Instruction
Topics
1. Addressing only the chapter "Seeing Double" (starting on p. 125), develop a close reading of two brief sequences that depict Chris coming to terms with her own sexuality.
2. In the chapter "Windowpane" (starting on p. 145), Todd tells Keith that Chris is "gone," and berates his friend for being sulky, saying "You never had anything goin' with her in the first place" (p. 155, panel 3). Being told some truth by Todd initiates a sequence where Keith is "frozen" (156, panel 4), and then encounters the bound figures (p. 164-65) which he first saw in Liza's art. What do these references to being frozen and bound reveal about Keith in this chapter?
3. In what ways is Chris represented as accepting sexuality in "Seeing Double" (starting on p. 125), and in what ways is Keith represented as stuck or stalled in "Windowpane" (starting on p. 145)? Why are the two characters juxtaposed in these chapters? (NB: Topic 3 brings together Topics 1 and 2, and asks you to develop a very focused comparison of these two main characters.)
4. The art work in Black Hole is a very heavily inked, but in the chapter "Under Open Skies" (starting on p. 173) there is a sequence where light and dark is reversed and the pages are very light (175, panel 3, to 179). Why does this sequence have so much white, un-inked, space?
5. In the chapter "Under Open Skies" (starting on page 173), Chris and Rob have sex outdoors at the beach. Page 182 represents this moment between them in four equally weighted panels. What point of view is represented in each panel, and why?