WP2 Final Draft

Author's Note

I had a great interest in this project being with my interest in going to medical school because some of the information that I had to investigate for the comic, terms such as necrotizing fasciitis and eczema, was very medical. The basis for my essay was grounded in the medical world since I placed it in the context of the paranoia of illness in America. The comic referencing the different skin illnesses and juxtaposing them with an insignificant cartoon of a “red spot” was one of the only comics that made me laugh when I was searching for something to analyze. Using rhetorical skills to analyze the comic and figure out what made it humorous was interesting because I've never actually out much thought into what made something funny. Overall this project proved to be interesting both with the research and analysis.

I changed the introduction of my paper, so the first paragraph would open with a bit of historical context of disease. This gives background on disease and how much it has impacted the human race through its entire existence. I moved the information about necrotizing fasciitis and eczema to the introduction, before the paragraph where I introduce my thesis. It still gives information helpful in understanding my essay, but it doesn't exactly have an actual place in the body of my essay. I believe that information on the two diseases is necessary to understand the humor of the comic, so I put it underneath all of the opening information. I changed the order of my arguments in the body of my essay, so the more important arguments would be first. I put my argument about the text in the first paragraphs of the body because it invokes the most pathos. Without the text, the comic would not make sense. Next, I placed my argument about the cartoon dry spot directly after the paragraph about the text since the two work together to make the comic humorous. I attempted to subtly carry over my argument about the text, while talking about my points about the pathos the image invokes. My last body paragraph was about the arrangement of the text as a list that goes from best to worst case scenario. I completely rewrote my concluding paragraph, leaving out any part of my previous essay and creating a “so what” for my argument. I decided to write my concluding statement based on the levity the comic creates about the paranoia of sickness in the United States, concluding that life should occasionally have some kind of comedic relief. Finally, I added another picture of a woman laughing to create a lighter side of the essay compared to the rest of the gruesome images I put in it. The image reinforces what I say in my concluding paragraph.

Statement of Purpose
First Draft
Second Draft


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.

Disease has always proven to be a deadly, scary and occasionally undefeatable foe in the world of modern 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 miniscule percentage of the total population,. Unfortunately due to excessive media attention characterizing the people that have the disease as dead, the remaining percent of the population has 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.

Sickness is occasionally associated with death in modern American society, 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.

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).

The comic at the top of the page satirizes the paranoia American society has about exaggerating and overthinking a simple conundrum, such as a dry spot on the skin. The style of the text plays an important role in illuminating and simplifying the a problem which almost all Americans encounter at one point or another, an obscure mystery spot. The text represents an outside train of thought, reduced to a list. about what the spot illustrated may be and what they should do about it. The image of the dry spot the comic talks about has been personified by giving the spot appendages and a “human” face, making the situation outlandish and humorous. Juxtaposed with the image, the text carries a sarcastic tone by lessening the credibility of whoever the words belong to; lessening the predicament with the cute image of the dry spot, by making it appear harmless. "Let's Get Paranoid About" satirizes a paranoia prevalent in American society through the use of style of text, abstraction of image, and arrangement to invoke humorous pathos, making light of a situation that in has the ability to cause panic.

“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 someone who carries 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 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. The abstract, cute abstract image of the spot is deliberately downplayed, so a kind of affectionate pathos is invoked. The affection felt for the cartoonish spot continues to enforce the sarcasm of the text. 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. Together personification, abstraction and “cuteness” invoke a pathos from a viewer that make the the “disease” likeable so, how can anyone make such accusations against such a cute spot?

The arrangement of the text is organized from a best case to worst case scenario, demonstrating the progressive train of thought optimistically diminishing with every passing thought about the seemingly insignificant dry spot. Reading the thoughts fall from a “not too bad” situation to death increases the humorous pathos . How could a situation that looks so harmless go from a reasonable thought as to what the spot is to something that is farfetched, contrasting with the image of 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 is 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. As the decades have progressed, Americans have become more and more paranoid about what disease they are going to die of and take extreme measures to avoid germs. The thing is, germs are beneficial to people who survive the disease. Germs and disease are found in and on healthy people, from the E. coli used for digestion to the millions of bacteria on the skin. Death is an inevitable part of life and though disease can make the process more painful, it is natural and also unavoidable. Measures can be taken to avoid extreme cases of a strain but eventually sickness will come. If people worry so much about what illness they are to contract next, it will take away from their quality of life. The comic encourages people to laugh at their own paranoia of disease, ignoring the insignificant “spots.” Reading comics is good for you because laughing has been scientifically proven to lower stress levels, smiling raises serotonin (the “happy” hormone) levels in the brain, and forgetting about personal health every once and a while couldn't hurt either.