Analysis: What conclusions can you draw about the ways in which the medium changes or shapes the message? In this assignment you will present your analysis of the relationship between the medium and message using the specific example of the story of Chanie Wenjack

Answer 1

The Graphic Novel
Since there is a lack of text in the graphic novel depicting Chanie Wenjack’s story, the words used are able to effectively tell his story. As the story proceeds, it becomes evident that colour, motion, and facial expressions are used throughout the panels to either depict happiness or sadness and also show time passing. Frames with cooler-toned colours resemble sadness whereas warm-toned colours are used to show the opposite. As the main character in this particular graphic novel “travels” across the panels, a sense of time passing is shown. Readers have to assume these things, leaving what the graphic novel presents up to interpretation.

Gord Downie's The Secret Path -YouTube documentary
The first example of how the medium can affect the message is when the story of Chanie Wenjack is displayed with pictures. In the story, the cover has several pictures of various animals from their time. This helps the readers visualize and interpret the message of the story better as they are not just reading the story but getting an idea of how the children lived before they had to go to the residential schools.

The second example of how the medium can impact the message is when the story of Chaine Wenjack is shown through several songs with a documentary to go with them. Without having these illustrations go with the songs, every reader would get a different message. This is true as to how one person may interpret the lyrics may differ from somebody else.

The illustrations in Gord Downie's documentary gave me a somewhat different impression than what I read in Ian Adam's article. In the documentary, the illustrations make it appear like it took ample courage to run away from the school. This is evident as in the documentary, we see a child crying and yelling for help as a school teacher drags the child back inside the school. Whereas in Adam's article, the details provided did not give me the impression that it took courage to leave.

Comparing the Graphic Novel with Gord Downie's The Secret Path Documentary
When comparing the original graphic novel portraying Chanie Wenjack’s story with the animated version, there are sure to be some obvious differences in how the messages are presented. The animated film is able to portray motion more effectively, therefore creating a better understanding of the events that take place throughout the storyline. For example, the animated “swing set” scene where the boy ran away does a good job showing the fear felt by all of the individuals in that scene through the realistic amounts of time that pass. In the graphic novel, readers can take time to analyze the images on paper but the film represents how the boy only had a split second to think and decide to escape. Another difference is the soundtrack. The songs add to the overall understanding of the story as the coloured animations and lyrics are used at the same time, leaving less up to interpretation.

The Article
Although there is a strong absence of emotion and modern political correctness displayed in this article, the unbiased voice of the author providing a very detailed backstory gives us a deep understanding of Chanie Wenjack's story. The graphic novel leaves readers guessing what exactly went down as Chanie ran away however, the article verifies what happened. The author states that Chanie and his friends were planning to run away from the start, and also talks about specifically what happened with the people he ran into on his journey. Words have the ability to let readers generate their own emotions after reacting to a fact they just read. Knowledge leads to understanding.

The songs
Music can portray several things: the tone determines the emotion, and the lyrics tell the story. In the event of Chanie Wenjack’s story, the songs by Gord Downie explain what transpired to the boy and gave the readers an example of how he must have felt during his experience. Like the other forms of media, different aspects of this medium help the reader to interpret the different messages that can be presented.