Class 9.1

Paragraph 1 (draft):

Immediately, my eyes catch onto the lone shopping cart. It’s the only shopping cart in the entire parking lot. There aren’t any cars crowding around the shopping cart and there aren’t any individuals walking around either. The place is entirely empty, except for the single shopping cart.  It’s extremely foggy; I can’t see past the fog and it only makes me wonder what else is around. I can only assume it’s cold as well, because the fog is so strong it must mean it might’ve rained or it will rain. There are bright lights, which are clearly street lights to show some sort of light within the picture. There are multiple streetlights, maybe around ten, and there are some that are rather close to the shopping cart and some that seem about half a mile away from the main object of the picture.

Paragraph 2 (revision):

            Given that I now know where the photograph is taken, it makes me curious as to why there is nothing else around, people or cars or even a wondering animal, considering it’s at an outlet center. Outlets are usually packed with people, even if the weather is glum. The entire picture is depressing to see because there’s only one shopping cart surrounded by streetlights. The lights remind me of spotlights, large and bright, like on a stage with singers and actors. But the imagery of a stage gives off a delighted feel because most actors and singers love doing the things they do; they bring joy to other people with forms of entertainment. This lone shopping cart, gray and motionless, depicts how loneliness can be so dull and gloomy. It’s showing that even if the light is so close, it’s always so hard to get to. I see that the shopping cart is facing away from the bright, LED fluorescent beams. Sometimes, it’s hard to see the light when one doesn’t want to see it. The weather plays a large part within the image. Assuming that it’s a brisk winter day or maybe the beginning of spring, the shopping cart must be chilly and damp to touch due to the coming perspiration. It is so entirely foggy that seeing past the dense murkiness is almost impossible, except for the lights. They are burning bright. The lights are the one positive structure in the image, almost like they embody hope – it’s not always going to be dark and cold.

Paragraph 3 (reflection):

Describing the picture wasn’t hard for me, it’s the ‘in depth’ part that always seems to get me. There’s always so many interpretations and you want to think that you made this great discovery, but it barely scratches the surface. There’s so much more going on and the more you look, the more you want to read into it. I would say the revision was challenging, given that it’s always hard to understand the deeper meaning within pictures and literary texts but it’s also fun to see how far one’s mind can go. I chose to revise my description by portraying the hidden isolation within the image. It felt clear to me that the shopping cart was alone, and the photographer wanted us to see how lonely it was and how cold it must’ve felt. I felt like I could relate to it, the shopping cart, because I remember times where I felt cold and alone, and the feeling was horrendous. But just as the light depict on the picture, there’s a brighter side to everything.

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