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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. How can instructional comics be divided?

2. A comic artist's work must be reproducible by whose specifications?

3. What kind of comics are generally entertainment-oriented?

4. What gives voice to thoughts and gives meaning to action?

5. When words are used, the task of rendering body and face grows more?

Short Essay Questions

1. Contrast gesture and posture.

2. Why must frozen moments convey both time and emotion?

3. Give a brief synopsis of Chapter 8.

4. Why is writing for comics most closely related to playwriting?

5. Give a brief synopsis of Chapter 5.

6. Why should an artist read short stories?

7. Give a brief synopsis of Chapter 7.

8. Why do purely instructional comics often use humor?

9. Why do entertainment comics deny to the readers/viewers much of the freedom they would enjoy in pure prose?

10. How can the artist successfully convey an image of the human body?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

In Chapter 4, Eisner develops more comparisons between comics and other forms of entertainment. At one point, he suggests that composing a comic strip panel is like designing a theatrical scene, illustration, painting, or mural. Explain Eisner's reasoning using at least four examples from Chapter 4.

Essay Topic 2

In Chapter 2, the relationship of the sequential artist and the reader is examined. Eisner suggests that the reader and the sequential artist must communicate through mutual life experience. Answer the following question: Why must the sequential artist and the reader share life experiences for communication to occur? Use one of your own supporting ideas to back up your statement and at least two examples from the book.

Essay Topic 3

Generally, style has been lauded as "a form of imperfection." However, now that technology has harnessed the ability to produce artwork, the personal style of the artist might be encroached upon. Explain the tension between individuality and technological perfection. Use two examples from Eisner's last chapter to demonstrate the consequences of technology in art and the response of humans to computer-generated artwork.

(see the answer keys)

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