Rhetorical Analysis

           The popular 1969 song “Aquarius Let the Sunshine in” and the photo taken by Bernie Boston in 1967 titled “Flower Power” both show how passionate the hippies were about the ideas of peace but also how they went about doing this in a logical way. Both the song and photograph are calling for a change in society. I think all of us have grown up in a time of change, there’s constant environmental reform and it seems like there’s always a new war brewing on the horizon so I think that a lot of people in our generation can relate to this idea of wanting change. Using powerful lyrics, The Fifth Dimension establish ethos by calling forth this movement. Through voicing the call, they become are perceived as leaders. Meanwhile, in “Flower Power”, ethos is established through the hippie’s fearless act of sticking a flower inside a gun. Outmatched in every way, the hippie is the one to take action, while the police man is forced to do nothing but watch. This allows the audience to identify with the subject and believe in his good will.

As the first televised war, the Vietnam War shocked and horrified people across the country. The song “Aquarius Let the Sunshine In” acts as an anthem for the time, calling for a more peaceful and loving way of life. “Flower Power” specifically calls for the use of peaceful tactics over violence.  Both texts connect to each other in the fact that they’re both attempts by the hippie movement to gain publicity and make america more aware of their movement toawrds peace.  

“Aquarius Let the Sunshine In” was created for Hair, a musical about the lifestyle of hippies and their fight for peace, the photo was shot for but never used in a newspaper. The timeliness of both helped them achieve recognition in their respective fields. The message of the struggle against authority is relatable across generations and remains relevant today.

Our blog promotes the ideas of peace in a very logical way, which all stems from the two pieces we chose to analyze.  “Aquarius Let the Sunshine In” lists exactly what the hippies wanted in their theoretical new age of peace and “Flower Power” used the well known idiom “practice what you preach” to show others who are literally fighting for a world of peace what they should be doing to pursue their otherwise rational cause.  The next thing we chose was the background format of the blog.  The light pastel colors and the images of birds and trees combine to really bring home a calm tone which really relates to the hippies and their laid back way of doing things.  And finally we included a series of serious blog posts but also included a lighthearted tone and language in most of the posts to go along with the lightheartedness often associated with the hippies and peace.  All of things came together to really drive home the ideas of peace which was such an important ideas to the hippie movement in a logical way.  

            Both of the pieces we chose to analyze are passionate in their attempts at promoting the ideas of peace.  Peace is also an idea that is universally understood, we’re not trying to convince anybody about some controversial idea that may not make any sense and I think our blog does a good job of demonstrating that.  If the hippies were so passionate about peace that they decided to put flowers in the barrels of loaded guns to help gain publicity for their movement then don’t you think their cause may be at least worth listening to?  I’d certainly say so.