Monday, May 7, 2012

The RIGHT sample document analysis

Fortunately nobody has commented on the sample exercise I put up yesterday, so there's been no wasted effort (whew). So, here it the right sample document test. It would be great if you could put up your comments in response to the questions raised by these two documents. We'll gather up you thoughts in the tute of week 11 as a way of finetuning your preparation for the final test which happens in week 12.

I hope this is clear enough to read. I'll have paper copies for us to work with in week 11.

6 comments:

  1. Gobineau seems to understand civilisation as an entity through which the qualities of a racial group can be judged. He saw the industrialisation of the mainly white, Western countries (of Continental Europe, England, America, etc.), and the corresponding advances in science, technology, etc., as an indication of the intellectual, moral, and cultural supremacy of the white race. The ‘yellow’ Asian races had not made such ‘progress’, but were more advanced than the ‘black’ Africans, who were in his eyes, the least capable. Gobineau’s absurd and abhorrent generalisations about the inborn nature of members of each racial group are bound up with his ideas about what 'civilises' a society. According to Gobineau, ‘civilisation’ is a white man’s invention, and its sustenance depends on a white ruling class.

    ReplyDelete
  2. The image insinuates to the viewer that the First World War required and inspired the collective efforts of all the population. However though advertisement is overtly directed to young men to enlist in the armed forces, the same sentiment could be said of women engaging in work wartime work. The advertisement is clearly state-sponsored, and addressing the problem Britain faced with men fit for fighting consecutively declining from 1914-18, despite conscription being implemented from 1916. The leaping text of the advertisement makes an appeal to the conscience of the viewer, as to what they are doing to aid and defend Britain. The burning buildings in the background reaffirm this notion of total or collective war; in which war had extended beyond the trench to the domestic front, therefore taking arms was not only a duty of the eligible but the survival of the nation itself was threaten.(Adam Harrison)

    ReplyDelete
  3. The British patriotic poster demonstrates that the Britons saw the first world war as needing contributions from all people in order for the war effort to be successful. This poster would not only be used to appeal to the young men who could fight in the trenches, but to all Britons, including those who could contribute to the war effort from home. There is also the possibility that this poster could be used to stir up in patriotism in the British colonies, which at that still looked to Britain as a sort of 'motherland'. Although they may not have lived there, people living in colonised countries such as Australia and New Zealand still had a sort of loyalty towards Britain. The use of the word "absent" in the poster would have produced a sense of guilt in the viewer; serving the nation is a duty and it is not one that should be abandoned. The pointing of the main figure and the underlining of the word "you" reinforces the idea that anyone and everyone can, and should, contribute to this total war.

    ReplyDelete
  4. the British poster is appealing to the British citizen (and possibly people of it's colonies) to contribute to the war effort. what we are seeing is a call to 'total war' in which the entire civillian population are mobilised to aid the war effort. the obvious target are men of fighting age to enlist in the army, as is apparent with the (brave, upright) British soldiers in the background. however, this poster (and the emphasis on 'you') is also appealing to the civillian population. the smoke behind the soldiers illustrates the threat modern war poses to civillian populations, as all civillians were considered enemies. This would further encourage non-fighting men (i.e women, children and elderly) to play their part in helping the defense of the charasmatic John Bull (i.e the Fatherland). (Aaron Moldrich)

    ReplyDelete
  5. This poster encourages all Britons (though, it could arguably be seen as an appeal to primarily young British men needed for battle, as evident in the rows of soldiers in the background) to become involved in the war effort and implies that, if a citizen is not involved, they are not being a true citizen or are ‘missing’ from Britain. The underlined, italicised ‘you’, together with the dominant image of the pointing figure dressed in the Union Jack shirt, appeals to both the viewer’s sense of patriotism and guilt, therefore serving to coerce anybody not involved in what was meant to be a total war effort into directly taking part in whatever way they could. Overall, the image suggests that Britons felt that the First World War was one which, in order to be won, required the involvement of the entire population, and that anybody who was not involved was disappointing the nation by shirking the duty that was defending the nation against foreign enemies. (Cassandra Tonkin)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Simply put, Gobineau's theory of race is that whites (particularly white males) are superior to all other races. He considers 'blacks' to be the 'foot of the ladder', and 'yellows' as only a small step above. Significantly though, he considers 'yellows' to be important 'backbone' of society to control the lower level 'blacks' while the top spots in the social hierarchy should be reserved for whites. Gobineau judges the races in what he would consider to be a strictly scientific manner, paying special attention to the physical attributes that cause an individual to fit into a category, citing the 'animal character...stamped on the Negro from birth', but still notes key mental characteristics such as 'apathy' and 'mediocracy'. Gobineau believes that people will fulfil their racial destiny as it is inescapable. He sees the social ladder with fixed rungs and not something for 'inferior' races to climb despite opportunity or capability.

    ReplyDelete