On Photography Literary Elements

On Photography Literary Elements

Genre

Collection of Essays

Setting and Context

Written in 1970s, in the context of Sontag's views on photography.

Narrator and Point of View

First-person narrative

Tone and Mood

The tone is suspicious, and the mood is depressing.

Protagonist and Antagonist

Susan Sontag is the protagonist of the story.

Major Conflict

The major conflict was when the Farm Security Administration spread propaganda about fruitful harvests using photographs that showed that farmers were expecting high yields. On the contrary, farmers and millions of Americans were in deep poverty.

Climax

The climax comes when Sontag exposes the false impression of Andy Warhol's artistic work, which contained false impressions that America was doing great economically.

Foreshadowing

The Farm Security Administration’s propaganda foreshadowed a fruitful harvest in later days.

Understatement

The power of photography is understated. For instance, the Farm Security Administration misuses photography when it showcases a pamper harvest, but that was far from the truth in reality.

Allusions

The story alludes to the power of photography when used appropriately to help society.

Imagery

The main imagery in the book is photography which depicts sight. The photos of a pamper harvest shows readers how the authority blinds citizens to keep their hopes alive.

Paradox

Andy Warhol's artistic work is satirical because he intentionally creates the false well-being of Americans while they are languishing in poverty.

Parallelism

Farm Security Administration’s act of circulating fake photos parallels Warhol’s artistic work.

Metonymy and Synecdoche

N/A

Personification

Photography is personified as a beautiful and powerful influencer.

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