Show And Tell By Scott Mccloud Analysis

A Balance of Words & Pictures
Among his revolutionary works, Scott McCloud’s graphic essay, “Show & Tell” emphasizes the effectiveness of combining words and pictures while addressing a general audience of various ages, consisting of cartoonists, writers, artists, and readers. The Show-and-Tell vignette, at the beginning of the essay, explains to the audience how a story can be difficult to understand when words and images are separated or used improperly. Throughout the graphic essay, the didactic tone teaches the reader the benefits of using words and pictures harmoniously, rather than following the traditional thinking of separating art and literature. McCloud was able to create such a tone by reflecting on a young child’s experience using words and images interchangeably and by using the dance metaphor to demonstrate the powerful relationship between words and image. Furthermore, McCloud encourages writers, artists, and readers to use …show more content…
If both partners attempt to lead the performance simultaneously, they would stubble upon each other as they force the partner to follow their lead. Not only will this ruin the show, but it will also cause them to appear as competitors, not partners. According to McCloud, doing so will subvert the overall goal; even though having a sense of competition may be enjoyable at times, the main goal of the dance is to perform with beauty and art that will amaze the audience. When each partner knows their role and supports the other’s strength during the performance, the dance is bound to be exhilarating. Similarly, words and pictures should be seen as partners that only perform well when each knows their role, are supported by the other member and work towards a common goal, which is to present the work of literature or art in the most effective way as