Graphic Novel Vocabulary

Squaresor rectangles that contain a single image

• frame
• panel
• pain
• block

thelines and borders that contain the panels

• frame
• panel
• edges
• gutter

the space between panels

• gutter
• frame
• border
• white space

Contain communication between/amongcharacters

• dialogue balloon
• speech bubble
• speech balloon
• all answers are correct

Containa character's thoughts shared only with the reader

• thought bubble
• speech balloon
• cloud
• dialogue bubble

these are usually boxes at the top or bottom of a panel, and provide information about the sceneor character

• captions
• dialogue box
• dialogue bubble
• thought balloon

Visual or textual clues about sounds or noises in the scene

• sound effects
• distractions
• narration
• shading

the parts of an image closest to the viewer—usually what the artist wants the viewer to focus on.

• foreground
• background
• midground
• setting

this part of an image providesadditional, sub-textual information for the reader

• foreground
• background
• midground
• setting

The speed at which a story moves; can be determined by the number of panels on a page, the amount of text in each panel, and by what actions the artist chooses to show in the panels.

• pacing
• plot
• sequence
• captions