American History: Four-minute Men

Four-minute Men: "general suggestion to speakers" (may, 1917)

            The source was produced at a time when there was the need for propaganda in the United States to help the government garners support from the citizens; this was important when the country wanted to go to war. The United States president wanted to start World War 1. However, he needed the support from both home and abroad. The source is a primary origin and was produced by the committee of public information on May 22, 1917. The purpose of the source was to provide information to the volunteers on how to give a perfect four-minute speech. This was aimed at providing the perfect propaganda to the people at any chance of getting the audience. The source is not biased since it was produced by the committee of public information that was entrusted with teaching the volunteers how they can teach the four-minute men.

            The author of the source is capable of passing the information, this is because he/she has started by generating facts and outlining the requirements for executing the perfect propaganda to the nation. The language used in the essay is not biased; this is because the writer used English and there is no use of slang in the source. The author also uses a lot or persuasion when passing information to the audience; this includes teaching them on how to look for information from other sources that can help them give the propaganda to the public. However, the source has not ignored information to its audience since its purpose is to ensure that the viewers are well informed. Imagery has not been used in the source. However, ethos pathos and logos have been used, and this includes offering facts through logos and persuading the audience through the use of pathos. The author uses pathos to teach its audience on how to pass the propaganda to the public; this arouses interest in the audience to generate perfect ways of passing the propaganda.

            The source is historically significant to the period; this is because the united states went to war by convincing the citizens that the war was inevitable. Many people believe that the war could have been prevented if the proper channels were in place. However, the United States had other objectives that it wanted to achieve; therefore, it used propaganda to ensure that the other allies such as Britain collaborate with them and go to war. The source is important in revealing ways in which the government used when it has to convince people to accept its policies and other agendas.

Source two

"How to sell goods."

            The source was produced by Robert Benchley on May 10, 1920, through the New York World. The source was a secondary source meant to teach people about ways in which they can enhance their selling skills. The source is biased in that it shows the sellers ways in which they can convince the customers to buy the goods through the use of their weaknesses. This means that the seller will master the art of selling products, and the buyers have to buy the goods. The source is biased in that it does not spell out the drawbacks of using the selling skills to attract the customers; this includes the possibility of losing the customers when the seller interprets the client wrongly. 

The author constructs his argument by stating the ways in which the sellers can take advantage of the customer's weak-points. Apart from using his analysis, the author includes the information about sales that have been provided by other authors. Although the author uses proper English in the source, he is not a good writer because he uses slang in his work. The language used by the writer is not up to standard; the word rascal has been utilized by the author to show his anger to a salesperson who wanted to exploit him. There is a lot of bias in the source because the author picks only the information that is relevant to the seller; he does not provide the ways in which the seller can avoid losing the customer through wrong interpretation. Imagery has been used in the source to refer to a different type of customers; this is meant to ensure that the reader quickly relates to the character of the clients and know how to sell the goods to them. The author used logos appeal to show the writer where they generated the facts from, the pathos appeal has also been employed in the source to appeal to the emotions of the seller thus understanding the ways of becoming a good salesperson.

The book is relevant to the historical period in which it was produced. This is because it was manufacturing and transport industry was developing at a tremendous rate. This meant that goods and services were readily available to people in many locations. Competition between stores and shops was higher than demand. This meant that for one to sell, he/she had to have good persuasive skills.