SLIDE 1 Making Comics AS Qualitative Research
Marcus Weaver-Hightower University of North Dakota
EQRC 2018
SLIDE 2
First, How am I defining “comics”?
SLIDE 3
Comics are a form, not a genre
SLIDE 4
Comics are a form, not a genre
SLIDE 5
Comics are a form, not a genre
SLIDE 6
Comics are a form, not a genre
SLIDE 7
Comics are a form, not a genre
SLIDE 8
Comics are a form, not a genre
SLIDE 9
Comics are a form, not a genre
SLIDE 10
Comics are a form, not a genre
SLIDE 11
Comics are a form, not a genre
SLIDE 12 Comics are a form, not a genre
I can make it!
SLIDE 13 Comics are a form, not a genre
I can make it! I can make it across the canyon!
SLIDE 14 Comics are a form, not a genre
I can make it! I can make it across the canyon!
SLIDE 15
Comics are multimodal
ABC
SLIDE 16 Chris Ware:
“I believe that the expressive potentials of comics as a compositional art–with its combination of drawing, poetry, color, writing, pattern, rhythm, typography, and ‘music’ —allow for the greatest possible recreation of the complexity of experience that a printed page can offer.”
(quoted in Rhoades, 2008, p. 36)
SLIDE 17
Comics-Based Research (CBR)
SLIDE 18 We use the term "comics-based research" to refer to a broad set of practices that use the comics form to collect, analyze, and/or disseminate scholarly research.
Kuttner, Sousanis, and Weaver-Hightower (2017, p. 397)
SLIDE 19 Williams, R. M. C. (2012). Can you picture this? Activism, art, and public scholarship. Visual Arts Research, 38, 87-98.
SLIDE 20
SLIDE 21 Speech Thought Description Narration Setting Sound Gestures Expressions Movement Emotion Time Smells
All things that we use in empirical qualitative inquiry!
SLIDE 22 Comic Artists’ Choices
- Moment
- Frame
- Image
- Word
- Flow
(McCloud, Making Comics, 2006)
SLIDE 23 All of these choices and affordances
≅
Traditional schema for analysis
SLIDE 24 “Traditional” Comic
Topic Selection Literature Review Topic Selection Literature Review Data Collection Interview Observation & Informal Talk Data Analysis Restorying Thematizing Page Layouts Validity/Trustworthiness Member Checking Peer Debriefing Reflexive Journaling Reporting Choosing Words & Images Panel, Page and Comic Flow Citations
SLIDE 25
Examples
SLIDE 26 Published in Journal of Medical Humanities (2017; Online First 2015)
SLIDE 27
SLIDE 28
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SLIDE 30
SLIDE 31
SLIDE 32
SLIDE 33
Part of the Process was very Traditional
SLIDE 34 Original Interview Transcript (~13,000 words) Comic Script (~2,300 words)
SLIDE 35 “Restorying”
Comic Script Transcript
um was born, cause up until that point everything was much more on edge and I think we were both much more freaked out. After that um, things kind of calmed down. And you know, Jenna--being a nurse--she doesn’t want to be a burden on any of the other nurses. She’s worried about being the bad patient, so she had me doing a lot of stuff. You know like, for example, she liked to have her hair washed and all that sort of stuff, so I did all
- f that for her you know, helped her with that. And also if she needed food or something
like that or juice or knowing where the secret fridge is [laughingly] that they don’t tell the visiting families about. So I knew where to go get the juice from there and Sprite or whatever else and things like that, but so I did that sort of stuff (.) for her. So I guess I did that role and I guess. You know and obviously just sitting by her and holding her hand and things like that and trying to keep everything calm. So many people talk about the whole parents or whatever telling you to be strong and all that sort of stuff. I didn’t really get that. You know I tried to be strong, not at the expense of myself, but at the same time I tried to be there for her when I could, just emotionally and things like that. (coughs) But I didn’t get that sense that-- I wasn’t being told “be the man” necessarily. And that was the one thing my mom in particular was concerned with. She was like she still always says “Well, I hope you’re taking time for yourself,” you know, that sort of
- thing. And I appreciate that but at the same time I guess I didn’t necessarily feel like I
needed anything more than what I had at that point, but (.) I think partially it’s just because maybe I wouldn’t let myself you know fall apart at that point either. M – So you mentioned that one of the nurses wanted you to call her parents. Was that
- ne of the things that sort of fell to you was to be the conduit to the outside world as it
were? P – Yeah, at that point it did you know that first day when, and in a way I was kind of pissed about that because frankly I didn’t want, I didn’t feel the need to call everybody at that point. I didn’t know what was going on and all that. After that point and I actually never even got a hold of her [Jenna’s mother]. What ended up happening was I tried calling I think once or twice maybe and didn’t get a hold of her and that nurse that had told me to call ended up calling again later on her own for us, which was personally I preferred that because like I said I didn’t want to talk to her. So but they got a hold of Jenna’s mom Mindy and got her to come. And I don’t remember, (.) I’m trying to remember now, Jenna’s dad--like Jenna’s parents are divorced--and I don’t remember if the nurses called her Dad or if I did or if Mindy did or how that happened, but he ended up showing up as well. I was in charge of talking to my own parents though and you know I told them and I told a few of our friends just to tell ‘em what’s going on, like-- In the context-- Like when I’m at work you know I have a job where I’m supposed to be, you know I called one of my good friends and had her tell the people at work what was going on and kind of cover for me on that end and at the same time um, I went over cause Jenna worked in the hospital at that time in pediatrics which is on the same floor so I walked down and told them what was going on and gave them a brief idea of what was
- happening. (.) Which that’s another thing you know all the people on the fourth floor
from Peds all wanted to come and see us and so you have to say “No, not right now.” And they were understanding for the most part but I know it’s still hard on people because she was so early her lungs weren’t developed, you know she passed away. Jenna’s parents were there for that – they weren’t there for the actual delivery, when Jenna actually delivered her, but they came in afterwards. [Suddenly louder and higher pitched] And after that things really started calming down in a lot of ways; like her body wasn’t freaking out nearly as much for that first you know, because we were in the hospital for fourteen days, and for the next at least week you know, she was obviously upset and uncomfortable you know just from being in the hospital and having all the tubes and things like that, but it was looking pretty hopeful for Thomas for a long time because he only had to make it to twenty-four weeks before they could-- you know because at that point that is when they’re considered viable as far as the NICU and that kind of stuff goes. (long pause) And so we were still hopeful at that point. But she started getting-- Like when Ella was actually born because she was halfway out, the placenta was still in her, like inside Jenna, and didn’t come out and so the cord when we cut the cord it was still kind of hanging out. I mean it was inside her her uh vagina and all that sort of stuff (sniffs) and so what ended up happening was just from Jenna having to use the bathroom, things like that, it got E Coli and so that went up and that started to infect the placenta and then the uterus too. And so about it would have been ten days later I guess was when she really started going into hard labor again