Monday, December 15, 2008

Literature of the Red Scare

Two literature sources that were used to show the propaganda throughout the Red Scare of the 1950's were the stroy, The Crucible and a poem, Winds Of Another Sphere . The Crucible was written by Arthur Miller and was in favor of the anti-communists, while Winds of Another Sphere was written by Edwin Rolfe and in favor of communism.

The Crucible used the rhetoric style of pathos to portray to society. The Crucible was about the Salem Witch Trials and how one person, with a lot of power in society, could control the fate of many others. This relates directly with the idea of communism and McCarthy's beliefs. Throughout the story, the author tells of great struggles for the characters who have been accused of witchcraft. The pathos appeal helped readers side with the accused because everyone can immagine living their lives with no distractions then all of a sudden being put in jail due to a false accusation. The Cruicible was one source of literature that was involved with the Red Scare of the 1950's.

Winds Of Another Sphere is a poem that was written to promote communism in America. The poem is written using a pathos appeal becuase it speaks of American's home country and connects the everyday actions of people to why America should allow the communist party to take over. In this poem Edwin Rolfe starts by telling the reader that "America" is a bad place yet communism is a good thing so by bringing the two together, America will become better. The authors pathos approach is the same as the author's approach in The Crucible, yet both are portraying opposite sides of the Red Scare.

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