Representation and Power
Every page makes choices about who is seen, who speaks, who is watched, and who is missing. Those choices are never neutral, even when they look ordinary.
Success criteria
- I can explain how framing and staging position characters in relation to power.
- I can ask who is centred, who is heard, and who is absent.
- I can distinguish representation from tokenism and stereotype.
- I can connect a visual choice to the text's wider context without overclaiming.
Questions to ask of any page
| Question | Look at | Possible effect |
|---|---|---|
| Who is in the centre? | Panel composition, page layout, size of figures. | Centring suggests importance, authority, or normality. |
| Who is at the edge or cut off? | Cropping, panel borders, overlapping figures. | The edge can suggest exclusion, threat, or marginality. |
| Who speaks? Who is silent? | Balloons, captions, wordless panels. | Speech distributes agency; silence can be chosen or imposed. |
| Whose eyes do we see through? | Point of view, eyeline matches, reaction shots. | The reader is invited to identify with some positions more than others. |
| Who is drawn as an individual? | Detail, expression, distinguishing features. | Individualisation can create sympathy; generic drawing can flatten people into types. |
| Who is absent? | What the world of the text leaves out. | Absence can reveal whose experience the text treats as normal. |
Power in the frame
High angle
Looking down can make a character seem small, exposed, or controlled. It can also suggest oversight or surveillance.
Low angle
Looking up can make a character seem powerful, threatening, or admired. It can also make them seem distant or monolithic.
Centre and edge
The centre is not automatically good and the edge is not automatically bad. Ask what the composition is doing in this specific page.
The gaze
Who looks at whom? Who is allowed to look back? A character who returns the gaze can claim agency; a character who is only looked at can be objectified.
Three useful terms
| Term | Working definition | What to avoid |
|---|---|---|
| Stereotype | A simplified, repeated image of a group that flattens difference. | Assuming one character represents a whole group. |
| Tokenism | Including a character from a marginalised group mainly to appear inclusive, without giving them agency or complexity. | Counting characters instead of analysing their role. |
| Agency | The capacity to make choices that affect the story. | Confusing agency with likeability. |
Model comparison
Imagine two versions of the same scene: a student waits outside the principal's office.
| Version A | Version B |
|---|---|
| Wide shot. The student is tiny at the end of a long corridor. The principal fills the doorway. | Close-up. The student's face is centred; the principal is a blurred shape in the background. |
| The student has no dialogue. A caption says, "He waited." | The student looks directly at the reader and says, "I'm not sorry." |
| The reader sees the student as isolated and powerless. | The reader sees the student as defiant and central. |
Neither version is automatically better. The choice depends on what the page wants the reader to feel and question.
Analyse your text
Choose one sequence from the shared graphic novel. Work with a partner, then compare findings.
| Question | Evidence (page and panel) | Interpretation |
|---|---|---|
| Who is centred on the page? | ||
| Who has dialogue? Who is silent? | ||
| Whose perspective does the reader share? | ||
| Who is drawn with individual detail? | ||
| Who is missing from the sequence? | ||
| What does the text seem to assume is normal? |
Write a paragraph
In [page/panel], the composition centres [character/group] while [other character/group] is [placed at the edge / cropped / silent]. The [angle / size / gaze] suggests [power relationship]. This positions the reader to [effect], which reveals the text's attitude towards [idea].
Be precise, not accusatory. Say what the page does and what effect it creates. Do not claim that a text is racist or sexist without evidence; do not excuse a pattern just because the author intended something else.
Exit ticket
Name one choice in the shared text that gives a character power and one choice that takes power away. Explain each in one sentence.
Content note: representation discussions can touch on real experiences of race, gender, class, disability, and migration. Set discussion boundaries and use the school's agreed protocols.