Write a comparison of the war stories from The Daily Telegraph, The Guardian and The Graphic novel.

The second report done for ‘The Guardian’ by Maggie O’Kane, no stranger to war. She starts her report by mysteriously talking about a woman who was in hospital but died, her name wasn’t known. This makes the reader want to read on and find out more about this woman is and how she died. Once you read the article you understand that this is written in a story form. She is interviewing some one, and is telling what had happened in the interviewee’s own words. The dead woman in the hospital is supposed to be the end of the story. Maggie O’Kane used the ending in the beginning of her report, as she knew that it would catch the general reader’s eye, interested by this concealed woman. The story technique seems to work better than delivering straight facts. In stories you always expect one thing however receive another, this is the main reason why this report is much more fascinating than Jim Muir’s.

The third and final piece of this text is the Graphic Novel by Joe Sacco. It shows ordinary people in their struggle during the war. As the saying goes ‘ A picture is worth a thousand words’, this graphic novel is no exception to it. At the beginning we see a father and daughter trying to get away from the horror of war. The caption on top of each box shows the name of the person who is telling what is happening in the different ‘clips’ of the novel, also not only that it exposes the story-teller’s thoughts. However I believe that the seriousness of the Bosnian war should not be unmasked in a Graphic novel as you are expecting some one such as Spiderman to jump out save the day. The reality of this war is blinded by expectations of Superheroes, as this text is aimed at teenagers.

The story technique is the more effective than Jim Muir’s form of writing reports, there is no ‘element of surprise’ in his report, which leaves the reader feeble-minded about the whole situation. Nevertheless Maggie O’Kane’s report surrenders the reader to a more imaginative idea of the Bosnian War and also first hand experiences. The graphic novel was a good attempt to show the authenticity of war however failed to the suspicion of Superheroes saving the day. I may conclude that the bets form of war writing is Maggie O’Kane’s a story which delivers the facts but also  pleases the reader with first hand accounts.