Rhetorical AnalysisThe role of warfare in society has changed its essence if we compare it to previous centuries. Under absolute monarchies and authoritarian regimes, wars were means of imperialism, political stability and power. In modern society, warfare and terrorism have arisen as a product religious and ideological tensions and conflicts. Despite these differences, results of wars are still devastating for society, generating concern among public opinion.There is a general concern towards warfare, especially because of the aftermath of world wars in the twentieth century. In the graphic poster Stop War, designed by Onish Aminelahi, the author depicts the atrocities of warfare and raises awareness to 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 attempts its existence. Aminelahi establishes personal credibility because of the fact that he was born in Tehran, Iran, and has been raised in a society of fear and skepticism due to the Iran-Iraq war that produced thousands of casualties. The ethos built provides the audience with first source information about the consequences of war. In the same way, the author is not trying to restrict his audience to the Iranian community, but he addresses a broader group of people. 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 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.The first argument Aminelahi uses is innocence. His statement is made clear as the author writes in green letters in the center of the poster the following message: Stop war. However, this message implicitly tells the audience the reason behind his argument, and this is that it 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; however, children also have to suffer because of war. Aminelahi demands the audience to step aside and stop thinking about those fighting the war, and instead focus on those who should not be involved but still pay the consequences. The idea that children are dying at war, however, does not only refer to the children, but to all those in their early twenties who are sent to war. Despite them not being a representation of innocence, they are 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 in charge of the institutional structures of society, so adults should be the ones taking 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 dont get injured and suffer. Official numbers of the aftermath of war usually present the number of death, 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, or even suffer psychological consequences. 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 the fact that it represents a real event with unreal babies, 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 in arguments. An agreement cannot be reached by peach and war seems to be the recurrent alternative. The author is attempting to make a point on the fact that we only see 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 chosen to use a graphic poster in order to complement the content of his ideas. This tool aids his intention because, given the fact that 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 fitting his message to 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. 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 the country that has been victim of warfare and its devastating results.