Panel
The space within which a graphic novelist places an image. A comic strip is a series of panels arranged in sequence.
Frame
The border around a panel.
Gutter
The space between panels.
Closure
The phenomenon of observing the parts but perceiving the whole.
Juxtaposition
The fact of two things being seen or placed close together with contrasting effect.
Transition
The process or period of changing from one state or condition to another; in graphic novels, the change in time, place, or action from one panel to another.
Double Entendre
A word or phrase open to two interpretations. Example: “it was really our own who had attacked us” (39).
Irony
The expression of one’s meaning by using language that normally signifies the opposite, or an event that is contrary to what one expects. Example: “Now that the devil has left” (43).
Dramatic Irony
When the reader or viewer knows something the characters do not.
Tone
The speaker’s attitude toward the subject; the feeling a text evokes.
Pun
A joke exploiting the different meanings of a word or words that sound alike. Example: “I was looking sharp” (102).
Hyperbole
Overstatement or exaggeration. Example: “He was always interrupting you.”
Understatement
Expressing an extreme emotion or fact in a simpler or subtler way. Example: “war always takes you by surprise” (81).
Foreshadowing
A warning or indication of something to come.
Graphic Novel
A book in comic format that resembles a novel in length.
Memoir
A personal narrative that considers historical context and the relationship between the individual and historical events.
Allusion
A reference to another person, idea, text, or moment in time.
Speaker
The voice or perspective from which a text is written.
Audience
The voice or perspective from which a text is written.
Diction
Word choice.
Mahsa Amini
A young woman whose death in police custody sparked mass protests and the “Women, Life, Freedom” movement in Iran.
Syntax
Sentence structure; word order.
Ayatollah Khamenei
Iran’s current Supreme Leader who rules with near complete authority.
September 16, 2022
The date of Mahsa Amini’s death.
