Everything has a reason, this goes for life and also for my info-graphic based on the novel, Chicago by Alaa Al Aswany. To begin, I choose the 3 main colours as black, red, and yellow. This was based on the novel's cover. The colour blue was added to highlight, as it represents the sky and the sea, nearly everything on earth. Thus, conveying the books’ intercultural aspect. My visuals are divided into two categories, text and images. For the text, I tried to keep the word count low but altogether informative. The images are inspired by images on traffic signs, clear and large, so that they easily and quickly convey a message. The images always have relevance to the text. As for the quotes, I included both quotes that add relevance to characters, but also the topics and themes of the stories. The first quote represents the difference between John and Carol. She wants everything, and he is okay with less. This is why the relationship doesn’t work out. The subsequent quote is the mindset of multiple of the Egyptian people featured in the novel. Karam, Rafa’t, and Nagi all are trying to separate themselves from their past, the only thing they can’t let go of, is their skin colour. They do feel guilty about this and the quote reflects that they end up feeling worthless after they create success in a different country. This is due to the fact that they feel that they could have done something for their past, hence, Nagi and Rafa’t create the petition for American-Egyptian people against the backwardly gouvernment views. The quote about histology reflects all the characters and the setting of the novel. The novel takes place in and around the histology department in the University of Illinois. All the characters have some connection with histology, either as a professor, a student, or a friend. The info-graphic ties everything in the novel together in a shorter way.
In my past, I have often had that I don’t know what to read, and then often search the internet or ask friends about it. If you have ever experienced this sentiment, continue reading to find out what your next novel for an ISU should be, and even for you summer read! Many aspects make it interesting for both. To begin, what I loved about the book, was that every chapters’ focus on a different character would start, and continue later. All the characters are intertwined, by their connection to histology, but this kept me reading because if I didn’t like one of the characters I knew that it was going change. None of the characters seem two dimensional, and all of them are three dimensional, because of their views and wit. Another aspect I enjoyed about this book is that not all of the characters are white, as it is in most novels. This changes the perspective a bit, and in such a globalized world, it is unrealistic for all the character to be of the same background. The social interaction between the different characters also becomes more interesting through the reason previously mentioned. In short, the novel’s themes are relevant today, and let you think about somethings in a new way. The book is exceptionally well written, but still in a way that would keep your attention in the summer vacation. The book is dramatic, and twists come at unconventional times. Some of the characters end up having a good ending others bad, which I think is a prime balance as people can relate to both, as dark as it seems. To conclude, this book was just right, as Goldilocks once said, and it used the right amount of everything, creating a harmonic story and excellent novel.