propaganda argumentative essay

103 Propaganda Essay Topics & Examples

Looking for good propaganda topics to write about? This field is truly exciting and worth exploring!

🏆 Best Propaganda Topic Ideas

🔊 excellent propaganda essay examples, 👍 good propaganda essay topics, ❓ questions about propaganda.

In your propaganda essay, you might want to focus on the historical or ethical aspects of the issue. Another interesting option would be to focus on a particular case and discuss the effectiveness of propaganda. In this article, we’ve gathered a list of top propaganda topics to write about. They will suit for essays, research papers, speeches or other projects. We’ve also added some excellent propaganda essay examples to inspire you even more.

• Persuasion and Propaganda: Differences and Similarities In contrast to propaganda, persuasion is characterized by private acceptance of the position advocated in the message. In contrast to persuasion, propaganda is based on mind control aimed to condemn the recipients of a particular […]
• World War II Propaganda Posters in America The imagery of the boot stepping on the American church is not just a threat to the religious ideals of the country but a threat to freedom itself as the church often doubled as the […]
• Hitler’s Use of Propaganda and Fear-Mongering The establishment of the National Socialist German Worker’s Party led to the adoption of a properly coordinated propaganda campaign that would prepare the country for war.
• Propaganda Techniques in the Vitaminwater Advertisement Applying this technique implies that an advertisement uses strong, attractive words and phrases to show how good a product is in order to attract the audience’s attention.
• Stereotypes and Propaganda in Society Analysis The unfortunate reality is that the propaganda onslaught is continuous and the gullibility of the audience is also too often and thus the thinking of the majority of the audience is corrupted on heavy scales.
• Propaganda Techniques in Advertising The end goal is to solidify the brand in the subconscious mind of the buyers, in order for it to be able to compete with other brands.
• Propaganda During World War II The Second World War was a complicated time for both the general public and the authorities since while the former worried for their safety, family, and homeland, the latter needed to maintain the national spirit […]
• Propaganda in “Animal Farm” by George Orwell His greatest objective is to carry out the spreading of the revolution and to bring in the improvement of the general welfare of all the animals on the farm.
• French Revolution: Role of Propaganda and Music The history of propaganda is based on three interweaving fundamentals: first, the mounting need, with the growth of civilization and the rise of nation-state, to win the battle for people’s minds; second, the increasing sophistication […]
• Propaganda in the Democratic Society The article focuses on the effects of propaganda on the democracy. In the article, he focuses on his experiences in the media industry with respect to the past and the present news.
• Anti-War Movement DADA Vs. Propaganda Posters of WWI In relation to the causes of the WWI, these can considered as pertinent specifically on the basis that the reasons can be related to the type of society that is present during the said era.
• Rhetoric and Propaganda: How Far Is Rhetoric From Propaganda? In order to understand the essence of the two terms, it is important to consider the available definitions and meanings assigned to rhetoric and propaganda in the modern world.
• World War II Propaganda and Its Effects The purpose of this paper is to examine the confrontation between the German and the Soviet propaganda machines during the period of the Second Patriotic War, outline the goals and purposes of each, and identify […]
• Propaganda, Persuasion and Public Relations For example in the case of the Australia’s cancellation of the Fuel Watch program Senator Xenaphon utilized propaganda stating that Fuel Watch was not an effective means of helping consumers stating the need to tackle […]
• How to Control What People Do: “Propaganda” by Edward Bernays In the book, Bernays explains how he employed propaganda to manipulate the public when he was the head of the United States Department of public information during world war I.
• Commercial Advertising as a Propaganda System The propaganda system is a commonly used tool of winning the attention of the audience and is mostly used in political circles although it has of late gained popularity in the business environment.
• Political Propaganda in The Aeneid by Virgil As the paper reveals, The Aeneid is a political epic that was written with a political agenda to justify the founding of the nation of Rome.
• “The Motherland Calls”: Art as Political Propaganda The statue is meant to commemorate the Soviet victory in the Second World War, represent the soviet might, and serve as a message to all enemies of the USSR.
• Contribution of Media Text to World Wars’ Propaganda The key stakeholders in the industry prioritized profit maximization, hence amplifying the benefits of winning the war while minimally addressing the repercussions of the violence to the international community.
• Freedom of Speech and Propaganda in School Setting One of the practical solutions to the problem is the development and implementation of a comprehensive policy for balanced free speech in the classroom.
• The Role of Propaganda During World War II The poster encourages men to enroll in the army to protect the peaceful lives of women and children. By manipulating emotions and feelings, propaganda influenced people to enroll in the army or work harder.
• Nazi Propaganda and Triumph of the Will Based on this, the filming of the Triumph of the Will took place with the help of the vision of the world and the situation by the directors, omitting a number of significant events or […]
• The World War II Propaganda Techniques All the parties to the war, including Germany, the Soviet Union, and Britain, invested many resources in propaganda, but the present essay will focus on the United States’ effort. Furthermore, propaganda messages were created to […]
• Basic Propaganda Techniques The majority of the article is dedicated to Logos, however, presenting logical arguments and examples. When examples of negativity can be largely attributed only to one side, the folly occurs as follows: Subject A is […]
• Jim Crow Era Signage and Advertisements: Tools for Reinforcement a Racist Propaganda The quality of the services offered to “colored” people, It comes as no surprise, that all public facilities and spaces were segregated, particularly in the Southern states.
• The Use of Radio in German Propaganda During the World War II One of the techniques used by the Nazis to persuade German people and shape their worldview was the use of such media as radio.
• War on Terror: Propaganda and Freedom of the Press in the US There was the launching of the “Center for Media and Democracy”, CMD, in the year 1993 in order to create what was the only public interest at that period. There was expansive use of propaganda […]
• Medieval and Renaissance Art Religious Style and Propaganda The main task of these artworks was to inspire and awe the people, to show the greatness and almightiness of God.
• Is Propaganda a Technique or a Phenomenon? The main goal of this paper is to analyze the nature of propaganda to answer the question of whether it is a phenomenon or a technique.
• World War I: Medias of Propaganda in the U.S. Posters of World War 1 presented a different style of propaganda because of the war time effort of U S government.
• Commercial Advertisements as a Form of Propaganda System This is due to the fact that the objective of advertisement is to promote a product or service resulting in a financial benefit to the firm.
• Anti-Japanese Propaganda During World War II The content of propaganda was much the same as that of broadcast propaganda: emphasis on the Allies’ growing war potential, ridicule of the more preposterous assertions of the National Socialists, evidence of self-contradictions in the […]
• Propaganda in Art During the Second World War In the background of the Great Depression, and the Second World War this poster was the embodiment of the unification of generations, which takes place at the feast table.”The Four Freedoms” speech, proclaimed by Roosevelt […]
• Persuasion and Propaganda in Modern Society Persuasion is based on discourse and dialogue; propaganda is intended to be one-sided” Some researchers, such as Cain, look at any piece of media communication according to the ten points identified by Jowett and O’Donnell […]
• The Use of Propaganda in Political Campaigns The issue of propaganda is of current importance because we hear such words we can face propaganda in every sphere of human life: political campaigns, propaganda of healthy way of life, propaganda in the sphere […]
• The History of Propaganda: From the Ancient Times to Nowadays The history of propaganda shows that some means of encouraging the troops, or discouraging the enemy were undertaken in the ancient times, and the times have preserved and brought up the names of the greatest […]
• Nazi’s Propaganda in the XX Century At first, Nazis used propaganda technologies to draw attention of other political organizations of the right wing, then, after the departure of imprisonment by Hitler, the party becomes better organized and, finally, propaganda is used […]
• Post-World War II Propaganda Art According to Arendt, the “who” is revealed in the narratives people tell of themselves and others. We humanize what is going on in the world and in ourselves only by speaking of it, and in […]
• The Power of Propaganda He is of the opinion that lies comprise the lion’s share of propaganda and describes it as a very powerful tool utilized in the arena of politics.
• Bolshevik Propaganda in the Russian Revolution Communists hoped to achieve, and that was why they had more and more concentrated their propaganda efforts on the boys and girls and the young men and women.
• Propaganda Theory Analysis Communication Theory Propaganda Theory Meaning The propaganda theory explains how social, political, and economic attitudes are manufactured to manipulate the populace, for the sake of the welfare of entities with power and money. Invention Edward S. Herman and Noam Chomsky introduced the theory in their book, Manufacturing Consent – The Political Economy of the Mass […]
• Albert Speer’s Architectural Scale as a Tool of Nazi Propaganda In the center of attention of Hitler, there was the restructuring of Berlin by the architect Albert Speer. Such buildings as the Volkshalle and the Cathedral of Light were the most expressive projects that illustrated […]
• Propaganda and Political Framing The video chosen for the overview in this paper is called “Euromaidan/Kijow 2014”, it was posted on YouTube by a user under the nickname MrMitos1 in the end of February this year, which was the […]
• Propaganda of Social Movements and Non-State Actors Taking a closer and more attentive look at the FARC video, it is easy to notice that the cartoon characters are of Latin origin, the video is designed to attract the people of Colombia and […]
• Terrorism as Spectacle: Extremist Propaganda The objective of terrorist propaganda is to influence the attitude of a specified mass audience. Terrorist propaganda in the video links is intended to publicize acts of brutality committed by the militants.
• Advertising: Rhetoric or Propaganda? The shorter video mainly features the executive director of the “Morningside Recovery” company, who might be described as an attractive person, which creates additional appeal in the viewers of the video; the director briefly outlines […]
• Propaganda: “Total” and “Time” Concepts The fact that the most outrageous instances of propaganda are never forgotten and stay in history brings us to the next aspect of the investigated phenomenon and technique, which is the “Time”.
• The Cyberspace War: Propaganda and Trolling To justify the theory that will be used in the study, it is necessary to state that the Russian government has been using the workforce of its employees to change people’s opinions to the ones […]
• American Government: Propaganda and Persuasion He successfully achieved his goal of sending a man to the Moon and managed to beat the Soviet Union mostly due to his ability to capture people’s imagination.
• Islamic State of Iraq and Syria and Its Propaganda The Middle East also has a serious economic impact on the rest of the world because of the rich oil deposits, especially in the countries bordering the Persian Gulf.
• Holocaust, Antisemitism, and Propaganda That is why, nowadays great attention is given to issues which led to the death of millions of people. Being a part of the ideology of Nazism, it led to the elimination of a great […]
• Authoritarian Propaganda in Education and Media The question that people often ask themselves is, ‘how do authoritarian regimes get away with violence, torture, and oppression?’ Most of the citizens in countries led by authoritarians often seem to be in agreement with […]
• Islamic State’s Online Propaganda to Men and Women The third hypothesis is that the ISIS extensively uses misrepresentation as a tool of online communication, i.e.the way the role and position of women in the ISIS presented in the terrorists’ online communication are significantly […]
• Propaganda as a Social Phenomenon Edgar Henderson, also comprehensively in propaganda scholarship, argues that propaganda is basically a social phenomenon owing to its objectivity and capacity to appeal to the psychological or sociopsychological dispositions of individuals.
• Propaganda: Terrorist, Government, State, Non-State Extremists pass their terrorist propaganda to the youth through the power of the media and the internet. Ideally, propaganda that is produced by the state aims at influencing the opinions and attitudes of its people […]
• Terrorist and Government Propaganda in Media The aim of terrorists, especially those concerned with religious extremism, is to attract the attention of the state and other members of the public.
• Propaganda and Marketing Relationships This aspect was meant to prevent the wrong societal perceptions that Bernays was promoting Venida products in the market, but showing the public the importance of the hairnets.
• Propaganda of Adolf Hitler and Jim Jones This is a scenario that has occurred with the Nazi, under the command of Adolf Hitler, and the story of Jim Jones, and the people who followed him in a quest to build an ideal […]
• Propaganda Techniques in Movies: Light, Camera, Action Despite using rather simplistic propaganda techniques and devices, such as Beautiful People and Flag-Waving, the movie manages to get the key idea of the major flaws at the very core of the current healthcare system […]
• Propaganda Forms and Techniques They both target the anti-government group that is most likely to criticize and question the actions of the government. The policies of the government have been hijacked and are now in favor of the ruling […]
• Propaganda Model and Media Power The media is expected to expose any practices of the government and corporate bodies that may cause any harm to the public in one way or the other.
• Propaganda Movement in Mass Media Through the study of Gimenez et al, it was seen that the correlation between the propaganda model and the power of the media can be summarized on the impact of irrational exuberance as a means […]
• Influence of Propaganda Politics The organizers of the event were well conversant with the impact of the flag to the message; it created credibility and believability among the members of the public.
• The Marlboro Ads as a Propaganda Advertising As such, the target of information presented is to alter the attitudes of consumers towards the interests of the advert sponsors.
• Propaganda as Hezbollah’s Auxiliary Strategy These strategies include the construction of a propaganda theme park, the establishment of a Hezbollah television station, the development of anti-Israeli video games, and the production of varied merchandise that promote Hezbollah’s ideas and values.
• Why We Fight: American Wartime Propaganda The reason for this is simple contrary to what it is being suggested in the film, the overwhelming majority of German Nazis, as well as ordinary German citizens who never ceased supporting Nazis right to […]
• Propaganda in Pro-slavery Arguments and Douglass’s Narrative Propaganda refers to the form of communication that is meant to influence the feelings and attitudes of individual to believe or support a certain viewpoint.
• Propaganda Model: Herman and Noam Chomsky In Chomsky’s opinion, the conclusion that the tyranny of the majority can threaten the rights of persons, including the rights for freedom of speech and conscience, was the result of confusion caused by the vague […]
• Al Jazeera TV: A Propaganda Platform Al Jazeera is the largest media outlet in the Middle East reporting events mostly to the Arab world. The media outlet has equated revolutions in Egypt and Libya with the ejection of totalitarianism in the […]
• History of Hitler’s Nazi Propaganda According to Hitler, the German’s defeat in the First World War, the Bolshevik Revolution, German’s post war inflation, and the economic crisis of the year 1929 were accredited to International Jewry. Over time, the masses […]
• Media Propaganda: Poster Advertisement Further, at the lower right corner, the poster has a picture of the spray under consideration and the name of the spray: “New Axe Essence”.
• Propaganda and Mass Media: Obstacles and Best Conditions for Propagandist The first obstacle is to comprehensively understand the nature of the target audience that the propagandist wants to modify through the use of propaganda.
• Propaganda in the “Triumph of the Will” This is propaganda because the development of Germany was not based on the efforts of the labor force alone, but also on all German citizens and the world at large. He is often heard saying […]
• What American Leader Relies on Propaganda and Appeals to Fear?
• How Did Hitler Consolidate His Power and Continue to Gain Support Using Propaganda?
• How Is Propaganda Used?
• How Effective Were Indoctrination and Propaganda?
• Did a Campaign of Propaganda and Disinformation Initiate the War in Iraq?
• How Did the Nazi Regime Use Propaganda as a Form of Political Control?
• What Makes a Good Propaganda?
• How Media and Propaganda Are Related?
• How Did the Nazi Party Use Propaganda?
• How Were Cartoons and Propaganda Used Against Jews and Nazis During World War II?
• How Did Propaganda Help the Nazis Control?
• What Role Did Printed Propaganda Play in the Outbreak and Continuation of Conflict During the Wars of the Three Kingdoms?
• How the Nazi Germans Used the Media to Spread Propaganda During Hitler’s Time?
• How Does Napoleon Use Persuasive Language and Propaganda to Seize and Maintain Power?
• Was Propaganda the Main Reason for the Lack of Opposition to the Nazis?
• How Have Images and Designs Been Used as Social Protest and Propaganda?
• How Effective Was Propaganda in Affecting the Way People Acted and Thought?
• Why Did the British Government Make Use of Propaganda During World War I?
• How Successful Was Propaganda in Indoctrinating Nazi Ideals?
• How Did Radio and Movies Change People’s Ideas, and How Were They Used for Spreading Propaganda?
• What Are Propaganda Historical Origins?
• What Is Propaganda in Psychology?
• How Propaganda Helped the Nazi Government to Control Germany?
• How Far Did Ancient Coinage Serve as a Medium for Political Propaganda?
• What Is Bandwagon in Propaganda?
• Why the Society Has to Co-exist With Propaganda?
• How Vital Was Propaganda to Nazi Control Over Germany in 1934-1939?
• How Important Was the Governments Use of Propaganda in Bringing the Strike to an Early End?
• How and Why Did the Nazis Use Propaganda to Further Their Aims 1929-1933?
• How Does Propaganda Work?
• Chicago (A-D)
• Chicago (N-B)

