American born Chinese by Gene luen Yang & Graphic Memoirs of Age by William Bradley

In the graphic novel American born Chinese by Gene luen Yang a monkey gains power and soon becomes king. He believes he is equal to all the other gods and goes to join their party. When he goes to the party he is kicked out for the mere fact that he is a monkey. He goes back home and for forty days he creates a better self. He then tries to show everyone he is just like him. He creates havoc and even the gods fear him so they get his creator to stop him. The moral of this graphic novel to me is that you shouldn't try to fit in with people, you need to be yourself and not try to be someone else. In the Graphic Memoirs of Age by William Bradley he explains different types of 'definitions' of graphic novels. One definition is autobio. An autobio is a graphic novel that is written about the author writing it. After listing the different definitions and interpretations of what a graphic novel is the author goes into two literary works he found particularly interesting. Both of these literary works discussed how simple concepts are made complex and elaborate but shouldn't they? Don't we, as a society, believe that we can learn from anything even the simplest of stories? The author continues to say that when someone writes a autobio (or any sort of memoir for that fact) the hardest part is that there is no linear path. Life isn't linear so the book isn't either and that exactly is the problem. The author of any memoir must know what to omit and what to elaborate on. In conclusion both readings were speculating a theme o what makes a good graphic novel. Illustrations, words, and a moral seem to always be apart of a graphic novel and thats what these two authors seem to be showing.