Frames of Mind Comparing & Contrasting Political Posters

Preparing to Write, page 373

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1. The Nixon Poster:

Frame—uses elements of the American flag such as stars and stripes, uses typical American colors of red, white and blue. The frame is shaped in a rectangle and encloses the more centralized images of Nixon and the accompanying text.

Images—On the poster, there are images that symbolize our country. These typical, and rather cliché images include an eagle at the top, the national bird, and the white house placed directly opposite the eagle at the bottom on the page. These images surround Nixon, almost making him seem as if he is a national icon. Furthermore, there is a multitude of faces. In the crowd there are past presidents, other well-known figures of American history.

Text—The words on the poster read “Nixon’s the one! Nixon” These words seem to be telling viewers either that “of all the possible people to run the country, Nixon is the one,” or that “just as these people have done great things for the nation, Nixon will too.”

2.    2.   Answer stated in previous answer. In addition, I believe that the poster is trying to comment on Nixon as a prime example of everything that embodies the United States.

3.      3.  Visual elements: the poster has very few visual aspects. It simply consists of a close-up, black and white photograph. It forces the viewer to engage the subject and maintain direct eye contact. It is as if he is speaking the text straight to the viewer.

Written elements: In black and white print, the poster reads “Some talk change. Others cause it. Humphrey.” The seemingly confusing and technically grammatically incorrect sentence is actually a rather clever message. The words work to convey the idea that Humphrey might be one of the “others” who cause change, although it is not for certain.  

Readers should infer that whoever Humphrey is, he is probably someone who is interested in not just talking about change, but bringing it about in some way. His facial expression is fairly blank. He is not smiling, as Nixon is, but is not angry or upset. He seems to just be inquisitive and ready to listen.

4.     4.  The overall message of the Humphrey poster is that, in the political realm, there are those who say they will make changes, and then there are those who will make changes. The size and shape of the words are important because they are unavoidable and give the viewer nothing else to believe but what they say.

The two posters are vastly different. One is colorful while the other is monochrome. Those differences reflect the difference in interpretation. The colorful Nixon one leaves the audience with multiple ideas and reminders. The Humphrey gives no range of colors and therefore no range of further interpretation other than what it says, literally in black and white. While  both use the faces of the men they are representing, they do so in different ways. Nixon’s is sketched and is smiling, welcoming. Humphrey’s is a close-up photograph and is rather emotionless. Nixon’s poster is warmer in general. Humphrey’s is somewhat bland and unexciting.