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Special Issue: Propaganda

This essay was published as part of the Special Issue “Propaganda Analysis Revisited”, guest-edited by Dr. A. J. Bauer (Assistant Professor, Department of Journalism and Creative Media, University of Alabama) and Dr. Anthony Nadler (Associate Professor, Department of Communication and Media Studies, Ursinus College).

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“A most mischievous word”: Neil Postman’s approach to propaganda education

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Before there was a term called media literacy education, there was an interdisciplinary group of writers and thinkers who taught people to guard themselves against the manipulative power of language. One of the leaders of this group was Neil Postman, known for his best-selling book published in 1985, Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business. Early in his career, Postman promoted a pedagogy of teaching and learning about language, media, and culture. In defining propaganda as “a most mischievous word,” Postman aimed to heighten learners’ attention on the abstracting function of language and its capacity to reshape attitudes, beliefs, and knowledge. 

Harrington School of Communication and Media, University of Rhode Island, USA

Research Questions

• What concepts and instructional practices did Neil Postman use to help people learn to critically analyze contemporary propaganda? 
• How does Postman’s exploration of language and meaning fit into the larger history of media literacy education? 

Essay Summary

• Postman defines propaganda as intentionally designed communication that invites people to respond emotionally, immediately, and in an either-or manner, emphasizing its capacity to undo more reasoned habits of mind. By defining propaganda in relation to its form, context, and impact on audiences, Postman acknowledges that propaganda is present in many forms of contemporary media, including entertainment, information, and persuasion. 
• Postman’s pedagogy builds upon literary close reading practices, and he uses comparison contrast to examine an example of emotion-laden propaganda and compare it with another form of expression that purports to be more informational. Transparent and emotionally evocative propaganda is not to be feared, Postman explains. But when propaganda is not transparent about its aims, when it uses language in ways that distort reality, it can be harmful, even when its intentions are well-meaning and designed to support a worthy cause. 
• Through the strategic selection of propaganda artifacts, educators may provoke learners in ways that enable dialogue and discussion to contribute towards the building of a community of inquiry. From this, learners gain awareness of the value of encountering multiple, diverse, and conflicting interpretations of media messages. As a result, pedagogies rooted in discussion and dialogue contribute to civic education. 
• Although Postman advocated for dialogue and discussion as a primary pedagogy, he acknowledged the importance of students learning to use the power of information and communication to make a difference in the world. By creating propaganda, students learn about the social responsibilities of digital authorship. 

Implications 

As an effort to help learners of all ages navigate increasingly complex media and information ecosystems, the pedagogy of media literacy has a long intellectual history. Although the term “media literacy” only became widely used during the 1990s, ideas underpinning its practice were germinating during the early part of the 20 th  century, when many philosophers, writers, critics, and academics were exploring the difficulties of living in a symbolic world replete with mass media and communication. Scholars including Kenneth Burke, Aldous Huxley, Alfred North Whitehead, Ludwig Wittgenstein, C. S. Peirce, John Dewey, Ernest Cassirer, Edward Sapir, and I. A. Richards all offered ideas about the relationship between expression, media, education, and democracy that influenced the work of later educators and scholars who developed and used the term media literacy (Hobbs, 2016). 

In the 1930s, as fascism grew in Europe and around the world, scholars noted that although humans’ use of language enabled vast innovation, it also put people at tremendous risk from the harmful propaganda of demagogues and dictators. Educators were fascinated with the challenge of teaching about contemporary propaganda in the years leading up to World War II, as film and radio offered new ways to combine entertainment, information, and persuasion. The Institute for Propaganda Analysis (IPA) offered monthly publications to educators who were urged to help people recognize the rhetorical strategies used by propagandists (Miller & Edwards, 1936). Based in New York City, the organization had active correspondence with high school teachers from across the region and across the nation. More than 1 million students participated in IPA learning activities on the topic of propaganda. Although the IPA folded at the onset of American involvement in the war, many teachers continued to teach students how to recognize “glittering generalities,” “card stacking,” and “bandwagon” and other rhetorical appeals (Hobbs & McGee, 2014). Although we don’t know for certain, Neil Postman himself may have learned to identify propaganda techniques as a high school student in New York City public schools. 

Neil Postman, known for his best-selling book published in 1985,  Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business,  influenced a generation of media literacy educators with his insights on inquiry learning in and out of schools, the role of technology in shaping culture and values, and the narratives that underpin the aims of education. Early in his career, Postman promoted a pedagogy of teaching and learning about language, media, and culture that focused on the systematic analysis and exploration of modes of communication (Postman, 1974a), which he termed media ecology (Postman, 1974b). But how does Postman’s work on propaganda fit into the history of media literacy and propaganda education? 

Actually, Postman’s interest in propaganda was incidental to a much larger narrative, situated at the blurry intersections of the humanities, media studies, and education. Well before he became a media scholar, Postman was a teacher and teacher educator (Postman, 1958; 1961). Postman’s work demonstrates the central practice of the critical analysis of language (Postman, 1976), using specific media texts or artifacts of popular culture. In examining Postman’s approach to teaching propaganda in the 1970s in the years leading up to his formulation of the scholarly practice of media ecology, there are some themes in his work that have implications for how propaganda education is currently conceptualized within contemporary dialogues about media literacy education. When media artifacts are strategically chosen by the instructor, they may provoke learners into genuine thinking (Postman, 1979). The resulting dialogue, discussion, and creative expression in the classroom enable students to recognize the active process of meaning-making and interpretation. Such pedagogies may cultivate communities of inquiry that embody the collaborative practices of engaged citizenship (Kahne & Bowyer, 2019). For these reasons, Postman’s close analysis of 20 th -century propaganda offers some value for today’s educators seeking to help learners thrive in a culture saturated with new forms of digital propaganda.

