Back in the 1940s, the United States and the world went through one of the most significant and traumatic periods of recent human history. World War II started in September of 1939, when Hitler and Germany launched an unprovoked attack on Poland. This left many people shocked and confused about what was going to happen and how this conflict was going to end. Hitler’s single decision to invade ultimately cascaded into the second World War. The majority of highly populated countries took part, as every nation felt like they needed to take a side in the conflict. Such polarizing conditions left people on both sides of the conflict fearing the future and what may happen. This situation made it much easier for people to be convinced to comply with commands, if they thought it would help support their country or more importantly protect them from any potential danger. The United States government took advantage of this kairotic situation by creating and distributing propaganda with the goal of convincing people to support their country with some action. One piece of propaganda was created to convince people to join car sharing clubs by saying “When you ride alone, you ride with Hitler.” This piece of propaganda used by the United States government took advantage of citizens’ fear of Hitler and Germany to accomplish the task of saving fuel in order to be used in the war efforts.
Month: September 2019
Game of the Week
This week, I will be discussing the game between the Baltimore Ravens and the Kansas City Chiefs.
Both teams came into this week undefeated at 2-0. This meant they were considered two of the top teams in the NFL, and are some of the favorites to make it to and possibly make win the Super Bowl. The Super Bowl is the championship game for the NFL and is preceded by the playoffs, which start with twelve teams. Six teams are from the NFC and six teams are from the AFC.
The Kansas City Chiefs are led by last years NFL MVP Patrick Mahomes at quarterback. Mahomes is coming off one of arguably the best seasons for a quarterback ever.
He threw for over 5,000 yards and 50 touchdowns, which is tied for the second most touchdowns in a single season. This is especially impressive because last season was essentially Mahomes’ rookie season, and he was already putting up such incredible numbers.
The Baltimore Ravens are led by rookie QB Lamar Jackson. Jackson had thrown for almost six hundred yards and seven touchdowns before week three, which was among the best in the NFL.
All of these stats lead to a particularly enticing and potentially exciting matchup.
The Ravens took an early lead on a rushing touchdown, making the lead 6-0. This lead, however, did not last very long. The Chiefs then proceeded to score four times in the second quarter for the second consecutive week, this time getting three touchdowns and Harrison Butker’s 42-yard field goal to take a 23-6 lead. This is very impressive, and is another demonstration of the Chiefs’ extremely exciting and high powered offense.
Probably the highlight of the entire game was when a Chiefs receiver outran the entire Baltimore defense and scored an eighty three yard touchdown. This was especially demoralizing, as the Ravens were in the middle of attempting to make a comeback.
In the fourth quarter, the Ravens began to gain a little momentum, but the game had already been decided before the end of the first half. The final score was the Kansas City Chiefs thirty three, Baltimore Ravens twenty eight. Patrick Mahomes led the Chiefs with three hundred and seventy four passing yards and three touchdowns to advance to 3-0 on the season.
Next week the Chiefs will play the Detroit Lions and the Ravens will play the Cleveland Browns.
Civic Artifact Speech Outline
Introduction:
- Explain situation
- World War II, Hitler, communism, and its effects on the mindset of the rest of the world
- Left most people in general fear
- Could be attacked, couldn’t predict the future
Poster:
- Point out clear comic effect the poster has initially
- This piece of propaganda seems ridiculous at first, especially now, but the rhetoric situation was very different back in the early 1940s
- Talk about the image of Hitler, and how having the almost ghost like figure of him sitting in the car has an immediate effect on how it is perceived and how successful it is
Purpose:
- Government takes advantage of the fear US citizens have of Hitler
- Government wants people to carpool rather than ride alone in order to save gas so it can be used by the military in the war efforts
- Talk about purpose and effect of Hitler being a ghost like figure
- Seems as if the man is not even aware that Hitler is in the car with him
- Gives a slight chilling and frightening mood
- Almost as if people that don’t choose to carpool are choosing to support Hitler
Comparison:
- Compare this ad to another propaganda poster put out by the government
- Either another poster about communism from World War II or from a different war
- Find another poster that unites a group of people against a common enemy
- Could also be a poster that has the purpose of making communism and Hitler seem evil and paint the worst possible picture of them for the American public
Conclusion:
- Explore how far people will go to support their country in a time of need
- Discuss how the commonplace of hating communism came to be
- Maybe touch on the government’s effect, how they portrayed communism and germans in order to gain the average citizen’s support for their decisions and use of resources for war
Game of the Week
The game I will be describing this week is the Penn State vs Pitt football game.