and I think that was more so not necessarily labor to give birth, but more so to get rid of the two placentas because they were causing the infection at that point. And so (breathes deeply) I’m trying to think. It was a Friday night probably about seven when Jenna really started to feel uncomfortable, but it wasn’t until that night probably about ten or eleven that she really started to go into hard labor again and in that morning is when she finally gave birth to Thomas and he came out like inside the uh sack and everything else; it all just kind of came out. And so um, the doctor you know opened up the uh the sack and he [Thomas] was already stillborn at that point. Um, but he was, but, there’s the uh-- Oh I can’t remember for the life of me what it’s called it’s like mitochondrial I don’t know. There were signs of the fact that he was struggling during the birth or was having struggles during the birth or whatever which shows that he wasn’t stillborn prior to when we started to deliver. It was in the delivery itself that he passed away. And after that I mean it was kind of one of those things it was kind of weird, you know, we had been in there for like ten days or so, or eleven days or so leading up to that point and then after Thomas was born it was like “Well, okay you guys are kind of done.” You know, they kind of gave Jenna an extra day or two to you know be checked out to make sure the infection was going away and all that sort of stuff and then we just sort of went home at that point. (long pause) I think part of it you know for that was also Jenna really wanted to get out
- f there too. It wasn’t so much that they were trying to kick us out or anything like that,
but more so just to get the change of scenery because we had been there for two weeks at that point. M – So what were you doing sort of during all of this? Do you sort of remember kind of having a ro::le that you were playing? P – Yeah I did. You know not so much that first day. Like I said for the first day I was kind of in the corner kind of pushed away while they were running around trying to settle everything down, but after everything settled down and, [lower tone] especially after Ella w r
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INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT Interviewee: “Paul” Interviewer: MWH Date: 6/21/07 Location: Library group study room Tape Duration: 1:03:32 Paul read and signed a consent form. M – Thanks very much. So I guess first of all – I know that we’ve sort of talked about this in a different context a number of times and I’ve heard the story a few times, but uh, I guess what I’d like you to do is kind of maybe go back to beginning, wherever the beginning happens to be for you, and just sort of tell me the story again as if I hadn’t you know known you and heard the story before. Maybe as you would tell it to a sort of sympathetic stranger. P – OK. Well in the case of where it started for me that would have been when I was at work one day um (.) I worked at one of the law firms downtown as a law clerk and so I got a call probably around like one in the afternoon or so. I don’t remember the exact time and Jenna had just said she was feeling some pains and she had called the hospital and they kind of, if I remember correctly they just told her to lay there. Um (.) they also told her to take a bath. I don’t remember if it was that first phone call, first they told her to lay down and then they told her to take a bath, how that all worked out, Subsequently though they gave me another phone call - she called me - and they told me to come in. And so at this point I’m just packing up and getting ready to leave work whatever – she had the car that day. So, um, I had taken the bus and I was trying to get to the bus stop and of course I miss the bus, you know as I see it drive by and all that sort of thing. And so I try to call her back on the cell phone which the battery then wore out. M – Just not your day that day. P – Yeah, exactly. And so um, Jenna, she just said she would come and pick me up at the bus stop downtown, you know by the coffee shop there. And so I just kind of hung out there and then she came and picked me up and then we drove right to the hospital, you know, as quick as we could. We went to the front door and there’s one of those,, I don’t know what their official title is the person who is manning the wheelchairs for people that are coming in with babies so she wheeled us in there and since she had called ahead they had a room all ready and all that sort of stuff. M – So was there a sense already that there was something like definitely wrong? P – Yeah. Yeah. Because you know that was the thing like she had had those Braxton Hicks type of contractions like where it feels hard, hard, the uterus feels hard but there’s nothing wrong, but they always said you know if you feel pain then there’s something
SLIDE 36 um was born, cause up until that point everything was much more on edge and I think we were both much more freaked out. After that um, things kind of calmed down. And you know, Jenna--being a nurse--she doesn’t want to be a burden on any of the other nurses. She’s worried about being the bad patient, so she had me doing a lot of stuff. You know like, for example, she liked to have her hair washed and all that sort of stuff, so I did all
- f that for her you know, helped her with that. And also if she needed food or something
like that or juice or knowing where the secret fridge is [laughingly] that they don’t tell the visiting families about. So I knew where to go get the juice from there and Sprite or whatever else and things like that, but so I did that sort of stuff (.) for her. So I guess I did that role and I guess. You know and obviously just sitting by her and holding her hand and things like that and trying to keep everything calm. So many people talk about the whole parents or whatever telling you to be strong and all that sort of stuff. I didn’t really get that. You know I tried to be strong, not at the expense of myself, but at the same time I tried to be there for her when I could, just emotionally and things like that. (coughs) But I didn’t get that sense that-- I wasn’t being told “be the man” necessarily. And that was the one thing my mom in particular was concerned with. She was like she still always says “Well, I hope you’re taking time for yourself,” you know, that sort of
- thing. And I appreciate that but at the same time I guess I didn’t necessarily feel like I
needed anything more than what I had at that point, but (.) I think partially it’s just because maybe I wouldn’t let myself you know fall apart at that point either. M – So you mentioned that one of the nurses wanted you to call her parents. Was that
- ne of the things that sort of fell to you was to be the conduit to the outside world as it
were? P – Yeah, at that point it did you know that first day when, and in a way I was kind of pissed about that because frankly I didn’t want, I didn’t feel the need to call everybody at that point. I didn’t know what was going on and all that. After that point and I actually never even got a hold of her [Jenna’s mother]. What ended up happening was I tried calling I think once or twice maybe and didn’t get a hold of her and that nurse that had told me to call ended up calling again later on her own for us, which was personally I preferred that because like I said I didn’t want to talk to her. So but they got a hold of Jenna’s mom Mindy and got her to come. And I don’t remember, (.) I’m trying to remember now, Jenna’s dad--like Jenna’s parents are divorced--and I don’t remember if the nurses called her Dad or if I did or if Mindy did or how that happened, but he ended up showing up as well. I was in charge of talking to my own parents though and you know I told them and I told a few of our friends just to tell ‘em what’s going on, like-- In the context-- Like when I’m at work you know I have a job where I’m supposed to be, you know I called one of my good friends and had her tell the people at work what was going on and kind of cover for me on that end and at the same time um, I went over cause Jenna worked in the hospital at that time in pediatrics which is on the same floor so I walked down and told them what was going on and gave them a brief idea of what was
