made by a high school senior as an action project

1. MEDIA vs. LITERATURE When evaluating war… and beyond. Bianca Osian

2. BOTH persuasive, yet convey different ideas. While the “media” (newspapers, television and radio) were government-controlled during WWII and the Vietnam War, literature of that time was open to free lance expression.

3. The media portrayed WWII in a good light. It made sure that the positive aspects of war were highlighted to the public and that the negatives were skimmed over. The media contributed to WWII’s reputation of being the “Good War”. The propaganda spread by the media added to the popularity of the war.

4. During the Vietnam era, reporters and journalists looked only for stories that featured mistakes, casualties and disaster. These appalling representations of America’s participation in Vietnam swayed the people back in Washington to end their support of the war; those in favor of the war known as the “Hawks” became pacifist “Doves”.

5. Slaughterhouse Five and The Things They Carried are two novels that chronicle the events of World War II and the Vietnam War, respectively, from an authentic and personal perspective. When juxtaposed with the media coverage in the United States of these two wars, it is clear that not only were there various viewpoints associated with each war, but furthermore that the media in particular served as a powerful tool of manipulation toward public opinion.

6. Power of the Novel It is this discrepancy that reveals the importance and power of the novel, as it provides a more vivid and accurate account of war. Unlike media reporters who slant stories to omit anything that might shock civilians or skew information for entertainment purposes, war novelists tend to be more open about their true emotions and accurate with their accounts of war.

7. Conclusion When trying to evaluate the course of World War II, the Vietnam War, or any war for that matter, it is crucial that we interact with both literature and the media as they shed complementary viewpoints on each other and serve as a basis for us to assemble our own perceptions of war.