The Nittany Lions pulled out a close win this time, but it was very close at some times. Many of the Penn State fans and a large majority of Pitt fans believed this game would be a blowout, similar to the Penn State vs Pitt game from last year. That game ended with a score of 51-6. That game was decided from the beginning. The same can not be said for this past weekend. The final score was 17-10 in favor of the Nittany Lions.
The Pitt Panthers had the ball on the Nittany Lions one yard line on first down with five minutes left to go in the game. This means that the Panthers had four attempts to score a touchdown from a yard away, but could not complete this task. This is both a showcase of very good goal line defense, and possibly just Pitt choking when it mattered most (but who’s really surprised).
Even though Penn State moved on with a 3-0 undefeated record, many could argue that they were outplayed for most of the football game. Pitt’s quarterback, Kenny Pickett, threw for three hundred and seventy two yards, compared to Penn State’s quarterback, Sean Clifford, who only threw for two hundred and twenty two yards.
Pitt also led the Lions in time of possession, 34:16 to 25:44. This means that Pitt had the ball on offense for 34 minutes and sixteen seconds, and Penn State only had the ball on offense for twenty five minutes and forty four seconds. The team that leads in time of possession is often the team that controls the pace of the game and often wins. Obviously this is not the case, and there are plenty of exceptions, but it is still worth being noted.
Regardless of the stats, Penn State got the important win for the program and all the fans watching. This game meant a lot more than any other game, simply due to the long standing rivalry between the two teams. Penn State advanced to 3-0 while Pitt dropped to 1-2. Penn State goes into their bye week (a week where a team doesn’t have a game in order to take a break) looking to rest up and be ready when they play the University of Maryland.
Game of the Week
For my first passion blog, I am going to write about my favorite football team, the Eagles.
In the first week of the NFL season, the Eagles played division rival the Washington Redskins.
Last season, the Redskins finished with a record of 7-9, compared the the Eagles 9-7 record. The Eagles barely took a Wildcard spot, making the playoffs, while the Redskins did not make the playoffs.
In the playoffs, the Eagles beat the Chicago Bears in the Wildcard round with the famous “Double Doink,” where Bears kicker Cody Parkey missed what would’ve been a game winning field goal by hitting two of the field goal posts, and missing by just a couple feet.
The next week, the Eagles played the New Orleans Saints, and unfortunately lost on an interception at the end of what could’ve been a game winning drive.
To start off this season, the Eagles made an excellent come from behind win to go 1-0 on the season. The Redskins jumped out to a 17-0 lead, including an acrobatic touchdown from veteran tight end Vernon Davis.
After the first half, the Eagles were losing 20-7. The Eagles were playing very poorly, much to the surprise of many. They had gone into the game with the expectation of beating Washington very quickly and easily. Going into the game, the birds were 10 point favorites.
The second half, however, was a different story. The Eagles immediately shifted the momentum their way. To start the second half, Philadelphia scored touchdowns on three straight drives, while forcing Washington to punt on three consecutive drives as well. On the next drive, the Eagles kicked a field goal, pushing their lead to 32-20.
Washington scored a touchdown on their next drive, but this would not make a difference, as there was not enough time for them to get the ball back, and they couldn’t convert on the onside kick. Philly ran out the remainder of the clock and the game ended with the score of 32-27.
One particularly bright spot was the return of veteran wide receiver DeSean Jackson. Jackson played for Philly from 2008-2013, and this year is making his comeback, hoping to bring another championship to Lincoln Financial Field.