- happening. (.) Which that’s another thing you know all the people on the fourth floor
from Peds all wanted to come and see us and so you have to say “No, not right now.” And they were understanding for the most part but I know it’s still hard on people because she was so early her lungs weren’t developed, you know she passed away. Jenna’s parents were there for that – they weren’t there for the actual delivery, when Jenna actually delivered her, but they came in afterwards. [Suddenly louder and higher pitched] And after that things really started calming down in a lot of ways; like her body wasn’t freaking out nearly as much for that first you know, because we were in the hospital for fourteen days, and for the next at least week you know, she was obviously upset and uncomfortable you know just from being in the hospital and having all the tubes and things like that, but it was looking pretty hopeful for Thomas for a long time because he only had to make it to twenty-four weeks before they could-- you know because at that point that is when they’re considered viable as far as the NICU and that kind of stuff goes. (long pause) And so we were still hopeful at that point. But she started getting-- Like when Ella was actually born because she was halfway out, the placenta was still in her, like inside Jenna, and didn’t come out and so the cord when we cut the cord it was still kind of hanging out. I mean it was inside her her uh vagina and all that sort of stuff (sniffs) and so what ended up happening was just from Jenna having to use the bathroom, things like that, it got E Coli and so that went up and that started to infect the placenta and then the uterus too. And so about it would have been ten days later I guess was when she really started going into hard labor again and I think that was more so not necessarily labor to give birth, but more so to get rid of the two placentas because they were causing the infection at that point. And so (breathes deeply) I’m trying to think. It was a Friday night probably about seven when Jenna really started to feel uncomfortable, but it wasn’t until that night probably about ten or eleven that she really started to go into hard labor again and in that morning is when she finally gave birth to Thomas and he came out like inside the uh sack and everything else; it all just kind of came out. And so um, the doctor you know opened up the uh the sack and he [Thomas] was already stillborn at that point. Um, but he was, but, there’s the uh-- Oh I can’t remember for the life of me what it’s called it’s like mitochondrial I don’t know. There were signs of the fact that he was struggling during the birth or was having struggles during the birth or whatever which shows that he wasn’t stillborn prior to when we started to deliver. It was in the delivery itself that he passed away. And after that I mean it was kind of one of those things it was kind of weird, you know, we had been in there for like ten days or so, or eleven days or so leading up to that point and then after Thomas was born it was like “Well, okay you guys are kind of done.” You know, they kind of gave Jenna an extra day or two to you know be checked out to make sure the infection was going away and all that sort of stuff and then we just sort of went home at that point. (long pause) I think part of it you know for that was also Jenna really wanted to get out
- f there too. It wasn’t so much that they were trying to kick us out or anything like that,
but more so just to get the change of scenery because we had been there for two weeks at that point. M – So what were you doing sort of during all of this? Do you sort of remember kind of having a ro::le that you were playing? P – Yeah I did. You know not so much that first day. Like I said for the first day I was kind of in the corner kind of pushed away while they were running around trying to settle everything down, but after everything settled down and, [lower tone] especially after Ella
- wrong. And she was feeling a good deal of discomfort at that point because at this point
in Jenna’s case it wasn’t uh incompetent cervix; it was pre-term labor, which meant that she was actually going into labor, feeling the contractions and all of that sort of stuff. And so they raced us up there and we were kind of hoping, we knew something was wrong but we were hoping it wasn’t you know going to be the end-all sort of situation. As soon as she – cause she hadn’t been bleeding up until that point, but as soon as she they got her into the hospital room they told her to change, and as soon as she started to change and got into the gown she noticed that she was you know, had blood and so you know she got really upset obviously at that point you know and (.) then all the people starting coming in and they kind of put her in the bed and I was kind of standing in the back corner of the hotel – err hotel, yeah right, of the hospital room. There’s probably, god I don’t even know, there wasn’t a doctor really at that point, but there was probably about at least six or seven nurses kind of milling about kind of getting her to calm down cause she is crying and being upset and all that. And that’s kind of what it kind of was for the first (.) you know (.) [as if searching for a unit of measurement] time. I can’t be specific but it felt like forever like everybody running around and you know me just kind
- f standing in the corner and watching, just hoping that things are you know gonna settle
down.Um, so at that point I know that one of the nurses came in and asked me if I wanted to call Jenna’s mom, and frankly I didn’t want to cause I didn’t want to talk to anybody in the first place let alone I didn’t want to leave the room. But, so I went to try and do a quick call to Jenna’s mom; she wasn’t there. And then I came back in and then (.) I’m not even sure what they were all doing – you know what they were doing – later on I think later they put Jenna on to an epidural or whatever and some pain killers and all that sort of stuff, but at that point they weren’t doing that. I think they were just trying to figure out what was going on. [breathes deeply] And later after all this sort of stuff is happening eventually Dr. Anderson who was the doctor on call that day came in and she kind of checked us over and tried to figure out what was going on. And basically they-- It’s just such a blur especially what was happening at that point, like that first day. I mean the end of the day they came in and did an ultrasound to figure out what was going on, and at that point they kind of-- Oh no, she did a digital exam is what it was and they could feel that one of the babies had come like th-- past the cervix and was kind half into Jenna’s you know birth canal and half of it was still in the uterus. And so, that was
- bviously a bad sign and they kind of said you know we’re going to see what we can do
with this and what the situation is going to be. And stuff started to calm down, but Jenna was still going in and out of you know contractions like more painful contractions. She was having contractions the entire time she was in the hospital. So we were kind of in that in between stage where you know Ella was kind of down in the birth canal for two days I believe because it was on the third day that we had to make the decision whether
