WWI Poster Analysis

1. I would define the word propaganda as a way of express an opinion that changes the mindset of a large group of people.

2. Propaganda is defined as information, ideas, or rumors deliberately spread widely to help or harm a person, group, movement, institution, nation, etc.
http://www.dictionary.com/browse/propaganda

3. the first image shows 2 sides of a window. on one side a man stands in the shadows observing soldiers marching on the other side. the side that the man is on is in the dark to show how important the soldiers are and the flag in the background is used to show patriotism. the man is wearing a suit to show he is wealthy or mature and that is the type of person the army is trying to recruit. the words on the poster say "on which side of the window are you" to convey the message that just watching the war happening and not participating in it was cowardly or lazy. in large yellow letters the word "enlist" is written at the top that stand out and draw the readers attention to it. this poster was targeted towards young, mature men to convince them to join the war.

4. the second image is a man that looks like he's building something then behind him is the shadow of a soldier with the same pose as him. instead of holding a rivet like the man, the soldier is holding a bayonet. The words on the poster says "rivets are bayonets, drive them home!". from this message it is shown that the poster is targeted towards engineers who can build the equipment to bring the soldiers home. the american flag in the background also sends the message of patriotism. the poster wants men who are engineers to join the army out of patriotism to build equipment for the soldiers.

5. the third image is for the american red cross, which is almost all made up of women. underneath the sign is a basket filled with yarn and knitting tools. the words say "our boys need sox knit your bit" as if to say that all that women could do to help in the war was to knit socks for the soldiers. this poster is targeted towards women so that they can contribute to the war in their own way without actually participating in battle.

6. I think that the only way I could feel comfortable with the federal government spending tax dollars to create a propaganda campaign to convince me of something would be if it was for a positive cause like needing recruits or support for a war, or for awareness of a disease or something.

7. the government felt it was necessary to use propaganda for the WWI because americans didn't feel like they were involved in the war since it was happening so far away and couldn't imagine it as something that they would ever have to experience, so no one was exciting about joining the army to fight.  

Hawaiian: The Legend of Eddie Aikau

In the film, Hawaiian: The Legend of Eddie Aikau, it shows a less than ideal perspective of American imperialism in hawaii. The movie showed how the United States claimed Hawaii as a state despite their objections, while also ignoring the native people and their traditions and history, so they could gain political control to further their sugarcane plantations. The movie said it was a common idea known around the white colonists that the native culture was too stupid or lazy to create a true government. Despite the American imperialism, Eddie continued to value the hawaiian traditions of strong family relationships and his passion for surfing. Eddie became the first lifeguard ever to patrol Waimea Bay. During this time, many American soldiers visiting the beach on R&R from vietnam, who were drunk and unable to swim, were saved from the rough waters by Eddie despite the political issues of imperialism at the time. This responsibility to save anyone who needed help showed his passion for making sure all people who visited Hawaii could learn to enjoy and cherish the land like he had.  He also experienced imperialism on a much smaller scale during his surfing career. Eddie, and surfers like him were sometimes kept out of newer surfing competitions, due to his older, more traditional hawaiian ways of surfing. It was Eddie's main goal in his surfing career to win the competition hosted at his beach in Waimea Bay, but then a new wave of Australian surfers with newer techniques came to Hawaii and beat Eddie on the waves that he knew best. This could be interpreted as imperialism because it showed a colonial invasion taking down hundreds of years of native surf tradition and then relentlessly insulting their older styles. The furious locals of Hawaii did not respond well to the mocking from the Australians and planned to beat up the surfers. When Eddie heard of this, he protected the Australians, who had made a joke of everything he'd worked so hard to earn, and was the only native who then prevented the attack. This showed his dedication to peace and his native Hawaiian history, while also fighting the ideas of imperialism in his life. As a way to further connect to his cultural Hawaiian history and publicly fight the ideas of imperialism, Eddie trained and joined the crew of the Hokulea, which is a Polynesian canoe that carried the first explorers to Hawaii. Imperialism had tainted these ideas and undermined the ability of the natives, saying that due to poor navigation and construction of the boat they had discovered the Island's by accident. Eddie's goal was to join the crew of the Hokulea and journey to Tahiti and back, using the stars as their only navigation. Unfortunately, the boat hit a large storm about 12 miles off the shore and was flipped over. As a final act of courage for his fellow crew members, he paddles off to shore with the intent to find help, but is never seen again. Eddie died fighting the ideas of imperialism that had emerged in Hawaii so they could no longer diminish the intelligence, culture, or capabilities of his native people.

Opening ceremony at the surf competition in Waimea Bay in memory of Eddie Aikau, where all surfers participating  from across the world join hands in a circle in the water for a Hawaiian blessing to honor Hawaiian culture,

How do you analyze a political cartoon?

I think that to analyze a political cartoon in order to understand the message that the cartoonist was hoping to convey, you have to first look at the picture to see what the characters are or what they're doing. Then you have to read the words if there are any to get context as to what the cartoon is referring to.

The guide I found online says to describe what you see, the people or objects shown, what words you see, what might be used as a symbol, what might refer to another work of art or other details. Then look at what's happening in the cartoon, what's happening in the world at the time it was made, who was the audience, what is the issue the cartoon is about, what is the cartoonists opinion and how does he persuade the audience. The question the cartoon to lead to more observations and reflection. After reading this, I already knew the majority of the information but I did learn to think about the cartoonists opinion or the audience targeted and to ask more questions in the end.

Going forward, looking at cartoons I will look at political cartoons the way the guide told me to in order to gain a full understanding of the message the cartoonist is trying to get across. The guide I will use is the Teacher's Guide: Analyzing Political Cartoons from the Library of Congress. It explains from a teaching point of view how to Observe, Reflect, and Question a cartoon to fully understand it.
http://www.loc.gov/teachers/usingprimarysources/resources/Analyzing_Political_Cartoons.pdf

https://sites.tufts.edu/fletchergender/2016/04/02/us-cuba-relations-political-cartoons-in-the-spanish-american-war/

In this cartoon, you see uncle sam protecting a young woman who is representing Cuba from the villain in black who represents Spain. We know this is Uncle Same because his belt says US, The woman's says cuba with the flag, and the villain's hat says Spain. The woman is on her knees to show that she is begging america for help, she is wearing white to symbolize her innocence and is barefoot to show her poverty. The cartoonist is against Spain and is targeting Americans to see how great our country is and Cubans to look up to American's as their protectors.

http://www.loc.gov/pictures/resource/ppmsca.28600/

This picture shows John Bull at an entrance labeled "India" and Uncle sam at an entrance labeled "Philippines", and these men are inviting men labeled "Germany, Russia, France, Italy, and Austria" to enter. These men are carrying boxes and packages of products to represent the new export and trade there. As part of the treaty that ended the Spanish-American war Us took possession of the philippines and for some Americans, imperialist expansion was a moral duty and necessary for America to achieve maturity as a nation. The cartoonist supports that idea and targeted this carton towards american who may disagree with his ideas.

http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn94052989/1893-01-29/ed-1/seq-1/

In this cartoon, Uncle sam is patiently waiting for thee "ripe fruit" of Hawaii to fall into his possession/ hat. He is shown sitting down with his legs crossed to show how easy this was for him to

annex Hawaii. The cartoonist labeled fruit as countries and symbolized America taking Hawaii. You see a man in the background shaking his fist as if to say that this was wrong and forcefully bringing a country into your control is unfair and harsh.