The pedagogy of media literacy education is rooted in the practices of critical reading and creative media production, where a focus on media and popular culture enables rich connections between classroom and contemporary culture (Hobbs, 2010). These practices were foundational to Neil Postman’s pedagogy and stemmed from his background in English education (Thaler, 2003). Following in the footsteps of Marshall McLuhan (1960), Postman emphasized the value of using topics, issues, and materials that were relevant to children and young people (Postman, 1995). Like McLuhan, Postman included examples from advertising, news, music, and even fashion, conflating city and classroom (Mason, 2016). By emphasizing the   interconnectedness of technology, communication, art, and symbolic forms, both Postman and McLuhan wanted to help people better “understand the past, make sense out of the present, and provide us with the best hope of anticipating and planning for the future” (Strate, 2017, p. 245). 

Because propaganda comes in many diverse genres and forms (including public service announcements, political campaigns, news media, movies, memes, and social media, just to name a few) it provides a rich array of opportunities for learners to engage in sense-making using strategies of reasoning and interpretation. Sadly, the scholarly literature on literacy education still makes little acknowledgement of the fact that advertising and propaganda are persuasive genres that demand different types of critical reading practices than texts whose purpose is primarily informational (Hobbs, 2020a). To interpret persuasive genres, learners must be attentive to the emotional dimensions of messages as they make inferences about audience interpretation and authorial intent. They must imagine the potential impact and consequences of messages upon different viewers, readers, or listeners. By identifying the target audience and rhetorical appeals used to construct a message, learners come to appreciate how propaganda engages the active participation of audiences, whose hopes, fears, and dreams are addressed through symbolic expression. 

Long before terms such as implicit bias and confirmation bias were formulated, Postman articulated how dialogue and discussion activities increase learners’ awareness of how their own beliefs and prior knowledge might lead them to differentially interpret the meaning, quality, utility, and value of propaganda that can be found in information, entertainment, and persuasion. Moreover, as learners interpret and analyze propaganda, conversations inevitably get into deeper terrain, opening up ethical issues including the changing nature of knowledge, the limits of human freedom, and the role of propaganda in gaining and maintaining social and institutional power (Hobbs, 2020b). 

Postman understood that the motives of the propagandist were inherently unknowable and that even propaganda that is designed to support or advance a worthy cause can be harmful when it distorts people’s understanding of social reality. Building on the work of Jacques Ellul (1979), Postman recognized that moral and ethical judgments about the relative benefits and potential harms of propaganda are baked into the interpretation process. For this reason, people need advanced skills of interpretation and analysis because of the linguistic and epistemic mischief caused by propaganda, which can create “a thicket of unreality” (Boorstin, 1961, p. 3). 

Writing at a time before email and the Internet were becoming ubiquitous, Postman recognized that information technologies were creating a culture “without moral foundation” by altering our understanding of what is real (Postman, 1994). He noted that every tool has an ideological bias, a predisposition to construct the world as one thing rather than another. For today’s learners, understanding the propaganda function of algorithmic personalization may lead to a deeper consideration of texts that tap into audience values for aesthetic, commercial, and political purposes (Hobbs, 2020a). But these competencies and skills cannot merely be transmitted through a teacher’s lecture. They must be cultivated through active participation in a discourse community. 

Recently, there has been a call for media literacy education to focus less on knowledge and skills and more on “connecting humans, embracing differences” through relational activities, where the process matters as much as the outcome (Mihailidis & Viotty, 2017, p. 451). As my analysis of Postman’s lesson reveals, media literacy education has long been conceptualized as a dimension of civic education; indeed, much of Postman’s writing about education emphasizes its role in the construction of community, where the critical analysis of media messages is explicitly presented as a collaborative practice of citizenship, designed to advance the exercise of democratic rights and civil responsibilities. For example, in a brilliantly titled book,  Teaching as a Subversive Activity  (1969), Postman and Weingartner explain how inquiry-learning pedagogies advance learner confidence and autonomy by empowering students to take responsibility for their own interpretations of the symbolic environment. In their formulation of inquiry learning, the teacher rarely tells students a personal opinion about a particular social or political issue and does not accept a single statement as an answer to a question. The teacher encourages student-to-student interaction as opposed to student-to-teacher interaction and the teacher generally avoids acting as a mediator or judge. Lessons develop from the interests and responses of students and not from a predetermined curriculum. 

Such discourse alters the nature of the authority relationship between teacher and students, putting students in the driver’s seat. When students have more control over their own learning, motivation and engagement improve. Postman knew that these ideas about the value of activating critical questions in the classroom would appeal to students at a time when they were increasingly questioning the “establishment.” He also knew that this way of teaching would be off-putting to traditionalists who cling to the power hierarchies embedded in teaching. He also knew it would be off-putting to protectionists who see media culture as the enemy of education. He gently provoked English teachers by noting, “If these questions strike you as politically dangerous, I would remind you that there is nothing more dangerous to the future of our country than curriculums which keep students playing with sentence diagrams while the languages of reality go swirling, uncomprehended, around their ears” (Postman, 1967, p. 1165). 

This type of admonishment continues into the present era, as in the position statement developed by the National Council of Teachers of English (2019), which advocates for a new vision of English education. It urges English teachers to promote pedagogy and scholarly curricula in English and related subjects that instruct students in civic and critical literacy, helping students to “analyze and evaluate sophisticated persuasive techniques in all texts, genres, and types of media, current and yet to be imagined.” Teachers are also encouraged to “model civic literacy and conversation” where students can have an informed discussion and engage with current events and civic issues “while staying mindful and critical of the difference between the intent and impact of their language” (NCTE, 2019, p. 1).

Postman wanted teachers to feel deeply responsible for educating students who would be capable of democratic self-governance (Ross, 2009). Like Ellul (1973), he recognized that there is a moral and ethical dimension in resisting the technologies and the forms of propaganda that perpetuate illusions. But even more important than building people’s resistance to propaganda is the practice of restoring the public sphere “by reclaiming participation in political debate and action” (Cunningham, 2002, p. 190). Media literacy activities function as civic education because they increase learners’ awareness of the epistemic value of encountering multiple, diverse, and even conflicting perspectives  ( Kahne et al., 2015).

Contemporary media literacy education emphasizes composing media, not just analyzing it. While he did not use the term media literacy, Postman did use the term multimedia literacy, referring specifically to a broadened conceptualization of the expressive function of literacy. According to Postman, students should express what they know through a wide range of communication skills beyond merely reading and writing. Educators should place equal importance on “speaking, listening, filming, audio-taping, video-taping, painting, and other possibilities” (Postman, 1974, p. 61). When students create propaganda for social causes that matter to them, they recognize that propaganda can be beneficial. Young people crave opportunities to develop civic identities as change agents (Hobbs, 2020b). Through the study of propaganda, learners inevitably reflect on the ethical obligations of the people who create media, those who provide digital platforms to distribute content, and those who not only make choices and interpret messages, but respond, remix, and share content.

To better understand how Postman’s ideas about propaganda embodied some fundamental practices of what would later be called media literacy education, I first consider Postman’s unique definition of propaganda, presented as part of a “lesson plan” in his 1979 essay entitled “Propaganda.” This work was excerpted from his 1976 book,  Crazy Talk, Stupid Talk.  In this work, Postman’s identity as a teacher is quite evident. His exploration of propaganda focuses on both the dangers of either–or framing to short-circuit critical thinking and the many ways in which language (and other symbol systems) shape reality. These two ideas form a bedrock foundation for the later arguments he developed concerning the biases of technologies and their impact on culture and values. In analyzing propaganda, Postman shows how language limits critical thinking about the true complexity of the world and he offers a deceptively simple instructional practice that promotes engaged dialogue and discussion with the goal of fostering critical autonomy and civic participation in learners of all ages.

Postman’s definition of propaganda

In his 1979 essay, Postman defines propaganda in a unique way, as “language that invites us to respond emotionally, emphatically, more or less immediately, and in an either-or manner” (p. 130). Postman’s definition centers on the form and context of propaganda and its impact on readers, viewers, or listeners. This is a definition whose purpose seems aligned with the goals of an educator who wants people to be able to recognize and resist propaganda. As a definition, it also offers strategic insights for those who wish to create propaganda as a means to accomplish their activist goals. 

Other definitions of propaganda of the time period seem to have different goals. For example, consider Ellul’s definition, where propaganda is distinguished by its reliance on technology, widespread dissemination, and embeddedness in institutions of power (Ellul, 1973). Writing at about the same time as Postman, Altheide and Johnson (1980, p. 23) offer a definition of propaganda as a communication strategy that uses truth to maintain an organization’s apparent legitimacy. Definitions of propaganda evolve and change over time because those who write definitions are responsive to the context and situation of a particular era (Cunningham, 2002). Today, new terms like computational propaganda have emerged to explain how power/knowledge structures are embodied in technologies, platforms, algorithms, and code (Woolley & Howard, 2018). 

It is noteworthy that in his definition, Postman refuses to demonize or use metaphorical language that conceptualizes propaganda as a dangerous weapon. By including the memorable phrase about cultivating either-or thinking, he aims to foreground how language simplifies the natural complexity of the world. He is concerned that dichotomies like good/bad and true/false may activate tribal loyalties and identities that may lead people to bypass critical thinking. Postman resists the easy tendency to use propaganda as a “smear word” (McKenzie, 1942) because doing so would interfere with the principal insight that he aims to convey: the inevitable ways that language constructs and shapes social reality.

Language is not merely a set of rhetorical strategies, but a way that we humans interact with our environment. Through languages, art forms, symbol systems, technologies, and platforms, people relate to the environment as interdependent parts of an ecosystem. Propaganda simplifies complex information through abstracting, which is an active cognitive process where we take into ourselves something from the outside environment, using perception, information, and ideas “which provide us with a necessarily incomplete and selective summary, or map of our environment” (Strate, 2010, p. 35). Through abstracting, we collaboratively create and accumulate knowledge. But in this process, a lot is left out, because every choice must be a particular choice. Every word, graphic display, or numerical symbol is a particular, limited, and partial one. 

Postman points out that because all language is essentially persuasive, “the distinction between persuasion and other types of talking does not seem to be very useful” (1979, p. 132). One of his first graduate students, Terence Moran, recalls that one of the first axioms Postman presented to the class was that “words themselves have no meanings, that only people have meanings which they try to express through words” (Moran, 2004, p. 26). For Postman, language does much more than merely describe events and things in the world; language also tells us what we should notice, who we should ignore, and what we should treasure or despise. Because the words people use have embedded ideologies, Postman appreciated Alfred Korzybski’s point that “Whatever we say something is, it is not” (Postman, 2003, p. 358). 