- r not we wanted to leave it as it was and risk future complications to not only Jenna but
also to Thomas who was still up high and completely in the uterus at that point, or to deliver Ella knowing that she was at you know twenty-three weeks and the lungs weren’t developed, but you know. I-- I think there was a certain amount of “Well, we know this probably like ninety-nine percent of chance it’s going to be you know lead to her not being able to survive,” but at the same time we knew that , if she stayed, she wasn’t going to be able to survive, so we ended up delivering her on that third day and you know, she was with us for forty-five minutes that she was alive and kind of fighting, but you know
“Restorying”
Comic Script Transcript
INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT Interviewee: “Paul” Interviewer: MWH Date: 6/21/07 Location: Library group study room Tape Duration: 1:03:32 Paul read and signed a consent form. M – Thanks very much. So I guess first of all – I know that we’ve sort of talked about this in a different context a number of times and I’ve heard the story a few times, but uh, I guess what I’d like you to do is kind of maybe go back to beginning, wherever the beginning happens to be for you, and just sort of tell me the story again as if I hadn’t you know known you and heard the story before. Maybe as you would tell it to a sort of sympathetic stranger. P – OK. Well in the case of where it started for me that would have been when I was at work one day um (.) I worked at one of the law firms downtown as a law clerk and so I got a call probably around like one in the afternoon or so. I don’t remember the exact time and Jenna had just said she was feeling some pains and she had called the hospital and they kind of, if I remember correctly they just told her to lay there. Um (.) they also told her to take a bath. I don’t remember if it was that first phone call, first they told her to lay down and then they told her to take a bath, how that all worked out, Subsequently though they gave me another phone call - she called me - and they told me to come in. And so at this point I’m just packing up and getting ready to leave work whatever – she had the car that day. So, um, I had taken the bus and I was trying to get to the bus stop and of course I miss the bus, you know as I see it drive by and all that sort of thing. And so I try to call her back on the cell phone which the battery then wore out. M – Just not your day that day. P – Yeah, exactly. And so um, Jenna, she just said she would come and pick me up at the bus stop downtown, you know by the coffee shop there. And so I just kind of hung out there and then she came and picked me up and then we drove right to the hospital, you know, as quick as we could. We went to the front door and there’s one of those,, I don’t know what their official title is the person who is manning the wheelchairs for people that are coming in with babies so she wheeled us in there and since she had called ahead they had a room all ready and all that sort of stuff. M – So was there a sense already that there was something like definitely wrong? P – Yeah. Yeah. Because you know that was the thing like she had had those Braxton Hicks type of contractions like where it feels hard, hard, the uterus feels hard but there’s nothing wrong, but they always said you know if you feel pain then there’s something
SLIDE 37 um was born, cause up until that point everything was much more on edge and I think we were both much more freaked out. After that um, things kind of calmed down. And you know, Jenna--being a nurse--she doesn’t want to be a burden on any of the other nurses. She’s worried about being the bad patient, so she had me doing a lot of stuff. You know like, for example, she liked to have her hair washed and all that sort of stuff, so I did all
- f that for her you know, helped her with that. And also if she needed food or something
like that or juice or knowing where the secret fridge is [laughingly] that they don’t tell the visiting families about. So I knew where to go get the juice from there and Sprite or whatever else and things like that, but so I did that sort of stuff (.) for her. So I guess I did that role and I guess. You know and obviously just sitting by her and holding her hand and things like that and trying to keep everything calm. So many people talk about the whole parents or whatever telling you to be strong and all that sort of stuff. I didn’t really get that. You know I tried to be strong, not at the expense of myself, but at the same time I tried to be there for her when I could, just emotionally and things like that. (coughs) But I didn’t get that sense that-- I wasn’t being told “be the man” necessarily. And that was the one thing my mom in particular was concerned with. She was like she still always says “Well, I hope you’re taking time for yourself,” you know, that sort of
- thing. And I appreciate that but at the same time I guess I didn’t necessarily feel like I
needed anything more than what I had at that point, but (.) I think partially it’s just because maybe I wouldn’t let myself you know fall apart at that point either. M – So you mentioned that one of the nurses wanted you to call her parents. Was that
- ne of the things that sort of fell to you was to be the conduit to the outside world as it
were? P – Yeah, at that point it did you know that first day when, and in a way I was kind of pissed about that because frankly I didn’t want, I didn’t feel the need to call everybody at that point. I didn’t know what was going on and all that. After that point and I actually never even got a hold of her [Jenna’s mother]. What ended up happening was I tried calling I think once or twice maybe and didn’t get a hold of her and that nurse that had told me to call ended up calling again later on her own for us, which was personally I preferred that because like I said I didn’t want to talk to her. So but they got a hold of Jenna’s mom Mindy and got her to come. And I don’t remember, (.) I’m trying to remember now, Jenna’s dad--like Jenna’s parents are divorced--and I don’t remember if the nurses called her Dad or if I did or if Mindy did or how that happened, but he ended up showing up as well. I was in charge of talking to my own parents though and you know I told them and I told a few of our friends just to tell ‘em what’s going on, like-- In the context-- Like when I’m at work you know I have a job where I’m supposed to be, you know I called one of my good friends and had her tell the people at work what was going on and kind of cover for me on that end and at the same time um, I went over cause Jenna worked in the hospital at that time in pediatrics which is on the same floor so I walked down and told them what was going on and gave them a brief idea of what was
- happening. (.) Which that’s another thing you know all the people on the fourth floor
