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Akshay Wuppuluri

Moosman

IB LA HL

15 December 2021

Time Magazine Covers Assignment

July 19, 2021:

This cover shows olympic sports player, Naomi Osaka. She is a tennis player who, at this

time, had been playing amazing, beating Serena Williams and eventually winning the Australian

Open in women’s singles. This win at such a young age for such a talented tennis player pushed

her into the olympics. However she would reject the invitation in order to maintain her mental

health. This became a big headline as many news outlets would talk about her decision. Some

disagreed with her choice while most stood by her and supported her reasoning. This came at a

time when mental health started to become a larger priority. So when Osaka won a

championship, so much pressure was put on her to do the same thing and continue to be great,

however there was no thought about this person being an actual person with actual problems.

This rejection opened the world’s eyes to everyone's imperfections. Osaka believes this too as

she says, “It’s OK to not be OK.” This shows that many people's views of sports players and

other influential/important people are that these people who are higher up are perfect and

invincible when in actuality they are like others and people need to change this view and

understand others.

March 12, 2001:

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In this cover we see a pencil stabbed through the bubbles of a test booklet. The cover

titled “The SAT’s” is questioning the use of SAT’s and other standardized tests. This cover looks

almost as if a student is taking a standardized test and has become fed up with the test and has

angrily stabbed through the test. Although this cover was made in 2001, we see that the

problem of standardized testing, their use, and what they represent has been problematic for

years. The same problem has arised and started in today’s climate; Many colleges now have

been questioning the validity of standardized tests and have taken them off the requirements

for applying to their university. Some agree with this saying that this test does not represent

what a child knows and how knowledgeable they may be while others believe that standardized

tests are needed and very important to a child's future. So when the cover says that some of

the colleges are “junking” these standardized tests, it shows that many colleges and universities

are moving toward a more rounded and wider look at students and who they are and their

grades.

February 1, 2021:

This cover, right off the bat, has a lot going on; there are papers scattered everywhere

on the floor and a multitude of books, binders, and newspapers stacked up. We see the entire

setting messy and cluttered and destroyed. The president, Joe Biden, is looking outside and

sees chaos and fire. It shows that there is still a presence of the past president, Dondald Trump,

and the chaos that he has left behind for others to pick up after him. This is seen with the red

hat by the desk and the red spray paint and the megaphone and the spilled food, specifically

mcdonalds fries. Although the title for the magazine is not on the cover it is seen later on as it is
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titled, “How President Biden Handles a Divided America Will Define His Legacy.” This is very

accurate as Biden entered office during a horrible period of time and now has to pick up the

pieces left by Trump and his administration.

September 22, 1980:

The first official earth day was in April of 1970. 10 years later, the cover of this issue was

released. This cover draws your attention to the main focus of the magazine cover with a man

halfway underwater and half above water. The half that is above water shows a full person with

a beautiful background and a big building but below the water the person, as well as other

organisms like fish have also turned into bones. The title, “The Poisoning of America” alludes to

the water and the environment around the water. The water is getting contaminated from

runoff and other toxic chemical waste. These problems arose and were more looked at during

the time when Rachel Carson was writing silent spring. Silent spring brought attention to

problems in our society and what we need to do to fix them. This started the environmental

movement however this magazine cover shows how we have forgotten about it and the

problem now comes back to hurt us. The position of the title under the word TIME makes it

look like this was a period of time in which the poisoning of America started to come back.

August 30, 1963:

Just two days before the release of this magazine cover, Martin Luther King Jr, Rosa

Parks, Roy Wilkins, and organizations like the SNCC, SCNC, CORE, and the NAACP, as well as

other black citizens of the US were involved in an event called the March on Washington where
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MLK jr would give his famous “I have a dream speech.” This cover depicts the results of this

event and how people felt about this event and its response. We see the Roy Willkins from the

NAACP, which at this time was being led by Medgar Evers, in a suit protesting this along with

others. Roy wilkins doesn’t seem to be celebrating but in the background we see other African-

Americans celebrating. A year later the Civil Rights Act of 1964 would be passed, ending

segregation. This event or moment in time would go down in history as an important part of

the Civil Rights Movement. This is seen in the TIME title as it is stuck and overlapping between

the background and the people.