Poster Propaganda from World War I © Trey Cosgriff, Instructor University of San Francisco

 

 

Ready:

• The following online exhibit will help you to better understand the effect of pictorial-poster propaganda upon the hearts and minds of combatants and non-combatants during World War I.
• Make sure that you have the handout "Techniques of Propaganda" at your disposal.
• Now access the Web site: The Poster War Virtual Exhibit at http://www.pma.edmonton.ab.ca/vexhibit/warpost/english/posters.htm.

Set:

• The Poster War Virtual Exhibit is divided into three sets of poster art each with their own unique themes: Propagandistic images of good and evil; the soldier at the battlefront; and. the homefront.
• Select a single poster from each of the three thematic suites and save the images to a personal folder in your computer.
• Open up a word processor or Web building application so that you can "toggle" back and forth between it and your Web browser.

Go:

• Now it's time to analyze each of the three posters you chose. Think about, explore, and answer the following questions:
  1. What is the name of your poster and what theme is it addressing?
  2. What is being pictorially represented in your poster? Describe in detail noting colors and background.
  3. What "techniques of propaganda" does the propagandist use?
  4. What exactly is the audience being persuaded to do?
• Make sure to load a copy of the poster into your document with your answers to the above questions added as annotations.