Arc, Genre, and Medium

     The Cautioner's Tale is a blend of three genres: Mystery, Sci-Fi, and Diary/Journal told through the medium of a graphic novel. Medium here plays an imperative part in creating cohesion and blending amongst the three genres. For example, the tale opens to a tattered piece of paper with three battered photos attached, along with a news clipping paper-clipped to the letter. Inside the letter, Mary Morgan - our eventual hero - uses the genre of Diary/Journal writing to set this story up as a historical artifact. As a genre Diary/Journal posses an a certain authority, especially when it comes to the keeping of history. Think of The Diary of Anne Frank for instance or Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl. Diary and Journal is treated as a piece of history, which is how the genre functions here. To underscore this attitude, Wilburn choses her language carefully, too. Morgan’s first words to the reader are “In case something happens to me, let it be known for the record that my name is Mary Morgan and this is my journal. Everything that follows is true...I’ve included evidence when possible….”(pg 8). Record and evidence stand out here because once again, it highlights the genre and underscores the authority given. The reader is set to believe that this is an unbiased account - it isn’t - because Morgan is posited as an investigator with facts and records. It’s clear that our narrator is supposed to be trusted.

      Now, imagine trying to read this without evidence. That’s what the illustrations - the cornerstone of graphic novel as a medium - are here: a way to provide the reader with evidence. The hodgepodge of pieces of notes written on papers of all sizes, the collection of articles with serrated edges, etc. The illustrations add credence to the story and move the story arc along. One of the other functions of the animations, though, is to also give life to the Science Fiction aspects, too. Think of the photos of Fortuitous Max and Bumbly Snaxx, for instance. How would we imagine these characters without the photos aiding us? The photos are visual cues and clues to the audience. The impact here is that the story becomes almost tangible, which is an important facet of world building.

     I keep trying to imagine this tale as a novella and I can’t. I would not be nearly as invested as I am with the images to guide me along. As mentioned in class, this is a dense tale because there is a LOT of information coming at the reader - even to the point that I have to keep going back to double check names and characters - but the images break down the world and build it up in a way that’s easier to consume. I just keep imagining blocks and blocks of text in novella form or epistolary without attached evidence.

      But that isn’t the only function of the story’s graphics. Like Mary Morgan, we’re piecing together the story as it goes. As an audience, we see the buttons, we wonder what they are and why they’re being sent. It allows the reader to invest in the mystery genre as well. We simply aren’t just reading, we’re piecing it together with Morgan. We’re even given the chance to learn that the mystery isn’t over through Morgan deciphering the letter from PC.

      Ultimately, had I to read this on my own, I wouldn’t have. Not because I didn’t appreciate that blends of genre or the use of journal/diary, but rather because its too close to modern day America for me.