ToW 19: WOW!

     In WWII, many men were sent to the war front in order to fight. However, this created a major issue for them: not enough men were at home in order to manufacture the aircraft, ammunition, and other warfare essentials to support the war effort. The solution to this problem came from the homes of the soldiers- the Woman Ordinance Workers. In order to gain support, propaganda such as the one show here were used in order to garner support for the war effort from these women at home. The 'She's a WOW' posters and others like it fulfilled their purpose in alerting women at home to the opportunity of switching, taking on, jobs in order to support the war effort, and strengthen America's production efforts. The campaign turned out to be a success, with women flocking to the new jobs created by the war.

     The clearest reasoning as to how successful the campaign was is seen in who was working for the manufacturies during WWII, where nearly 40% of the overall workforce in America at the time was female. This is an especially staggering number when you consider that the role of the women at the time was thought to be a stay-at-home one, where the man in the family would be the one to make the money. However, with the men gone, women filled in their place.

     The reason why the campaign was a success was because of the emotion created by the poster. The poster displays a woman working on a rifle in the foreground, with a soldier in the background, presumed to be her significant other, using the same rifle. The text states ""The Girl he left behind" is still behind him. She's a WOW". This appeals to pathos in that it proposes that if you care for your significant other, one way you can help is by working in a factory to help him win the war. Another method used is by using a term heard a lot during that time, "The girl he left behind," mostly because many soldiers did leave their wives or girlfriends in order to fight, so that creates addition emotional attachment to the poster. These reasons certainly grabbed their audience's attention, and made a huge impact on the war effort.

   The posters did fulfill their purpose in alerting women to the opportunities in the new fields, and the benefits did the rest. With opportunities such as 40% better pay, after the posters made the opportunities known, the jobs themselves did the rest.

ToW 17: Is Humanity Getting Better?

     This article by Leif Wenar in the New York Times examines the overall trends in humankind, in order to answer the question that the title presents. It looks at many details, but closely examines war and violence as an example as how humanity is getting better over time; and takes a look at evidence that humanity is on an overall upward trend, at least compared to how the media likes to show it.

     The rhetorical devices used in this article do an excellent job in assisting in its purpose. The article opens up with a narrative about the Black Death, and how the first solution to it was killing all the dogs and cats. The article continues the narrative, referencing how that we know in modern times that this act was a meaningless slaughter of innocent animals, and it shows that in some ways, humanity is rid of the plague of ignorance. This makes the concept much easier to grasp, rather than outright saying that 'Humanity is no longer ignorant.'

     Another example of rhetoric used in an incredibly effective manor is when it compared Humanity to a starfish through an extended metaphor, comparing humanity to a starfish crawling over a sharp reef that it damaging it, but the starfish is learning to to transverse the reef as it heals and regenerates, as well as picks up pace at it travels. The reason why this metaphor was so effective was also because of its placement, which was in the center of a discussion about wars, and how the total losses in wars was dropping from millions to hundreds of thousands to just thousands, clearly displaying humanity's success at winning the 'War against Wars.'

     Wenar graduated from Harvard University with a P.H.D. in Philosophy, and now holds the chair for Philosophy and Law as a full professor at King's College in London, making him an incredibly credible source for this type of article, which requires a bit of thinking. He fulfills his purpose entirely, which was not only to answer the question 'Is Humanity Getting Better?', but to also warn that while Humanity may currently be on an upwards trend, it'll require work to continue on this trend, and to not fall back down.

IRB Introduction #3

     The Fifth Wave by Rick Yancy is a present-apocalyptic novel, taking place after aliens come to earth and causing multiple disasters, or 'waves.' First was a massive EMP strike, then earthquakes and tsunamis, a plague, and then the aliens hiding among humans to eliminate the rest. The novel's focus is on groups of survivors surviving, as well as trying to figure out what the 5th wave is. I'm excited to read this book, because this is one f my favorite types of novels, adventure and survival.