Rhetorical Analysis Essay

Zach Davis

Dr. Wielgos

College Writing II

17 March 2015

Rhetorical Analysis of Pro-America World War II Propaganda Posters

How do people and the government get their people or peers to want to support their troops or a cause in a war? Through a rhetorical analysis essay, I am going to go in depth with propaganda posters that support the United States and it’s troops during World War II. Out of the many ideas and practices described in theses posters, I chose posters that asked the America public to try their best to support the troops and their cause in war by working extra hard in the factories, buying war bonds, and not carelessly talking about war movements and what not with the threat of spies in the United States, because American troops are fighting for you all over Europe and the Pacific. The war started when Hitler and the Nazis invaded Poland in 1939. America was unsure about entering the war because of the Great Depression and other social and economic problems going on at home. After the Japanese army bombed Pearl Harbor in 1941, everything changed. America decided at that moment that they needed to join the war and take down the Axis Powers, which were primarily the Nazis and Japanese. Once people started enlisting for the army, the people who could not, or would not, fight in the war tried to help support the war’s cause in other ways. That’s when the idea of propaganda was born. Credible and respectable cartoonists who were also government officials, and famous t.v. cartoonists like Walt Disney, were hired by higher ranking government officials to spread support for the war and the troops by making eye-catching and thought provoking posters. Once they got out to the public, people started to become influenced by the propaganda posters and would then support the war and change their ways in order to try to help America’s chances of winning the war, and ultimately, be able to see family and friends come home. These posters successfully convinced a significant number of Americans to join the war effort, because they made people realize that their actions back at home had a huge effect on the outcome of the war. 

The first poster I will analyze will be the poster that says “Together We Win.” In regards to the textual aspects, the poster was made by David Pollack, who at the time at the Office of Emergency Management, Office of War Information, Domestic Operations Branch, and the Bureau of Special Services from 1943-1945. These credentials give Mr. Pollack very good ethos since all those governments are some form of the government. David Pollack makes a great argument, or in other words, good logos. When he  writes “Together We Win: Get behind your labor-management committee”, he is portraying the idea that when workers and management agree on how a factory or shop should be owned and operated, Uncle Sam, the hand with the USA flag style shirt and known to represent the government and the army, will greatly appreciate it. It would mean more weapons and supplies for the army, better morale within the workplace, more money to go around for everyone from the employees to the company owners during the times of the Great Depression, which in turn gives the troops the best weapons and confidence to win the war.  In other words, if everyone from the workplace is on the same page, we give the troops the best opportunity to be successful when fighting the Axis Powers. From a visual standpoint, it shows the idea of unity from three completely different groups of people. Due to the economic circumstances at the time, the only way to be successful was to work together and be on the same page as everyone else you worked with. This poster reinforces that idea and adds that it is a huge factor in regards to America’s success in the war. For emotional appeal, or pathos, it makes the workers and bosses think about how their workplace operates everyday. It is a good place to work at? Are the employees happy? Could management find more ways to make more money? Are we doing all we can help America be successful in the war? These are questions that the propaganda poster was suppose to ignite in this particular group of people’s heads. History tells us that this kind of propaganda worked out well, because we eventually won the war and got out  the Great Depression and America went on to have several years of prosperity through the baby boom. 

The second poster I will analyze says “God help me if this is a dud!”, “His Life Is In Your Hands.” Like the first poster I analyzed, the people who work in the factories back at home are almost as responsible for the war as the soldiers fighting the war are. This poster created by John Vickory, who worked at the United States Army Ordnance Department. John has great  ethos because he works for the government, which means he is very educated about the war. John makes a very sensible argument, or has great logos. He is stating that if factories do not make weapons correctly, that could lead to deaths to one or possibly many American soldiers. Again, whatever happens in the workplace, will translate to the battlefield, which could prove to be very costly or could help the soldiers a lot. For visual logos, he designed the poster so that it would seem like that the soldier is hoping that the grenade he is about to throw actually works and is not a “dud”, which is a nonfunctioning grenade. That could either give away his position, which ultimately lead to his death, or will not kill an enemy soldier who is about to possibly do something bad to him and/or his fellow soldiers during a battle. Also, it makes factory workers want to make sure they do a good job in whatever they do, because if they decide to blow off work or not take work seriously, that could lead one or maybe many deaths to American soldiers. This poster also has strong pathos, because an average factory worker’s mishap at work could single-handedly kill American soldiers at war. This poster’s idea is something people do not want to think about, but it speaks the cold hard truth. Like the first propaganda poster, the government is seriously trying  to get the attention of war and weapons factories. 