from Peds all wanted to come and see us and so you have to say “No, not right now.” And they were understanding for the most part but I know it’s still hard on people because she was so early her lungs weren’t developed, you know she passed away. Jenna’s parents were there for that – they weren’t there for the actual delivery, when Jenna actually delivered her, but they came in afterwards. [Suddenly louder and higher pitched] And after that things really started calming down in a lot of ways; like her body wasn’t freaking out nearly as much for that first you know, because we were in the hospital for fourteen days, and for the next at least week you know, she was obviously upset and uncomfortable you know just from being in the hospital and having all the tubes and things like that, but it was looking pretty hopeful for Thomas for a long time because he only had to make it to twenty-four weeks before they could-- you know because at that point that is when they’re considered viable as far as the NICU and that kind of stuff goes. (long pause) And so we were still hopeful at that point. But she started getting-- Like when Ella was actually born because she was halfway out, the placenta was still in her, like inside Jenna, and didn’t come out and so the cord when we cut the cord it was still kind of hanging out. I mean it was inside her her uh vagina and all that sort of stuff (sniffs) and so what ended up happening was just from Jenna having to use the bathroom, things like that, it got E Coli and so that went up and that started to infect the placenta and then the uterus too. And so about it would have been ten days later I guess was when she really started going into hard labor again and I think that was more so not necessarily labor to give birth, but more so to get rid of the two placentas because they were causing the infection at that point. And so (breathes deeply) I’m trying to think. It was a Friday night probably about seven when Jenna really started to feel uncomfortable, but it wasn’t until that night probably about ten or eleven that she really started to go into hard labor again and in that morning is when she finally gave birth to Thomas and he came out like inside the uh sack and everything else; it all just kind of came out. And so um, the doctor you know opened up the uh the sack and he [Thomas] was already stillborn at that point. Um, but he was, but, there’s the uh-- Oh I can’t remember for the life of me what it’s called it’s like mitochondrial I don’t know. There were signs of the fact that he was struggling during the birth or was having struggles during the birth or whatever which shows that he wasn’t stillborn prior to when we started to deliver. It was in the delivery itself that he passed away. And after that I mean it was kind of one of those things it was kind of weird, you know, we had been in there for like ten days or so, or eleven days or so leading up to that point and then after Thomas was born it was like “Well, okay you guys are kind of done.” You know, they kind of gave Jenna an extra day or two to you know be checked out to make sure the infection was going away and all that sort of stuff and then we just sort of went home at that point. (long pause) I think part of it you know for that was also Jenna really wanted to get out
- f there too. It wasn’t so much that they were trying to kick us out or anything like that,
but more so just to get the change of scenery because we had been there for two weeks at that point. M – So what were you doing sort of during all of this? Do you sort of remember kind of having a ro::le that you were playing? P – Yeah I did. You know not so much that first day. Like I said for the first day I was kind of in the corner kind of pushed away while they were running around trying to settle everything down, but after everything settled down and, [lower tone] especially after Ella
- wrong. And she was feeling a good deal of discomfort at that point because at this point
in Jenna’s case it wasn’t uh incompetent cervix; it was pre-term labor, which meant that she was actually going into labor, feeling the contractions and all of that sort of stuff. And so they raced us up there and we were kind of hoping, we knew something was wrong but we were hoping it wasn’t you know going to be the end-all sort of situation. As soon as she – cause she hadn’t been bleeding up until that point, but as soon as she they got her into the hospital room they told her to change, and as soon as she started to change and got into the gown she noticed that she was you know, had blood and so you know she got really upset obviously at that point you know and (.) then all the people starting coming in and they kind of put her in the bed and I was kind of standing in the back corner of the hotel – err hotel, yeah right, of the hospital room. There’s probably, god I don’t even know, there wasn’t a doctor really at that point, but there was probably about at least six or seven nurses kind of milling about kind of getting her to calm down cause she is crying and being upset and all that. And that’s kind of what it kind of was for the first (.) you know (.) [as if searching for a unit of measurement] time. I can’t be specific but it felt like forever like everybody running around and you know me just kind
- f standing in the corner and watching, just hoping that things are you know gonna settle
down.Um, so at that point I know that one of the nurses came in and asked me if I wanted to call Jenna’s mom, and frankly I didn’t want to cause I didn’t want to talk to anybody in the first place let alone I didn’t want to leave the room. But, so I went to try and do a quick call to Jenna’s mom; she wasn’t there. And then I came back in and then (.) I’m not even sure what they were all doing – you know what they were doing – later on I think later they put Jenna on to an epidural or whatever and some pain killers and all that sort of stuff, but at that point they weren’t doing that. I think they were just trying to figure out what was going on. [breathes deeply] And later after all this sort of stuff is happening eventually Dr. Anderson who was the doctor on call that day came in and she kind of checked us over and tried to figure out what was going on. And basically they-- It’s just such a blur especially what was happening at that point, like that first day. I mean the end of the day they came in and did an ultrasound to figure out what was going on, and at that point they kind of-- Oh no, she did a digital exam is what it was and they could feel that one of the babies had come like th-- past the cervix and was kind half into Jenna’s you know birth canal and half of it was still in the uterus. And so, that was
- bviously a bad sign and they kind of said you know we’re going to see what we can do
with this and what the situation is going to be. And stuff started to calm down, but Jenna was still going in and out of you know contractions like more painful contractions. She was having contractions the entire time she was in the hospital. So we were kind of in that in between stage where you know Ella was kind of down in the birth canal for two days I believe because it was on the third day that we had to make the decision whether
- r not we wanted to leave it as it was and risk future complications to not only Jenna but
also to Thomas who was still up high and completely in the uterus at that point, or to deliver Ella knowing that she was at you know twenty-three weeks and the lungs weren’t developed, but you know. I-- I think there was a certain amount of “Well, we know this probably like ninety-nine percent of chance it’s going to be you know lead to her not being able to survive,” but at the same time we knew that , if she stayed, she wasn’t going to be able to survive, so we ended up delivering her on that third day and you know, she was with us for forty-five minutes that she was alive and kind of fighting, but you know
“Restorying”
Comic Script Transcript
INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT Interviewee: “Paul” Interviewer: MWH Date: 6/21/07 Location: Library group study room Tape Duration: 1:03:32 Paul read and signed a consent form. M – Thanks very much. So I guess first of all – I know that we’ve sort of talked about this in a different context a number of times and I’ve heard the story a few times, but uh, I guess what I’d like you to do is kind of maybe go back to beginning, wherever the beginning happens to be for you, and just sort of tell me the story again as if I hadn’t you know known you and heard the story before. Maybe as you would tell it to a sort of sympathetic stranger. P – OK. Well in the case of where it started for me that would have been when I was at work one day um (.) I worked at one of the law firms downtown as a law clerk and so I got a call probably around like one in the afternoon or so. I don’t remember the exact time and Jenna had just said she was feeling some pains and she had called the hospital and they kind of, if I remember correctly they just told her to lay there. Um (.) they also told her to take a bath. I don’t remember if it was that first phone call, first they told her to lay down and then they told her to take a bath, how that all worked out, Subsequently though they gave me another phone call - she called me - and they told me to come in. And so at this point I’m just packing up and getting ready to leave work whatever – she had the car that day. So, um, I had taken the bus and I was trying to get to the bus stop and of course I miss the bus, you know as I see it drive by and all that sort of thing. And so I try to call her back on the cell phone which the battery then wore out. M – Just not your day that day. P – Yeah, exactly. And so um, Jenna, she just said she would come and pick me up at the bus stop downtown, you know by the coffee shop there. And so I just kind of hung out there and then she came and picked me up and then we drove right to the hospital, you know, as quick as we could. We went to the front door and there’s one of those,, I don’t know what their official title is the person who is manning the wheelchairs for people that are coming in with babies so she wheeled us in there and since she had called ahead they had a room all ready and all that sort of stuff. M – So was there a sense already that there was something like definitely wrong? P – Yeah. Yeah. Because you know that was the thing like she had had those Braxton Hicks type of contractions like where it feels hard, hard, the uterus feels hard but there’s nothing wrong, but they always said you know if you feel pain then there’s something P – OK. Well in the case of where it started for me that would have been when I was at work one day um (.) I worked at one of the law firms downtown as a law clerk and so I got a call probably around like one in the afternoon or so. I don’t remember the exact time and Jenna had just said she was feeling some pains and she had called the hospital and they kind of, if I remember correctly they just told her to lay there. Um (.) they also told her to take a bath. I don’t remember if it was that first phone call, first they told her to lay down and then they told her to take a bath, how that all worked out, Subsequently though they gave me another phone call - she called me - and they told me to come in. And so at this point I’m just packing up and getting ready to leave work whatever – she had the car that day. So, um, I had taken the bus and I was trying to get to the bus stop and of course I miss the bus, you know as I see it drive by and all that sort of thing. And
- r not we wanted to leave it as it was and risk future complications to not only Jenna but
also to Thomas who was still up high and completely in the uterus at that point, or to deliver Ella knowing that she was at you know twenty-three weeks and the lungs weren’t developed, but you know. I-- I think there was a certain amount of “Well, we know this probably like ninety-nine percent of chance it’s going to be you know lead to her not being able to survive,” but at the same time we knew that , if she stayed, she wasn’t going to be able to survive, so we ended up delivering her on that third day and you know, she was with us for forty-five minutes that she was alive and kind of fighting, but you know pitched] And after that things really started calming down in a lot of ways; like her body wasn’t freaking out nearly as much for that first you know, because we were in the hospital for fourteen days, and for the next at least week you know, she was obviously upset and uncomfortable you know just from being in the hospital and having all the tubes and things like that, but it was looking pretty hopeful for Thomas for a long time because he only had to make it to twenty-four weeks before they could-- you know
- ne of the things that sort of fell to you was to be the conduit to the outside world as it
were? P – Yeah, at that point it did you know that first day when, and in a way I was kind of pissed about that because frankly I didn’t want, I didn’t feel the need to call everybody at that point. I didn’t know what was going on and all that. After that point and I actually never even got a hold of her [Jenna’s mother]. What ended up happening was I tried calling I think once or twice maybe and didn’t get a hold of her and that nurse that had told me to call ended up calling again later on her own for us, which was personally I
SLIDE 38 um was born, cause up until that point everything was much more on edge and I think we were both much more freaked out. After that um, things kind of calmed down. And you know, Jenna--being a nurse--she doesn’t want to be a burden on any of the other nurses. She’s worried about being the bad patient, so she had me doing a lot of stuff. You know like, for example, she liked to have her hair washed and all that sort of stuff, so I did all
- f that for her you know, helped her with that. And also if she needed food or something
like that or juice or knowing where the secret fridge is [laughingly] that they don’t tell the visiting families about. So I knew where to go get the juice from there and Sprite or whatever else and things like that, but so I did that sort of stuff (.) for her. So I guess I did that role and I guess. You know and obviously just sitting by her and holding her hand and things like that and trying to keep everything calm. So many people talk about the whole parents or whatever telling you to be strong and all that sort of stuff. I didn’t really get that. You know I tried to be strong, not at the expense of myself, but at the same time I tried to be there for her when I could, just emotionally and things like that. (coughs) But I didn’t get that sense that-- I wasn’t being told “be the man” necessarily. And that was the one thing my mom in particular was concerned with. She was like she still always says “Well, I hope you’re taking time for yourself,” you know, that sort of
- thing. And I appreciate that but at the same time I guess I didn’t necessarily feel like I
needed anything more than what I had at that point, but (.) I think partially it’s just because maybe I wouldn’t let myself you know fall apart at that point either. M – So you mentioned that one of the nurses wanted you to call her parents. Was that
- ne of the things that sort of fell to you was to be the conduit to the outside world as it
were? P – Yeah, at that point it did you know that first day when, and in a way I was kind of pissed about that because frankly I didn’t want, I didn’t feel the need to call everybody at that point. I didn’t know what was going on and all that. After that point and I actually never even got a hold of her [Jenna’s mother]. What ended up happening was I tried calling I think once or twice maybe and didn’t get a hold of her and that nurse that had told me to call ended up calling again later on her own for us, which was personally I preferred that because like I said I didn’t want to talk to her. So but they got a hold of Jenna’s mom Mindy and got her to come. And I don’t remember, (.) I’m trying to remember now, Jenna’s dad--like Jenna’s parents are divorced--and I don’t remember if the nurses called her Dad or if I did or if Mindy did or how that happened, but he ended up showing up as well. I was in charge of talking to my own parents though and you know I told them and I told a few of our friends just to tell ‘em what’s going on, like-- In the context-- Like when I’m at work you know I have a job where I’m supposed to be, you know I called one of my good friends and had her tell the people at work what was going on and kind of cover for me on that end and at the same time um, I went over cause Jenna worked in the hospital at that time in pediatrics which is on the same floor so I walked down and told them what was going on and gave them a brief idea of what was
