Graphics and Gaming

Hello!  My name is Carrie, and I am a part of the Graphics & Gaming class.  I was very skeptical about joining the class because I have never read a comic book in my life and the closest I've gotten to video games would be playing Just Dance on a Wii.  I decided to join, honestly, because I was having trouble finding a fifth class.  My roommate Ashlee told me that she was taking a class about comic books and video games and I decided to give it a try.  One of the first things we have read in the class is a picture book called "The Arrival" by Shaun Tan.  I thought it was interesting and a good way for me to start the class because it had no words, so I didn't have to find the balance of reading words and pictures like in a normal comic book.  The story was the adventure of an immigrant told through beautiful illustrations.  It showed him leaving his family, crossing an ocean, and arriving in a strange new world that was just similar enough to go through the motions everyday, but strange enough to feel completely ill at ease.  The story made me wonder what it must have been like for my father, who immigrated to the United States when he was 17 from Italy.  He came here with his siblings and father for a fresh start after his mother passed away, and his father was looking for better work.  In the story, the signs on the buildings, the newspaper, and any other writing looks almost alien.  My father didn't speak a word of English when he came here and must have experienced a similar feeling of confusion.  When I go home, I definitely want to ask him more about what it was like when he actually came to America for the first time.