Title a Journal Entry NOTES on PROPAGANDA Propaganda

Title a Journal Entry: “NOTES on PROPAGANDA” Propaganda is the deliberate attempt to influence a mass audience to think or act a certain way.

NOTES on PROPAGANDA 1. SLOGANS Catch-phrases, easily remembered. Where does this show up in Animal Farm? Four legs good, two legs bad.

NOTES on PROPAGANDA 2. REPETITION You see the message over and over again until you remember it very well. Where does this show up in Animal Farm? Four legs good, two legs ba-a-ad.

NOTES on PROPAGANDA 3. LOADED WORDS Words that arouse strong emotional reactions. Where does this show up in Animal Farm? When Squealer says…(page 820)

NOTES on PROPAGANDA 4. POWERFUL IMAGES Pictures or symbols that have emotion or feeling attached to them. Where does this show up in Animal Farm? Beasts of England…

NOTES on PROPAGANDA 5. APPEALS TO FEARS Plays on your fears or insecurities. Where does this show up in Animal Farm? You don’t want Jones to come back, do you?

NOTES on PROPAGANDA 6. APPEALS TO BASIC NEEDS AND DESIRES We all need food, water, safety and a sense of belonging. Propaganda can appeal to this to persuade us. Where does this show up in Animal Farm? Farmer Jones starves us, whips us, slaughters us!

In History, Propaganda has frequently been used by governments… • As you look at these real examples from Czarist and Communist Russia, consider: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. What goal is the propaganda trying to accomplish? What powerful images do you see? What different appeals are used? How is repetition used? What powerful language is used? What slogans are used (in Russian)? How might this propaganda misrepresent the real situation?

Advertisers make decisions. • Every element of every advertisement you see has been intentionally designed to communicate a specific message to various levels of your awareness. – Conscious – Subconscious …YES, they did that on purpose! …YES, they meant for it to be like that! …YES, it is FOR A REASON!

Social Norms • A representation of what is considered “normal” or “typical” behavior, appearance, or attitude within a society. • What we perceive about social norms dictates how we choose to act, think, and see ourselves. • Whenever we observe other humans, our brain adds to our “behavior toolkit” and our “moral toolkit. ” • Our brains developed before the internet, television, and even photography… • Our brains developed with the assumption: If I see it in my community often enough, it is a norm…and therefore I should follow that norm.

Look to family for models of appropriate behavior and beliefs Look to community (friends, more distant relatives, people you see on a regular basis) Look to television, movie, or music images for defining models of behavior… “adding to the toolkit”

Norming…you can disagree, but everything here is TRUE!! • Propaganda (advertising) targets multiple levels of our “perception. ” – CONSCIOUS: we see, read, understand the overt (obvious) message communicated by the medium. • “BUY THIS PRODUCT!” – SUBCONSCIOUS: the images communicate to the part of our brain that helps us define what is “normal. ” Few people consciously think about this. The images create “a social environment. ” • “…normal women should look like ____, normal men should look like____; to be normal, you should think ____ about violence, you should think ____ about sex, you should think ____ about education, you should treat your parents like ____; you should…”

Once the norm is established: • It’s multi-billion-dollar psychology: – The ad reminds your subconscious that you are not “like” the norm. – The ad offers a solution (cause-and-effect) for how to bring you closer to the norm. – If you say “I don’t do that…” you have fallen precisely into the trap that advertisers want you to! You now cease to operate using your “conscious” brain, and they are free to target your “subconscious. ”

Questions to Consider… • What powerful images are present? – Why are these specific images used and arranged the way they are? • What appeals (to fears, wants, needs) are present? – Why are these appeals used? • What loaded or powerful words (or slogans) are used? – Why are these specific words used? • What social norm is suggested by the image or advertisement?