- happening. (.) Which that’s another thing you know all the people on the fourth floor
from Peds all wanted to come and see us and so you have to say “No, not right now.” And they were understanding for the most part but I know it’s still hard on people because she was so early her lungs weren’t developed, you know she passed away. Jenna’s parents were there for that – they weren’t there for the actual delivery, when Jenna actually delivered her, but they came in afterwards. [Suddenly louder and higher pitched] And after that things really started calming down in a lot of ways; like her body wasn’t freaking out nearly as much for that first you know, because we were in the hospital for fourteen days, and for the next at least week you know, she was obviously upset and uncomfortable you know just from being in the hospital and having all the tubes and things like that, but it was looking pretty hopeful for Thomas for a long time because he only had to make it to twenty-four weeks before they could-- you know because at that point that is when they’re considered viable as far as the NICU and that kind of stuff goes. (long pause) And so we were still hopeful at that point. But she started getting-- Like when Ella was actually born because she was halfway out, the placenta was still in her, like inside Jenna, and didn’t come out and so the cord when we cut the cord it was still kind of hanging out. I mean it was inside her her uh vagina and all that sort of stuff (sniffs) and so what ended up happening was just from Jenna having to use the bathroom, things like that, it got E Coli and so that went up and that started to infect the placenta and then the uterus too. And so about it would have been ten days later I guess was when she really started going into hard labor again and I think that was more so not necessarily labor to give birth, but more so to get rid of the two placentas because they were causing the infection at that point. And so (breathes deeply) I’m trying to think. It was a Friday night probably about seven when Jenna really started to feel uncomfortable, but it wasn’t until that night probably about ten or eleven that she really started to go into hard labor again and in that morning is when she finally gave birth to Thomas and he came out like inside the uh sack and everything else; it all just kind of came out. And so um, the doctor you know opened up the uh the sack and he [Thomas] was already stillborn at that point. Um, but he was, but, there’s the uh-- Oh I can’t remember for the life of me what it’s called it’s like mitochondrial I don’t know. There were signs of the fact that he was struggling during the birth or was having struggles during the birth or whatever which shows that he wasn’t stillborn prior to when we started to deliver. It was in the delivery itself that he passed away. And after that I mean it was kind of one of those things it was kind of weird, you know, we had been in there for like ten days or so, or eleven days or so leading up to that point and then after Thomas was born it was like “Well, okay you guys are kind of done.” You know, they kind of gave Jenna an extra day or two to you know be checked out to make sure the infection was going away and all that sort of stuff and then we just sort of went home at that point. (long pause) I think part of it you know for that was also Jenna really wanted to get out
- f there too. It wasn’t so much that they were trying to kick us out or anything like that,
but more so just to get the change of scenery because we had been there for two weeks at that point. M – So what were you doing sort of during all of this? Do you sort of remember kind of having a ro::le that you were playing? P – Yeah I did. You know not so much that first day. Like I said for the first day I was kind of in the corner kind of pushed away while they were running around trying to settle everything down, but after everything settled down and, [lower tone] especially after Ella
- wrong. And she was feeling a good deal of discomfort at that point because at this point
in Jenna’s case it wasn’t uh incompetent cervix; it was pre-term labor, which meant that she was actually going into labor, feeling the contractions and all of that sort of stuff. And so they raced us up there and we were kind of hoping, we knew something was wrong but we were hoping it wasn’t you know going to be the end-all sort of situation. As soon as she – cause she hadn’t been bleeding up until that point, but as soon as she they got her into the hospital room they told her to change, and as soon as she started to change and got into the gown she noticed that she was you know, had blood and so you know she got really upset obviously at that point you know and (.) then all the people starting coming in and they kind of put her in the bed and I was kind of standing in the back corner of the hotel – err hotel, yeah right, of the hospital room. There’s probably, god I don’t even know, there wasn’t a doctor really at that point, but there was probably about at least six or seven nurses kind of milling about kind of getting her to calm down cause she is crying and being upset and all that. And that’s kind of what it kind of was for the first (.) you know (.) [as if searching for a unit of measurement] time. I can’t be specific but it felt like forever like everybody running around and you know me just kind
- f standing in the corner and watching, just hoping that things are you know gonna settle
down.Um, so at that point I know that one of the nurses came in and asked me if I wanted to call Jenna’s mom, and frankly I didn’t want to cause I didn’t want to talk to anybody in the first place let alone I didn’t want to leave the room. But, so I went to try and do a quick call to Jenna’s mom; she wasn’t there. And then I came back in and then (.) I’m not even sure what they were all doing – you know what they were doing – later on I think later they put Jenna on to an epidural or whatever and some pain killers and all that sort of stuff, but at that point they weren’t doing that. I think they were just trying to figure out what was going on. [breathes deeply] And later after all this sort of stuff is happening eventually Dr. Anderson who was the doctor on call that day came in and she kind of checked us over and tried to figure out what was going on. And basically they-- It’s just such a blur especially what was happening at that point, like that first day. I mean the end of the day they came in and did an ultrasound to figure out what was going on, and at that point they kind of-- Oh no, she did a digital exam is what it was and they could feel that one of the babies had come like th-- past the cervix and was kind half into Jenna’s you know birth canal and half of it was still in the uterus. And so, that was
- bviously a bad sign and they kind of said you know we’re going to see what we can do
with this and what the situation is going to be. And stuff started to calm down, but Jenna was still going in and out of you know contractions like more painful contractions. She was having contractions the entire time she was in the hospital. So we were kind of in that in between stage where you know Ella was kind of down in the birth canal for two days I believe because it was on the third day that we had to make the decision whether
