• 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.

• A literary text featuring propaganda techniques
• Propaganda Techniques Used in Literature chart
• Online political campaign sites
• Analyzing Propaganda in Print Ads and Commercials
• Background information related to online political advertisements
• Propaganda Techniques Used in Online Political Ads handout
• Persuasive Essay Assignment
• Persuasion Map
• Persuasive Essay Rubric

• 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 chart, Analyzing Propaganda in Print Ads and Commercials, Propaganda Techniques Used in Online Political Ads handout , and Persuasive Essay rubric.
• 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.

1. In this session, students will move toward a definition of propaganda by responding in writing or verbally to the question, “What is propaganda?”
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. Discuss how propaganda is a powerful tool when combined with mass media.
5. Review examples of propaganda and discuss the ideas and examples with the students.
6. In pairs or small groups, have the students fill out the Propaganda Techniques Used in Literature chart.
   
   
   • 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.

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. Using the answers from the Propaganda Techniques Used in Literature chart, invite the students to discuss the following questions:
   
   
• 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?
  
  
4. 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.
5. 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.

1. 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.
2. Show students the two political advertisements you’ve chosen for the session.
3. Use the Propaganda Techniques Used in Online Political Ads handout to help students respond to the following questions, using the two selected political advertisements:
   
   
   • 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.
     
     
4. Using links to Web sites from the Online political campaign sites or from historical sites (see Web Resources below), assign the students the task of evaluating online political advertisements, using the Propaganda Techniques Used in Online Political Ads sheet as a guide.
5. After completing their work with online ads, invite students to discuss the following questions:
   
   
   • What facts are being used in the ads?
   • Who is 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 any connections between the propaganda used in the political ad and propaganda used in the literary text you explored in earlier sessions.

1. After students have completed their investigation of propaganda techniques in the various texts, ask them to apply their new learning by writing a persuasive essay:
   
   

   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)

2. In their persuasive essay, students should
   
   
   • 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.
     
     
3. Share the Persuasive Essay Rubric to explore the requirements of the assignment in more detail.
4. Demonstrate the Persuasion Map and work through a sample topic to show students how to use the tool to structure their essays.
5. 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.
6. 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.


• Consult the resources in this Cable in the Classroom magazine essay, “Lights, Camera ... Debate,” to apply media literacy analysis (including awareness of propaganda) to the political debate process.

All Politics: Candidates
http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/1996/candidates/ad.archive/

The CNN political ad archive features some of the most famous political ads since 1952.

Dissect an Ad
http://www.pbs.org/pov/pov1996/takingonthekennedys/dissect.html

This site is built around an exercise developed by the Center for Media Literacy to get the voter (or voter-to-be) thinking critically about presidential election campaign ads.

The Living Room Candidate
http://www.livingroomcandidate.org/

This collection from the Museum of the Moving Image includes footage of presidential campaign commercials from 1952 to the present.

Propaganda Critic
http://www.propagandacritic.com/

Propaganda Critic provides definitions and examples of the nine most frequently used propaganda techniques.

Buyers Beware!
http://www.thematzats.com/propaganda/prop/sld001.htm

This slideshow illustrates propaganda techniques and advertising strategies using common brands and items.

Propaganda Techniques
http://www.disinfopedia.org/wiki.phtml?title=Propaganda_techniques

This article from Disinfopedia.com explores propaganda techniques.

Center for the Study of Political Graphics
http://www.politicalgraphics.org/home.html

This site provides resources and analysis of the images used in political advertisements and satire. Some of the images may be inappropriate for your classroom, so be sure to preview the site to determine how to use it.

The Basic Principles of Persuasive Writing
http://www.writingcentre.ubc.ca/workshop/tools/argument.htm

This University of British Columbia overview touches on the basic strategies that make a piece of persuasive writing effective, including details on the various appeals typical of this mode of writing. The site can provide additional direction for students who need more direct instruction on persuasive writing to complete the project.

• 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 Essay Rubric to assess students’ papers.
  
  
• In addition to the specific feedback on the persuasive essay that students write, you can pay attention to the following indications of student involvement in the project:
  • Student participation in all activities and completion of homework assignments
  • Quality of student responses to in-class and homework activities
    
    

NCTE/IRA Standards

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).