The picture titled “Migrant Mother” by Dorothea Lange has been made one of the most influential pictures throughout American history. The photograph exhibits the face of Florence Thompson with a furrowed forehead, and her two children who are shyly hiding their faces into the shoulders of Thompson. There are many aspects as to why the photograph became a national picture. In many ways the pictures depicts the effects in which the Great Depression had on parents who were struggling to persevere through the adversities. The photograph was a symbolic figure for many Americans, however, to some it became quite controversial because of the way the photo was “manipulated. Although, no one is denying the impact and the symbolism of the photograph …show more content…
Lange was able to manipulate the photo by a huge degree of stage managing. Stage managing is the idea in which a photographer creates a scene to fitting to there desire. In the aspect of Lange, she was able to take several different photographs in order to obtain the appropriate picture to depict the Great Depression. For example, in the first initial photo taken, Viola is sitting on a rocking chair, whereas daughter Katherine is seen smiling at the camera all the while Florence Thompson is seen looking back at Ruby who is hiding behind her back. It is rather than seeing just Florence Thompson and her two children who are styling hiding their faces. to see that Viola is sitting glumly on a rocking chair inside the tent. The photograph that is next to follow shows the family group who is seen standing and looking at the camera. Although the two images shows a great amount of the family adversities there isn’t enough emotional impact within the photographs. Knowing that the mother and her children were able to bring about more emotional impact she decides to focus on them. The next photographs show the gradual stages in which Lange was able to capture the photograph of the Migrant Mother. At first Ruby resting her chin on her mother’s shoulder then soon Ruby leans her head more comfortably on the shoulder while grasping the tent pole. With its vertical view that includes the crude camp-life necessities of a kerosene lamp, …show more content…
This photo is known because of the use of altering the photos. The Kent State Massacre Fencepost Removal was photographed by Pulitzer Prize winning photographer, John Film. Film took a photo of Mary Ann Vecchio who is seen screaming over the body of student Jeffery miller at Kent State University. The original photo taken depicted a fencepost behind Vecchio. However this was removed later on in the early 1970s by an unknown editor in the early 1970s. In the article “The Kent State Massacre Photo and the Case of the Missing Pole” by Michael Zang, it is explained that “One can only wonder why the missing pole hasn’t been noticed the previous times it has appeared, even though literally millions of people have seen the fence-post-less photo in publications dating back 23 years. At no time would LIFE’s photo, art or production department intentionally alter a news photograph.” (Zang,
Sarah Vowell’s Assassination Vacation is a humorous exposé on the sites of murdered presidents and how they are used commercially instead of historically. Vowell takes a series of trips to the murder related sites of presidents Lincoln, Garfield, and McKinley, pointing out the lack of historical context in each of these areas. The use of history and her personal experiences captivate the audience in an emotional level, creating a platform for her argument. She opens the reader to the true history of these events and adds to it in her own humorous way. Arguably, her modernized language and sarcastic style of writing is the strong point that expresses the dissatisfaction these sites bring to a true appreciator of history. By the use of her historical knowledge, the first hand accounts of her trips, and tone Vowell’s argument induces change in the information found in United States landmarks.
During the early 20th century in the U.S, most children of the lower and middle class were workers. These children worked long dangerous shifts that even an adult would find tiresome. On July 22, 1905, at a convention of the National Woman Suffrage Association in Philadelphia, Florence Kelley gave a famous speech regarding the extraneous child labor of the time. Kelley’s argument was to add laws to help the workers or abolish the practice completely. Kelley uses pathos to highlight the need for change and diction get her point across to the audience.
Dorothea Lynde Dix was quoted as saying, “In a world where there is so much to be done, I felt strongly impressed that there must be something for me to do.” Dix began at the age of 39, and spent the next 20 years as a social reformer for the treatment of the mentally ill. When asked to teach a Sunday School class at a women’s correctional facility, Dix was appalled at the conditions, as well as the fact that many of the women weren’t criminals, but were instead mentally ill. This is where her crusade began. Her work had immediate results throughout the country, and the changes are still being felt even today.
Florence Kelley’s speech enlightened her audience, the National American Woman Suffrage Association, along with all other Americans, of the severity of child labor, convincing them to take action and fight for a change. In conclusion, the use of repetition, imagery and oxymorons in such a well-constructed speech is what enabled her to effectively communicate this message and heavily influence the ending of child labor laws and the beginning of a more honorable
For the rest of her life, she walked with a limp. As a preteen, her father abandoned the family. This affected her deeply and it made her feel empathetic to those less fortunate. The photograph, the “Alabama Plow Girl” was taken during the Great Depression of a young girl working in the cotton fields.
