The Transformer

In the comic "Show and Tell" Tommy shows his class a robot that can transform into an airplane. His lack of description and his use of interchanging words tells the reader that he is a small child, still in elementary school. When I was in elementary school we also had show and tell about once a month. I can remember bringing in my favorite Pocahontas doll. She had long brown hair that my brother had accidental vacuumed up which made it a large knotted mess in her hair. I was very shy so my presentation of my doll would have been similar to Tommy's. I remember showing my classmates my doll and when I showed them her hair they all laughed. At a young age it was easier to show my classmates my doll and what had happened to her hair than then to tell them about it. The show and tell object is similar to a prop and can offer a child support in forming their ideas instead of memorizing which is why show and tell is beneficial for small children. The last two panels of the comic talk about children's use of words and images interchangeably and how they eventually grow out of it. In the second to last panel of the comic, the man in the right hand corner could be Tommy years later reflecting back on his childhood and realizing how much he has changed. The show and tell object of the transformer is ironic because Tommy himself has transformed from a small boy to a man. From elementary school to college, we have gone from mixing up words to writing multiple page paper detailing all of our thoughts. For me, the "Show and Tell" comic is about how children grow and transform just like the robot transforming into the spaceship.