Comparison–contrast pedagogy 

Postman’s short essay offers a comparison–contrast activity designed to illustrate some key ideas about how the language of propaganda may short-circuit or hijack critical thinking. Postman describes an activity that is designed to promote dialogue and discussion. While he does not explicitly identify it as a lesson plan, his didactic use of language makes it evident throughout that the presentation of examples is designed as a learning activity. Using content about both the Vietnam War and the Black Power movement, Postman intentionally chooses topics certain to appeal to adolescents and young adult learners of the late 1960s and early 1970s. In modeling the use of contemporary news media in the English classroom, he shares two quite different forms of news propaganda that offer ideologically distinctive stances that support both causes. 

The first artifact that Postman analyzes is a letter to the editor published in the  Indianapolis Star  in 1968, with the headline, “A Letter from a War Veteran.” The letter takes on the fictionalized first-person voice of a dead soldier who died in the Vietnam War, referencing the loss of family members, and pulling out all the emotional stops to arouse patriotic feelings and support for the war effort. Postman notes that this work was “constructed to evoke Indianapolis passions in favor of the war” (Postman, 1979, p. 130). Letters to the editor may function as propaganda. They are transparent in their persuasive purpose and designed to unify a group of people and build social consensus.

Then he presents a brief, close analysis of an informative paragraph on the life of George Jackson, the founder of an African American Marxist–Leninist revolutionary prison activist group called the Black Guerilla Family. Postman’s voice simply drips with sarcasm as he explains that the propaganda about George Jackson circulated among intellectuals in New York City “when it was the fashion to elevate revolutionaries to sainthood” (p. 131). In analyzing how the passage presents a hagiographic version of Jackson’s criminal history, making a violent man seem like a choirboy, Postman’s tone is alternatively incredulous, lighthearted, and playful. He calls the reader’s attention to the way narrative structure and language choices seem to minimize the scope of Jackson’s criminal behavior. By representing Jackson in a heroic way, the author of the passage misleads readers, distorting reality. Postman does take pains to point out that he has no complaints about the man whose story is being told. What’s arouses his ire is propaganda “that attempts to conceal itself as information” (p. 133). Postman also fears that people will become habituated to the emotional pull of propaganda, building on the work of Gustave LeBon in noting that propaganda can turn groups into intoxicated, mindless crowds.

Omitted from the short essay is any reflection on how learners may encounter such a lesson. We can easily imagine how students’ engaged dialogue would revolve around their different allegiances towards the content of the two artifacts. Students who hate the Vietnam War might disagree with Postman’s appreciation of the honest transparency of the pro-war letter writer, resenting the author’s strategy for activating strong emotion and the depiction of sympathy for veterans. Students who see themselves as stakeholders in the fight against racism might be offended when Postman problematizes the warm-and-fuzzy depiction of the life history of an African-American prison activist. It’s easy to imagine the lively response of learners to such an exercise as they find themselves with increased awareness of how their own beliefs, allegiances, values, and prior knowledge might lead them to differentially interpret the utility and validity of these two different forms of propaganda. 

In selecting and analyzing these two examples of propaganda in news, Postman’s goal here seems to provoke: he is challenging learners out of their quick and easy assumptions about good/bad and true/false. This instructional practice also enables Postman to show the value of comparison contrast in helping students recognize how authors can use language in ways that transparently reveal or strategically disguise their purposes, intentions, and goals. 

In calling propaganda a most mischievous word, Postman heightens learners’ attention on the abstracting function of language and its capacity to reshape attitudes, beliefs, and knowledge. Postman refuses to demonize sentimental, patriotic propaganda and he examines the potential harms of propaganda that misrepresents reality in order to promote a worthy cause. In doing so, Postman points out the power of language to activate strong emotions while simultaneously elucidating how well-meaning individuals can produce compelling unrealities in support of their causes.

Methods 

Historical research methods were implemented in this study to examine Neil Postman’s conceptualization of propaganda in relation to media literacy education. To help readers comprehend the textured complexities of the past, I provide a close analysis of a single comparison–contrast activity published in 1979 that demonstrates one lesson in the pedagogy of propaganda analysis. This work is explicated through document analysis, a qualitative research method used for contextualizing research within a subject or field (Bowen, 2009). 

I focused my attention on understanding the context of Neil Postman’s early work in education (published before 1980) to better understand significant influences on his pedagogical approach to the study of propaganda. Primary source materials include Postman’s published books, journal articles, book reviews, magazine pieces for educational publications, and interviews. Postman’s works that examined general semantics were included, but I did not focus on the body of work on media ecology which has been extensively reviewed by communication scholars. Secondary source materials included published works about Neil Postman by Lance Strate (2006), Terence Moran (2017, 2004) Thom Gencarelli (2000), and Peter Thaler (2003) who wrote about Postman’s identity as a teacher and human being. 

Of course, I also draw upon my own relationship with Postman and our occasional professional conversations about media literacy education. Document analysis has limitations: It does not provide all of the necessary information required to answer research questions. But this method helped me identify certain concepts and instructional practices that Postman used to help people learn to critically analyze contemporary propaganda well before the term “media literacy” was in wide circulation. Through my close reading of texts from the past, this paper shows how Postman’s work on language and meaning fits into the larger history of media literacy and propaganda education.

• / Media Literacy
• / Propaganda

Cite this Essay

Hobbs, R. (2021). “A most mischievous word”: Neil Postman’s approach to propaganda education. Harvard Kennedy School (HKS) Misinformation Review . https://doi.org/10.37016/mr-2020-65

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Mason, L. (2016). McLuhan’s challenge to critical media literacy: The “City as Classroom” textbook. Curriculum Inquiry , 46 (1), 79–97. http://doi.org/10.1080/03626784.2015.1113511

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The author did not receive any funding for this paper.

Competing Interests

The author has no conflict of interests to disclose.

This research did not involve human subjects and thus was not subject to approval from an institutional review board. The use and copyright restrictions of all archived and published materials were followed.

This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided that the original author and source are properly credited.

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History Resources

Revolutionary Propaganda: Persuasion and Colonial Support

By lydia loureiro.

Many students misconstrue the American Revolution as a period of unanimous support for independence from Great Britain. However, colonists generally considered themselves loyal British citizens, asserting rightful constitutional claims that had been previously established through their colonial charters or contracts. After the French and Indian War ended in 1763, many colonies saw their right of self-rule stripped away by Parliament as it exerted greater authority over its empire. In reaction to this attempt to centralize parliamentary control, the independence movement gained momentum within the colonies.

Prior to declaring independence there were several attempts by the colonists to mediate their growing troubles with Great Britain. By advocating for their rights and the precedent of self-rule, colonists increasingly distinguished their unique American political culture from their British counterparts’. Many colonists (and eventually foreign nations) had to be persuaded to join in this revolution. In order to encourage support, speeches and letters were published outlining the colonial grievances in pamphlets or broadsides. Through these documents, colonists attempted to create democratic change within their political structure. However, as time passed and tensions rose, these complaints formed the basis for the Declaration of Independence.

• Students will use SOAPStone to analyze primary sources by colonists arguing for independence.
• Students will study the Declaration of Independence as a base argument for colonial independence.
• Students will use this information to answer the essay question.

SOAPStone Graphic Organizer , Facing History and Ourselves

Document A,  "To Lay Our Grievances before the Throne" (PDF)

Document B, " Olive Branch Petition " by John Dickinson, The Avalon Project, Yale Law School

Document C, Common Sense by Thomas Paine , Project Gutenberg

Document D, " All Europe is Interested in Our Fate " by Mercy Otis Warren (PDF)

Document E, " Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death " by Patrick Henry, The Avalon Project, Yale Law School

Document F, The Boston Massacre by Paul Revere, The Metropolitan Museum of Art 

Class Set, Declaration of Independence , Milestone Documents, National Archives

Liberty! The American Revolution, Episode Descriptions , PBS

• Think-Pair-Share Activity: Name one way in which the American Revolution might have changed world history. Students should respond based on prior knowledge or textbook work.
• After students share their responses, discuss briefly the implications of the American Revolution or if you have an Honors or an AP class show the three-minute clip by Gordon Wood, "The Significance of the American Revolution."  Discuss student responses to his assertion that this is the most important event in our history.
• In order to garner support for independence, what events might have played crucial roles? Review briefly the influence of the French and Indian War, King Philip’s War, parliamentary acts affecting the colonies, the Boston Massacre, Lexington and Concord, and Bunker Hill.
• Homework: Have students create an illustrated timeline of these events with brief descriptions.
• Extension: Students can play " The Road to Revolution " game at PBS’s Liberty! The American Revolution website for review.

Days Two–Three

• Bellringer: Teachers should pull up a blog, Twitter, or section of the Daily Show or other satire to illustrate how people call attention to an issue that they would like to change. What was the tone of the example? Does tone matter? Explain.
• Explain to students that prior to the Revolution many arguments were made by the colonists to support either the British or the colonists. Explain that in this activity they will read a series of persuasive documents that express an opinion regarding independence. They will work in teams to SOAPstone these documents.
• Divide the students into heterogeneous groups of three.
• Prior to class label each of the documents listed above A–E and put them into large manila envelopes. Make at least two sets of each document envelope.
• Within their groups students will take one envelope and return to their seats.
• Each group will read through the document and SOAPstone the document together.
• When they have completed their SOAPstone they will return the envelope and repeat the process with the next envelope.
• By the end of the class the students will have SOAPstoned all of the documents.
• Homework: Which article was the most conciliatory in tone? Which article was the most aggressive in tone? What might have occurred to change the tone of these documents?
• Discuss the different types of tone the documents presented and why the tone grew increasingly aggressive. (Note: I focus this on the king’s reaction to the Olive Branch Petition. I then tend to spend more time discussing Common Sense as a pivotal document that engages more of the population and influences subsequent arguments. PBS’s series Liberty! , episode two, does a great job summarizing these arguments.)
• Briefly lecture on the importance of the colonial autonomy that had been established through their contracts and charters. The colonists considered these to be "constitutional" rights that should be protected as they were British citizens. The treatment as colonial subjects rather than equal citizens by the king and parliament increased anger within the colonies.
• Refer students to the Declaration of Independence. Individually SOAPstone the document and share with a partner.
• Go over the answers as a class.
• Essay: In the years 1774–1776 a growing sense of constitutional rights provided momentum for declaring independence from Great Britain. Compare and contrast how Thomas Jefferson built on previous arguments in order to justify independence.

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Propaganda Education for a Digital Age

• Posted March 4, 2021
• By Jill Anderson
• Moral, Civic, and Ethical Education
• Teachers and Teaching
• Technology and Media

While most of us don’t think about propaganda as something occurring today, it is everywhere. Propaganda is part of our news, entertainment, education, social media, and more. In order to understand the complexities of propaganda, we have to teach it, says Renee Hobbs , Ed.D.’85, director of the Media Education Lab at the University of Rhode Island.

“When you start to learn about propaganda, you inevitably realize the value and the importance of multiperspectival thinking,” she says. “The ability to think about a topic from a range of different points of view turns out to be incredibly powerful, to activate intellectual curiosity, to promote reasoning, to encourage genuine value judgements.”

Hobbs shares that understanding propaganda and being able to analyze, critique, and create it can strengthen democracy and impact the growing polarization in the country. In this episode of the Harvard EdCast, Hobbs shares how to revitalize propaganda education in the digital age.

