How many more? Draft beer not students. Bring the troops home now. All of these are popular anti-war slogans from the Vietnam War era, but one slogan has stood the test of time. Make Love Not War. This slogan has kept its popularity since the 1960s. Its original purpose was to resist the Vietnam War, and it combines sentiments from another popular movement of the time, counterculture. Make Love Not War stresses that America’s involvement in Vietnam needs to end while also highlighting the peaceful, hippie culture that was taking over. Its prominence as a rallying cry only grew and it even reached the soldiers fighting in Vietnam. The young soldier pictured was in the documentary In the Year of the Pig, and his military helmet is adorned with the slogan.
When examining this important artifact from the 60s, I want to focus on the rhetorical situation of the time. While a slogan won’t withdraw US troops and stop the draft, the protestors hoped it would signal to important members of their audience, Congress and the president, that the American people wanted no parts of Vietnam. A soldier wearing the slogan is also an indicator that it’s not just the Americans at home but also the troops overseas who are tired of the war. Both groups also faced constraints in trying to protest. Young college students needed a phrase that was easily communicable to reach the masses. Whereas US soldiers couldn’t stand up and recite long speeches in the middle of battle, but they could write messages on their helmets.
This slogan was a huge part of the anti-war movement, and the analysis of this artifact will help showcase the birth of a commonplace. Any comments or help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.
Works Cited
Film still from the 1968 documentary, In the Year of the Pig. Smithsonian
American Art Museum, americanart.si.edu/blog/artists-respond-vietnam-film.
This slogan has always been a part of whatever history class I’ve taken or vaguely historical movie I’ve watched and so obviously, it’s impact has been felt for generations. To see a deeper analysis of this, from the viewpoint of both the soldiers and of the general population back home, is incredibly interesting and definitely something I’m looking forward to read more about.
This is perfectly timed and you provided enough context to explain the reception it experienced by. The rhetorical situation is definitely a good pick.
I really like your attention grabber with all of the anti-war slogans, since it really helps introduce how your chosen commonplace became so well known across the world (getting that broader context connection a bit too!) I’m excited to see how you analyze this artifact in terms of the rhetorical situation. I would just make sure that when you deliver your speech, you choose to emphasize different words or show some variety to make sure your audience doesn’t get lost in all of the important facts towards the middle!
In-Class Presentation: you had a really good flow and provided some important context that supports your analysis. Really impressive that you did it with minimal notes. The mixup on the phrase is actually not bad, I think it works better than the original phrase because it reinforces and references the commonplace.
During your in-class pitch, it was really impressive that you could maintain eye contact with the audience, keeping them connected. Your extemporaneous speech style as a first attempt was very good, just try to limit the pauses or “ums” (but that will come with time, obviously!) Overall, I really liked it and you did a great job!
I really enjoyed how you chose an artifact – even if we later learned kind of promoted the opposite of what you thought it did – that was a fixated commonplace in people’s mind. This pre-existing knowledge allows people to focus on how you choose to analyze and the results of your analysis as supposed to wondering what it is you’re analyzing.