EWRT1A sections 27 and 65: Reading Response 9

Reading Response 9- after chapter 6 of Fun Home

Keeping in mind what you have read of Fun Home so far, respond to one of the prompts below. Please use specific evidence from the book to support your response.

1. Look at how the media depicts images of gender and/or family in Fun Home. How do these images compare/contrast with Bechdel and her family? Consider images from magazines, cartoons, and/or television shows depicted in the book. As always, choose a specific focus in your response.
   
2. Do you think that Bechdel's father is an asset for Alison Bechdel as she tries to understand her gender and sexual orientation, or do you see him more as an obstacle? Please use specific scenes from the text in your response.
   
3. This book is partly about Bechdel’s discovery and exploration of her gender and sexual orientation. What helps Bechdel with this process? In other words, what aids her in her self discovery? Show some of her assets.
   
4. How do Aaron Devor's notions of "I" and "me" help to explain the inner conflict in either Alison Bechdel or her father? Use Devor's terms to explain the struggles of the characters.
   
5. Fun Home deals with appearance versus reality, what is shown and what is hidden. How does the monstration in Fun Home relate to this theme? What truths does it help to reveal that the narration can’t alone?
   
6. Choose a scene from the book and compare the narration with the monstration. What relationship do these share? In other words, what do the images show in comparison to what the words explain and how do the two work together in the scene to create meaning? Consider using McCloud.
   
7. Choose your own focus for analysis.