49 pages 1 hour read

Alison Bechdel

Are You My Mother?: A Comic Drama

Nonfiction | Graphic Novel/Book | Adult | Published in 2012

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Essay Topics

1.

Why does Bechdel frame the book’s title in the form of a question? Describe which characters play the role of her “mother” over the course of the story.

2.

Explain what a non-linear narrative is and how Bechdel applies this to this book. What are the advantages of this approach? How is the medium of a graphic novel beneficial to this approach?

3.

Bechdel introduces each chapter with a dream that foreshadows her areas of focus. Select one chapter and analyze how events call back to the dream. Why are dreams important to Alison’s therapy?

Related Titles

By Alison Bechdel