WWI Poster analysis

1.  I know that propaganda is about convincing masses of people to be dedicated to a cause

2.   Mariam-Webster defines propaganda as "ideas or statements that are often false or exaggerated and that are spread in order to help a cause, a political leader, a government, etc."

4.    This was my set of images to describe

     Image 1: The first image has the words "enlist" in large, bold text.  Behind the text is a window.  Behind the window is a waving American flag and soldiers.  Clearly the author of this poster wants people to enlist.  This is because there is "Enlist" in big yellow text, which stands out.  The audience is probably young men from 18 to 30.  

     Image 2: The second poster has a man with a tool and a silhouette of a soldier and his rifle with a bayonet. There is also a large waving American flag is the background.  This image has large text that reads "Rivets are Bayonets Drive them home!". The author wants the factory workers to work hard and passionately based on the top text.  The intended audience is most likely factory workers that need motivation to work.  

     Image 3: The third poster has giant text at the top that says "American Red Cross" with the Red Cross symbol below.  In front of the Red Cross is a basket with a ball of yarn inside it.  At the very bottom of the poster the text reads "Our Boys need Sox Knit Your Bit".  This immediately gives me the impression that the intended audience is for older ladies that knit for a hobby.  The author wants the older ladies to knit socks for the soldiers so the government can save money, based on the bottom text.      

     Overall these poster's texts and images make for some fine propaganda, if I do say so myself.  

7.  When it comes to the federal government putting out propaganda at the expense of the taxpayers is somewhat absurd.  If I equate the propaganda of WWI to the healthcare propaganda today, I would not support it all the way.  But I would support government supported propaganda if it was a warning or caution.

8.  I think the government felt that propaganda was necessary in WWI because nobody really knew the cause of it at the time.  They needed to get people fired up about it so that they would build the tanks and other things in the factory.  

Multiple choice key

1.  A
2.  C
3.  D

Multiple choice questions

1.  All of these were the goals of Progressives EXCEPT
a.  Religion reforms
b.  Health reforms
c.  Labor reforms
d.  Municipal reforms
e.  Women's suffrage

2.  All of the following were parts of the City manager plan EXCEPT
a.  Elections held on non presidential election years
b.  Elections held on non congressional election years
c.  Under 100 cities participated in this plan
d.  City councilors were put in place to limit the influence of district bosses.
e.  Officials hired an outside expert

3.  The middle class started to take part in politics because
a.  They viewed it as vulgar
b.  They wanted to not have a democratic government anymore
c.  They wanted to vote in a dictator
d.  They didn't want the parties to control the government
e.  The party bosses gave up

Living Essays

Today in History class I worked with Forrest and Liddy. Forrest had the topic of improvements of the airplane industry, I had the use of cocaine in Coca Cola, and Liddy had women's suffrage. Our goal was to find out how all of our goals connected to the Progressivism movement, and how they affected one another.

Progressivism was a movement that tackled a myriad of society’s needs. Progressivism was a societal movement that focused on improving the United States in response to the problems caused by industrialization and corruption in government through social, political, and economic change. By definition, progressives did not focus on one area of society to improve. They helped the United States develop the health, social rights, and technology of many individuals. For example, public health conditions were advanced because of lobbyists that pushed for the removal of cocaine in Coca-Cola. Effort put into women’s suffrage led to the passing of the 19th Amendment. Additionally, the progression in aviation technology led to the development of powerful planes to help the U.S. with foreign relations and disputes which ultimately brought about more social organization.

The progressive movement was an all-encompassing wave of societal improvement. Progressives lobbied to fix several facets of society’s flaws. All of these areas of improvement mentioned above combined to form a concerted effort toward the progression of society. Health, social, and technological development all worked together to improve the nation. For instance, the removal of cocaine in Coca Cola left America with a healthier population. Healthy people can work to improve airplanes. People without ailments caused by traces of drugs in their soda are able to be more active in social movements like the women’s suffrage movement. Advanced planes let a country protect itself from other nations, which allows it to progress in other areas uninterrupted. Women that can vote can influence politics to a greater extent and add to the progressive effort, too.

blender with a weed-eater motor

blending multiple Progressivism goals into one movement

Progressivism: Perspectives in Print

One article that I read on America's Historical Newspapers  website was about Coca Cola.  The article specifically dealt with the controversy of the use of cocaine and other drugs in Coca Cola.

According to this article Coca Cola had to pay a license of $1,000 "for the privilege of selling the mind destroyer." Automatically I could tell that the author was against the use of cocaine in soda.  The author explains how Coca Cola is "the worst enemy to the human family at the present time that exists."  I began to ask myself, why is a soda considered by many as an enemy of society? The article says that Coca Cola "discounts whisky many times(.)" Coca Cola also "holds the winning hand in the game of mental and physical destruction(.)" There is no source I could find that tells the specific amount of cocaine in Coca Cola, but any amount is bad.  Cocaine has been proven to be a mind altering substance that affects how a person can think and act.  So, the author was right when he said, "Its influences are more lasting and damaging than whisky"

According to another article article, Coca Cola has always claimed that they did not put cocaine in the drink.  But chemists rarely found cocaine in the drink after the company removed it.  But people still reported the affects of cocaine many years after its removal.  The article explains that Coca Cola gets its flavor from the extract of the left over residue in the cocaine manufacturing process.  Since then the company has claimed that they have a process that extracts the coca leaves flavor only.  The company claimed that coca was still an ingredient, but the cocaine was replaced with caffeine.  People in the Southern States began to argue that Coca Cola was still causing nervous disorders and widespread addiction in young people.  One woman reported that "The sanitariums are full of its victims and they are just like drunkards." Medical experts of the time reported that caffeine separated from tea or coffee acts very differently in the body.  They also reported that caffeine can lead to heart disorders which is true.

The movement against Coca Cola's use of cocaine relates to Progressivism's goal of improving public health conditions.  This is because cocaine is a drug that is proven to destroy the brain and certain parts of the body.  I already knew that Coca Cola used cocaine as a main ingredient in the past.  But I did not know that there were a large group of supporters that wanted it removed and lawsuits between companies.  I had no idea that Coca Cola was viewed as sinful for some people.  Some people in the South called Coca Cola 'dope' and that religious idea is still shared by my grandmother in particular.

"Worst Enemy to the Human Family ...", December 18, 1902, Daily Herald

"Coca-Cola, a Drug Drink", August 12, 1909, Jeffersonian 

All-American Pause advertisement

Bounce to a happy normal advertisement

The drink everybody knows advertisement 

3rd Quarter Reflection

This quarter I have studied imperialism.  In class I watched a documentary about Eddie Aikau and learned how to analyze a documentary.  I have also learned how to analyze older political cartoons.  Recently, Mrs. Lawson changed our reading questions from short answer to multiple choice.  I have seen very small improvements in my multiple choice.  Hopefully by then end of the year I will have outstanding multiple choice comprehension.