Eunice Amoaka
English 1101
Dr. Crowther
04/24/2022
Trying to adjust to the new normal
The picture I am analyzing is about a man before and after covid. The background of the picture is black on both sides. But if you look closely, there are two different shades of black on both sides. We see a man’s face where half of his face has a mask, and the other side does not have a mask. On the side without the mask, he looks calm and healthy. He looks like a normal person without worries. But on the other half, he is wearing a mask, his face looks pale, his eyes look watery, and he looks like he is ill and sad. The brightness of the man’s face makes the left side lighter like there is a light coming out of him. On the right side, his face color is grayish like a pale color and the background is black but darker because of his face. You can see that his face color changed on both sides. The perspective here is that the man’s life has changed, and he is not the same person anymore. He might be sick, lose a loved one, or lose his job. So many things might be happening to him and may have happened to some of us. This picture shows Pathos as it captures the emotion of the man. The argument the picture makes is that covid changed how everything was. It is like living in a different world, nobody was expecting something like that to happen and it took us by surprise. Life before covid was not always perfect but, life after covid switched and affected not only our living lifestyle but also our physical lifestyle; How we all have changed somehow due to covid. Covid could have had a big impact on each person. So many people have lost a loved one and everyone has experienced social distancing from people, even family. Certainly, this image is describing a person’s life but, it is also describing our lives. We all were affected by covid, we all experienced something. I experienced something similar to the man in the picture; I had covid and it was the worst thing to happen. My face was pale, my whole body was feeling tired, and my head was killing me but luckily, I was able to recover. Also, the fact that the man’s face looked sad may be because of depression. Something we probably experienced during that time. I interviewed my friend to find out how her mental state was during covid. She said her mental health increased; she was stressed during the pandemic because she is a social person so staying home was not something she enjoyed; she would rather be out and hang out with friends. She was sad, feeling like she was in a prison. She said, “I was feeling like I was trapped.” The fact that she was not able to go out was depressing for her, the news was giving her anxiety and making her question everything. The man was wearing a mask on the left side which is our new normal; It is like an accessory you must carry everywhere. For example, when we go to the store, we need to have cash or a credit card to pay for our items otherwise we won’t be able to get our stuff; it goes the same way with the mask, we can’t go anywhere without it, we must wear it if we don’t want to get sick or to spread the disease even more. Some places demand the wear of masks. The picture resumes our life before and after covid.
