Capstone Project Proposal

Name of student: Brian Lee Date: May 11,2023

Teacher: Ms.Browne Block: B

The Capstone strand I have chosen is Project Strand

Proposed title for my Project Proposal: (write the proposed title for your Capstone Project in one clear
sentence):

A graphic memoir of representing my experience as a individual.

What is your inquiry question that interests you for further research? It should be a question that
connects with a purpose, passion or personalized area of interest for you. This is a question that you
cannot just google an answer for. Please see examples from your Capstone booklet.
My inquiry question is:

How can a graphic memoir reach/affect people with different culture, perspective and values?

Rationale/context: Detail your reasons for choosing this inquiry question. Explain WHY you are
choosing to investigate this topic as a major area of focus. How does this area of inquiry connect to
your passion(s), purpose? Why is it of personal interest to you?

Identity is a crucial part of who I am. My culture, values, perspective, etc are who I am, the past and
the present. I have grown and changed as time moved forward. I’m frightened of forgetting. Every
moment of my life I wish I could remember. Each emotion, step, taste even the mundane part of
life. Once in a while I’ll remember a part of my life I forgotten and I'm in disbelief that I did. I look
back on my childhood or a year ago, I can’t remember the details of my life. When I see myself in
pictures or in videos I can’t recognize that person as me. I have no impression of having been
there. It’s like watching a film made about someone other than me. I think “maybe someone who
looks like me is playing at being me”. It doesn't feel real to me.
I’m hoping while doing this in can recall memories I have forgotten or keep them from being
forgotten. Also, I have something to look back on when I’m all old and crusty. A piece of me I can
keep and share with others. A memento of who I am and how I ought to be remembered. Even
though I hate a lot of identity projects I do, it relieves a part of me that struggles with the idea of
finding who I am. I can see this graphic memoir from an outside view and see. I want others to gain
insight or understand of different perspectives and growing with different culture. I can only by
learning about others situations, it would lead to empathy for others more.

Drawing is one of the only thing I can say I’m good at and these days I’m losing motivations to
draw. I’m hoping this capstone can force myself to at least find the joy I once had or make me draw
more. I’m a person who has to complete their schoolwork, on time or late. As I said in my
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 introduction letter, if I’m forced to do something, then I will unless I wouldn’t in many cases. As I
stray further and further from the art path, this may be the last time I am given the chance to
produce art that would take all my effort and time.

Background: What background knowledge/connections/prior learning do you have in this area of

inquiry?

A lot of assignments where I have free range, I choose to do it about my identity like my
documentary about my parents. Causing me to know what to expect and do in some areas. Even
though the storyline and the finally product is different, the procress of creating the documentary is
similar to the graphic memoir. I had to create a rough outline of the story, and storyboard

Also, even though I’m not the best drawer or have experience drawing comics, I am able to draw to
a certain level. With experience drawing for years so I wouldn’t be starting from the grounds up
when it comes to drawing humans, backgrounds or style. Knowing the basics of anatomy and
perspective would give me a hand on drawing different panels.

Career connections: What is your intended career area at this point in time? What connections
does this inquiry question have to your life, academic and/ or career goals?

Currently, my intended career area has to do with computers/coding, not art related. At the same
time, I do not know what I really want to do as a career. I am hoping this gives me more of a
defined choice while I complete my capstone. If I never tried I feel I would regret not doing
something art related in the future. This is like my testing ground if I'm able to complete and enjoy a
art project. My life goal is to produce a memoir of some kind. As I talked about earlier on, I want to
make something that can help people further understand me and the cultural impact it had on me. I
believe reading and learning about someone else life is the best way to gain empathy for others
and a step closer to understanding others who are “different”.

Interdisciplinary and core competencies connections: What subject areas and core
competencies will be connected with your project? Outline and explain the connections. (Must
include reference to ALL 6 Core competencies).

Communication:
Throughout my capstone project I had to provide capstone evidence f what I am accomplishing and
how. I specifically choose the story of my mom's skincare because it was a topic I heavily related to
and other people whose Korean can too. However, I believed the connection of wanting to look like
your mom can be universal thing. My goal is for people to related or empathize with the story even
though it’s not their very own. Using drawing and stories to tell the audience who I am as an
individual
Personal awareness and responsibility:

