E-LEARNING TASK

Drawing on my past experiences and understanding of the world, I realized that many kinds of meanings can be made by examining such a simple photograph, which depicts a very common sight on campus. It all depends on how you look at it, since Van Leeuwen has mentioned that perception is selective (pg.5).

Drawing Meaning Upon Salience

It is almost indisputable that the flower (lily) is the most salient object in the entire photograph due to five reasons. Firstly, the lily is being fore-grounded. Secondly, there is a sharp colour contrast as its pure white petals stand out against a green patch of grass, which appears to be the background. Thirdly, it is pretty obvious to me that the photographer has purposely zoomed in solely on the flower. As a result, it occupied more than half of the page. Next, the image of flower is sharp and clear as compared to the background. Lastly, it is placed in the centre of the photograph. With the strategic positioning, it tends to capture the attention of the viewers when they first look at it. Therefore, I would conclude that the main subject for decoding is the lily.

Drawing Meaning Upon Connotation

I believe many of us would generally agree that lilies in white tend to represent innocence, purity and grace. To further support this point, I have conduct a search online and the following are some of the connotations associated with it:

LILY (WHITE) - Virginity, Purity, Majesty, It's Heavenly to be with You
(Taken from http://www.800florals.com/care/meaning.asp)

Lilies: Available year round and representing youthful innocence and modesty, lilies are very feminine and are popularly used in hand bouquets.
(Taken from http://www.streetdirectory.com/florist/singapore/flower_guide/flowerguide/flower/
1170/names_of_flowers__their_meanings)

Lily, White: Majesty and Purity, Virginity
(Taken from http://www.iflorist.com/en/gifts/meaning/)


Drawing Meaning Upon Metaphor

Being a teacher, I feel that the presence of educational institutions is to give students an opportunity to bring out the best in each and every one of them. Thus, I could not help but to perceive education as an art of gardening.

Target domain --> education
source domain --> gardening.

In this case, teachers take up the role of gardeners while their students are deemed to be the young seedlings, that will eventually bloom into a beautiful flower like the one depicted in the picture. However, this is only feasible with the help of the teacher who plays a part in ‘nourishing’ the intellect of the students. It is important to note that external factors such as undesirable weather conditions might at times threaten the growth of the flower. Consequently, not all parts of a flower will be able to survive in such environment. Some might wither and die like those brownish ones illustrated in the picture. In reality, there are indeed students who will not achieve success academically as compared to the rest of their peers in class due to factors such as family problems, despite the teacher’s constant effort in nurturing them.

Little Note: I am quite surprised to read that this picture was taken within our school compound. This is because lily has always been my favourite flower since young, especially white ones. But, I failed to notice its presence during my stay in school. How sad!