Voice, Tone, and Structure of the Graphic Novel Itself

The voice, tone, and structure of Ariel Schrag’s graphic memoir Awkward and Definition are quite unique and very interesting in a comic book stance. The term voice may be used to define a writer’s viewpoint toward his/her subject or reader whether is a serious, condescending, patronizing, or in this case humorous voice in the memoir. Ariel carried a successful voice throughout her memoir representing the trueness of her documentation.  The memoir has a sincere honesty about it speaking of her most venerable and embarrassing moments to the maturing and growing up she went through. Ultimately giving the story a true power of the message of ones life – to simply be human; explore yourself and find who you are. You’ll never lose you who are in growing up despite the climatic rollercoaster that it makes itself out to be you will always keep your true spirit. This memoir was a lot about growing and finding who you are – all through the awkwardness to defining your actual self. Therefore the voice that Ariel found within her memoir evoked a powerful, mystical force that conveys truth and the inner quality of the story itself. The tone typically refers to the author’s attitude toward his/her readers and message. Specific documents or authors can be described as having a condescending, arrogant, pedantic, racist, confident, or satirical tone. However Ariel uses humor, which is an important tone and can be written different types including surprise, exaggeration, incongruity, absurdity, and parody. The tone of Ariel’s memoir is much more easy-going and comedic staying true to its comic book structure. The mood the writer creates on the reader also has an effect on the reader, for example while reading this memoir the dialogue and the topics of speech were quite relatable to a teen age group. As drastic as they were they it was nonetheless very interesting to read about. Often looking back to my own high school years reminiscing upon the events that took place and compare and contrast them with hers. Although significantly different and clear we grew up in different times it was still very intriguing. Thus the tone of the memoir is very relatable to a teenage audience with its sometimes slang dialogue and overall comedic – awkward tone. The structure of the memoir is very casual, it is laid out in a comic book structure with images to illustrate each moment.  This benefits the memoir because it becomes all the more significant to the target audience and helps visualize the events of her life.

 “Humourous, honest, and engagingly simple, Schrag’s work is the definition of genuine 

talent”– Feminist Review

-Cassandra Tatarnic