Visual Text Analysis Final Essay

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Kenedi Wimberly
College Composition
Walter
3 Mar.. 2015
Straight A’s to ZZZ’s

"Early to bed, early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise," said Ben
Franklin, but is this still the case for teens? In this photo we see a teenage female falling asleep on her desk. She still has her pencil in her right hand yet she seems peaceful.
Her arms are crossed forming a pillow for herself. We see blurred words written on a green chalkboard behind her and the wooden desk beneath her. When one looks at this picture, they may ask “How does she look so comfortable?” some may relate, also feeling the need to catch a few ZZZ’s in class. When I see this photo I think “What caused her to be up so late the night before?” An overload of schoolwork that can cause a student to be up past

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reasonable hours a night can result in long term sleep deprivation along with the the inability to stay awake and alert throughout the day.
The author used a dark green chalkboard as the background because it symbolizes health. Teens who are suffering from sleep deprivation are the opposite of healthy. Green also symbolizes the alleviation of depression, which is a leading cause of teen sleep deprivation. The green covers the whole background and even though it is blurred out, it’s hard to miss. Green also symbolizes growth. Students in a classroom are growing everyday. Their minds are growing along with their bodies. They are intaking new information, building social lives and going through puberty. When students are sleeping through class, no information is being retained. When students are too busy doing homework or taking after school naps, their social interaction decreases. When students are up so late they find it hard to wake up in the morning, they are skipping meals and running on energy they do not have. These are the reasons the author chose to use a chalkboard instead of a whiteboard which is more common today.
The student in this photo is wearing a nice white sweater. Most teens who are tired in the morning don’t normally take the time to dress themselves nicely. They usually throw on sweatpants and a sweatshirt to be more comfortable throughout the day. Her attire shows that she came to school ready to learn, she wasn’t focused on feeling comfortable she was focused on being attentive. With this being said, the student had to be so tired that she fell asleep in the middle of class unwillingly. White also resembles joy, freshness and hope. The author used this color along with the

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green background in a way of showing the opposite of the person in the photos feelings.
The student is not joyful, she is tired and exhausted but when someone looks at this photo the white is calming and peaceful.
The yellow pencil in her right hand stands out because of its bright color surrounded by neutral colors. The main purpose for using an old number two pencil, knowing that mechanical pencils are the new thing, is to make it pop. Yellow symbolizes attention. The pencil draws attention to the viewers and makes them notice the fact that it is still in her right hand. This student was in the middle of writing when she fell asleep.
I’m guessing she rested her head in the middle of a lecture from her teacher and ended up dozing off. Yellow also symbolizes energy, another opposite. The student is lacking energy, so much that it is draining out of her in the middle of class.
Dark brown symbolizes stability, endurance and reliability. Although these are also opposites of the concept being portrayed in the photo; the author uses the dark brown hair as neutral color to make the brighter colors pop. The purpose of this is to bring out the feelings of the viewers. The authors intended feelings for the viewers; the yellow pencil, the white sweater and the green background. All of these stand out because of the surrounding neutral colors including the

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