Analyzing a Propaganda Poster
Poster 1
- Describe the poster. What is the poster trying to convince its audience to do?
This poster was created during World War II in Great Britain. The top half shows a British soldier’s boot on a yellow background while the bottom part has some texts and a black swastika on a beige background. In this poster, the soldier’s boot is poised to step on the black swastika, and the message attacked to this is “MEN 30-50 STEP ON IT JOIN THE AUXILIARY MILITARY PIONEER CORPS.” The poster is trying to convince men aged between 30 and 50 years to join the Auxiliary Military Pioneer Corps. Don't use plagiarised sources.Get your custom essay just from $11/page
- Who is the audience for the poster?
The audience of this poster are men aged between 30 years and 50 years. This poster intended to convince as many men within this age bracket to join the auxiliary Military Pioneer Corps. It calls upon those men within this age bracket who are interested in being members of this team. That is, those who want to voluntarily join the pioneer army to help in the British army war efforts against the Nazi regime.
- Is the poster effective? Why? Give two reasons.
The poster is effective because of the following reasons. One, it uses images such as the soldier’s boot and the swastika, which makes it easy for the audience to understand the message. The boot (which represents the soldiers) is stepping on the swastika (which represents the Nazi regime) to show that the soldiers are fighting against the Nazi regime. Two, the poster uses precise but straightforward language that relates to the images, which makes the message concise but direct. It uses keywords such as “men 30-50”, “step on it” “join” the “Auxiliary Military Pioneer Corps.” This text clearly defines the audience and the message behind the poster.
- How is this poster biased?
There is gender bias in this poster. During WWII, men would go to war while women would stay at home and take care of their children. That is why the sign is specific about its audience; it is only inviting men to the auxiliary military pioneer corps. These gender roles come out such that it discriminates against women implying that they cannot be soldiers.
- Explain how the poster would affect someone’s emotions.
In a way, this poster invokes emotions of fear and anxiety. The Nazi was such a strong regime to fight against. As such, knowing that these men are volunteering to join in the fight makes me afraid and anxious about how the war will end. However, it also invokes emotions of excitement, knowing that the auxiliary military pioneer corps was ready to keep fighting until the Nazi regime was defeated.
Poster 2
- Describe the poster. What is the poster trying to convince its audience to do?
This poster is set on a cream background, with images of four people; two women and two men. The first woman is wearing an apron with the red cross symbol and looks like she is asking for something from her audience, while the other woman at the back looks like she is praying. The two men look like soldiers, where one has a wound on his head, and the text following the poster is “Give donnons The Canadian Red Cross La Croix Rouge Canadienne.” The lady with a red cross symbol must be a member of the Canadian Red cross and is asking for donations from the audience. Therefore, the poster is trying to convince the audience to give donations to help the wounded soldiers and to also pray for them.
- Who is the audience for the poster?
The poster does not specify its audience. However, based on its message, the audience is anyone who was not involved in the war. Mainly, these are women who stayed back home while men went to war. These women are being asked to give donations to the Canadian Red Cross, which will use it to support the wounded soldiers. Also, the poster addresses women who pray to ask them to pray for the soldiers who were involved in the war.
- If the poster effective? Why? Give two reasons.
The poster is quite effective as it uses the following elements. One, it uses images that represent the audience and the reason for the poster. There is an image of a wounded soldier, which shows the idea behind the poster and a picture of women who represent the audience. Two, the poster’s message from the text is so clear that the Canadian Red Cross is asking for donations towards supporting the soldiers wounded in the war. Finally, the use of the color “red,” especially the red cross, represents the Canadian Red Cross, the organization behind the poster, and the color also represents blood, which tells the audience that the wounded soldiers need blood.
- How is this poster biased?
The main bias in this poster is gender roles, where the men in the poster are soldiers, while women are praying and taking care of the soldiers. This shows that during WWII, men could go to war while women could stay at home and play for the soldiers or volunteer in organizations such as the Red Cross to offer nursing care to the wounded soldiers. Another bias is racial in that the two soldiers and the praying woman are black, the white woman who is the face of Red Cross is white. Black people are presented as suffering people, while white people are given as those who can help the needy. This means that the black people were impoverished, and only the white people could assist them.
