Trevor Nealeigh- Social Movements Presentation Outline Blog Post

 Trevor Nealeigh- Social Movements Presentation Outline Blog Post

Introduction: "The Vietnam War was a period of great turmoil in American history. Thousands of young men were sent off into battle only to be killed soon afterwards. The United States's goal of preventing the spread of communism would slowly give way to many long years of war and suffering. Yet, many Americans disagreed with the involvement of their nation in the Vietnam War and enacted a movement for social change to end the United States's involvement in the Vietnam War."

Thesis: "The leaders of this movement against the Vietnam War utilized rhetorical concepts of various schemes, fallacies, and the notion of identification in their work to make their disapproval of their government's decisions clear while unknowingly experiencing the three phases of a social movement which are described by Leland M. Griffin in his essay, "The Rhetoric Of Historical Movements"."

Preview: "Today we are going to be analyzing some of the protest signs, propaganda posters, and songs that were utilized by the movement's leaders and see how each takes advantage of the rhetorical concepts that we have discussed in this course to work towards the goal of turning Americans against their government and decreasing American support for the Vietnam War."

Credibility: "As someone who has dedicated the past several months to studying rhetorical schemes, fallacies, and various concepts related to the growth of social movements, I have credibility for providing this analysis of this social movement."

Transition: "First, let's look at a selection of protest signs and "identify" how their creators utilize the "Toolbox" concept of identification in producing the protest signs.

Identification ("Toolbox" Concept) Analysis:

• Reference to Geneva Accords- indicates Americans should keep agreements regarding foreign nations intact
• Allusion to Johnson's dream of a "Great Society"- indicates how far America has fallen by encouraging the young generation representing the nation's future to die in Vietnam
• Identification of past historical events and references is intended to create guilt in American citizens for supporting a government that has failed to honor the Geneva Accords or Johnson's dream

Transition: "Next, we will be viewing two propaganda posters for an understanding of how this movement's leaders utilized visuals to decrease Americans' support for their nation's government."

Schemes And Tropes Analysis and Synchronic Analysis:

• Color- is utilized in the "Richard Nixon" poster to reflect the theme of age and sickliness which creates a sense of distrust within the viewer of the propaganda poster
• "Novelty" font- is utilized in the "Richard Nixon" poster to give off an unnerving sensation within the viewer's mind and implies a commanding tone that expects the viewers of the poster to join the movement against the Vietnam War
• Synchronic Analysis- The propaganda poster of the skeleton obscuring the imagery of "Uncle Sam" reflects how the meaning of wanting "peace" has changed over time to reflect an unwillingness to die.