• Propaganda education can fit in across all parts of the curriculum.
• A key goal of propaganda education is how to interpret messages while being mindful and strategic. Use familiar and inquiry-oriented pedagogies to help reflect and make meaning. Layer these practices in different subjects being studied. No matter what the subject, Hobbs contends that propaganda can be richly explored.
• Reinforce basic media literacy education practices in the home. Have conversations about who is the author of this message, what is their purpose, when we're playing a game, when we're reading a picture book, when we're checking out the Facebook feed, and when we're talking with grandma on the Zoom. Who's the author, what's the purpose tends to be a really great way to help kids understand that messages are created by people who have motives and purposes.

Jill Anderson: I'm Jill Anderson, this is The Harvard EdCast.

Most of us hear the word propaganda and don't think about it as a modern occurrence. Professor Renee Hobbs says we encounter propaganda at least once an hour in the news, entertainment, social media, and more. She is an expert in digital and media literacy who's been studying propaganda for decades. She believes learning to identify and understand propaganda is crucial for our democracy and also in navigating the overwhelming digital world we live. Yet, propaganda is often missing from school curriculums or is taught in outdated ways. I wanted to know more about propaganda education, but first, I asked Renee what propaganda is today and how we encounter it.

Renee Hobbs: Many different forms of expression that your listeners encounter every single day can be understood as propaganda, even though we might use words like clickbait, sponsored content, memes, social media posts, personalized search, and many other practices. The definition of propaganda changes as society changes. I like to think about propaganda's essential elements as having to do with intentional and strategic influence of public opinion. That's a really broad definition, but it really fits the contemporary era where propaganda can be found in news and journalism, in advertising and public relations, in government, in entertainment, in information, and even in education.

Jill Anderson: Our society and our world and our technology are really good at creating intentional and non-intentional things that we cannot even differentiate what's real and what's not.

Renee Hobbs: Yeah, it turns out that we've known for a long time that you can bypass people's critical thinking by activating strong emotions and responding to audience's deepest hopes, fears, and dreams by simplifying information. In fact, simplifying information has kind of become essential in an age where there's so much information. To break through the clutter, you have to have a snappy headline, it has to be shorter. Concision is a value of journalism as you know, but those are also practices that can lead to the bypassing of critical thinking. In some ways, we now encounter a lot of different messages where our feelings are activated, where we think we know what the story is because it's got a simple headline and it somehow appeals to our core values so we accept it, but we don't engage in the practice of critically analyzing it. My work in propaganda is in relation to my passionate efforts to bring media literacy education into American elementary and secondary schools.

Jill Anderson: Tell me a little bit about how learning about propaganda is a way to navigate this complex media environment that we're all engaging in.

Renee Hobbs: One of the claims I make is the idea that propaganda is in the eye of the beholder, that you might see that funny comedy, the interview about the goofy journalists who are sent out to assassinate a world leader, you might see that as entertainment, but when I watch it, I see something that looks darkly, darkly like a form of imperialistic propaganda. To me, it looks awfully devious to have the good guys go out and commit a political assassination, even if it's done in a very, very humorous way.

When you start to learn about propaganda, you inevitably realize the value and the importance of multiperspectival thinking. The ability to think about a topic from a range of different points of view turns out to be incredibly powerful, to activate intellectual curiosity, to promote reasoning, to encourage genuine value judgements. But multiperspectival thinking is hard. Looking at propaganda creates these fun ways to recognize that messages can be understood in many different ways, there's no one right answer. That's partly why I think it's so exciting to study propaganda with students because the discovery that it's the active interpretation that creates the meaning, well, that's a huge aha for studying anything. Literature, science, mathematics, philosophy, the arts, everything hinges on that in some ways.

Jill Anderson: Where are we in terms of how, and if, this is actually being taught in schools?

Renee Hobbs: Well, here comes the bad news, Jill. I started doing my work in propaganda in 2007 when I had a consultancy with the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. They had a special exhibit at that time called The State of Deception, it was about the history of Nazi propaganda. They wanted to help people make connections between the past historical propaganda of the 20th century Germany and bring it into contemporary times.

That inquiry led me to ask the same question that you just posed to me, where is propaganda taught in American public schools? What I learned is that it's only taught in history class and it's only taught in the context of Nazi Germany. Sometimes, if you go to a very good school, you'll get a study of propaganda in the context of learning about World War II, but that's it. It's only studied as a historical topic.

That led me to wonder, well, why is propaganda not studied in English language arts, because it used to be. I discovered that back in the 1930s, English teachers were indeed teaching about propaganda, during the 1930s, as antisemitism was rising in the United States and as radio personalities were on the radio saying all manner of idiotic things, dangerous and idiotic things. The Institute for Propaganda Analysis, in 1937, spent over a million dollars in 1930s money, with support from businessman, Edward Filene of Filene's Department Store. This was a really influential effort as this lesson plans and curriculum materials were brought into thousands and thousands of American high schools.

Many of the concepts that were introduced in the 1930s are the same concepts that are used in high schools today. For instance, if you look at an example of propaganda and you identify it as a glittering generality, or if you say, "Oh, it looks like they want everybody to do it. Everybody's doing it, so you should too," that's called the bandwagon effect. Well, those concepts are 70 years old and they were designed for radio, to analyze radio and news media.

That led me to wonder what happened. It turned out that right around the time of the 1990s, there was a little bit of attention to persuasive genres, studying persuasive genres in English class, but then along came the Common Core State Standards. The Common Core State Standards shifted the way English teachers thought about the relationship between logos, pathos, and ethos. The Common Core Standards redefined persuasion as argumentation and said that the only legitimate form of persuasion to study in schools was the logical kind, the one with reasoning and evidence and arguments. The other kind of persuasion, the one that activated strong feelings, the one that tapped into your deepest hopes, fears and dreams, the one that attacks opponents, well, that's not the kind of persuasive content you study in schools. Common Core State Standards redefined what counts as persuasion, and therefore, only a very narrow band of persuasive texts were studied.

A scholar named David Fleming wrote a really powerful essay tracing this historical trajectory in a publication for English educators. I found it very compelling because, essentially, conflating argumentation and propaganda, conflating argumentation as the only form of persuasive discourse leaves kids at a real disadvantage, given that most of the persuasive messaging they encounter in the world outside of school, well, it isn't logical at all. It's emotional, it's based on the credibility and character of the speaker. So kids end up with a real deficit in their understanding right now.

Jill Anderson: Are you actually seeing some restoration of this back into the curriculum in places or-

Renee Hobbs: Oh, absolutely. In fact, one of the most important moves happened in the National Council of Teachers of English, the national membership organization for English educators with more than 25,000 members. In 2019, they issued a really important resolution. It was called the Resolution on English Education for Critical Literacy in Politics. This is a formal statement approved by the NCTE membership that says, unfortunately, this post-truth society, which is characterized by the routine use of political lying, where we come to accept as routine lies that are not condemned, if we're living in a society where that's our reality, then we need to be able to interrogate the new types of texts that are circulating in culture. They offer a set of resolutions that suggest that students be able to learn to analyze and evaluate sophisticated persuasive techniques in all texts, genres, and types of media, and that they resist attempts to influence discussion through falsehoods or through stereotypes or attempts to shame or silence, that they recognize what are the forms of deliberative dialogue that promote democratic practice and what are the forms of communication and expression that shut them down.

This, I think, is issuing in a little bit of a call to action as English teachers take up the challenge. Of course it is a challenge, Jill, because, well, bringing controversial texts into the classroom for discussion can be challenging for teachers, in this culture where some teachers have gotten criticized for bringing in the New York Times. Imagine that. It takes courage and good pedagogical strategy to teach about propaganda in the climate of polarization that we are now living in.

Jill Anderson: For a lot of teachers, I imagine it's challenging to know how to handle this. Also, you have the challenge of adults struggling themselves with navigating these issues as well. What do you recommend for teachers who are feeling a little bit scared to do this on how to take those steps without maybe losing their jobs.

Renee Hobbs: Right.

Jill Anderson: Or getting that angry letter from a parent or email or something.

Renee Hobbs: Right. There are 70 stories in this book of educators that I've interviewed or met or read about their work who are doing propaganda education in really simple and innovative ways. Like the art teacher at Charlemont Academy, who has her students create lithograph posters as they learn to create propaganda as a means to begin thinking about how propaganda works, why it works, what its visual appeal is, and how it persuades. Or the school library media specialist from Deerfield, Massachusetts, who introduces teaching about propaganda by using one of the Mo Willems books, Pigeon Wants a Puppy. Pigeon is so trying to get a puppy that sometimes he persuades with facts and sometimes he persuades with feelings. Even young children, as young as five or six years old, can understand the different ways that people try to influence each other to get what they want.

Jill Anderson: As a parent, it's hard for me to imagine introducing some of these concepts to a young child. What can parents and caregivers do at home to help teach their children about this?

Renee Hobbs: I think basic media literacy education is a perfect way to engage in these practices in the home. We generally say to parents, "Look, there are so many opportunities to have conversations about who is the author of this message, what is their purpose," when we're playing a game, when we're reading a picture book, when we're checking out the Facebook feed, and when we're talking with grandma on the Zoom. Who's the author, what's the purpose tends to be a really great way to help kids understand that messages are created by people who have motives and purposes.

It's harder and harder for parents to engage in co-viewing practices because kids now have their own devices very early, we're all in a very hyper specialized way, but the idea of reflecting on our pleasures and noticing what attracts and holds our attention. Even young children can begin to say, "I like this game because it does X, Y, and Z." A kid who can come up with a sentence like that is more media literate than a kid who says, "I like it because it's funny." The idea of helping kids build the practice of reasoning about one's pleasures and choices and preferences, this is a very simple way to introduce media literacy in the home. Jill, I'm guessing that you do that all the time with your kid, right?

Jill Anderson: I have to say yes, of course.

Renee Hobbs: Yes, because as a trained media professional, you've internalized media literacy. Of course you think about the purpose, the author, and the point of view, but not everybody does.

Jill Anderson: I mean, on some level we do at home. I think we do a lot of discussions about commercials in my house, even though in a lot of ways it's always subtly there in some way, advertising.

Renee Hobbs: I'm so glad you're talking about that, Jill, because in fact, that is the best way to introduce propaganda education to young children. Learning about advertising is a developmentally-appropriate set of knowledge and skills for children in the elementary grades. You don't want to introduce young children to disinformation and harmful propaganda, but you sure do want to help them recognize how advertising persuades, right?

Jill Anderson: Right.

Renee Hobbs: You also want to talk about how activists use images and symbols and emotional appeals to persuade. I mean, Greta Thunberg is perhaps the most famous teenage propagandist of all time and she's brilliant at it, but let's be clear, it's a form of beneficial propaganda. Her efforts to hold us grown-ups accountable to the devastation of our ecological destruction is argued beautifully as she uses reasoning and evidence and facts, but as she uses the power of emotional appeals and her character, she's a very effective propagandist. I think right now, many young people who are looking to make change, make a difference, fix some of the many, many issues and challenges we face in society, I think they well understand the value of positive propaganda to address those big social challenges.

