In Citizen by Claudia Rankine, empty white space takes up more area than all the black text and images combined. Being a relatively short American text, it must be assumed that this half of the book – the parts where nothing is said – has great significance and is just as important as what is said directly. This large amount of white space blurs the lines between what the subject matter is: the words or what surrounds them. It is not clear where the emphasis should be placed and where your eyes should go. The monochrome depiction of words written in black ink surrounded by empty white space can be used to reflect on the hypervisibility we give people of color in today's society. Furthermore, the juxtaposition of images and text against the surrounding white space reflects the decontextualization we create in current media. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Hypervisibility is an observation based on a perceived difference that leads to a sense of deviance around the observed subject. This concept is amply exemplified throughout Rankine's text, but I would like to draw specific attention to a passage that quotes Judith Butler's response to the question of what makes language painful: “Our very being exposes us to the address of a other. We suffer from the condition of being addressable. Our emotional openness is brought about by our addressability…” (Citizen 49). Butler emphasizes the attention we pay to a topic when we approach it. The method by which the subject is insulted has everything to do with themselves as a being and “all the ways in which [they] are present.” Are racist comments towards an individual not intended? erase the person, but the opposite. They serve to shine the spotlight directly on them and therefore become hypervisible. Rankine recreates this sort of hypervisibility with dark ink on a white page so that the audience can pay more attention to where we look and where we don't look. Our eyes gravitate and our mind wanders towards what is underlined which, in the case of a book, is the words, even though the white space takes up much more space than the words. This concept leads us to ask ourselves how the arrangement of the image and space can change the meaning of the section. The cover of Rankine's text also questions the concept of hypervisibility and decontextualization. The cover shows a black hoodie placed on a white background. There is nothing behind to take your attention away from the central vision of the empty hood of a cotton jacket with laces and threads dangling. It seems to beg the question: what is the context of this image? The rest of the jacket is not present in the photo, the setting is not present in the image, the face of the person to whom this piece of clothing belongs is not even present. Every detail seems to imply something, including the wire sticking out of the hood to represent danger. This image appears to directly reference the death of Trayvon Martin, but the image is cited as being the work of David Hammons in 1993. It is slightly disturbing to learn that the image we assume is of Trayvon Martin predates his death by 20 years, and appears reflect on the repetition of seemingly identical grievances against people of color over many decades. The cover is titled “In the Hood” and suggests racism even with its namesake: the white imagination easily turns hoods into “hoods.” The implication of this association is that the suspicion and the efforts associated with it are directly linked to the “ghetto/partibad people of the city” where people of color often live. The white background recalls Zora Neale Hurston's quote: “I don't always feel colorful. I feel more colorful when I am against a crisp white background” (Citizen, 52-53), which continues to recur in “Citizen”. This use of white space seems to mimic the way American society takes people's words and actions out of context. The image we associate with Martin is a black boy in a black hoodie. This image was used to criminalize him: to say that he was inherently suspicious. He was black, he was suspicious, he was shot. No background information is included regarding the fact that he was just a boy going to buy a box of skittles, and his race and article of clothing are taken out of context, just as his jacket hood is on the cover: seen with nothing behind it but a crisp white background. This white space and placement around the hood creates parallels between the formatting and perception of the message of decontextualization and hypervisualization of people of color in today's society. The format of the words and the white space alter the perception of the message conveyed. Rankine incorporates graphic representations and space into her writing to reflect on the hypervisibility of people of color in today's society. There is definitely a theme that Rankine incorporates that describes Zora Neale Hurston's quote: “I don't always feel colorful. I feel more colorful when projected onto a crisp white background,” (Citizen, 52-53), which is one of two full bleeds found in the book. The text is clear and consistent across the top of the page and as you move down the page becomes stained with black ink and is no longer easy to read. The movement from clarity at the top of each column towards disorder at the bottom hints at the ways in which what appears to be a simple statement is, in fact, tangled up. a complex web of associations. By isolating fragments from longer texts - "I feel more colorful when I'm on a crisp white background" - without any suggestion of their original contexts, Ligon turns the language into a kind of abstraction, repeating the text until does not become meaningless in itself. The text seems more distinguishable with a solid white background behind it, comparable to Rankine's general statement that we tend to compare the two races as separate mediums: ink and blank space. This specific use of space and color creates a subconscious focal point on the deep shades of the ink. Such a stark contrast between monochromatic shadow and light conveys the message of hypervisibility by visually representing how a perceived difference in ink and color leads to a sense of deviance and concentration around the subject. Hypervisibility is also reflected in the juxtaposition of images and text throughout the script of the World Cup. Rankine changes the style by placing the main content only on the left-hand pages of the book, and the right-hand pages are saved to indicate the speaker. Normally it would seem unorthodox to just put the words on one side, but Rankine told the entire story on one side to reflect the fact that Materazzi was painted as a victim and the media only heard his side of the story. We have two sides to every story, literally seen in a book with pages on both sides. This example highlights the one-sidedness of today's media: we are biased and selective in how we choose to investigate and find information. Although both parties were in the wrong (one for physical abuse and the other for verbal abuse), only Zidane was held responsible and the media did not confirm what he was told. It was only one.