- Explain how the poster would affect someone’s emotions.
The poster would make someone remorseful, sad, and worried. This is because of the wounded soldiers who need assistance and the praying woman who shows how desperate the situation is. The war must have accelerated so much that the Canadian Red Cross required more support to help the wounded soldiers. This remorse would further accelerate as one thinks about whether the soldiers got the necessary donations. As someone wishes, they had the chance also to donate blood to support the soldiers.
Part 2: Making a Propaganda Poster
Slogan: Donate to End War
Planning Chart
| What is the poster trying to convince Canadians to do? | The poster is trying to urge Canadians to donate resources to help in stopping the war. In the background, soldiers are mourning over the death of their colleagues during the war, and at the left bottom corner, there is an image of people visiting the graveyard where victims of the war were buried. On the right half of the image is a text “Donate to End War” and a “stop the war” signboard. Finally, there is a “Donate Now!” text, which just insists on the message of the poster requesting people to make donations to help stop the war. |
| Who is the audience of your poster? How does the poster show this? | All people can donate financial resources. There is a hand holding a dollar sign. This means that the primary donation needed is money. Therefore, the poster asks every person with the financial ability to make donations to do so towards stopping the war. |
| Give three reasons explaining why your poster is effective. | i. Images: There is an image of soldiers mourning over the dead bodies of their colleagues and another picture of people visiting the graveyard where war victims were buried. Therefore, the picture makes it evident that this was all about the war ii. The dollar sign: This specificity makes it evident that the donations needed are in monetary form iii. The text creates a clear link between the message and the images. It asks people to “donate” towards “ending the war.” The use of these keywords, which are clear and straightforward to understand, makes the poster easy to understand. |
| How does the poster reflect the period of World War Two? | There are two images used in this poster. One is the background, where we see soldiers mourning over the dead bodies of their colleagues. Two, there is an image of people visiting the mass grave where war victims were buried. During WWII, many soldiers died in the war, and mass graves were made in their remembrance. Therefore, this poster is a clear reflection of the happenings of WWII. |
| Does the slogan support the purpose of your poster? Explain. | Yes. The slogan here is “Donate to end War.” It supports the purpose of the poster in that it is the easiest and most direct way of asking people to help end the war by donating their money. That is, it is just a summary of the in-depth message represented by the poster. |
| Is your poster biased? Why or why not? | The main bias in this poster is that it rules out any other donations that people who don’t have money can give. Therefore, in a way, it is biassed towards those who have money. |
Rationale
The poster “Donate to end war” is inspired by the occurrences during World War Two. There was a lot of war going on, and soldiers were sent out into the battlefield to try and end the war. Unfortunately, as with every battle, many soldiers were killed on the battlefield. We see this in the background photo where there are so many dead bodies of soldiers who lost their lives in the battle. We also see several other soldiers mourning over these dead bodies. It must have been a devastating sight. We also see other soldiers visiting the military grave where their colleagues were buried. These events inspired this poster in that there was a need to stop the war so that no more people would have to die in the war.
In this poster, I used texts and images to bring out the message to the audience. The primary purpose of this poster is to urge the audience to donate their money to help stop the war. These donations would probably be used to buy resources and supplies for the soldiers on the battlefield. The donations would also help recruit more soldiers as well as equip them with the necessary skills to help end war. It would also help take care of the deceased families as well as give medical attention to wounded soldiers.
The text “Donate to End War” makes a strong slogan as it creates a connection between the purpose of the poster and the images. Without this slogan, we would only have pictures of war but no message. Therefore, with this text, it is clear to the audience that there is a need for them to donate money to help end war. Also, the images create a remorseful atmosphere, seeing how many soldiers died protecting their nations during WWII. Therefore, although the poster appears so simple, I believe it has a significant effect on its audience and would have many people donating money to help end the war because war is not good, it only takes people we love away.