Question- study representatives 1 & 2. They are both representations of the way in which people in the USA reacted to the Vietnam War. How far do these representations differ?

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History coursework: Representation 1 evidently was produced to discourage people from joining the army. It exudes a death –like demeanour, as a skeleton is being portrayed as Uncle Sam, it mimics the iconic original poster of Uncle Sam, albeit in an antagonistic manner. The very statement “I want you” seems like an unpleasant and unjustified demand and depicts that joining the Vietnam War would lead to a futile death. It portrays the eventual inevitability of dying if you take part in the Vietnam War. It seems obvious from this poster that at the stage when the poster was created that many Americans no longer supported the war and as the above writing states were trying to “unsell the war”.                                                                                                                                 Representation 2 seems like it was made merely to inform – an investigation into the protests against the Vietnam War. It explains and states
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statistics and facts but no emotion or justification is behind these.                                                                                                                                                                                                       Similarities include the negative depictions of the American army’s involvement in the Vietnam War – in representation 1 it is portrayed visually. In representation 2 it is depicted verbally “The American soldiers committed atrocities that are comparable to what has been committed by the Nazis”. However in representation 2 the source is unbiased and one-sided, contrasting with the other source which was specifically made to “unsell” the war. They both also provide us with insights regarding the US’s involvement into the Vietnam War.                                                                                                                                                              Differences include the format of each ...

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