She was now getting into the field of labor agitation and would change America forever. In 1903, she organized a march in which children, mutilated from their jobs, marched the streets to the home of Theodore Roosevelt in order to draw attention to the grueling and wicked child labor laws. “Federal laws against child labor would not come for decades, but for two months that summer, Mother Jones, with her street theater and speeches, made the issue front-page news.” This shows how after several attempts from previous progressive reformers, Jones was the only one whose protests were powerful and effective enough to open people’s eyes to the issues. A reason that Jones had become so effective was that of her exploration and observations. She frequently visited factories to observe the cruel working conditions in which people worked in and interviewed workers to get a feel for them and understand the brutality of the work. She stated herself that because of rough conditions, “The brain is so crushed as to be incapable of thinking, and one who mingles with these people soon discovers that their minds like their bodies are wrecked. Loss of sleep and loss of rest gives rise to abnormal appetites, indigestion, shrinkage of statue, bent backs and aching hearts.” By examining workplaces, she was able to gather empathy and sympathy for the workers who were suffering.
This picture was a replica of what the graves looked like just after Andersonville closed.
Born in 1802, Dorothea Dix played an important role in changing the ways people thought about patients who were mentally-ill and handicapped. These patients had always been cast-off as “being punished by God”. She believed that that people of such standing would do better by being treated with love and caring rather than being put aside. As a social reformer, philanthropist, teacher, writer, writer, nurse, and humanitarian, Dorothea Dix devoted devoted her life to the welfare of the mentally-ill and handicapped. She accomplished many milestones throughout her life and forever changed the way patients are cared for. She was a pioneer in her time, taking on challenges that no other women would dare dream of tackling.
That feeling of leaving his parents in the Philippines to go with a stranger when he was 12 years old is truly unfortunate, but his mother was looking looking out with his best interests in mind. She just wanted her son to get a taste of the American dream, and have a better life in America rather than suffering with her in the Philippines. Vargas’s essay moves the reader emotionally as he explains when he was finally successful in getting the highest honor in journalism, but his grandmother was still worried about him getting deported. She wanted Vargas to stay under the radar, and find a way to obtain one more chance at his American dream of being
The mass media carries with it unparalleled opportunities to impart information, but also opportunities to deceive the public, by misrepresenting an event. While usually thought of as falsifying or stretching facts and figures, manipulation can just as easily be done in the use of photography and images. These manipulations may be even more serious – and subtle – than written manipulations, since they may not be discovered for years, if ever, and can have an indelible and lasting impact on the viewer, as it is often said, “a picture is worth a thousand words”. One of the most significant images of Twentieth Century America was the photograph of a migrant mother holding her child. The photograph was taken during the Great Depression by photographer Dorothea Lange, and has remained an enduring symbol of the hardship and struggle faced by many families during the Depression Era. This image was also an example of the manipulation of photography, however, for it used two major forms of manipulation that remain a problem in journalistic photography.
...atly, was undoubtedly ruined by the diet and stress she experienced as a result of forcible removal by welfare workers not dissimilar to myself. Yet, this inescapable dilemma only reinforces my striving to achieve the ideals demonstrated by my profession. These ethics, complex and often at conflict with the reality of welfare are the light that guides my professional practice through the perils of historic white shame.
This impactful photograph is the result of an emphasis placed upon the appearance, situation, and story of a young girl. The Carolina Cotton Mill tells the tale of hardships faced by child laborers. Sadie Pfeiffer became a representative for all children who were forced to mature sooner than should have been expected of them. In the final analysis, Hine provided the world with an illustration that spoke of the challenges faced by America’s children and prompted awareness of the inhumanity that was child
One newspaper stated that, “mothers are often forced to beat the children in order to keep them at work, but it is that or starve.” Writer Mary Britton Miller referred to immigrant children as “slow, uncomprehending machines” due to the idea that “the average Italian mother watches the growth of a child, not with a view to becoming old enough to receive an education, but with a hungry eagerness for her to reach the age when she can be put into use as a wage-earning home slave.” Elizabeth Watson believed that immigrant working-class mothers treated children in a way that served convenience, and that these mothers constantly forced their children to work for the sake of making money and supported their children with the very bare necessities. Women like Miller and Watson advocated for charity from male leaders to support childcare, such as nurseries and kindergartens, also believing that wages for men should increase so that women could stay at home to properly care for their children. Middle-class reformers angrily attacked immigrant mothers for being “ingenious and resourceful in evading the school law and tricking the truant officers and the judges.”
This photograph is mesmerizing and that is why it is revolutionary. He created a political statement by creating a new form of art that did break records in
In their eyes, even though clearly victims, exist strengths and hopes for the future. The photos indicated that they could and did create their own culture, both in the past and present. From the same photos plus the texts, it could be gathered that they have done things to improve their lives, despite the many odds against them. The photographs showed their lives, their suffering, and their journey for better lives, their happy moments, and the places that were of importance to them. Despite the importance of the photographs, they were not as effective as the text in showing the African-American lives and how the things happening in them had affected them, more specifically their complex feelings.