The selective Service Act in 1917 was a method used to ensure that all groups in the population would get called into service. Although thousands of men volunteered for military service, a good amount of recruits were drafted into the army by the system. The system required all men between the age of 21 and 30 to register for possible induction into the army. Under the act about 2.8 million men were called because of the lottery. The method used by the Selective Service Act is similar to the method used in Panem for the Hunger Games. The names of kids age 12 to 18 are put into a lottery, the names of one boy and one girl are drafted, and those two will go into the Hunger Games. There, they will fight for their life against other lucky tributes, and in the end only 1 out of 24 tributes will survive and be crowned winner. When men came back from the war, they came back with injuries that forever reminded them about the horrible war and that in reality there was no winner, there was only a survivor. When you “win” the Hunger Games, you don’t win anything but attention and are destined to sponsor the future tributes of the games. Just like in the Hunger Games, in the war there are no winners; only survivors.
After the US entered the war, the government used techniques such as patriotic persuasion to assure public support for the war. Propaganda was a technique used in which they would use artist, writers, performers, and movie stars and have them talk to the public to help portray the soldiers as heroes. The reason they did this is because they wanted the public to play a part in the war, support the war, and to encourage the public at home to watch out for German spies. Another way it was used was to encourage people back home to join the army and go fight in the war. This image portrays public opinion because propaganda peer pressured, influenced, and persuaded the public to do their bit by the war. The image above says “Come on, everyone’s doing it,” one poster from WW1 says “follow me, your country needs you.” What these two have in common is that both are giving the viewer strong reasons to do something, possibly something they didn’t want to do; for instance go into the war.
Diary Entry: November 21, 1919
The US entered the war The US finally entered the war and has made a huge impact not just on my life but on everyone’s life. There are so many new things we now have to adapt to, but nothing compares to the new work flow. I worked in a factory but I’ll be leaving that soon because I recently got drafted into the war; and I’m not sure if it’s a good or bad thing. One thing is for sure, a lot of the jobs that we men worked in are going to be vacated. This of course means more job opportunities for women, and among those women is my beloved wife. She is not so happy about the idea of working in a factory but it’s a way she can help support our family of two daughters while I’m gone. I try to encourage her by telling her that’s its actually quite beneficial that the US got into the war because by working in a factory, she’s going to help make parts that go into the war. This helps portray women in a less vulnerable way because it shows how they’re contributing in the war. I’ve been thinking about all this and possibly the role of women in our society changes, maybe even the 19th amendment will finally be passed! I don’t know what to expect from the war. I often hear from lots of important people talk about the heroism that soldiers have, and I really do hope I have the potential it takes to make it through the war. I’m definitely going to miss my family and I hope they remain stable or even better, while the man of the house is gone; I pray to God that I make it back. CD Daniels |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
May 2014
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