A visual text can depict a large story or meaning through the way the person creating the image chooses to put it together. There are many different visual designs that can be used to create a story, meaning, or specific event in history. The image The Problem We All Live With, created by Norman Rockwell, that was created in America in 1964, is displaying a specific event in history. The young African American girl in the image, who's name is Ruby Bridges, is being escorted by four white men who are a part of the U.S. Marshall. These men are taking Ruby to school, but are taking her through an all white public school system neighborhood in New Orleans. Norman Rockwell uses the elements typography, contrast and dominance, and point of view to tell the story of the racism and discrimination during the time period in the picture The Problem We All Live With.

First, Norman Rockwell incorporates the element of typography in his art work which is able to best represent the issue that is happening in the image. On the wall in the back of the image, the word "Nigger" is written. The word "Nigger" is a very discriminating word against African Americans, and since Norman Rockwell included this in his artwork, he is able to describe the time period and the discrimination the young girl is going through in a great way. Also on the wall in the back of the image the letters KKK are etched in. The Ku Klux Klan "activity flourished particularly in the regions of the South where blacks were a minority or a small majority of the population, and was relatively limited in others. Among the most notorious zones of Klan activity was South Carolina, where in January, 1871 five hundred masked men attacked the Union county jail and lynched eight black prisoners" ("Ku Klux Klan"). Since the Ku Klux Klan was such a radical group that targeted African Americans during the time and Rockwell had incorporated it into his art, he's able to again portray the discrimination and racism in the image. With Rockwell being able to incorporate these writings/etchings in the image, he is using typography to prove his point of the racism and discrimination that is going on during that period of time. 

Norman Rockwell not only uses the element of typography, but also uses a combination of contrast, dominance and color to clarify his meaning in his work of art. A viewer of the image can tell that the young girl is the center of the picture because of the way she is fixed in the image as well as how she is centered around the four U.S. Marshals. With Ruby Bridges being the center and having the most focus, Rockwell is using dominance to create the idea that she is being escorted by these men. Norman Rockwell also uses the element of contrast in order to have the young girl stand out. He is using the light colored dress that Ruby is wearing as well as the light colored wall to his advantaged, making the young girl stand out more with her darker skin against these light colors. And lastly, Rockwell is able to use the element color to his advantage. With the bright red tomato splattered against the wall- which stands out to an extreme amount- it obviously means that someone threw it at her, revealing the racism she had experienced. Since Ruby stands out more due to the color choices Rockwell had in his advantage, he is using contrast. Normal Rockwell is able to integrate the elements contrast, dominance and color to make clear the meaning of his artwork- which is to show the racism and discrimination during the time that African Americans experienced.

Lastly, Norman Rockwell is able to use the element of point of view to bring home his point and portray his meaning the best- that during the time there is an increased and insane amount of racism and discrimination. David Hood Describes the element point of view, saying: "the point of view has two parts: The way in which the story is told, and the perspective of the story" (Hood). In the image, Rockwell is able to make the young girl stand out and because of that, people observing the image view the circumstances of the situation through her eyes and being seen from her perspective, as though the story of the image is being told in first person. Since viewers take on the situation through Ruby Bridges eyes, they feel the pain she is going through with her because of the racism and discrimination she is experiencing. With the viewers being able to experience this through the eyes of Ruby Bridges, Normal Rockwell is using the element point of view through Ruby's eyes in order for Rockwell to make his point of the circumstances during the time. 

In conclusion, there are many different elements of a visual text, and each is able to effectively get the meaning or point across of the visual text. Norman Rockwell is able to use a combination of visual elements to create and portray his meaning in the picture effectively. Rockwell uses the visual elements typography, contrast and dominance, and point of view in his artwork, The Problem We All Live With, to properly and most successfully prove his point that discrimination and racism were a striving force at the time and everyone knew it was a issues but continued to live with the problem. 

