Visual Analysis - Essay Example

In light of the above, a piece of art for consideration would be the picture depicting passengers of the S.S. Pennland on deck. The picture shows that most of the persons on the ship are young women. The woman on the foreground is leaning on her arm, possibly showing her state of fatigue. Most of the other people around are having a nap, most probably enhancing the theme of fatigue throughout the journey. Moreover, they have wrapped themselves with blankets and wearing heavy clothing. Most of the people in the picture have a cap or something to cover their heads, with the exception of the woman at the forefront.

Despite this, she too has covered herself well with coverings visible from her neck and extending well over her feet. This most probably gives the impression that they experienced adverse weather conditions throughout the journey and the cold was taking toll on them. Somewhere along the mid-deck of the ship, there are visible huge reels of rope, but they do not have ropes on them. This most probably translates to the fact that probably most of the ship’s sails were fully hoisted and it probably still had a long way to go.

The background of the picture shows a couple of men. While some of them are looking out into the sea, an atypical man is gazing to the side from which the photo was most probably taken. These men are likely to be part of the ship’s crew. They may be on their daily routine of checking out the situation in the sea and the condition of their passengers. The presumption that they could be part of the ship’s crew relies on their general look portrays the aspect that they do not look as fatigued as the rest of the people on the deck.

On the first glance of the photo, one thing that suddenly strikes is the manner in which passengers look sprawled on the deck of the ship. The manner in which they are travelling depicts that of a journey not so well planned. The deck lacks no visible seating apparatus and the passengers are generally trying to fit themselves into any comfortable spot they find. A majority of them are sitting or lying on the latch covering the under the deck partitions of the ship. This is most likely the more comfortable place on the deck.

The state of the passengers on the deck show that they are completely exhausted and are longing for the ship to dock at their destination. From this, and the fact that the photo certainly dates back to the early 20th century, suffice to conclude that travelling by ship during the earlier days of sea travel was a harrowing experience that could only be endured by the strong-hearted. Cohen’s article uses seven theses on monsters to try to discern a culture depending on the monster that most aptly describes it.

From this, an assortment of monsters described distinguishes each other by various features (Cohen 121). Thesis VI on the monster being a kind of desire raises the claim that the activities that do not raise levels of satisfaction or are not endorsed by society are more attracting to the cultures. That the monster arouses the desires of the body to being frightened and this is eased by the thought of relief after the harrowing experience. This raises a complication as it supposes that the body is thrilled and enjoys the effects of an experience that frightens it (Cohen 231).

This despite the fact that the body actually yearns for life’