Jill Anderson: I'm glad you mentioned her as an example, because I think a lot of us, myself included, come from that lens of looking at propaganda solely as a bad thing because a lot of us learn it that way. You have said that this is propaganda doesn't have to be something that's negative.

Renee Hobbs: Propaganda is an essential part of the democratic process. Propaganda is how citizens use the power of communication and information to make a difference in the world. We couldn't have free and fair elections if we didn't have election propaganda, because people make decisions about who their leaders are based on logos, ethos, and pathos. Once you open up your thinking beyond thinking of propaganda as a smear word, you discover how relevant it is to every aspect of our social, political, cultural, educational lives.

Jill Anderson: But I think there's so many people right now looking at the world, thinking we've got all these threats of fake news that get thrown out there and growing conspiracies, and we're very divided. Propaganda education is one way to help us better understand that and maybe close the divide?

Renee Hobbs: Propaganda is both the cause and the cure for what ails us in society. Propaganda has helped to widen the polarization and the strategy of attacking opponents is really good at that, right?

Jill Anderson: Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Renee Hobbs: You create an us versus them feeling, you reinforce tribalism, and all of a sudden people see each other as enemies to be feared. But propaganda is also the only way that we come together as a society. It's the one way that we are induced to act together. Good propaganda can help us recognize the similarities that exist between us, the common values that bind us together as a people, and the deeper truths, the emotional and moral truths, that all human beings share.

The original meaning of the word propaganda, remember, is in spreading the gospel of love and forgiveness. We're going to need a heck of a lot of love and forgiveness if we're going to move forward. The cure for polarization is going to have to involve a great bit of critical thinking and an awful lot of love and forgiveness, because the way love and forgiveness come into cure us from this disease of polarization is if I'm willing to acknowledge that my understanding of the world is selective and incomplete, I don't have the whole story. I can't state for certain what is capital T truth, and I'm not going to find it through fact checking or experts or any of that. It's going to be a collaborative enterprise. I'm going to need a little help from my friends. The intellectual humility of acknowledging that we need each other to come to consensus, it's actually really liberating.

Jill Anderson: Yeah, and it sounds like everybody could benefit from having some propaganda education because this is only going to probably get more complex as media continues to evolve.

Renee Hobbs: Yeah, and at the same time, I would say that the pedagogies for teaching propaganda are not brand new pedagogies that you've never heard of, right?

Renee Hobbs: It's basically this practice of being metacognitive about how you interpret messages and being mindful and strategic in reflecting on the meaning making that you're doing. The pedagogies are very familiar, they're inquiry-oriented, they're rooted in reflection and meaning making, so it's not that hard to include them, to layer them into your science class. If you're studying the environment, you should darn well be studying environmental propaganda. If you're studying literature, you should be looking at language as propaganda. If you're studying art, Banksy is a must. You have to study art as propaganda.

Propaganda fits across the curriculum everywhere, with pedagogies that are familiar to teachers. All those great teachers that I found who were doing it made me realize that if we change our attitude about propaganda, we can in fact have a big influence in bringing media literacy competencies to all Americans.

Jill Anderson: Professor Renee Hobbs is the founder and director of the Media Education Lab at the University of Rhode Island. She's the author of numerous books about media literacy, including Mind Over Media: Propaganda Education for a Digital Age.

I'm Jill Anderson. This is The Harvard EdCast, produced by the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Thanks for listening.

Hobbs' new book, Mind Over Media: Propaganda Education for a Digital Age is the winner of the AAP PROSE Award for Excellence in Social Sciences for 2021. She also created a variety of digital resources to accompany the book , including the Propaganda Gallery, a crowdsourced collection of over 3,500 examples of contemporary propaganda suitable for educational use.

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Propaganda In Warfare Argumentative Essays Examples

Type of paper: Argumentative Essay

Topic: Propaganda , War , World , Violence , Military , French Revolution , People , Conflict

Words: 1200

Published: 12/26/2020

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Throughout centuries of fighting, the fundamental basis of warfare remains the ideological or militaristic conflict between two opposing sides. While the means, methods and strategies of warfare have changed dramatically in the last four hundred years, governments and militaries have always needed to find a way to ensure that morale remains on their side and encourage antipathy towards their opponents. To that end, propaganda was created – the biased historical and cultural narratives created by cultures and governments to vilify their opponents and uplift their own military forces. Propaganda has survived four centuries of change through its durability and malleability throughout time – military leaders and nations can utilize a variety of media to supply the people with pro-military and nationalistic messaging. Napoleon’s cult of personality throughout Europe, the tactics of the French Revolution and RMAs, the “total war” jingoism of World War I, the use of film in World War II, and propaganda’s use in today’s military conflicts are all indicators of the growing and constantly changing nature of propaganda throughout the last four hundred years of history. Some of the earliest, most prominent examples of European wartime propaganda include Napoleon’s efforts at building up public support for his campaign throughout Europe. Napoleon’s methods were particularly innovative; while he utilized the press and other normal avenues of propaganda to extol the virtues of his cause, Napoleon capitalized on his own image to create a cult of personality around himself, “[strengthening] his always precarious legitimacy by the continued invocation of patriotic-revolutionary symbols”. One way in which this was done was through medallions, which he commissioned to commemorate many of his battles (such as the Five Battles Series) – by wearing them, in inflated his sense of success and prestige, which thus made him more admirable as a leader. Even in these early forms of propaganda, war leaders knew to attract the public using innovative and varied methods to catch their attention and earn their loyalty. Propaganda has proved particularly effective as a means of facilitating and fomenting revolution. During the French Revolution, propaganda was used on both sides to motivate the troops by appealing to obedience, or to instill vigor and passion in revolutionaries by pointing out the evils of the state. The Old Regime, in particular, suffered greatly from misusing propaganda, or not using it enough; instead, officials used fear “without propaganda,” as they were “incapable” of actually using propaganda effectively. However, because of this, their armies were always restricted in size and mobility, as troops would be more likely to desert without sufficient motivation and the supervision of superior officers. In this way, propaganda can often be seen as a more effective tool than armies, as the state of mind of the people fighting in a war is heavily determined by exactly how they were motivated to do so. While these efforts were important and noteworthy, propaganda in the state it is known today began in earnest around the time of World War I. The forces on both sides of the conflict constructed incredibly large and intricate propaganda operations to involve the people in their support of their pet side of the war. Propaganda was also used to deliberately obfuscate any gaining or loss of ground – “in the war of position, nations magnified any loss of terrain for propaganda purposes” during the First World War, as the relationship between public morale and practical progress in the war was very strong. At the same time, German withdrawals were capitalized on by Allied propaganda, allowing them to exaggerate those movements as defeats. From that point on, propaganda itself became a double-edged sword, known for obfuscating facts as much as it was inspiring its people to help its nation win a conflict, and inspiring resentment of citizens toward its host countries for getting them involved in wars using it. In many ways, propaganda reached its apex with World War II, becoming the catalyst for the conflict itself. Nazi Germany was heavily inspired by Britain’s successful propaganda tactics in the First World War, and used them to instill a sense of nationalism and righteous vengeance in their own people during the 1920s and 1930s. Germans made particularly effective use of the RMA here, utilizing each new triumph of the Wehrmacht over the Allies in the 1940s as fuel for their propaganda machine. Hitler’s immensely successful war strategy was contingent not just on military might, but on the ability to inspire “a leap of faith from [his] followers” using inspirational propaganda that highlighted the alleged supremacy of the Aryan race as well as the military might of Germany. It was because of his command of propaganda and inspiring nationalist zeal that Hitler’s military might and authority over the German people in World War II was so complete. The United States also used equally aggressive propaganda to motivate troops and the general war effort during World War II. This was even the case in instances when goals and objectives overreached beyond what was actually needed – in the final years of the Second World War, “American propaganda had portrayed the United States as irrevocably bound to the unconditional surrender of Japan,” even though this was not anticipated by the Coordinating Committee. It can even be argued that this propaganda was too aggressive, preventing America and Japan from communicating with each other and finding a peaceful solution to the war “well before mid-August 1945.” This demonstrates the double-edged sword that wartime propaganda has been for the last four hundred years; while it is an effective means of motivating the people, it can often lead to vitriol and animosity that prevents both sides from coming to peaceful solutions in the name of nationalism. Throughout the history of warfare, nations have always used propaganda to convince their people of the righteous nature of their cause. Even today, propaganda remains a useful tool for warfare, with many new technologies providing even more varied ways or governments and militaries to advertise the righteousness of their cause. Along the way, various methods and media have been used as the canvas to ensure that citizens side with them against their enemy, and provide material and emotional support for the fight. Propaganda has been shown to be extremely effective in inspiring troops and citizens to fight for their cause, becoming an integral part of many famous conflicts and central strategies of noted military leaders, from Napoleon to Hitler. From the early days of colonial Britain, to the morale strategies of the French Revolution, to the propaganda machine of Nazi Germany and beyond, propaganda of all kinds will always be used as a social tool of warfare.

Clausewitz, Carl von. On War. ed. and trans. Michael Howard and Peter Paret. Princeton, 1976. MacGregor, Knox and Williamson, Murray. In The Dynamics of Military Revolution, 1300 – 2050. Cambridge, 2001. Luffa, Timothy. The Dynamics of Doctrine: The changes in German Tactical Doctrine during the First World War. Paret, Peter, ed. Makers of Modern Strategy. Princeton, 1986. Parker, Geoffrey, ed. The Cambridge history of warfare (Cambridge, 2005).

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Propaganda Techniques in Literature and Online Political Ads

• Resources & Preparation
• Instructional Plan
• Related Resources

After reading or viewing a text, students are introduced to propaganda techniques and then identify examples in the text. Students discuss these examples, and then explore the use of propaganda in popular culture by looking at examples in the media. Students identify examples of propaganda techniques used in clips of online political advertisements and explain how the techniques are used to persuade voters. Next, students explore the similarities of the propaganda techniques used in the literary text and in the online political ads to explain the commentary the text is making about contemporary society. Finally, students write a persuasive essay in support of a given statement. In this lesson, some specific references are made to Brave New World as examples. A text list suggests additional novels, short stories, plays, and movies that will also work for this activity.

Featured Resources

• Literature Featuring Propaganda Techniques and Themes : This booklist provides lists of novels, short stories, plays, and movies that can be used in lessons about propaganda.
• Persuasion Map : Use this online tool to map out and print your persuasive argument. Included are spaces to map out your thesis, three reasons, and supporting details.
• Persuasive Writing Scoring Guide : Use this reproducible rubric to assess the focus; organization; sentence fluency and word choice; and conventions of persuasive writing assignments.

From Theory to Practice

In the NCTE publication Lesson Plans for Creating Media-Rich Classrooms , editor Scott Sullivan notes that by "making students aware of the ways information is used and manipulated, we allow them to begin making wiser, more informed choices" (176). Students benefit doubly, then, by studying the concept of propaganda in a traditional literary context and in real-world applications pulled from multimedia sources. Their understanding of the literary text is enriched and enhanced and they are encouraged to "become more informed and conscientious citizens" (174). In this lesson, which encourages students to explore "the intrinsic relationships between content, product [or candidate], and profit [or power], they begin to see that what may once have seemed an objective enterprise [a political campaign] is, in fact, subject to a variety of influences, some subtle, some not" (175).