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 Capstone in general is motivating yourself to have good work ethic in order to finish on time. Each
week I write on my calendar what I hope to get done like the rough draft, illustration, page etc.
Instead of cramping everything in one day. In the end, if I don’t complete my project, I would be the
one to fail not my teacher.
Critical Thinking:
Throughout creating my graphic memoir, I constantly critiqued my drawings to have the best finish
product. It could mean redrawing the same panel over and over again until I’m happy with it. On the
first page there’s a panel of my mom washing her face and the perspective was tricky. Originally, it
was a flat image of her back but the more I thought about it, it should include her reflection and how
I saw her when I was younger (a upward perspective – more powerful and strong). If you see the
rough draft of the panel, it’s a head and a line which would be her body. It was my first trying to
draw in that perspective so the time and effort it took was a lot, the most difficult one out all 3. I
believe I am my own harshest judge. For each page I want to something different. It could be
having different panel shapes or having no panel, anything that can differentiate the pages apart.
Also, having a reason why I choice to make the decision I made like the perspective or the tiniest
part like how much I shade in an area. Every small detail is a decision I made to elevate my graphic
memoir.
Social Responsibility:
I am hoping my graphic memoir will allow the audience to have a different perspective on a life that
is not their own and create connection between others that may have different culture, value etc. .
By openly discussing challenges, triumphs, and lessons learned, I hope to contribute to a more
empathetic and understanding society. Sharing of experiences can foster greater social awareness
and help others navigate similar situations. Memoirs can inspire readers by showcasing personal
journeys of resilience, growth, and transformation. They can provide valuable insights, life lessons,
and guidance to readers facing similar challenges.
Creative Thinking:
I want what I produce to be the best as they can so my ideas are constantly in my head on what I
can do to make it better, more creative. Ideas are the stem of all things produced so it has to be
refined to the level that I can trust it that it’s able to work. In creative classes like art and video
production, it’s the single most important factor if the piece is “good” or not. For my graphic novel I
want a lot of creative freedom of what I can do, from how I layer panels or show detail in my
drawing. I can do anything I think to convey my feelings and experience at that time.
Personal and cultural identity:
Memoirs are all about ones identity so personal and cultural identity is one of the core
competencies that connects to my project. Identity is an essential aspect of creating a graphic
memoir because a memoir is a personal narrative that tells the story of the author's experiences
and identity shapes those experiences. Identity influences how I interpret their experiences and
how I present those experiences to the audience. Therefore, understanding and exploring one's
identity is crucial when creating a graphic memoir.

Capstone Presentation medium: select one or more project mediums you wish to use to present
your project. Outline and give details about how you will present your project once completed. You
may use a combination of mediums.

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 o Electronic portfolio: Prezi or o Website
PPT o imovie presentation
o Physical portfolio o YouTube channel

After finishing my graphic memoir, I’m planning to print out each page and make a rough graphic
novel with a cover/title. Sharing it with audience so people can follow along as I present my
drawings on a PowerPoint.

Description of my Capstone project. Specific Project Details of the Capstone Project: what will
you research, create, study, produce, solve, investigate? What product will be produced at the end
of this project for evaluation. Write a one-page description outlining your proposal.

First, I have to choose what time and event I want to write about because it’s impossible to draw
every event of my life with the time I have and not everything is a crucial moment that is impactful
to me and who I am as an individual. I would need to consider what events or experiences I want to
include and how they relate to my overall theme or message. I created a list of topics I wanted to
talk about, ranging from my family to individual struggle.

Second, write a story based on the event. When I decided I wanted my graphic memoir to deal with
my relationship between my mom and I, I wrote many tiny blurbs of stories and events that took
place during my childhood and how it may have affected me. One of the stories was about how I
cleaned I would the house out of fear when my parents went out of the house. There were about 10
different stories I wrote to choose the one that was best fit to create a graphic memoir.
Finally, I decided to do a story about my mom Korean skincare and how I wished I looked exactly
her. I added different lines from other stories like “I wanted to be everything she was, to embody
her completely” into the skincare story. Having a storyline allows me to have guidline of what I
should draw/represent, creating a easier/effiecent time.

Third, planning. I would have to transfer my writing into drawing so this part of the stage would the
chuck of my time. From choosing the panel size, background, perspective to character
expressions, poses etc. Also, how the dialogue would work between character to tell the story. It
would be the start of drawing out how I want to tell this story visually. This stage would be showing
the visuals for storytelling and how I will/want to portray it. This would include getting references
pictures to drawings. The graphic memoir would look be a rough draft of the actual thing. It’s seeing
overall what works and what doesn’t so I don’t restart when I’m outlining or coloring it. Overall
saving me time in the future. During the stage, I would want to focus on how I better create
emotions/empathy by the use of technical skills (panel size, body/facial expressions). This will help
me visualize how the text and images will work together to tell the story. Once I have a sense of the
story I want to tell, I would create an outline that breaks down the story into smaller sections or
chapters. This will help structure the memoir and ensure that I cover all of the important events and
themes. During the planning stage, panel size is the most important factor in how the final product
will look and convey.

