Enrique PajueloRhetorical AnalysisThere is a general concern towards warfare, especially because of the aftermath of world wars in the twentieth century. In modern society, where warfare and terrorism have arisen as a product of religious and ideological conflicts, artists have adopted this concern and use their art to express it. In the graphic poster Stop War designed by Onish Aminelahi, the author depicts the atrocities of warfare and raises awareness of its devastating effects. The poster made in 2008 is a direct critique to war and terrorism in the Middle East, more specifically in Iran. The author attempts to defend human life and reject anything that defies its existence. Nonetheless, he is not trying to restrict his audience or the effects of war to the Iranian community; he addresses a broader group of people and states the universality of his argument. We can tell this because he is not using culture-specific items, but introduces a universal element such as the mainstream baby toys.The main idea of the poster is to transmit through a simple but powerful image the atrocities generated at war. In order to engage the audience with the theme, Aminelahi utilizes parts of baby toys that are spread all over the poster. This represents death and mass murder in war. The author reinforces this idea by presenting imagery that appeals to sensibility, using straightforward language to transmit his message, and a sense of never-ending cruelty. These three ways of conveying his idea strengthen his main argument but also create an interaction with the audience.Aminelahi uses innocence as an element to transmit his argument. His statement is made clear as the author writes in green letters in the center of the poster the following message: Stop war. With the image on the background, this message implicitly tells the audience the reason behind his argument: war is killing many innocent people. The main and only characters of his poster are children, the most pure representation of innocence. Children are not aware of the evil in the world and are not aware of the reasons behind such atrocities; however, children also have to suffer because of war, even if they have no direct relation with it. Aminelahi demands the audience to step aside and stop thinking about those nations fighting the war, and instead focus on those who should not be involved but who are still paying the consequences. The idea that children are dying at war, however, does not only refer to the babies, but to all those in their early twenties who are sent to war. Despite the fact that these young adults do not represent the same innocence as babies portray, they are still a representation of family. The author wants to highlight the fact that we are murdering the inner children in our teenagers, and that instead we introduce the idea that part of growing and maturing is facing the atrocities of the world. He appeals to reason because the children are not the ones in charge of the institutional structures of society; instead, adults should take responsibility. In the same way, we can see on the poster that there are more body parts than heads. This depicts the fact that even though not everyone dies, many of the ones who do not, get injured and suffer. Official numbers of the aftermath of war usually present the number of casualties, but does not account for physical damage and material losses. War does not only destroy life, but it changes the lives of those who survived. Many lose their homes, their arms, family, and even suffer psychological consequences and traumas. Aminelahi wants the audience to be aware of these brutalities as well.In order to transmit his arguments, the author uses visual imagery and metaphors that represent the horrors of war. The first image the author uses is blood, and it refers to its effect as atrocious. Aminelahi states the following: even watching this unreal scene, is disgusting. This image, despite representing a real event with unreal babies (showing no explicit images of death), affects the sensibility of the audience. The author appeals to emotion in order to make these events in the Middle East feel personal to the audience. Moreover, Aminelahi does not present a finite image. The fact that the body parts are cut off the image on the sides transmits a sense of infinity to the audience. It is overwhelming to see that the wars appear to be never-ending. Despite cultural movements and an increase in living standards and toleration, humans still use new technologies to fight to solve their arguments. An agreement cannot be reached by peace and war seems to be the recurrent alternative. The author is attempting to make a point on the fact that we only consider the most recent wars. Nonetheless, the Iranian community has been victim of several wars, some of which are still ongoing until present days. The author has purposely chosen to use a graphic poster in order to complement the content of his ideas. This tool aids his intention because it does not explicitly show death and instead uses fiction and friendly representations. If he had shown a drawing or a photograph of people at warfare, many would not have wanted to look and analyze it. This poster allows the message to reach a wider audience, and thus create consciousness of war. It succeeded in fulfilling the authors intentions by adapting his message on a medium that can effectively address his audience.This poster is made in a culture that despite despising the wars for terror does not seem to comprehend that people are suffering. The authors message is easy to transmit, even if you are not aware of current wars. His aim was to reach a universal audience and get all parties involved, and he does so effectively by employing rhetorical strategies. This is a desperate cry for help to the international community to ally forces and settle agreements that avoid violent destruction. Aminelahis personal experience in Iran has made him a witness of the consequences of war, so he tries to defend human life by portraying innocent people. He has found in art a means to depict his first-hand accounts and to transmit not only his message, but also the message of a country that has been victim of warfare and its devastating results.