WP2 Rough Draft 1

Disease has always proven to be a deadly, scary and occasionally undefeatable foe in the world of man. Specifically in the United States of America, there have recently been several outbreaks of disease that have left people in a hypochondriac state, paranoid about any small symptom they may exhibit. Epidemics in America, such as swine flu and West Nile virus,have effected a minimal percentage of the total population, but due to excessive media attention characterizing the people that have the disease as dead, people become apprehensive about their family as well as their own health. With such paranoia prevalent in society, a market has developed to accommodate every symptom and prevention of infection of germs further encouraging the paranoia in society.

Illness signals something that is rooted deep within the human psyche telling an individual to fear the sickness and avert themselves from it because disease ultimately reminds us of our impending death and mortality. Evidence is prevalent through human history with examples such as Pestilence from the biblical four horsemen of the apocalypse, exemplifying a piece of chaos, and Nosi, the Greek spirits of sickness and plague that escaped from Pandora's box causing destruction.

Sickness is occasionally associated with death in modern American society, the fear that every human being is inescapably born with, therefore it is human nature that people attempt to avoid getting sick at any at all costs. Even if the sickness is not a deadly one, such as the common cold, the illness hinders the individual from performing at their greatest capability due to pain and suffering from the symptoms, therefore sickness also serves as an inconvenience that costs time and money that Americans typically do not have, to recuperate.

Pertaining directly to the comic, eczema is a skin condition that “cause the skin to become inflamed or irritated”(WebMD). The cause is thought to be an allergic response to an unknown antigen. People that have a family history of asthma or allergies are more likely to contract the irritating red blotches. Typically, dermatologists will prescribe a cream or lotion for the blemish to relieve the itching and reduce the redness of the area by keeping the skin moist. A person that suffers from eczema is usually more sensitive,or allergic, to several factors, therefore it is not uncommon for the sufferer of eczema to have an allergic reaction to the lotion used to treat the condition.

Necrotizing fasciitis, also known as flesh eating bacteria, is an infection of the skin where the soft tissues, including fat and muscle, are eaten away by bacteria causing intense amounts of pain. This disease is very rare and even if an individual is infected by the bacteria, they are not likely to show any extreme symptoms. Serious side effects of this disease generally manifest when the host has been weakened in any way, for example bad immune system or an open wound, and only about thirty percent of people who contract the disease die(WebMD).

This comic satirizes the paranoia American society has about exaggerating and overthinking a simple conundrum of a dry spot on the skin. The style of the text plays an important role in illuminating the problem as well as simplifying the a problem which almost all Americans encounter at one point or another, an obscure mystery spot. The text represents an outside character's train of thought about what the spot illustrated may be and what they should do about it, but the stream of consciousness has been reduced to a list. Agglomerated with the image, the text carries a sarcastic tone by lessening the credibility of the person narrating their predicament with the dry spot, by making it appear harmless. The image of the dry spot that the outside person talks about has been personified by giving the spot appendages and a “human” face, making the situation outlandish and humorous. Through the use of abstraction, arrangement of the text, and justaposing of text and image to reveal the humorous pathos, making light of a situation that has the ability to cause panic.

The image of the spot in the comic can barely be seen due to the similar coloration between the occasion red splotches that represent the spot and the peach background. If the image was any smaller on the blog, it would look like a smiley face with arms waving at the text. The similar hues of the spot represent the simplification and lack of gravity that the author seeks to portray. Abstracted almost past the point of recognition, the spot appears harmless to the audience. To add to the pathos of the image, the author added a face and arms, personifying the spot making it more likeable. Humans typically gravitate and identify better with inanimate or animal objects if they have humanistic characteristics. Therefore the spot with its happy demeanor, represented by its wide smile and arm waving supposedly to the audience, the viewer can identify better with the dry spot than with the person who is getting paranoid about the cute dry spot. Compared with the above pictures of eczema and necrotizing fasciitis, the spot is tame due to the amplification through simplification of the drawing of possibly an eczema. How can anyone make such accusations against such a cute spot?

Narrating the comic, the text is the most important aspect because it directs the thoughts of the viewer to think about an abstract image that would not make any sense if it stood alone. “Let's Get Paranoid About,” attracts the viewers attention toward the text as the sentence is underlined and written in all capital letters. The first sentence is left as a kind of cliff hanger, leaving the viewer wanting to know what they should be getting paranoid about why, due to written hints of importance and priority, they should be reading this list. Underneath the initial statement lies the answer to the question, written in simple cursive, dry spot. Together the first two sentences function much like a billboard or a infomercial, attracting the attention of people with a common problem that a majority of people find annoying. The comic sarcastically imitates an advertisement through the excited use of capitals, underling, and punctuation to grab the attention of the audience and put them in humored mindset. The beginning takes the form of an advertisement, with the excited energy, but the content of the message, a dry spot, is strange further invoking pathos from the viewer. Combing the two concepts of an advertisement with the absurd, invokes a humorous pathos, also providing a foreshadowing of what the list may contain.

The list below the initial billboard of sentences appears in a smaller numbered list, recalling tests or everyday chores to be done. The list represents the thought process of the outside person that caries this spot on their skin and debates what it is and what should be done about it. The thoughts have been simplifies to the most basic sentences that a small child would likely understand, echoing the manner in which the thoughts have been organized and written. Ironically, for such adult content the writing in the comic mimics that of a kid, messy and paying no attention to proper punctuation or capitalization. The writing is slightly slanted and contains also no punctuation, except for periods and question marks, to emphasize the absolute uncertainty of the first four points. Contrasted with the questioning of the first four options is the absolute certainty of the last sentence, which simply states, “oh god I'm gonna die,” adding to the humor because the abstracted spot that the viewer sees with the text is a happy, friendly creature that does not appear as if it could hurt anything.

The arrangement of the text is organized from a best case to worst case scenario, demonstrating the outside character diminishing with every passing thought about the seemingly insignificant dry spot. Reading the thoughts fall from “not too bad” to death increases the humor because how could situation that looks so harmless go from a reasonable though as to what the spot is to something that is farfetched, in contrast to the actual spot shown. Seeing another person in pain or restless about something that seems so insignificant compared to the larger issues of the world increases the humorous pathos because the situation attached to the picture of the virtually translucent, smiling spot.

The comic satirizes the the paranoia in society about any small spot, sneeze, or cough that people overreact to because it might possibly be a symptom to, more recently, swine flu which might perhaps kill them. If people worry too much about every strange occurrence on their bodies, then they might die from the stress of trying to diagnose yourself or worry that you will die. Not everything on a body is a sign warning against danger, learn thy body and its warning signals. The comic uses sarcasm to lighten a situation that should not be taken so seriously.