically show and guide you through the

story as if watching a movie with subtitles. For many, like myself, I sometimes struggle with

imagining details being told in a novel, having to re-read a segment, wishing I could just see it

for myself. In graphic novels, that is not an issue at all. Graphic novels thrive on the idea of

panels and pictures. They are the basic reason as to why the word “graphic” is in the name

because without them, they would just be regular, old novels.