Further Reading

Common Core Standards

This resource has been aligned to the Common Core State Standards for states in which they have been adopted. If a state does not appear in the drop-down, CCSS alignments are forthcoming.

State Standards

This lesson has been aligned to standards in the following states. If a state does not appear in the drop-down, standard alignments are not currently available for that state.

NCTE/IRA National Standards for the English Language Arts

• 1. Students read a wide range of print and nonprint texts to build an understanding of texts, of themselves, and of the cultures of the United States and the world; to acquire new information; to respond to the needs and demands of society and the workplace; and for personal fulfillment. Among these texts are fiction and nonfiction, classic and contemporary works.
• 3. Students apply a wide range of strategies to comprehend, interpret, evaluate, and appreciate texts. They draw on their prior experience, their interactions with other readers and writers, their knowledge of word meaning and of other texts, their word identification strategies, and their understanding of textual features (e.g., sound-letter correspondence, sentence structure, context, graphics).
• 4. Students adjust their use of spoken, written, and visual language (e.g., conventions, style, vocabulary) to communicate effectively with a variety of audiences and for different purposes.
• 6. Students apply knowledge of language structure, language conventions (e.g., spelling and punctuation), media techniques, figurative language, and genre to create, critique, and discuss print and nonprint texts.
• 7. Students conduct research on issues and interests by generating ideas and questions, and by posing problems. They gather, evaluate, and synthesize data from a variety of sources (e.g., print and nonprint texts, artifacts, people) to communicate their discoveries in ways that suit their purpose and audience.
• 8. Students use a variety of technological and information resources (e.g., libraries, databases, computer networks, video) to gather and synthesize information and to create and communicate knowledge.
• 12. Students use spoken, written, and visual language to accomplish their own purposes (e.g., for learning, enjoyment, persuasion, and the exchange of information).

Materials and Technology

• A literary text featuring propaganda techniques (see booklist for ideas)
• Propaganda Techniques Used in Literature
• Analyzing Propaganda in Print Ads and Commercials
• Background Information before Examining Online Political Ads
• Propaganda Techniques Used in Online Political Ads
• Persuasive Essay Assignment
• Persuasive Writing Scoring Guide

Preparation

• Students should have read or viewed the text that you've chosen for this lesson. Several of the books on the list (and some appropriate Young Adult novels) are featured in the Text Messages podcast episode Teen Time Travel .
• Make copies of the handouts: Propaganda Techniques Used in Literature , Analyzing Propaganda in Print Ads and Commercials , Propaganda Techniques Used in Online Political Ads , and Persuasive Writing Scoring Guide .
• If desired, make copies or an overhead transparency of the Persuasive Essay Assignment .
• Read the background information related to online political advertisements.
• Test the Persuasion Map on your computers to familiarize yourself with the tools and ensure that you have the Flash plug-in installed. You can download the plug-in from the technical support page.

Student Objectives

Students will:

• analyze texts to identify different types of propaganda techniques.
• identify and explain the goal of propaganda techniques used in a work of literature and an example of non-print media.
• compare and contrast examples of propaganda techniques used in a work of literature and visual media.
• identify and gather evidence from a secondary source.
• use visual literacy skills to analyze, interpret, and explain non-print media.
• participate in a class discussion, gather information, and write a persuasive essay that synthesizes information from their explorations of propaganda.

Session One

• In this session, students will move toward a definition of propaganda by responding in writing or verbally to the question, "What is propaganda?"
• Have students discuss their thoughts and opinions of propaganda as you share information from the Wikipedia definition of propaganda and/or the What is Propaganda? definition with the class.
• Ask students if they have ever seen or heard propaganda used. If so, have students share what they saw or heard and what effect it had on them. Depending on their knowledge of propaganda, the effect may have been the same as or different from what the propagandist intended. Ask them to think about the reasons leaders and organizations often employ propaganda.
• Discuss how propaganda is a powerful tool when combined with mass media.
• Review examples of propaganda and discuss the ideas and examples with the students.
• Identify an example of each type of propaganda technique used in the text you've chosen.
• Explain what goal each technique is trying to accomplish.
• Consider why the propaganda in the text is not challenged by most people in the society.
• Identify any characters who seem to question the propaganda in the text (e.g., John the Savage, Helmholtz, and Bernard in Brave New World ) and explore the possible reasons for their questioning.

Session Two

• As you move to a discussion of propaganda in literature in this session, have the students share the types of propaganda they have found in the text they examined in the first session.
• As students present their ideas, draw attention to whether students identify the same propaganda techniques. If there are any differences among the examples or techniques, ask students to consider whether more than one applies.
• Why is the propaganda in the text not challenged by most people in the society?
• Which characters do question the propaganda and what causes their questioning?
• To provide students the opportunity to make connections to propaganda in their own lives, assign Analyzing Propaganda in Print Ads and Commercials for homework. This activity asks students to look for examples of propaganda in their world. Online video clip sites such as YouTube are useful resources for students to explore. Invite students also to bring in the ads they use for their assignment or video clips from television or movies.
• Before the next session, select two or three political election advertisements from the Internet to show to students during the next session. If you cannot easily project the ads, students can also view the advertisements at home or at a public computer. If students will explore the advertisements on their own, be sure to allow enough time between this and the following session for students to complete the viewing.

Session Three

• Begin this session, focusing on identifying propaganda in cotemporary and historical political advertisements, by reviewing the Analyzing Propaganda in Print Ads and Commercials sheet that students completed for homework. Allow students to share any examples they brought with them.
• Show students the two political advertisements you've chosen for the session.
• Who are the members of the target audience—women, men, young voters, baby boomers, senior citizens?
• Is the political ad trying to sell a message (tough/soft on crime, cut/raise taxes, strong/weak defense, clean up the mess in Washington) or the candidate (has experience, creates new ideas, tells the truth, tells lies, is a loving family member)?
• How does the political ad use production elements (sound effects, music, camera angles and movement, black and white or in color, special effects, graphics) to sell the message?
• What kind of propaganda techniques are used in the advertisement?
• What facts are being used in the ads? Who's providing the facts and where did they get them?
• Is the political advertising effective? Did it get the message across? Will voters vote for the candidate? Are you convinced? Explain each of your answers.
• Explain the connections between propaganda used in the political ad and propaganda used in the literary text you explored in earlier sessions.
• Using links to Websites from the online political campaign sites or from historical sites (see Resources section), assign the students the task of evaluating online political advertisements, using the Propaganda Techniques Used in Online Political Ads sheet as a guide.
• What facts are being used in the ads?
• Who is providing the facts and where did they get them?
• Explain any connections between the propaganda used in the political ad and propaganda used in the literary text you explored in earlier sessions.

Session Four

Using specific examples of propaganda techniques from the piece of literature you've explored and the online political advertisements, write a well-organized essay that argues in support or against the following statement: "It is essential in a democratic society that young people and adults learn how to think, learn how to make up their minds. They must learn how to think independently, and they must learn how to think together. They must come to conclusions, but at the same time they must recognize the right of other men to come to opposite conclusions. So far as individuals are concerned, the art of democracy is the art of thinking and discussing independently together." (Institute for Propaganda Analysis. The Fine Art of Propaganda. New York: Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1939)

• structure ideas and arguments in a sustained and logical fashion.
• use specific rhetorical devices to support assertions (e.g., appeal to logic through reasoning; appeal to emotion or ethical belief; personal anecdote, case study, or analogy).
• clarify and defend positions with precise and relevant evidence, including facts, expert opinions, quotations, and/or expressions of commonly accepted beliefs and logical reasoning.
• address readers' concerns, counterclaims, biases, and/or expectations.
• Share the Persuasive Writing Scoring Guide to explore the requirements of the assignment in more detail.
• Demonstrate the Persuasion Map and work through a sample topic to show students how to use the tool to structure their essays.
• Allow students the remainder of class to work with the Persuasion Map as a brainstorming tool and to guide them through work on their papers.
• Encourage students to share their thoughts and drafts with the class as they work for feedback and support.
• See the ReadWriteThink lessons Argument, Persuasion, or Propaganda? Analyzing World War II Posters and Analyzing the Stylistic Choices of Political Cartoonists to extend or enrich your study of propaganda and political messages.

Student Assessment / Reflections

• As students discuss propaganda and the issues in text, listen for specific evidence from the story that connects to the information students have researched. The connections they make between the details in the novel and the details they choose as the supporting reasons for their position will reveal their understanding and engagement with the text.
• Monitor student interaction and progress during group work to assess social skills and assist any students having problems with the project.
• Use the Persuasive Writing Scoring Guide to assess students’ papers.
• Student participation in all activities and completion of homework assignments
• Quality of student responses to in-class and homework activities
• Calendar Activities
• Strategy Guides
• Professional Library
• Student Interactives
• Lesson Plans

Election Day is held on the Tuesday after the first Monday in November.

The Persuasion Map is an interactive graphic organizer that enables students to map out their arguments for a persuasive essay or debate.

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• Kindergarten K

Argumentative Essay On Propaganda

Kelsey Mateo 1/12/14 Argumentative Essay Mrs. Kudla The Use Of Propaganda Is it really only bad in war? Propaganda is used around the world for many reasons in many different ways. Propaganda are ideas or statements that are often lies or exaggerated truths used in order to help a cause, a leader, or a government. (Def 1) It isn’t always used for the good of the people but it makes a point. In the book Animal Farm by George Orwell, propaganda is used in the favor of the pigs, Napoleon and Squealer. The pigs had many situations that they used propaganda to help explain the problem like when Squealer and Napoleon called Snowball a ‘traitor’ and ‘criminal’ (Orwell p.69-70) or when Squealer told the animals to adopt Boxer’s mottos after he had died (Orwell p. 126). The world itself has always had some sort of propaganda to explain certain events in society such as WWI (TROMP p.1) or WWII (PIE p.1-2). Even though many situations have used propaganda it was not usually used for the good of the people, instead it was used for the benefit of the leaders. Some people will still argue that propaganda is goo to our society even though everything bad has happened from some sort of propaganda. The term propaganda began to be widely used to describe the persuasive tactics used by both sides during the world wars and by later tyrannical political regimes of the twentieth century (TROMP p.1). These people are just being ignorant to be honest. There is always two parts to everything and they’re only seeing what they want to see. The bad part is that the good of the propaganda is hidden behind all the lies of the bad propaganda. They like to believe that the government is doing this for to goo... ... middle of paper ... ...ple will find that propaganda helped the government as well as the people. Though those cases most likely ended in war, which used war propaganda that does not help the people in fact it does only benefit the leader or government. Citation Page • "Propaganda." Merriam-Webster. Merriam-Webster, n.d. Web. 09 Jan. 2014. (Def 1) • "Patriotism." Merriam-Webster. Merriam-Webster, n.d. Web. 09 Jan. 2014. (Def 2) • Orwell, George. Animal Farm. New York: Harcourt, Brace, 1954. Print. (Orwell p. #) • "The Rise of Modern Propaganda." The Rise of Modern Propaganda. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Jan. 2014. (TROMP p. #) • "Propaganda Is Everywhere." Propaganda Is Everywhere. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Jan. 2014. (PIE p. #) • "Recognizing Propaganda Techniquesand Errors of Faulty Logic." Recognizing Propaganda--Guide to Critical Thinking--Academic Support. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Jan. 2014. (RPTEOFL)

Propaganda In A Democratic Society Analysis

In the article, “Propaganda in a Democratic Society” by Aldous Huxley he mentions multiple reasons why we need propaganda to flourish as a country, and why it helps. He envisioned the future of propaganda, and knew how to influence emotions among the community in order to promote things we don’t necessarily need. Huxley knew the importance propaganda would be in the future lives of politicians, media, and business. People need to feel an emotional connection with an idea or thing to be in agreement with it. I feel like the propaganda is important in our society because of how it is used. Propaganda is brilliant in its own way; it opens doors from sellers to consumers, which increases the richness of our economy. Huxley mentions, “As it is

Essay On Ww1 Propaganda

During WW1, the Americans had influenced the war by propaganda. Propaganda is when you spread rumors to influence society. Propaganda was used to affect Germany, Great Britain, and the United States. In Germany propaganda was used to give the soldiers morals and people with false information that was sent by balloons or planes. In America propaganda was used to persuade other Americans to join the war against Germany. In Great Britain, propaganda was meant to convince men into joining the war and for people to save food for the war effort.

