Comic Quilt Strip

http://www.personal.psu.edu/kmh5091/Comic%20Quilt%20Strip.jpg

This assignment was a fun one for me. I got to relive a piece of my family's history through a mere drawing. It took me a while to plan out my cells of the comic strip because I was trying not to use words. Without using words it can be extremely challenging to tell a story successfully. Although, with my work, I think I got my main point across.

The story is about my family moving to the U.S. from Ireland. I tried to make this point across with the first three cells. Obviously, the Irish flag and suitcases being carried by my family all are signs of their trip to the U.S. finally symbolized by Lady Liberty. Now, I'm not sure if my family actually owned a Pub in Ireland, but I like to think that they would have.

Many immigrants found some sort of rejection from the public once they moved to the States and my family was no exception. My family's last name "O'Hanlon" was thought to be too Irish sounding and they were forced to change it against their own will. I tried to show how difficult it was for new people, including my ancestors, coming to this country during the massive immigration waves. This was an interesting way to tell a story but I did enjoy doing the assignment. As I was drawing these events it really made me think of just what my family went through to ensure that we all would have a better life here in America.