Critical Introduction

This blog is written by first year undergraduates in the Scholars Program at the University of Maryland College Park. The purpose of our blog is to investigate and compare and contrast the different subculture gatherings of the 1960s and the contemporary era. We compared the power and exigence of each movement but contrasted the principles, method of communication, and targeted audience of each subculture gathering. We chose two distinct texts. Our first text includes a poster advertising of the “Gathering of the Tribes for a Human Be-In” movement in San Francisco, CA. Our second text consists of an Amnesty International poster advocating for human rights through the advertisement of the Bringing Human Rights Home concert at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY. We first analyzed the audience of each text, finding similarities and differences between both, as well as the rhetorical situation/exigence that each text brought to the table. Furthermore, we explored the ethos and pathos present in each text, finding the authority/credibility and the specific emotions each text expressed through its poster. Finally, we explained the logos, mood, and imagery within each text. Through analysis and discussion with our English 101S class, we concluded that as time proceeded, subcultures of America lost the drive for a targeted audience (focused on the individual) and began to rely on reaching out to the general public in ambiguity. Expanding the audience allows for a more diverse group to take notice of subculture advertisements thus creating a larger fan base.

Monday, March 3, 2014

Logos to the Human Be-In


The Gathering of the Tribes was brought forth to fight for the beliefs of the people. The Human Be-In was to bring together cultural and political revolutionaries who did have different ideas of liberation. The poster captivated the exigency for reformation as the invitation was directed to all the “tribes.” These “tribes” were subcultures with rich individuality and each encompassing their own vision of the world. To the hippies of this era, the world had been corrupted with war, hate, and overall had lost its ability to stand for social justice. Including speakers such as Tom Leary, a radical psychology professor from Harvard, this poster screams for human liberation. The issues at hand were not in question but it was a matter of doing something about it. The gathering comprised of a fundamental questioning of authority, personal empowerment, cultural and political decentralization, ecological awareness, individual focus, acceptance of illicit drug use, and radical liberal political consciousness. The symbolism of the third eye can be seen to represent this higher cognizance; an unquestionable perseverance to these matters at stake. 
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2 comments:

  1. Emily ReimalMarch 3, 2014 at 4:38 PM

    The appeal to logos with the phrase "gathering of the tribes" is an interesting concept. I'm reminded of some kind of political convention where members of the same party but from different states come together to centralize on the party platform. Of course this is culturally very different but this type of gathering does have an element of logic to it if the aim is social change.

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  2. UnknownMarch 5, 2014 at 1:53 PM

    The fact that this poster's aim was to unite many separate "tribes" is interesting. I agree that the logic of strength in numbers is evident, and unity as well seems to be a core value of these groups of hippies.

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