Graphic Journeys

In Graphic Journeys: Graphic Novels' Representations of Immigrant Experiences, Michael D. Boatright talks about the controversial issues of immigrant status in the United States and he's trying to spread the fact that this is an opportunity for teachers to add a new subject into their curriculum. Boatright believes that the best way in teaching the importance of immigrants is through graphic novels because it allows characters to engage in dialogue. The three texts he uses for his literary analysis are The Arrival, The Four Immigrants Manga: A Japanese Experience in San Francisco, and American Born Chinese. Boatright believes that because of the combination of illustration and words, it gives a certain perspective in the representation of immigrants. He often uses the term "critical literacy". Which he describes as one persons ability of figuring out the meaning of an illustration or story without being explicitly told what it is about. When Boatright talks about The Arrival, he complains that the main character is a white person and that was able to assimilate easily to American culture because of his skin color. The main idea of this whole article by Boatright, is to give evidence on how significant graphic novels can be in teaching about immigrant status. I agree with Boatright that the issue of immigration is very important and a very delicate subject. I also agree with him that the topic of immigration should be visited by education systems and be taught in schools. There are many laws that try to put the immigrants down, but instead of trying to keep them down wouldn't a country be able to be more efficient if it gave an equal opportunity to everyone?