Use of Propoganda In Animal Farm

Propaganda is used by people to falsify or distort the truth. In the book Animal

Propaganda and its Use in Society: Is it Fair?

The base of all propaganda is to shape the information in such a manner that it manipulates the viewers into believing what the propaganda wants them to believe. Its persuasive techniques are regularly applied in day-to-day life by politicians, advertisers, journalists, and others who are interested in influencing human behavior. Since propaganda is used with misleading information, it can be concluded that it is not a fairly used tool in the society.

Propaganda: Hitler's Path to Power

Rudiger, C. (2003, September 2). World War II and Propaganda. Retrieved March 29, 2014, from Stanford : http://www.stanford.edu/class/e297a/World%20War%20II%20and%20Propaganda.htm

Propaganda in World War I

Propaganda is great when it comes down to advertisements but, then it gets more serious. Propaganda then shifts from wha...

Propaganda Effects of World War One

Hummel, William and Huntress, Keith. The Analysis of Propaganda. New York: William Sloane Associates, 1949

Propaganda in George Orwell's 1984

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Summary Of Edward L. Bernays's 'Propaganda'

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The Use of Propganda Throughout American History

The “Every American Should Beware”. Source 2 “Spies and Lies” p.142 In this Advertisement, the author wants every American to believe that the enemy is in their country. The enemy is taking away their rights and their privacy. If you didn’t act, then you were not doing the correct job.

What does the word propaganda really mean? For most of us we assume that it is a word for negativity use. Just to assure those that think of propaganda as a negative word. Propaganda does have a positive objective if used correctly. The word propaganda is defined in a few different ways, But in the most general usage, it varies from bad to good persuasion of our minds. It is used during election time to our daily lives on television to our newspaper stands. According to Donna Cross’s essay, “Propaganda: How Not to Be Bamboozled,” there are thirteen different types of propaganda; this paper will discuss six varieties. George W. Bush and Dick Cheney used primarily every sort of propaganda to influence the citizens; therefore, our national society needs to develop awareness in the propaganda used by such politicians so that they can make wise decisions intelligently.

Analyzing the Film Food Inc and the Propaganda Message for Positive Change

The Independent (2010). Power to the pictures: The evolution of propaganda. [online] Retrieved from: http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/features/power-to-the-pictures-the-evolution-of-propaganda-2075321.html [Accessed: 11 Nov 2013].

The Necessary Intellect of Ordinary People

The uneducated are often unaware of how people take advantage of them when under the power of a leader using propaganda. Propaganda is an opinionated advertisement used to control and appeal to people's judgement and emotions, and gets them to do what they want (Stults). Not all persuasion is propaganda, and not all propaganda is bad (Stults). George Orwell writes Animal Farm as an allegorical fable associated with Lenin’s lead over the revolution that established the Communist control of Russia. After the animals of Animal Farm are successful with the Rebellion against Jones, they to lose sight of how the pigs are slowly influencing them. Like the use of propaganda in Russia, the pigs on Animal Farm are able to manipulate the other animals using simplicity and repetition, distortion and bad logic, and fear.

Compare and Contrast Totalitarian and Democracy Propaganda

Propaganda is influencing the attitude of countries and nation’s communities toward some cause or position. There are two different extreme types of systems of government that use propaganda, totalitarian and democracy. In a totalitarian government, this government has power over every aspect of personal and private life. It is an extremely controlling and dictatorial type of government. On the opposite end of the spectrum is the democracy government where the people get to vote for the party they want to rule. This type of government is open and extremely permissive and allows freedom of speech and freedom of the press.

Propaganda Essay

From any corner in the world you will be surrounded by propaganda: in the streets, in your house, even when you’re driving. Propaganda appears in many forms but I personally believe it to be the shaping of public beliefs, in which communication is used with the intention of manipulating. In short, propaganda is the art of brainwash. This form of art has been going for many centuries and has played an important role in the history of art, especially during the 20th century in which propaganda was used to persuade people to join the military service or to stand for their countries during wartime. At that time the objective was only one, nowadays there is more than one objective; how does propaganda influence the way 21st century society pre-establishes ideas and makes contradictions within taboos such as tattoos, marijuana and sexuality?

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Taiwan’s Top Diplomat Says U.S. Aid to Ukraine Is Critical for Deterring China

Foreign Minister Joseph Wu said in an interview that a Russian victory could embolden China to move against Taiwan and would fuel anti-American propaganda.

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By Edward Wong

Reporting from Taipei, Taiwan

Joseph Wu, the foreign minister of Taiwan, said on Thursday that a halt in U.S. arms shipments to Ukraine would embolden China in its aggressions against Taiwan and fuel propaganda from Beijing that the United States is an unreliable partner.

“When people ask us whether it is OK for the United States to abandon Ukraine, the answer is no, because the world is operating not in a black-and-white way, or if you only look at one theater at a time,” he said. “The world is interconnected.”

If Russia is able to occupy more of Ukraine and claim victory, he added, “it would be seen as a victory of authoritarian states because Russia, China, North Korea and Iran, they are now linked together.”

Mr. Wu’s comments, made in a wide-ranging hourlong interview in Taipei, come as the Biden administration tries to get Congress to pass a supplemental funding package that would give $60 billion of aid to Ukraine.

Many House Republicans are staunchly opposed to giving more aid to Ukraine, adopting the “America First” posture embraced by former President Donald J. Trump, a pro-Russia candidate who has pressed them to reject the package. For months they claimed they would be willing to consider providing more assistance for Kyiv if the Biden administration imposed severe immigration restrictions at the United States border with Mexico. But at Mr. Trump’s urging, they balked at a funding package that would have done that, calling the border measures too weak.

The package also includes $8 billion of aid to counter China in the Asia-Pacific region, $1.9 billion of which would refill stocks of U.S. weapons sent to Taiwan. And it includes $14.1 billion of military aid to Israel.

Some Republican lawmakers contend that China is a bigger threat than Russia and that the funding proposed for Ukraine should go toward countering China. But other Republican officials in Congress and many Democrats make the same argument as Mr. Wu: that Taiwan’s security is linked to that of Ukraine, because China will see weakness on the part of the United States — and a greater chance of success in a potential invasion of Taiwan — if Ukraine is defeated.

Chinese leaders have said for decades that Taiwan, a de facto independent island, must be brought under the rule of the Communist Party, by force if necessary. Xi Jinping, China’s leader, has continued to promote that position.

The U.S. and Taiwanese governments have been trying to deter China from notions of invading Taiwan, including through military buildup in the region and bolstering alliances with other democratic nations.

If the United States abandons Ukraine, Mr. Wu said, China will “take it as a hint” that if it can keep up sustained action against Taiwan, “the United States is going to back off, the United States and its allies are going to back off.” The thinking among Chinese officials would be this, he said: “OK, since Russia could do that, we can do that as well.”

“So the U.S. determination in providing support to those countries suffering from authoritarian aggression, it is very important,” Mr. Wu said.

After U.S. troops withdrew from Afghanistan in 2021, China pushed propaganda through traditional state-run media and social media that “the U.S. commitment to anything is not firm,” Mr. Wu said. “We suffered from a huge wave of cognitive warfare.”

China has also spread disinformation stressing Russian narratives of the war, Mr. Wu said, including the idea that the expansion of NATO forced President Vladimir V. Putin to attack Ukraine, and that the United States is ultimately not committed to supporting Ukraine.

On the eve of Russia’s invasion in February 2022, Mr. Putin visited Mr. Xi in Beijing, and their two governments announced a “no limits” partnership .

Mr. Wu said some Central and Eastern European nations seeking to forge anti-authoritarian partnerships had strengthened their relations with Taiwan during the war.

His comments on the need for the United States to keep supporting Taiwan echo those of other senior Taiwanese officials. In May 2023, Bi-khim Hsiao, then Taiwan’s de facto ambassador to the United States and now the incoming vice president, made similar arguments to reporters in Washington.

And in February, Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi, Democrat of Illinois, said during a visit of American lawmakers to Taiwan that the current president, Tsai Ing-wen, and the president-elect, Lai Ching-te, made clear to the lawmakers that “if for some reason the Ukrainians do not prevail, that will only encourage hostilities against Taiwan.”

Edward Wong is a diplomatic correspondent who has reported for The Times for more than 24 years from New York, Baghdad, Beijing and Washington. He was on a team of Pulitzer Prize finalists for Iraq War coverage. More about Edward Wong

Our Coverage of the War in Ukraine

News and Analysis

Kyiv is aiming to build its own weapons to bring the fight to Russia, signaling a potential boom in domestic weapons production . Whether that can be done in time to alter the trajectory of a war that would be more tenuous without U.S. military aid remains to be seen.

Ukraine’s troop-starved brigades have started their own recruitment campaigns  to fill ranks depleted in the war with Russia.

The Czech Republic froze the assets of two men and a news website  it accused of running a “Russian influence operation” in Europe.

Symbolism or Strategy?: Ukrainians say that defending places with little strategic value is worth the cost in casualties and weapons , because the attacking Russians pay an even higher price. American officials aren’t so sure.

Elaborate Tales: As the Ukraine war grinds on, the Kremlin has created increasingly complex fabrications online  to discredit Ukraine’s leader, Volodymyr Zelensky, and undermine the country’s support in the West.

Targeting Russia’s Oil Industry: With its army short of ammunition and troops to break the deadlock on the battlefield, Kyiv has increasingly taken the fight beyond the Ukrainian border, attacking oil infrastructure deep in Russian territory .

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Our team of visual journalists analyzes satellite images, photographs , videos and radio transmissions  to independently confirm troop movements and other details.

We monitor and authenticate reports on social media, corroborating these with eyewitness accounts and interviews. Read more about our reporting efforts .