Birth Of A Nation: Art Or Propaganda Essay -- essays research papers

own of A Nation Art or PropagandaMankind, engaging in war, driven by whatever instincts guide him, seeksto keep the defeats and victories of battle in his store and on his conscience.To accomplish this men stick out purposed paint and canvas, ink and paper, or instrumentand song in their effort to communicate the tragedy and glory of war. Never,before the career of D.W. Griffith had anyone attempted to bring the subject tofilm. The moment of his efforts, weaknesses aside, mark a change in attitudetowards film as a media. Perhaps audiences previously going to a picture evaluate emotional manipulation. After all, years before the film Birth of anation, makers of film employed techniques to evoke pathos from viewers whetherthrough the use of a sobbing mother, a frightened child or what have you. Inthis respect the film was not a ground-breaker However, through its effectualuse of devices such as symbolism, foreshadowing and allusions, as well asbuilding on and arguably perfecti ng film techniques such as perseverance editing,intercutting and close-ups, he transformed film from mere entertainment to artand propaganda.To parade and explore a theme, symbolism is used everywhere inliterature. Whether the symbol is subtle or obvious it is regardless a sign of wide calculation and effort. In Birth of a nation Griffith placessymbols everywhere, in doing this he merges literary devices of written workswi...