Propaganda in Animal Farm and the Media What

Propaganda in Animal Farm and the Media

What is Propaganda? • The spreading of ideas, information, or rumor for the purpose of helping or injuring an institution, a cause, or a person. • It is usually an appeal to emotion instead of intellect. • It shares the same techniques used in advertising and public relations. • It shapes a perception of an organization, cause, or product.

What is Propaganda? Relies on: • Half truth • Generalities • Logical fallacies • Outright lies

What is Propaganda? § https: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=l 8 fjvf mn. Mqc

Discussion • How does the “Three Little Pigs” video use propaganda? What ideas does it want the U. S. citizens to have? Use examples from the video.

Logic is the process of drawing a conclusion from one or more premises. A statement of fact, by itself, is neither logical or illogical (although it can be true or false). As an example of how logic can be abused, consider the following argument which has been widely propagated on the Internet. • Premise 1: Hillary Clinton supports gun-control legislation. • Premise 2: All fascist regimes of the twentieth century have passed gun-control legislation. • Conclusion: Hillary Clinton is a fascist. • It should be noted that a message can be illogical without being propagandistic -- we all make logical mistakes. The difference is that propagandists deliberately manipulate logic in order to promote their cause.

Logical Fallacies • Common errors in reasoning that will undermine the logic of an argument. Fallacies can be either illegitimate arguments or irrelevant points, and are often identified because they lack evidence that supports their claim. • Avoid these common fallacies in your own arguments and watch for them in the arguments of others.

Techniques for Spreading Propaganda • • Media News Reports Government Reports Movies Radio Television E-mails and Blogs

Types of Propaganda “Name Calling” • Attacking the opponent personally instead of his or her ideas. • Create an unfavorable hatred towards a person or group instead of their ideas or beliefs. • Ex. From Animal Farm:

Types of Propaganda “Common Enemy/ Scapegoat” • This method is used extremely often during wartime, and also in political campaigns and debates. • This is an attempt to simplify a complex situation by presenting one specific group or person as the enemy. • Ex. from Animal Farm;

Types of Propaganda “Repetition” • By repeating information or ideals that the person in power wants people to believe, people are influenced and brainwashed. • Ex. From Animal Farm:

Types of Propaganda “Glittering Generalities” • Using vague wording or generalizations, which are often a slogan or a catchphrase. • They appeal to the senses such as honor, love, country, peace, etc. • They cannot be proven true or false. • Ex. From Animal Farm:

• Types of Propaganda “Plain Folks” This approach is used to convince the audience that the spokesperson is just like them. • Portrayed to be someone they can trust and someone who has their best interests in mind. • Ex. From Animal Farm:

Types of Propaganda “Card Stacking” • Propagandist makes the best argument possible for his or her side and presents it against the weakest argument of his or her opponent. • Ex. From Animal Farm:

Types of Propaganda “Fear” • This technique is used when a propagandist warns members of the audience that disaster will result if they do not follow a particular course of action. • Ex. from Animal Farm:

Argument to the Person (Ad Hominem) • An attack on the person proposing an argument rather than on the argument itself. – Senator Jones was a conscientious objector during the Vietnam War, so his proposal to limit military spending has no merit.

Types of Propaganda “Bandwagon” • Portrays ideas to get people to “follow the crowd. ” • Gives the impression of widespread acceptance and support and expresses that it is in a person’s best interest to join the cause or movement. • Ex. from Animal Farm:

Types of Logical Fallacies “Either… or” Fallacy • The suggestion that only two alternatives exist when in fact there are more. – Either learn how to program a computer, or you won’t be able to get a decent job after college.

Types of Logical Fallacies Red Herring • An argument that focuses on an irrelevant issue to detract attention from the real issue. – Reporters are out to get the president, so it’s no wonder we are hearing rumors about these scandals.

Types of Logical Fallacies Hasty Generalization • A generalization based on insufficient or unrepresented evidence – Deaths from drug overdoses in Metropolis have doubled over the last three years. Therefore, more Americans than ever are dying from drug abuse.

Types of Logical Fallacies False Analogy • The assumption that because two things are alike in some respects, they are alike in others. – If we put humans on the moon, we should be able to find a cure for the common cold.

Types of Logical Fallacies Non Sequitur (Does Not Follow) • A conclusion that does not follow logically from preceding statements or that is based on irrelevant data. – Mary loves children, so will make an excellent school teacher.

Identify Types of Propaganda Used in Animal Farm • • • Old Major’s speech. Mystery of the milk and apples for the The military decorations. The debate over the windmill. Squealer telling the animals about Napoleon taking over the farm • Squealer explaining the idea of the windmill to be Napoleons’-

Identify Propaganda Used in Animal Farm • The sheep repeating “Four legs good, two legs bad. ” • Blaming Snowball for everything that goes wrong on the farm. • Ending the song “Beasts of England. ” • Napoleon giving himself a medal • Boxer being taken and killed-

Examples of Propaganda Bandwagon Glittering Generalities

Examples of Propaganda Bandwagon

Examples of Propaganda “Name Calling”

Propaganda Examples “Scapegoat”