Critical Journal Format D

Name: Shawndalee Brooks Time of day your class meets: 1:00 P.M.-2:00P.M. Date: November 26, 2013 1. Author or artist or musician of the original work: Keiji Nakazawa 2. Full Title of the piece: Barefoot Gen 3. What might be the meaning of this title and why do you think so? Barefoot Gen is an alternate fictional character that represents Keiji growing up In Hiroshima and the trials he went through dealing with war and the lose of his family. Why I think so is because in the story of Barefoot Gen it says that he is the one representing Keiji in Japanese Manga art. 4. What do you think the works main argument, point, or conclusion might be? The main point that Keiji is trying to get across in his artwork and story of Barefoot Gen is that war in not needed. He feels as if the war should have never started and that there could have been another way around war. War was the cause of him loosing everything he had from his house to his family. That is why he created Barefoot Gen and told the story of his life, to get his story out there and make a difference,

5. Give three ways the artist/author uses materials, composition, or supporting statements to support her conclusion: a. If it had not been for the war, he would still have his family. b. I hope that Gens story conveys to its readers the preciousness of peace and courage we need to li ve strongly, yet peacefully. c. Gen is my alter ego, and his family is just like my own. 6. Provide one assumption that the author/artist bases his work upon: That if the Japanese would have avoided war, and America did not attack that everything would have been alright and he would still have his family and home in Hiroshima. 7. Historical Period during which the work was produced and location where it was produced: The story takes place in Hiroshima in 145, but the work was produced in Tokyo in 1961 8. How might the historical period and location (i.e. context) have affected how the artist/author chose to make his/her point? Why I think that it would have made a difference for the artist because the war was over at that point, and it was a safe time to be able to produce something without raising conflict and emotions. He wanted to be able to tell a story to help others out who maybe in the same situation as him, as well as being a way to convey his message to people that war is not necessary and that there are better and more safer ways to handle things. The artist may have not had that thought in mind when first producing his art, but that is what I would personally think.

9. During the time period when the work was created (pick one or more of the following): what social/economic class was being addressed? Why do you think so? I dont think there was a certain class that the war was aimed towards or more so favored over another what political group/affiliation was being addressed? Why do you think so? what religious group was being addressed? Why do you think so? what ethnic/linguistic group was being addressed? Why do you think so? The ethnic group being affected by the atomic bomb as well as the war is the Japanese. The story tells about Kiji talking about the Japanese and he is mad at his own people for going to war and contributing.

what gender was being addressed? Why do you think so? War more so affects men, because at the time women were no allowed to go to war and fight. So I would have to say the gender that was being addressed was more towards the men. Although the atomic bomb was not meant for a certain gender but rather to just harm anyone and everyone.

(Remember there should be evidence for this in the material explicitly or implied by the context ) 10. How did the artist/author want this particular audience to react to his/her work? Kiji wanted to have an impact on people, to persuade them to be against war. He had lost everything because of it and wouldnt wish that upon anybody else, therefore he wanted to make a difference. How he would portray the story in his art is by using characters and has them represent someone in his family. Barefoot Gen is him, and tells about the different events that took place in his life. Including when the atomic bomb went off, his mother survived to end up passing away after seven years being in an A-bomb Victims Hospital in Hiroshima. Kiji was very upset and mad over the events that had happened so that is why he wanted to create a change and make a difference in the world, by showing people what war really is and the effects of it.

11. Your reaction to and understanding of the work is often determined by your economic class, political persuasion, religious affiliation, ethnicity, or gender. Pick one of these and tell me how it impacts your reception of this work and how you might view the work if you were someone else who did not have your experience. I feel as if ethnicity would create an impact on my perception of the story, because I am not Japanese and I was not there when it took place. I am from America, which were the ones who brought on the atomic bomb and war. Sense I am in fact an American I could be the cause and blame to everything that happened to him. It makes it very difficult to try and understand where he is coming form and how he might feel because I cannot put myself in his position. If I was someone who was physically and emotionally affected by the bombing of the Japanese they would have a different perspective and emotions than how I would feel. If they were Japanese, than their feelings about war and what had happened would be on a whole new level of intensity, There would more so be misunderstandings between us and would now view things from the same perspective.

12. Give one quotation from the text that you particularly liked or think is important (be prepared to tell why): Human beings are foolish. Thanks to bigotry, religious fanaticism, and the greed of those who traffic in war, the Earth is never at peace, and the specter of nuclear war is never far away. - Kiji Nakazawa Why I particularly like this quote is because it calls people out. It is bold and tells it how it is, and makes sense. Human beings are foolish; we do things blindly and with stupidity and do not always think about things before we do them. In this quote I feel as if he brings out the point that no matter how much we think our world is at peace with each other, there will always be war and there is no real control over it. You cannot avoid it unless the whole world agrees to make a difference.