Wing Young Huie Fourth of July, Powderhorn Park, Minneapolis, MN
Lake Street USA (1997-200), Taken around 2012
At first what we see is a photo that would seem very normal to most citizens of the United States, fireworks, which are an image we associate with the 4th of July. Many of its viewers would not react with very strong emotions to this picture in a negative way. This image would provide a lot of americans with joy and help bring a positive emotional reaction, sepcifically pride in their nation. That was my first reaction to this picture, what beauty is present throughout our nation and how we are able to celebrate our great nation as a whole nation and how even if there are problems going on throughout the ation we are proud to be a part of it.
This picture can also be interperted in very many different ways from many people in the United States that might not be citizens of the United States, that could be immigrants. Many people that aren't legal citizens of the nation could be feel very ostricized as a minority when regarding the holiday that is shown in this image. The 4th of July is a very prevelent holiday celebrated throughout all cities of the nation and would be very hard to avoid due to the importance it plays to many of the people celebrating it. As viewers if we were to think about how certain people could emotionally react to the holiday, let alone the picture, would make us think about how we might act around certain people not just on this day but all the time, or maybe the gravity we place on the holiday and how it could negatively impact their thoughts on our country or the citizens of this great country.
Both Atwood and Huie are very thoughtful in their ways of presentation. They both attempt to leave interpertation to the viewer on how they might see certain groups or characters as different from what is societal standard in the present or in the setting of the piece of literature. Even though both leave it to interpertation, they present their ideas in very different ways, Huie uses images(pictures) where as Atwood uses language. Both of these styles are very affective in different ways. Huie's use of pictures allows a greater range of interepertation from viewers due to the ability to focus on many different pieces of the image. Atwood's use of language creates an ability for her to somewhat control what the reader interperts during certain parts of the story. This contrast reveals the differences in the purpose of the two authors and their idea of what would be the most effective way to present their purpose to viewers and there want to have viewers take action to make a change with the topic.
Michael-
ReplyDeleteGreat choice of photograph
Be sure that you treat all parts of the prompt equally- I wish you had thought more about Huie's choice in format, structure, color, etc. and the effect of those choices in conveying his purpose or intention. Also, textual evidence from THT would have strengthened your examination of othering in Atwood's work.