- r not we wanted to leave it as it was and risk future complications to not only Jenna but
also to Thomas who was still up high and completely in the uterus at that point, or to deliver Ella knowing that she was at you know twenty-three weeks and the lungs weren’t developed, but you know. I-- I think there was a certain amount of “Well, we know this probably like ninety-nine percent of chance it’s going to be you know lead to her not being able to survive,” but at the same time we knew that , if she stayed, she wasn’t going to be able to survive, so we ended up delivering her on that third day and you know, she was with us for forty-five minutes that she was alive and kind of fighting, but you know
“Restorying”
Comic Script Transcript
INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT Interviewee: “Paul” Interviewer: MWH Date: 6/21/07 Location: Library group study room Tape Duration: 1:03:32 Paul read and signed a consent form. M – Thanks very much. So I guess first of all – I know that we’ve sort of talked about this in a different context a number of times and I’ve heard the story a few times, but uh, I guess what I’d like you to do is kind of maybe go back to beginning, wherever the beginning happens to be for you, and just sort of tell me the story again as if I hadn’t you know known you and heard the story before. Maybe as you would tell it to a sort of sympathetic stranger. P – OK. Well in the case of where it started for me that would have been when I was at work one day um (.) I worked at one of the law firms downtown as a law clerk and so I got a call probably around like one in the afternoon or so. I don’t remember the exact time and Jenna had just said she was feeling some pains and she had called the hospital and they kind of, if I remember correctly they just told her to lay there. Um (.) they also told her to take a bath. I don’t remember if it was that first phone call, first they told her to lay down and then they told her to take a bath, how that all worked out, Subsequently though they gave me another phone call - she called me - and they told me to come in. And so at this point I’m just packing up and getting ready to leave work whatever – she had the car that day. So, um, I had taken the bus and I was trying to get to the bus stop and of course I miss the bus, you know as I see it drive by and all that sort of thing. And so I try to call her back on the cell phone which the battery then wore out. M – Just not your day that day. P – Yeah, exactly. And so um, Jenna, she just said she would come and pick me up at the bus stop downtown, you know by the coffee shop there. And so I just kind of hung out there and then she came and picked me up and then we drove right to the hospital, you know, as quick as we could. We went to the front door and there’s one of those,, I don’t know what their official title is the person who is manning the wheelchairs for people that are coming in with babies so she wheeled us in there and since she had called ahead they had a room all ready and all that sort of stuff. M – So was there a sense already that there was something like definitely wrong? P – Yeah. Yeah. Because you know that was the thing like she had had those Braxton Hicks type of contractions like where it feels hard, hard, the uterus feels hard but there’s nothing wrong, but they always said you know if you feel pain then there’s something
P – OK. Well in the case of where it started for me that would have been when I was at work one day um (.) I worked at one of the law firms downtown as a law clerk and so I got a call probably around like one in the afternoon or so. I don’t remember the exact time and Jenna had just said she was feeling some pains and she had called the hospital and they kind of, if I remember correctly they just told her to lay there. Um (.) they also told her to take a bath. I don’t remember if it was that first phone call, first they told her to lay down and then they told her to take a bath, how that all worked out, Subsequently though they gave me another phone call - she called me - and they told me to come in. And so at this point I’m just packing up and getting ready to leave work whatever – she had the car that day. So, um, I had taken the bus and I was trying to get to the bus stop and of course I miss the bus, you know as I see it drive by and all that sort of thing. And
- r not we wanted to leave it as it was and risk future complications to not only Jenna but
also to Thomas who was still up high and completely in the uterus at that point, or to deliver Ella knowing that she was at you know twenty-three weeks and the lungs weren’t developed, but you know. I-- I think there was a certain amount of “Well, we know this probably like ninety-nine percent of chance it’s going to be you know lead to her not being able to survive,” but at the same time we knew that , if she stayed, she wasn’t going to be able to survive, so we ended up delivering her on that third day and you know, she was with us for forty-five minutes that she was alive and kind of fighting, but you know pitched] And after that things really started calming down in a lot of ways; like her body wasn’t freaking out nearly as much for that first you know, because we were in the hospital for fourteen days, and for the next at least week you know, she was obviously upset and uncomfortable you know just from being in the hospital and having all the tubes and things like that, but it was looking pretty hopeful for Thomas for a long time because he only had to make it to twenty-four weeks before they could-- you know
- ne of the things that sort of fell to you was to be the conduit to the outside world as it
were? P – Yeah, at that point it did you know that first day when, and in a way I was kind of pissed about that because frankly I didn’t want, I didn’t feel the need to call everybody at that point. I didn’t know what was going on and all that. After that point and I actually never even got a hold of her [Jenna’s mother]. What ended up happening was I tried calling I think once or twice maybe and didn’t get a hold of her and that nurse that had told me to call ended up calling again later on her own for us, which was personally I
Chronology Themes
SLIDE 39
Part Could only happen in comics
SLIDE 40 Affordances: Conventional Poses
SLIDE 41 Affordances: Emanata, Motion, Sound
SLIDE 42 Affordances: Visual Metaphor
SLIDE 43 Affordances: Intertextuality
SLIDE 44 After Ella was born, the placenta was still inside
we cut the cord it was still hanging out. I mean it was inside her her, uh, vagina and all that sort of stuff. So just from Jenna having to use the bathroom, things like that, it got E. Coli. and so that went up and started to infect the placenta and the uterus, too.
Affordances: Impossible views
SLIDE 45 Green and Rieck
Betty P.
ANNALS GRAPHIC MEDICINE
Annals of Internal Medicine
SLIDE 46 Green and Rieck
Betty P.
SLIDE 47 Green and Rieck
Betty P.
SLIDE 48 Green and Rieck
Betty P.
ANNALS GRAPHIC MEDICINE
Annals of Internal Medicine
SLIDE 49 Jones & Woglom
“Teaching Bodies in Place”
SLIDE 50 Branham
What's so great about art, anyway?
SLIDE 51 Zinn, Konopacki & Buhle
A People’s History of American Empire
SLIDE 52 9/11 Commission Report
Adapted by Sid Jacobson & Ernie Colón
SLIDE 53 Fleming
The Magical Life of Long Tack Sam
SLIDE 54 Losh, Alexander, Canon, & Canon
Understanding Rhetoric
SLIDE 55 Unflattening
Nick Sousanis
SLIDE 56 Graphic Medicine Graphic History Graphic Sociology Graphic Anthropology Data Comics
SLIDE 57 For you to try at home…
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