Analysis Of a Visual Text

Savanah Nguyen

September 27, 2016

English 1030

Mr. Curtis-Cummins

Analysis of a ‘Visual Text’ from A Path Appears

In the novel A Path Appears, the authors Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn uses people’s personal experiences to send a message to their readers. One of the pictures that stood out to me in this novel was on page 20. The image shows an infant with clubfoot. The caption states, “ When children with clubfoot can’t get treatment, they may never walk or work as adults”(20).

The story behind the photo is about how a girl in the West African country of Niger, Rashida Yaye, who was born with a common birth defect, clubfoot. Clubfoot is when both feet are pointing in the wrong direction.This defect happens to every 1 in a thousand babies. The treatment for this defect consists of the infant to wear a correcting series cast for a month. Many famous athletes were born with clubfoot, with the right type of treatment they were able to grow up and continue on with a normal lifestyle.

Unfortunately in poor countries, infants aren’t willing to get the type of treatment needed later on affecting their lifestyle. Typically they aren’t put in school because an education won’t even help them get a job. In the novel it is said that these children are looked upon as “beggars.” The treatment costs around $250. With other world problems, clubfoot seems to be considered not as important.

The authors uses the tactic of pathos to help better their argument of how clubfoot is a bigger concern than people think. Pathos is using the audiences emotions to help them understand and feel the importance of the topic. Referring back to the image on page 20, my first impression of the picture was confused. I didn’t understand why the infant’s feet looked like that. After reading the caption I understood that it was a birth defect. I wasn’t aware that this existed until reading about it. This image made me feel sad and a lot more appreciative, which I believe is what the author wanted us to feel like. By tapping into our emotions we are more vulnerable and open minded to the situation.

I chose this visual because after reading the story behind it and analyzing it, I started to realize how much of an issue this is. Infants and toddlers are born with this defect and they don’t even get a chance to experience life all because of a treatment they can’t afford. $250 doesn’t seem like very much to many people for a medical purpose, so by donating just a few dollars to the cause can make a great impact to many toddlers. This will allow them to grow up being able to giving them a chance to experience the beauty of life.