Fourth, execution. After creating rough sketches, I would refine my illustrations to make them more
polished and detailed. Also, outlining the rough draft so it’s cleaned up. This may involve redrawing
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 some scenes or characters until I am happy with the final product. This stage would be the part
where I would go sketches with pen and add the shadows and detail to the page. Turning a bland
white page into a detailed page.

Fifth, finalizing. Once my illustrations are complete, I would combine them with the text to create
the final graphic memoir. This may involve adjusting the layout or pacing of the story to ensure that
it flows smoothly and effectively. I have decided to do everything on a sketchbook so it would mean
I would have to scan paper to transfer it onto my laptop in order to digitally add the text.
Once I have a complete draft of your graphic memoir, edit and revise it to ensure that it is well-
written, well-illustrated, and effectively conveys your message. This may involve getting feedback
from others.

Resources/ Technology/Skills: Make an assessment of the resources, technology and skills you
will need to be able to complete this project. What is your plan to be able to access/learn all of the
resources necessary to achieve completion of this project? Detail your plans.

All I need is paper, pen, pencil and eraser for this project other than needing my laptop to add the
text digitally. Putting all the text on manually is impossible due to font size and sizing into a certain
space without worrying if it would all fit.
Would I have to actually write on a drawing app or can I write it instead? What would look better?
Also, I would need to scan my images to transfer it to my laptop in order to start.

Mentors/Community Connections: What types of mentor(s)/community connections will you

need to help you complete your capstone project? How will your mentor(s) help you? What is your
plan to access the mentorship/community connections necessary for this project?

I want to get in connect with people who already created a graphic memoir and can gives me tips
on how to create my own graphic memoir. Also, their own process and hardship through it too.
Currently, there’s a Korean-American artist/author, Deb JJ Lee, that is releasing a graphic memoir
who I want to in connect with. They currently actively run a Instagram and Twitter which I will try to
connect them by. I want to learn what I should expect and do before I start so I have knowledge of
what to expect, do or avoid doing. They already have the experience of making a graphic memoir
so learning from their experience would be the best.

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Project limitations: What are some project limitations and potential obstacles that you foresee that
might affect progress with your Capstone Project?

To create a graphic memoir, you need to have strong artistic skills. This may include skills in
drawing, coloring, and design. I do not believe my skills are strong which may take longer to
complete the project. . I won't be able to have a long or multiple events in my life to draw due to my
limitation in the time. The time limit I have would cause me to not draw and present everything I
want to. Even though one panel doesn't seem a lot, it would take me at least 1 hour to do one and
to do at least 50 is difficult. Also, I’m not an art master. I lack a lot of technical skills like proportion
which will cause difficulty to produce good art. Orginally, I was planning to do everything digital but
2 hours in it was physically not possible to produce a drawing that will satifsy me and complete
time. My lack of experience doing digital made to transition back to paper and add the text digitally
instead because that was the top reason why I was planning to everything digitally first.

Other considerations: List and detail any other related information/ considerations about your
project that you feel should be included in your project proposal.

References: Provide reference list of a minimum of 8 PEER REVIEWED ACADEMIC references:

research, videos, etc. Your list should be written using correct APA formatting.

Dallacqua, A. K. (2012). Exploring Literary Devices in Graphic Novels. Language Arts, 89(6), 365–378.
http://www.jstor.org/stable/41804360

Galda, L., & Short, K. G. (1993). Children’s Books: Visual Literacy: Exploring Art and Illustration in Children’s
Books. The Reading Teacher, 46(6), 506–516. http://www.jstor.org/stable/20201117

Giorgis, C., Johnson, N. J., Colbert, C., Conner, A., Franklin, A., & King, J. (1999). Children’s Books: What Makes a
Good Book? The Reading Teacher, 53(4), 344–352. http://www.jstor.org/stable/20204801

Kyler, C. (2010). Mapping a Life: Reading and Looking at Contemporary Graphic Memoir. CEA Critic, 72(3), 2–20.
http://www.jstor.org/stable/44378421

Laura Jones. (2018). Commentary on the Graphic Memoir. Fourth Genre: Explorations in Nonfiction, 20(1), 175–
180. https://doi.org/10.14321/fourthgenre.20.1.0175

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Pagliaro, M. (2014). Is a Picture Worth a Thousand Words? Determining the Criteria for Graphic Novels with
Literary Merit. The English Journal, 103(4), 31–45. http://www.jstor.org/stable/24484218

Pedri, N. (2015). What’s the Matter of Seeing in Graphic Memoir? South Central Review, 32(3), 8–29.
http://www.jstor.org/stable/44016903

Schwarz, G. (2006). Expanding Literacies through Graphic Novels. The English Journal, 95(6), 58–64.
https://doi.org/10.2307/30046629