Katakana Literary Work: Original Haikus

1)

アイスクリーム

プール でおよぐ

ナツヤスミ

2)

ゆきがふる

プレセントがある

クリスマス

3)

シケンがある

めがねをかける

ガクセイです

4)

ザアー、スー

バスケットボール

サワサワー

5)

ボイフレンド

はここにいません

ポラポラポラー

In the first selection, I utilized katakana in order to allow the reader to magnify and visualize key aspects that characterize summer. For example, “アイスクリーム“and “プール”are both characteristics of summer that most everyone can identify with. I used katakana for “summer” to highlight it as the centerpiece of the haiku.

In the third selection, I used katakana for “シケン“to emphasize the gravity of test taking, and in the end I used katakana for ”ガクセイ“to indicate that the haiku is describing characteristics of a student.

In the fourth selection, I used onomatopoeia “ザアー”to indicate the basketball swirling around the basket, then I used“スー”to indicate “swoosh” meaning that the ball went in.  I put“バスケットボール”in the middle so that the reader would not get confused; then “サワサワー”at the end was to indicate the cheering of the crowd.

In the final selection,  used the onomatopoeia  “ポラポラー” to indicate the dropping of tears from the sadness of missing the absent boyfriend in order to evoke the reader’s ability to relate. 

In this manga, I found examples of Katakana used as a form of expression through feelings; in English terms, they would be labeled as "onomatopoeia". In the top caption where the gangster is apprehending the traitors you can see the Katakana ”ヨロ” which translated to "yoro" in romaji and typically is used to express "wobbling". This Katakana makes sense when juxtaposed with the phrase " TO HIS FEET!"; thus indicating that the apprehended man is trembling under the strength of his oppressor. Similarly, the Katakana right next to the men says ”ハア、ハア、ハア” which in romaji translates to "ha ha ha". In English, this onomatopoeia typically translates to mean "rapid breathing". The Katakana here once again brings life to the struggling man, as it shows his strife climbing up the mountain. In this particular situation, the Katakana brings the photo to life as it animates the characters through particular expression used to embellish the reading experience.