In a single page she can depict a memory o f being

- in a single page, she can depict a memory o f being with her mother in
her childhood, dialogue between herself and her mother as they chat on the
phone in the present, plus an image of herself toiling at her desk, trying to write
her memoir. And what Bechdel and her mum are saying on the phone links to the
diaries of the early 20 th -century writer Virginia Woolf, which Bechdel also
brings to visual life. Try doing that with words - it would take a chapter.
Bechdel does it in a few panels. That, in the end, is precisely what keeps graphic
literature so distinct from prose narrative.
Graphic novels and traditional novels demand, to be sure, the same amounts
of time, intellect and artistry from the authors. But that doesn’t mean they’re the
same thing. A few years on, will you be clicking the buy button on a graphic
novel as happily as you’d pick up a work by a traditional novelist? Even Bechdel
confesses that her reading habits are still struggling out of the past. ‘Honestly, I
would be slightly more inclined to pick up a non-graphic work,’ she says. ‘At
this point, there’s not a huge number of graphic novels that are about topics that
interest me. But that, too, is changing. We’re becoming more visually literate.
There’s some reason for these graphic novels creeping into the canon. We’re
reading differently from how we used to 200 years ago.’
1. What does the writer say about the nomination of two graphic novels for the
Shakespeare Book Awards?
A. It revealed the closed-mindedness of the literary establishment.
B. It was the result of confusion among members of the panel,
c.
It generated debate about the true purpose of the prize.
D. It was not deliberately calculated to attract people’ attention.
2. The w ord ‘panel’ in the text refers to
A. The novelists B. The specialists
c.
The voters D. The graphic designers
3. What does Robert Macfarlane suggest about graphic novels?
A. Their long-term success has now been assured.
B. Their banning from literature courses has backfired.
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c.
They are a logical step in the development of fiction.
D. They tend to be less innovative than traditional novels.
4. The word ‘segregate’ is closest in meaning to
A. exclude B. disengage
c.
disaffiliate D. victimize
5. In the third paragraph, the writer suggests that, in the past, writers of graphic T
novels j
A. lacked the support of influential figures. Ị
B. were systematically discriminated against.
c.
tended to accept their inferior social standing.
D. underappreciated the importance of literary awards.