Persuasion and Propaganda

1. Persuasion and Propaganda Survey Lit

2. Questions to Consider Purpose: What are you trying to convince your audience to think and/or do? Audience: Who are you trying to convince? What are their likes, dislikes, prejudices? Style: What strategies will you use to convince the audience of your point?

3. Modes of Persuasion Logos: Logical Arguments Pathos: Emotional Reactions Ethos: Establishing Credibility

4. LOGOS • Logic: To infer/deduce a conclusion from known facts • Often presented in the form of syllogisms • Syllogism= two statements (premises) that logically lead to a conclusion (think verbal proofs) • All men are mortal. (Major) • Socrates is a man. (Minor) • Therefore, Socrates is mortal. (Conclusion)

5. PATHOS • To cause the audience to have an emotional reaction that makes them identify or sympathize with the speaker, group, or cause. • Often accomplished with language/images • Association/Connotation • Sensory details • “In the blink of an eye, her husband and the father of her children was ripped out of her life by a drunk driver who thought taking a cab was too much of an ‘inconvenience.’”

6. ETHOS Convinces the audience that the speaker (or whoever he/she is referencing) is worth trusting Speaker: Mention prior accomplishments, prior relationships, credentials “I spent 10 years as a community organizer, so I have walked with you and know what you want and need to happen in this country.” Sources: Cite reliable organizations, experts, scholars, beloved/influential current and historical figures “The American Academy of Pediatrics has done numerous studies that have found NO link between autism and vaccination.”

7. Propaganda Information spread in order to persuade the audience to support or reject a person, organization, or cause Often pretends to be unbiased when it is, in fact, very biased Often uses lies or falsely represented information Often makes bold assertions without proving them Often abuses the three modes of persuasion

8. False Logic (Logos) False Dilemma (Either/or) The Lesser of Two Evils Assertion Straw Man

9. False Dilemma Reduces a complex argument to a small number of alternatives and concluding that only one option is appropriate. Ex 1- “You are either with us or against us.” Ex. 2- “If you are pro-choice, you must be pro-abortion.” Ex. 3- “You can subscribe to Politics Magazine, or you can stay uninformed.”

10. False Dilemma

11. The Lesser of Two Evils When trying to push for an unpleasant option, offers an even worse alternative framed as the only other choice. Ex. 1- “Senator Williams may have lied under oath, but at least he never embezzled money from his campaign like his opponent.” Ex. 2- “Unilateral invasion of Iraq may not be ideal, but it is better than having the United States attacked by a Saddam-supported terrorist group.”

12. Assertion Simply stating a debatable idea as a fact, with no qualification or explanation Ex. 1- “The Middle East will never be at peace.” Ex. 2- “A record number of hurricanes have been caused by global warming.” Ex. 3- “Verizon has a superior network to AT&T.”

13. Assertion

14. Card Stacking Propaganda that gives an unfair advantage to one point of view, while weakening another under the guise of presenting both sides Usually honest in terms of information shared, but often misleading by obscure other important information Ex. 1- A debate on global warming is organized by a group dedicated to eliminating carbon emissions. Invited to represent the pro-limits side is a well-known, eloquent speaker. Invited to the anti-limits side is a fringe scientist known for his exotic theories and obnoxious behavior.

15. Card Stacking

16. Straw Man Creates an exaggerated or inaccurate version of an opponent’s views and attacks THAT instead of the real argument Ex 1- My opponent for class president says that he think athletics are a complete waste of time, and that only academic activities should receive school funding Ex 2- A lot of people are saying that the Stimulus was a complete failure. Well, 1 million people that have jobs because of it would disagree.

17. Emotional Manipulation (Pathos) Transfer/association Pinpointing the enemy Name-calling Glittering generalities Euphemisms

18. Glittering Generalities Uses appealing, but vague words without context or definition to provoke feelings in the audience. Ex. 1- “I stand for freedom; for a strong nation, unrivaled in the world. My opponent believes we must compromise on these ideals, but I believe they are our birthright.” • Freedom • Liberty • Strength • Security • Prosperity • Choice • Equality • Change • Family • Life

19. Glittering Generalities

20. Name Calling Using negative words to disparage an enemy in place of logical arguments. “Obama is a socialist who likes to pal around with terrorists.” “Rush Limbaugh is a right-wing gasbag.” “Clearly, my opponent’s anarchist suggestions will not help to solve the current crisis.”

21. Name Calling

22. Pinpointing the Enemy Oversimplifies a complex problem by pointing out a single cause or a single enemy who can be blamed. Ex. 1- “McDonald’s is to blame for the obesity epidemic in America.” Ex. 2- “Wal-Mart is responsible for the destruction of small businesses in this country.” Ex. 3- “Videogames are the cause of teen violence.”

23. Pinpointing the Enemy

24. Transfer/Association Encourages the transfer of feelings and associations from one idea, symbol or person to the next Ex. 1- “Baseball, hot dogs, and apple pie; they go together in the good ole’ USA.” Ex. 2- “Barack Hussein Obama has a lot of ideas for this country, and I just don’t want to hear ‘em.”

25. Transfer/Association

26. False Credibility (Ethos) Plain folk/Common man Testimonial Bandwagon Ad hominem

27. Bandwagon Manipulates the instinct of most people to belong to the majority group and dislike being left out Ex. 1- “Five million members and counting!” Ex. 2- “Thousands of satisfied customers can’t be wrong.” Ex. 3- “Most scientists believe global warming is a result of human activity.”

28. Bandwagon

29. Plain Folk • Gains the public confidence by positioning a person or product with “ordinary people” not with “them” • Propagandists will try to appear to be like “everyone else” by: • Using slang phrases or intentionally making mistakes in their speaking • Extreme sentimentality (tears) • Shyness or reluctance • Photo opportunities going shopping with family or chopping wood or other such “normal” activities

30. Plain Folk

31. Testimonials Testimonials have people that we trust (even if that trust is based on recognition rather than true credibility) endorse a product or person Athletic shoes Wheaties Celebrities endorsing causes

32. Testimonials

33. Ad Hominem Literally means “to the man” Attacking the personal qualities of your opponent even if they have nothing to do with his/her argument “President Clinton wants to expand coverage for Medicaid, but this is a guy who cheated on his wife with a White House intern!” “You think I should do my homework, Mom, but you’re one to talk- you just got a ticket for speeding the other day!”

34. Sources Shabo, Magedah. Techniques of Propaganda and Persuasion. 2008. Prestwick.