The next propaganda poster I will analyze is the one titled “Award.” This poster was created by Steven Dohanos, who like the past two artists, worked for the United States government in the War Department and was also an administrative assistant to the General’s Office, thus he has good credibility. Steven’s poster’s message is meant for the  American public and soldiers serving at war. The government wants people to not speak of the military and it’s actions, weapons, plans, etc. unless they are in secure places. Reasoning being, was because of the threat of enemy spies being able to sneak into America and into American military base camps. The government does not want the spies to have any chance of getting important classified information because of people or soldiers just casually talking about military subjects. That would be catastrophic to the United States because the enemy could know about their plans, weapons and where they are, and even homeland security. The picture portrays this idea in a very scary way. It shows someone giving the viewer a Nazi war medal. Hence the title “Award”, when you talk carelessly about the military and it’s plans, you are helping the enemy. This would then quality you for a some sort of honor in that country, in this case, that would Nazi Germany. Again, like the last poster, being careless can support the Axis Powers’ cause in the war. It also inflicts a feeling of responsibility amongst everyday Americans and soldiers when they are not currently fighting on the battlefield or to not talk about anything regarding the army, unless they are in secure and trusted confines. As I wrote this essay, I started to realize how big of an impact civilian life has on a war and it’s cause.  

I also wanted to choose a poster that pertained towards my audience. The next poster I will analyze is named, “Dear God, keep them safe!”, “Buy War Bonds, and Stamps.” The poster was created by the Kroger Grocery and  Baking Company, which is not as credible as the past three artists, just being a simple small business for supports the war, but I feel like that this poster can be some what relatable to my audience. The poster portrays the idea of school kids, particular college kids who went off to war because they are of legal age of 18 years old. This is a harsh reality to realize, because if it we lived during the time of the war, possibly me and some of my classmates would in Europe right now trying to kill Nazis. The amount of soldiers needed to fight in Europe and the Pacific was really high, so the army tried to recruit anybody who was of the legal age parameters of 18 to 45. The “Buy War Bonds” part was a way you could support these young soldiers, and other soldiers as well. By buying a war bond payable to the government and/or army, in 10 years or so, they would pay you back 50% more than what you gave them. So when you bought a war bond to help the government pay for the war, you would end making a profit. It was a great idea, but for a very sad and unfortunate reason. The poster also catches your eye from a visual standpoint. It shows two college age kids who would normally be going to school, but also are shown wearing gas masks like they are in a chemical warfare infested battlefield. The picture also shows them holding hands so they must be in some sort of serious or family relationship. This also inflicts a lot emotion too, due to the fact that the young people who still have a lot to live for, end up going to war and later get killed or wounded in action, or become mentally unstable for the rest of their life because of the events they witnessed. Even though we won World War II, it came with very high costs economically, as well as psychologically and physically.

Propaganda was a great way of promoting the war and it’s cause for America. It showed the people that their efforts at home were very key to how the troops fought overseas. The propaganda posters for America’s cause in World War II were essential to getting the America public interested and self-conscious about the war and their own personal part in it. Without them, America probably could not have totally or even successfully won the war.

Works Cited

David Pollack. “Together We Win”. 1943. http://socialjusticehistory.org/projects/uclahistory146_sp11/items/show/205. Web. 3/11/15   

John Vickory.. “God Help Me If This Is A Dud”. 1942. https://images.northwestern.edu/multiresimages/inu:dil-bf2ba584-c87f 4394aa46-c1b819ae8a3b. Web. 3/11/15.

Kroger Grocery and Baking Company. “Dear God, Keep Them Safe”. 1942. http://americanhistory.si.edu/victory/victory6.htm. Web. 3/10/15.

Steve Dohanos. “Award For Careless Talk”. 1944. UNT Digital Library. Web. 3/10/15.