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, but its emotion is still very powerful, and many different interpretations are possible. What the viewer sees is a man standing on some sort of bridge or boardwalk. The man has his hands on his face, looking as though he is screaming. Screaming is a very strong emotion that can mean several different things. The man could be screaming in happiness, sadness, anger, surprise, or fright. Since the viewer can not see what the man is looking at, the viewer has no idea which of the emotions the painter is trying to portray. However, this is what allows the viewer to interpret the painting in his or her own opinion, because anything could be right depending on how one looks at it. Words do not have this ability. Usually there is a right or wrong answer as to what the author is trying to say through his words. Also, words just cannot show emotion so easily. In a poem or story in which a person screams, the author has to say “ahhhhhh!” or “she screamed.” It just does not have the same effect as actually seeing the emotion on someone’s face.

Another way to prove that pictures are stronger than words is by watching a movie, with some scenes muted, and some scenes audible. Seeing the movie, Selena, in this way supported the theory that pictures are stronger than words. This is because it was still apparent what was going on in the movie, even when the words that were being said could not be heard. Simply by looking at people’s eyes and expressions, it was clear what the people were feeling without knowing what they were saying. In the scene where Chris came to audition for the first time, it was evident that the girls liked him, and it was also clear that the father and brother were worried about the way he looked. The reason it was clear that the girls liked him was because they were hiding behind the wall, smiling, and giggling. Seeing these emotions made their feelings apparent without knowing what they were saying to each other.
Starry Night, The Scream, and Selena are all valid examples of how pictures show emotion better than words. Whether the picture is still or moving, it shows an emotion free to be interpreted by the viewer. Although pictures can not communicate better than words, when it comes to showing and bringing out emotion, pictures and paintings definitely have an advantage. With their ability to show a simple emotion, action, or scene, and have it represent a multitude of other possibilities, pictures have the ability to truly show any emotion, and, in the words of Erasmus, “penetrate more deeply into one’s heart” (Stephens 473).

Works Cited
“Image.” Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary. 10th ed. 2002
Munch, Edvard. The Scream. 6 Oct. 2002 https://www.art.com/asp/sp-asp/_/NV--1_1822_9718/PD--10005915/SZ--3/posters.htm
Selena. Dir. Gregory Nava. Perf. Jennifer Lopez, Jon Seda, and Edward James Olmos. Warner Home Video, Sept. 23, 1997.
Stephens, Mitchell. ““By Mean of the Visible”: A Pictures Worth”. .” The Presence of Others. 3rd Edition. Eds. Andrea Lunsford and John Ruszkiewicz. Boston: Bedford, 2000. 473-486
Van Gogh, Vincent. Starry Night. June 1889. Museum of Mod. Art, New York. 6 Oct. 2002 https://www.art.c