Rhetoric, Ideology, and Propaganda

This week I presented with my partner, Sarah, on the United States mobilization effort during World War II. There was so much that I learned while doing this project. There is so much detail and technique when trying to persuade people on your side towards a cause. It was amazing seeing how effective images and fear appeals were during this time in order to create polarization between the United States and Nazi Germany/Japan.

Our thesis was:

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The U.S. mobilization effort of World War II had a powerful effect on the American people because of its heavy use of propaganda and lack of alternate media sources.

The two main ways in which this effort was successful was by:
-Rallying support for the war mainly through the government control of information and with the help of Hollywood; this tight control over the situation left the American people with a single, very biased representation of the war abroad.
-Both of these media sources used strong emotional and fear appeals to justify World War II to the American people.

And as an outcome, this social movement was not only successful in its own time, but it has also helped to shape subsequent social change movements throughout history.

Definitions of propaganda:

-According to Jowett and O'Donnell, propaganda is the deliberate, systematic attempt to shape perceptions, manipulate cognitions, and direct behavior to achieve a response that furthers the desired intent of the propagandist.
-Lee and Lee note that the Institute for Propaganda Analysis has defined propaganda as "expression of opinion or action by individuals or groups deliberately designed to influence opinions or actions of other individuals or groups with reference to predetermined ends."

There are several propagandistic techniques.
-The Institute of Propaganda Analysis identified a couple of propaganda techniques. Among them are:
-Name calling
-Glittering generality
-Transfer
-Testimonial
-Plain folks
-Card stacking
-Bandwagon

In the end, the United States utilized these techniques to demoralize the Nazis and Japanese. America was the good guy and these two foreign nations were the bad guys. Several print ads included vivid and scary images that depicted these nations as evil; they were illustrated as cold barbarians.

My previous perception of what propaganda is was more extreme than what I learned from this project. Propaganda is everywhere. Sometimes it is so underhanded that we don't even notice it. It doesn't come off as evil at times. But that's the thing. I thought of propaganda as evil and obvious to notice. But it's not always evil, depending on the person. I see propaganda in television shows, with the cast telling us how to dress or what's cool.

Similar to this, Clean Water Action must also use propaganda and its techniques to persuade its audience. Referring back to my friend's, Jaymie's, account of her experience with this social change group, the CWA representative did include propagandistic tactics in her rhetoric.

Some of the tactics she used were glittering generalities, card stacking, and plain folks. She connected the United States with the idea of it being our home, our place of comfort. Why wouldn't we protect it? She talked about democracy and freedom, two very vague terms that mean so much to American people. She stacked question after question. Sometimes these questions were so outrageous, as if our contribution to their efforts would help democracy and our state as directly as they made it seemed. And in the beginning, she incorporated the plain folks appeal making her seem just like is. She brought herself down to our level, making her seem that much more believable and legitimate in her words.

It was interesting to look back on my friend's experience with CWA and actually notice these tactics being used with my friend. They obviously did work on her because she did donate money and wrote a letter.