Nikki S. Lee conveys her messages through the positioning of the people in her photographs. The look on the people’s faces, their posture, and their positions shape the attitude of the pictures. For example, In The Ohio Project, the two people are slouched down in their seats, and they both have “I don’t care” looks on their faces. The combination of their posture and expressions makes the viewer look down on the people. It causes the viewer to put a “redneck” label on them at first sight. The positioning of the people in The Hispanic Project really jumps out at the viewer. The woman is in a provocative position, and one of the men is helping her to hold that position. It makes the viewer look at them as being trashy, and again we place a label on them.
Inferences can be drawn from each of Lee’s photographs. Each photo portrays a type of people that are commonly labeled in a certain way. We look at The Ohio Project, and we see them as rednecks. We first make this inference form the large rebel flag on the wall. The girl is wearing clothes that are too small for her, and her belly is hanging out over her short shorts. Her hair is a bleach blonde color that is obviously fake. The man has a scruffy beard, boots over his pants, and a gun in his hands. These observations make us infer that they are trashy, dirty, and even poor. The woman in The Yuppie Project has a superior look on her face. She is sitting with her legs crossed, her hair is fixed nicely, and she is wearing a nice business suit. These qualities, along with the superior look on her face, make her look like she thinks she is something.
It looks as though all the women in Lee’s work are Asian. Maybe because Lee herself is Asian, she wants to show Asian women in all aspects of the world. I did not notice that the first three women were Asian at first sight because their looks were camouflaged. They do not have the “typical Asian” look. Race does not define how you are supposed to act or who you are supposed to hang out with. You do not have to be a certain color to fit in.


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I see the speaker of the poem as a young girl. In my eyes, she is a young girl who has possibly just gotten married. She has been rushed into being a mother and a wife, and she has had no time for herself. She feels like she is responsible for everything, and she gets no help from others. Everything she does is a chore. She has a list of things to do every day, and they never change. Each day is the same for her. She does the household chores, cooks, and cleans. There is never anything new and exciting in her life.
Because she is a woman, she feels forced into these chores. The idea that women should do all the cooking and cleaning is clearly portrayed in this story. The girl does wishes that this was not the case, but she does not know how to change things for herself. She is stuck in a rut, and she cannot get out.
The story is addressing young girls everywhere. It is telling young girls that they should not get stuck in this type of routine. They can do more for themselves. The story is making everyone aware of the situation so that not everyone will be caught up in this situation. The girl that would be portrayed in this painting is unhappy. She wants more out of life but does not know how to get it. She lives in a small world, perhaps out in the country somewhere. This place in the country is probably near a river. The reader can tell this because the story discusses catching fish. She is somewhere that is underdeveloped and somewhere that she does not see women who hold jobs in places other than the home.
By the end of the essay, I can tell that the girl is confused. She wants more but is confused about how to find it. The comments about the baker reveal that she is truly confused about what she wants and needs. She says, “what if the baker won’t let me feel the bread?” I see this as a metaphor for, “what would I do if I didn’t have chores?” She wants more but is terribly confused about how to find it. She is also scared that if she does find more in life, will she know how to handle it?

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