"Each cognitive mode has advantages and limitations. Deep attention is superb for solving complex problems represented in a single medium, but it comes at the price of environmental alertness and flexibility of response. Hyper attention excels at negotiating rapidly changing environments in which multiple foci compete for attention; its disadvantage is impatience with focusing for long periods on a non-interactive object such as a Victorian novel or complicated math problem" (188)
"When we walked past the Baba-Levv's house, which was completely destroyed, I could feel that she was discreetly pulling me away. Something told me that the Baba-Levv's had been at home. Something caught my attention. I saw a turquoise bracelet. It was Neda's. Her aunt had given it to her for her fourteenth birthday. The bracelet was still attached to... I don't know what... No scream in the world could have relieved my suffering and my anger" (142)
What affect does the idea of "the graphic novel" have on such a serious but comedic book such as "The Complete Persepolis"?
The first time I opened this book, I was completely taken aback, our teacher has us reading a graphic novel...awesome. But what I didn't realize was the complete and utter seriousness of this novel. When one thinks about a comic book, its exactly as what Hayles describes as Hyper attention, something that catches your attention but allows you to notice the world around you at the same time. But with this graphic novel, the first time I opened the book, I refused to put it down until I was half way done and I realized I really needed to go to bed. This book took deep attention, something you wouldn't think a graphic novel would be able to achieve. But how does this novel accomplish that? I noticed several times throughout the novel that I found myself smiling, and even laughing, at many of the things that transpired. But I also found that on a few occasions I was ready to cry or be angry at some of the events that transpired. I believe it is the complete ability to switch between comedy and tragedy that caught my attention and made me want to continue reading.
Another idea that I noticed within the novel was the complete and utter disconnect between events. Numerous times throughout the novel, there would be an ending to a chapter that would be upsetting and you would think the author would continue on commenting on that event. Instead, the next chapter is named, and usually starts out with some form of a joke or the start of an entirely new event. This disconnect is what takes this graphic novel from "Hyper Attention" to "Deep Attention". The fact that this is a diary of a young girl going through war is enough to catch attention, yet the fact that you can feel the disconnect of feeling of each chapter is really what takes it to another level. Think for a second, a person who wants to make a novel about a young girl suffering in war would do just that, tell about her suffering. But this author took the life of a person was able to convey the idea of her experiences and what she needs to do to move on, part of which is disconnecting from those horrible experiences. Many would have me believe that because this is a graphic novel, it is not worthy of being within a class room, but the idea's within this book, to me, are just as important then the novels we are required to read today.
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