Reference no: EM133679303
Assignment 2: Culture of Influence
"Just because something isn't a lie does not mean that it isn't deceptive. A liar knows that he is a liar, but one who speaks mere portions of truth in order to deceive is a craftsman of destruction."
- Criss Jami
Purpose: The purpose of this assignment is to identify the approaches used in propaganda and to analyze how they work to manipulate an intended audience.
Skills: The purpose of this assignment is to help you practice the following skills that are essential to your academic pursuits and your participation as an active global citizen. In this assignment, you will:
Understand the tools used in a particular text
Understand how authors work to manipulate their audience
Recognize commonly used methods in propaganda and influence
Begin to understand the presence of fallacies in arguments
Knowledge: This assignment will also help you become familiar with the following important content in this discipline.
Rhetorical choices in persuasive pieces
Analysis genre writing structure
The pervasiveness of influence and propaganda texts
Interpretation of visual arguments
Task: To complete this assignment, you will:
Select a TED Talk or a piece of propaganda (this can be an image, advertisement, video or speech and can be from any point in history).
While I encourage you to select your own, you are welcome to use the list that I am providing.
You should not be using Ferrera or Robison's talks, which we have discussed extensively in class, at this point you want to be applying the analysis strategies on your own.
If you selected your own talk for the one-pager, you are welcome to build from this.
Identify the following: the author, intended audience (not everyone) and the purpose
Identify the tools and approaches used in the piece of propaganda
You will consider the logical fallacies present in the text
You will consider the use of the 3 major rhetorical appeals
Determine whether or not the piece is a positive or negative use of influence/propaganda
Decide if you feel the means were justified
Determine how effective you think the piece is in persuading the intended audience
The last 3 bullets will help you determine your claim and guide your writing project.
Craft a 3-4 page "academic" analysis essay, which supports your claim regarding the ad's effectiveness and justification.
Craft a clear thesis that presents your analysis on the effectiveness of the piece
Provide clear developed analysis specific details from your text (work through specific symbols, vocabulary, imagery etc...)
Full critical analysis of the details of the text, demonstrating how they are using rhetorical appeals and logical fallacies to persuade their audience.