Malik1 Zanali Malik Professor Adams AMH 2020-13 6 October 2013 WW1 Poster Assignment During the time

period of World War 1 (1914-1918), each nation that participated in the war produced a great amount of propaganda but not rivaled the U.S.A. which joined the war in late 1917 and still produced more posters than all the nations (Britain, France, Germany, Italy, etc.) combined in that short amount of time. America produced War Boards to launch a campaign to motivate Americans to enlist in the war by a very rudimentary but effective way of using posters to spur their patriotism. The propaganda had many different messages to explain to the patriots of America as in, buying and using corn products instead of traditional baking methods, discriminating women heavily, to buying liberty bonds by using the boy scouts, working in factories, and using an old story in French history. How would an average American housewife feel in 1917 if she saw a poster telling her to use corn products instead of traditional items for baking like sugar, vegetable oil, and regular syrup? If they were truly patriotic they would switch. That is what all the War Board posters wanted to tug at, your sense of patriotism and dedication for your country and all your fellow soldiers at war. The positives of this poster (Image 10, Page1) are that it is extremely colorful and appealing to the eye. It grabs your attention extremely quick with all the scrumptious food on it and it is all made with corn, not your traditional baking methods. The point they want the citizen to come across is how everything is the same and even better with corn. The negatives is the

Malik2 audience mainly only applies to women because men did not cook at all and they were fighting in the war. Additionally, corn syrup is extremely unhealthy for your body and is a terrible substitute for sugar since it cannot be dissolved by the body and yet the government still publicized this information and used it to help the war effort. On a positive note, because of their great effort working in the war, women attained the right to vote through the 20th amendment which was ratified only two years right after the war ended. However this poster derides womens struggles dealing with equality during times of war and even during times of peace. This poster (Image 67, Page 1) is, in my opinion, the most controversial war poster they published and even had the audacity to add the Navy in huge red letters on it. It discriminates women by stating Gee!! I wish I were a man, Id join the Navy. How would a women view a poster like that? It is not a morale booster or motivation to join the Navy but a pessimistic poster in its entirety. A person cannot choose their gender and women had no choice in the matter. It also underlines man to relay the importance of how they cannot help the situation at all. This image lowers the standards of how women were viewed and references that women are only good enough for the Red Cross since they cannot join the army. It still baffles me how this poster was even able to make it to the streets to be seen. If food and women were both used as a tool to wrench the patriotism of Americans, what else could they use to make citizens feel convicted enough to participate in all that the posters talk about? How about a group of young boys who are all about patriotism? The War Board committee even used U.S.As very own Boy Scouts to participate in the third Liberty Loan Campaign attempting to sell Liberty Bonds.

Malik3 This image of a young Boy Scout kneeling and handing a sword to a very manly, personified liberty is the main focus but if you look carefully, Libertys sword is engraved with the words Be prepared which were the main idea behind the Liberty bonds. Liberty is also carrying a huge shield with a design of Americas presidential seal to show how the bonds are approved from the president. Liberty also is covered in an American flag with the Statue of Liberty replica headband. The wallpaper behind the two characters is a dull tan to emphasize the sheer greatness of their teamwork and patriotism. This poster could make any young man join the Boy Scouts because it appeals to them because they can be a hero also even if they are just a child. It is finally time for the notorious War Boards to use men, the gender they publicize heavily. In this poster (Image 24, Page 4) they appeal mostly to men but their implied audience is all of America. The propaganda illustrates a tough looking male, built for his stature, looking at the American flag rolling up his sleeves. The poster states NOT just hats off to the flag BUT sleeves up for it! which means that he is paying his respect to this nation by working while his comrades are in the war. The photo has artillery shells or gas canisters on the ground as if he has been working for a long time and the flag entices him to continue pushing forward no matter how tired he is. The image itself is dark in nature and the only things that are colored are the man, the flag, and the golden background to emphasize their presence in your perspective point to this poster. It also includes a group of people who are throwing their hats off to the flag to symbolize patriotism even more. Another derived message it can portray is that you do not have to be in the army to help the war as a man. In fact, this poster calls out to the skilled work force of America to keep working and fighting the good fight so we can beat this war at home. The U.S.A. needs all the

Malik4 help it can get which can even make women feel empowered to do their best for their peers after viewing this piece. This poster actually performs its duty to the fullest of tugging at the heartstrings of patriotism to whoever views it because of such a powerful image and its implied message. The concluding piece of propaganda has historical ties or almost an educational feel to the poster. The positives of this poster that it actually calls out to women solely to the fact that they can save their country just like how Joan of Arc saved France. It uses many colors and a soft tone around Joan to exemplify her beauty and femininity but uses harsh lines around the armor and sword to show her warrior or battle spirit. It falls short of what this poster could have been with the simplistic images (shortened arm, elongated neck, big shoulders, not feminine at all), and the messages that can be implied or applied to women. It can also be interpreted as a condescending poster to women by the phrase at the bottom saying Women of America, Save Your Country, Buy War Saving Stamps. If we go back in history, Joan of Arc did not buy War Saving Stamps to save France, she fought valiantly on the battlefield. Women were not allowed to fight so why would the United States Treasury Department allow this poster to circulate? What kind of irrelevant example is this? Tying it all together with a tight nit knot of condescension, poor moral values, and one spec of hope with a good poster, the government did not do a superb job at all making all these images to spur my patriotism. It actually made me more upset because all the posters are highly objectionable and makes one question the legitimacy of the government during this war time. Was the government that desperate to make Americans feel bad for not being patriotic enough? Or was it an actual thought out plan to spread these pieces of propaganda among the citizens who thought all these ideals were ok at the time?

Malik5 I chose these three adjectives: maniacal, desire, and gruesome. I chose these three adjectives because they give you a hint of what he experienced and felt during his journey in this excerpt. The adjective maniacal is for the time he was in the hospital seeing wounded comrades to complete strangers blinded by mustard gas or having a bullet wound in their leg. He described the patients as maniacal when they thought they were still on the front line receiving shell fire. The adjective desire is when he specifically states how he wants to see his friends or comrades again. He wants to know how they have been and if anything has happened to them. It shows personal motivation in such a sad tale he talks about. Last but not least, gruesome is for all the dead bodies and horrific memories he had. He buried dead bodies in any way possible and even sat on a dead man before. He saw his friend get his head blown off right in front of him. This whole story can fall under the adjective of gruesome.