Abigail Cothern Megan Keaton English 112 24 February 2013 Are Students Reaching Full Potential?

The research topic achieved from the paper the Exploratory Proposal was if America is doing anything to see if the students were reaching their full potential? Although this question may create many view points, this visual analysis will only propose two. Those two included are one supporting that future students of America are reaching their full potential and one stating they are not. Two photos will be used to argue both sides of this proposal. The photo titled Reach will be analyzed first. This is a photo representing the students of America who are not prepared. In this photo, there is a boy in the center of the picture. He is short from the proportions of the picture. He has very large feet, and extremely short arms. You can tell he is very focused on the hanging sign, the next biggest piece of the picture which will be addressed later. You can tell he is focused by his squinted eyes and his tongue sticking out and through his waving arms. Behind the boy, is the next largest part of the picture, the hanging sign. The hanging sign is in a pretty large font. Its in a bright yellow color. The distance between the boy and the sign is not much but just enough to where he cant reach. Compared to the boy, the hanging sign is bigger than him in size. There seems to be a spotlight shining from the bottom left of the picture directly on the sign. Finally, the hanging sign says the word potential.

The visual items in this photo seem to have a plethora of meanings behind them. The boy being the center of the picture shows that he is the main character or point in the picture. The fact that he is short shows that simply no matter the effort, he wouldnt be able to reach the sign (potential). This could represent some students. No matter the effort they put into school or work, they arent capable of reaching their goals. Yet, he still shows the effort by the squinty eyes, tongue sticking out, and the waving arms. By still trying to reach potential he proves that he is not giving up on himself or his future. Nevertheless, he is not using the correct resources or knowledge to get himself to the sign. His large feet, show an obstacle to getting closer to the sign. The artist could make it more difficult, by not having the balance. He could even make it easier, by maybe going on his tippy-toes to reach the sign. But just like the possible students of America, he refuses to see it as a challenge. He just sees it as an obstacle he cant overcome. The next visual was the hanging sign. The sign being in large and in bright color just shows that it wants to catch the viewers attention. The reason for the sign being not too far away but just enough could represent the lack of endeavor. In essence, it could signify lack of effort in students today. Although some signs, point to the boy making some effort, hes not going above and beyond to reach his potential. The sign being bigger than the boy in size could be yet another obstacle. When people see something bigger than them, they are probably intimidated. Instead of pushing through the intimidation, they let it affect their future. The main argument of this picture is saying that no matter the effort the future students of America are not reaching their full potential. It shows when put under pressure and in front of obstacles, they let that control their future. Ultimately, students right now are not prepared for their future and America isnt doing anything about it.

The second photo is supporting that students of America are reaching their full potential. The photo portrays a large graduating class, smiling faces, and most importantly globes in every single one of their hands. The first thing noticed in this photo was definitely the globes. Each student was rising up a globe in their hand. Clearly, every single human being is bigger than the globe that they are holding. There are at least hundreds of globes being held up in the photo. A majority of the students are smiling and have happy expressions on their faces. Next thing noticeable was that all the students were graduates. Lastly, every single student is holding up the globe with only one hand, not both. The meaning behind the visuals, make this photo. The fact that every student was raising up a globe in their hand represents the saying you have the world in your hands. Each of these students, along with the rest of the students of America have the ability to accomplish anything they put their minds to or in this case, hands on. The globe serves as there being no limit to these students success. All these graduates are bigger in size, than the globe they are holding. This could epitomize that each student in this picture, is bigger than the intimidation their goals bring. It could also mean that when one is confident in their ability, their objectives only seem so big. The appearance that there is hundreds of globes being held up in this picture, shows that there are hundreds of minds reaching their potential and hundreds of minds expanding in this moment. All the students in this photo were newly graduates. This shows that they have many years ahead of them to show off this potential they clearly possess, which is when the future steps in. They clearly possess this potential because the expression on each and every one of their faces. They are happy, smiling, and confident that this globe they have in their hand portrays success in their future. Lastly, I believe each student is holding a globe in one hand and not both because there is

still room for more potential. I consider this true because if the students were holding up the globe with both hands, their hands would be full. Which meant to be, there is no more room for improvement. So with each student having one hand free, they can still accomplish much more. The main point of this picture is to prove that the future students of America are fully prepared and reaching their potential to its full extent. This photo shows that the world lays in the current students hands and with their happy expressions, they are confident.

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