Running head: Socialists in WWI

Socialists in WWI
Isabel Salazar
University of Texas at El Paso

Running head: Socialists in WWI

Socialists in WWI
Since we were little we were taught what was in our history books. We were
taught that our country brought freedom and opportunity to others and that this
country is rich and beautiful because we were the founders of this new land. But this not
the whole truth; yes, our country created all these things but it did not come without a
price. In our history books we do not learn of the bad things that occur; however, there
have been people who talk about the view point of the other side. Here two genres help
show the point of view of the socialist during WWI. Rugter Ceballos Reds, Labor, and
the Great War: Antiwar Activism in the Pacific Northwest, specifies the antiwar
movement in the Pacific Northwest and the Opposition to WWI YouTube segment
explains the acts that were put on these socialist to try and cover their voice. Throughout
the paper these two genre will be analyzed in depth to understand their view on the
topic.
Audience and purpose
The first genre, is a series of web-based projects that explore the Pacific
Northwests history of labor, civil rights, and social movements. It is directed by a
professor at the University of Washington. This specific piece or article by Rugter
Ceballos Reds, Labor, and the Great War: Antiwar Activism in the Pacific Northwest,
is a project that focuses on radical history of WWI and its movements in Seattle. The
purpose of this article was to inform readers about the socialist during WWI specially
the ones in the Pacific Northwest. The second genre, Opposition to WWI, is a YouTube
segment created on February 19, 2015 by Matthew Trokan to inform viewers of the
history of World War I and its effects it had in America.

Running head: Socialists in WWI

The intended audience of the article is the students of the University of
Washington. Since the article is based from the university and several graduate and
undergraduate students contribute to the project, it can be said that it was written for
the students who attend and also for those who are specially looking for the movements
that occurred in the Northwest region. The YouTube segment intended audience is also
students because the author does refer to his class throughout the video. However,
because the language and wording is straightforward and simple the age of the audience
may not be intended for those in college like the article is. Both genres require for the
audience to have background knowledge of World War I because neither provide
extensive information on the war and why the U.S decided to enter it.
Structure and Delivery
Typically, a typographic genre requires a lot of time depending on the
length and information given. For the first genre the time needed to cover the
information depends on the reader and how fast they read and can retain the facts
given. The article is lengthy so the reader must be engaged and interested in order to
want to read the whole article. Also the reader must have time to read because the
information cannot be read in a quick manner because of the language used. It many
require more time to understand. The iconographic genre really depends on how it is set
up. The YouTube segment I chose is 7 minutes and 24 seconds. This is not lengthy and
does not require a lot of time. Since the author mostly speaks in the video there is not a
lot of reading required. Both genres vary in the amount of time offered to deal with the
information presented.

Running head: Socialists in WWI

Although both genres focus on the same subject of oppositions to World War I,
they both present the information differently. The article is structured in the form of a
paper, an introduction, body and conclusion. He first gives a background of an event
that occurred with the antiwar movement and then follows on how the war divided the
citizens in America. In his introduction he mentions his focus will be on Seattle and the
rest of the pacific northwest. In the body, there are sub categories that break up the body
into sections. This helps organize the information and gives the reader a hint on what
that section will focus on. At the end of the paper after the conclusion is the references
that were used for the article. The article uses other communication features such as
pictures of news articles and posters along the side of the paper.
The second genre, which is the YouTube video is organized with a series of slides
in a PowerPoint. The slides have bullets with words that tell the main idea; however, the
author narrates over the PowerPoint going into depth on each slide. Because he explains
whats on the slide it is easy to engage the viewer. The slides also include pictures of
posters that would show the propaganda being used. This helps the author enhance his
topic to the viewer. Since the video is easier for the audience to be interested and
because there isnt much reading involved I think the audience will prefer the video over
the paper.
Rhetoric issues
The genres each have a unique way of expressing the information given. They
each portray their rhetorical issues in a manner that best suits the genre and the author.

Running head: Socialists in WWI

Ethos
In the paper the author shows their credibility by showing the audience that this
was written for the University of Washington as well as the authors being directed by a
professor. The students who participate have knowledge of the topic because they are
attending a university and some are even graduate students. They also show it is
credible by listing the references used to write the paper and also to s show the source
from where they got the information. The second genre, the video gives its credibility by
mentioning that the author is a teacher. Since he is a teacher one can infer that the
author has a degree in teaching or in history.
Pathos
The first genre the author uses pathos by showing the emotion that the socialist
felt while protesting against the war. He showed how determined they were as he wrote
Instead of backing down or changing their position, the Socialists doubled down on
their radicalism. The Socialists had never been satisfied by the mainstream peace
societies moralistic objections to war (Ceballos, 2009). The socialist felt driven to
make sure that their voices were heard and that they wouldnt back down. The second
genre shows emotion through the poster he displays in the power point. One poster
expresses, We would rather die, or be imprisoned, for the sake of justice, than kill our
fellow men in this unjust war (Trokan, 2015). This shows the amount of animosity and
anger the socialist has towards the war.

Running head: Socialists in WWI

Logos
Both genres contain factual information about the history of WWI. The genres
are similar in the way they try to show the audience the information about the socialist
during World War I. They both discuss how propaganda was an important way to show
the efforts against the war. However, the first genre is written and specifies certain
events and the second is audio which the author talks about things that held back the
socialists when trying to voice their opinion.
Conclusion
I believe that the genres equally achieved it purpose and that the topic was wellthought-out. The typography was more tedious in the manner that it required a lot of
reading, on the other hand the second genre was easier for the audience to understand
and for this reason I think it conveyed its message a better than the first genre. Although
the information portrayed in each was similar they demonstrate different ways to
communicate the message to each of the audience.

Running head: Socialists in WWI

References

Ceballos, R. (2009). Reds, Labor, and the Great War: Antiwar Activism in the Pacific
Northwest. Retrieved from The Great Depression in Washington State Project:
http://depts.washington.edu/antiwar/WW1_reds.shtml
Trokan, M. (Director). (2015). Opposition to WWI [Motion Picture].