Against the Redskins, Jackson caught eight balls for 154 yards and 2 touchdowns. Those two touchdowns were of 51 and 53 yards, respectively. Jackson was the leading receiver for both teams in the game, and played a major part in turning the game back in the Eagles’ favor.
Next week the Eagles hope to advance to 2-0 against the Atlanta Falcons.
Kairos
This civic artifact uses kairos as an integral part in getting its message across to the targeted audience. The poster asks those that view it to “Join a car sharing club today.” It also states that “When you ride alone you ride with Hitler.” At first glance this seems ridiculous, but its purpose was actually for citizens to conserve gas so that it could be used for the war.
This uses kairos by taking advantage of the almost nationwide hatred for Hitler, Germany, Nazis, and communism in general. In the rhetorical situation surrounding World War II, the vast majority of United States citizens were united around the fact that they all had a common enemy: Hitler.
This created the perfect opportunity for this car sharing propaganda because it provides something for everyone to rally around. This creates a task that the average person can do, yet still help the entire country fight such an immense threat. People jumped at the idea of doing something bigger than themselves. If this ad or an ad similar to this one had been proposed at a different time, it almost certainly would’ve been far less successful. Yet, this newfound hatred for Hitler provided the opportunity for the government to take advantage with kairos in order to get what they wanted from the American public.
This piece of propaganda had the sole intention of preserving gas to be used by the military in the war, but the kairos for this particular time frame was very strong, and could be used to persuade people very well. Wars provide a very strong kairos because the whole country is fighting for one goal, even if they aren’t physically fighting, they all try to do their own part.
Passion Ideas
My first idea for my passion blog is an exotic foods blog. I could research, find, and maybe even eat different types of unique foods that I’ve never tried before. For each blog post, I could find a different food and explain where it came from, when it was first eaten, who first made it, where it is eaten today, what the ingredients are, how someone could cook this dish, and possibly even local places around State College where this food is served and could be tested by the people that read my blog. I would also include pictures of the food so people can see what they are reading about. If I have the opportunity to try the food I am writing about, I will also include my honest opinions about the food, both good and bad. I will also include if it is something I would like to try again, or if it is just a one time new experience.
My second idea for my passion blog would be a “game of the week” blog. I would discuss maybe the most exciting, interesting, bizarre, or just my favorite game from any sport that week. This may include NFL games, NBA games, MLB games, and obviously any exciting Penn State sports events that we all would recognize. I would discuss the outcomes, who I was rooting for, my opinions on any controversies, and basically any of my other opinions about either team or the event itself. I could also include highlights or summaries of what happened for anyone that may have missed the game and wanted to see what happened. Hopefully this blog would encourage people to find new interests in something they maybe hadn’t thought about or considered before. They might even be inspired to go see a Penn State event that they would not have gone to or maybe didn’t even know was happening before they read my blog. However, I am a Philly sports fan, so I might be a little biased in their favor.
Commonplace
This poster was created during World War II. It depicts what seems to be a very outlandish statement, but was actually created to serve a very specific purpose. The poster asks those that view it to “Join a car sharing club today.” It also states that “When you ride alone you ride with Hitler.” At first glance this seems ridiculous, but its purpose was actually for citizens to conserve gas so that it could be used for the war. By car sharing, people drove their own cars less often and therefore used less gasoline. If a substantial amount of people chose to listen to this poster and join a car sharing club, there would likely be a substantial difference in the abundance of gasoline in the United States. This would obviously be of much help to the United States armed forces, and give us a higher chance of winning the war. By using such a negative image as Hitler, it motivates people to do their civic duty by helping their country better fight the war essentially against Hitler. Even normal people that would normally never be able to have an affect on such important issues as a World War could now do their part to help their country. People had such a profound sense of hatred toward Hitler and communism that the government recognized this and cleverly chose to use this passion to get as much help from the American people as they could. The government didn’t have to convince citizens to dislike Hitler, that had already been done for them. They simply had to take advantage of that and use it in a positive way. I believe this was done successfully, and this propaganda poster was a good method of both uniting the United States citizens while also helping conserve resources for the war.