IB DP Language A Language and Literature – sample text analysis – cartoon (adapted poem)

Source: Extract from Wilfred Owen’s WWII poem “Dulce et Decorum est” adapted in comic form by Jason Cobley et al. Graphic Canon 3.

Before you read the “spoiler” bullet points below take a careful look at the text. Imagine it is a text you are using for one of your DP Language A Language and Literature assessments: the individual oral, the HL essay, or Paper 1 and analyze it accordingly. (This text would not be appropriate for Paper 2).

Literary texts are not used on Paper 1 so the bullet points below focus on the cartoon.

Some elements of the text to consider:

  • The larger first panel (called a “splash”) that sets the scene for the rest of the cartoon
  • The somber brown and grey tones used throughout
  • How the panels zoom in from the splash to the third panel to the eye of the veteran
  • The movement back in time in the three panels on the bottom from the time of the memorial to the time when the veteran was an active soldier.

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