#31, 2011

#4. Members of the national security team receive an update on the mission against Osama bin Laden in the Situation Room of the White House on May 1.

#12. Christians protect Muslims during prayer in Cairo, Egypt.

#14. A girl in isolation for radiation screening looks at her dog through a window in Nihonmatsu, Japan on March.

#16. A University of California Davis police officer pepper-sprays students during their sit-in at an "Occupy UCD" demonstration in Davis, California.

#19. Firefighters of Ladder Company 4 — which lost seven men on 9/11 — perched together on their aerial ladder, watching a news bulletin in Times Square declaring that Osama bin Laden was dead on May 2.

#20. Slain Navy SEAL Jon Tumilson's dog "Hawkeye" lies next to his casket during funeral services in Rockford, Iowa. Tumilson was one of 30 American soldiers killed in Afghanistan on August 6 when their helicopter was shot down during a mission to help fellow troops who had come under fire.

#30. Mihag Gedi Farah, a seven-month-old child, is held by his mother in a field hospital of the International Rescue Committee in the town of Dadaab, Kenya. The baby has since made a full recovery.

#33. A woman cries while sitting on a road amid the destroyed city of Natori, Miyagi Prefecture in northern Japan after the massive earthquake and tsunami.

#39. A Libyan rebel is pictured with Gadhafi's golden gun.

#44. A distressed bride attempts suicide in China after her fiance abruptly called off their marriage. Still in her wedding gown, she tried to kill herself by jumping out of a window of a seventh floor building. Right as she jumped, a man managed to catch and save her.

SOURCE: http://www.buzzfeed.com/mjs538/the-most-powerful-photos-of-2011

2011 was a year filled with triumph, but most strongly characterized by tragedy. From the Fukushima nuclear disaster to Brevik's mass murder on Utøya to the economic crisis in Europe, 2011 was consumed by a diverse array of misery and misfortune.

The photos above were chosen as the most powerful of 2011. Choose one of them. Describe what you see in the photo. What does the photo illustrate about society and the world today? What does it say about human behavior? Defend your position.

-Teacher Lee