ENGRD101. Fall 2024. Sections 27 & 31.
Trauma is the dominant theme of both Stitches: A Memoir by David Small and Spinning by Tillie Walden. Small recounts family abuse and his struggle with losing his voice in 1950s Detroit, Michigan. Walden narrates the gendered and sexual violence imposed on her in contemporary Texas. Although the two authors convey the drastically different struggles […]
Read moreWhen I started this analysis, I chose the panels from Stitches and Spinning because they stood out visually, not necessarily because I saw an immediate connection between them. I was drawn to the powerful imagery in each and the discussions we had about these pages in class. It wasn’t until I began to closely examine […]
Read moreDavid Small’s Stitches and Tillie Walden’s Spinning use the visual aspect of comics solely in these selected pages without relying on words to convey the emotional weight of these moments in time through angles and frame composition in each panel. On page 22 of Stitches, David is shown in the second panel at a high […]
Read moreHere is The Price of Personal Perception. Both Spinning and Stitches explore themes of adolescence and perception, but Stitches addresses the connection between how we perceive ourselves internally and how people perceive us externally, therefore Small understands more thoroughly how he wants to be perceived. Because Small is many years removed from when this novel takes place, whereas Walden has barely moved […]
Read moreMy thesis for my short essay is “Stitches and Spinning use visual techniques unique to comics to convey emotional isolation that the respective protagonists feel. But, while Spinning conveys Tillie’s isolation, pressure and anxiety, through overstimulation and a claustrophobic page, Stitches reflects David’s isolation, physical and emotional distance, with big empty spaces and a slow-paced […]
Read moreIn the Gutter Stitches by David Small and Spinning by Tillie Walden have their protagonists deal with and navigate through feelings of isolation. Both memoirs use techniques unique to comics, like visual space and pacing or flow, to better demonstrate how the protagonists are feeling throughout the book. David’s physical isolation from his family and […]
Read moreStitches and Spinning utilize repeated experiences and framing to illuminate the personal growth of the protagonists despite failures by their families to help them navigate issues related to health, sexuality, and sports, but recognize that the characters troubles are rooted in their parents impressions on them, which they work to override over the course of […]
Read moreBoth of the pages analyzed in Stitches and Spinning employ strategic framing within the panels to dictate David and Tillie’s perception of themselves and relationship to those around them. Tillie takes up increasingly more space in each panel on page 337, giving the reader visual signs of Tillie’s acceptance that she is not doing things […]
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