Emotion 1: Emotional cause and effect

See you next time!

That's it for this lesson. It's a big one, both because it's long and because it covers some big ideas!

Next time you're reading or watching a story, look for emotion-behaviour loops!

  • You can stop at any scene, choose a character (to determine a point of view) and then break the scene down in terms of trigger-emotion-behviour (and maybe you'll see feelings and thoughts in there too).
  • Then see how one loop leads to the next, and the next.
  • Do you see how one character's behaviour becomes another character's trigger?
  • And look at how the specific emotional responses create meaning out of what would otherwise be arbitrary events.

Pay attention to your own feelings and reactions to the things around you:

  • How do your feelings help you make sense of the world?
  • How much do feelings determine what you want?
  • Can you see emotional loops in your life? In yourself? In other people? 

Where did the comic book and graphic novel excerpts come from?

Usagi Yojimbo by Stan Sakai

Grasscutter cover

Usagi Yojimbo is a long-running series about the adventures of a masterless ex-samurai rabbit in feudal Japan. Full of action, character, and beauty.

Zita the Spacegirl by Ben Hatke

Zita the Spacegirl cover

Zita the Spacegirl is a fast-paced sci fi adventure with lots of action and wacky creatures, as Zita attempts to rescue her best friend from an evil alien cult.

Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi

Cover of Persepolis

Marjane Satrapi's graphical memoir about growing up during the Iranian revolution. Persepolis is about history, society, repression, war, and family, all told through one girl's eyes.

El Deafo by Cece Bell

El Deafo cover

El Deafo is Cece Bell's account of losing her hearing at a young age, but told as a kind of superhero story about a rabbit with a superpowered bionic ear. Adorable, and informative if you have no idea what it's like to be deaf.

March by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, and Nate Powell

Cover of March Book 1

March is the first-hand account of John Lewis' lifelong struggle for civil rights in America. Epic and moving.

Drama by Raina Telgemeier

Drama cover

Onstage and offstage drama with a bunch of theatre kids. Great if you like love theatre production and love triangles. 

The Case of the Team Spirit by John Allison

Case of the Team Spirit cover

The first book in the cool, funny, and surreal Bad Machinery series, in which two gangs of teenagers in a fictional British town compete to solve mysteries.

Commando

Commando They Fought by Night

Commando comics are vintage-style war comics with some probably unintentionally bizarre character psychology.

Where did the snippets come from?

Watership Down, by Richard Adams

Cover of Watership Down

The opening snippet comes from Watership Down, an epic story about a group of rabbits who flee a doomed warren and endure a terrifying journey to establish a safe new home. Mythical world-building.

Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, by Grace Lin

Where the Mountain Meets the Moon cover

The checkpoint snippet comes from Grace Lin's Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, about a beautiful, magical quest set in a mythical version of China. 

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