P ROPAGANDA ,
RHETORICAL DEVICES,
AND P ERSUASIVE S PEECH
P ROPAGANDA

The spreading of ideas or information with
the intent of influencing others.

Commonly used in advertising or media.

Known for stretching the truth for the
speaker’s own purpose.

Done through WORD GAMES and SPECIAL
APPEALS

Effective when the audience doesn’t examine
the evidence.
R EPETITION

Building recognition of the
product, person, or idea by
constantly repeating key ideas.

In order to be effective, it must
be short and easy to remember.
G LITTERING G ENERALITIES

Reverse Name-Calling

Linking the idea with a positive
symbol or word.

The speaker hopes the audience
will associate the positive symbol or
word with their idea.
E UPHEMISMS

Making an unpleasant reality
seem more pleasant by using
bland or unloaded words.

“Shell shock” vs. “Post-traumatic
Stress Disorder”

“Politically Correct”
B ANDWAGON

Everyone else is doing it….

Plays on the idea that no one
wants to be left out.
P LAIN F OLKS

Convincing the audience the idea
is “of the people”

The idea will benefit the average
person, not just the elite or
underprivileged.
N AME C ALLING

Links a person or idea to a negative
symbol

The speaker hopes the audience will
associate the negativity with the person
or idea and therefore come to dislike
the idea or person.
F EAR

Can be positive or negative

Playing on the audience’s fear of
the consequences of doing or not
doing a particular act.
R HETORICAL Q UESTION

Questions with obvious answers that are
meant to provoke thought in the
audience.

Questions that aren’t meant to be
answered.

Examples:
 How far must we go to create peace?
 Teacher: Do I really want you getting up to
sharpen your pencil now instead of listening to the
directions?
S ATIRE

A literary work that ridicules the
foolishness and faults of
individuals, an institution, society,
or even humanity in general.
R EPETITION

The use of any element of language
more than once

Elements of language include:






Sound
Word
Phrase
Clause
Sentence
Poetical devices
A LLEGORY

A story or tale with two or more levels
of meaning – a literal level and one or
more symbolic levels.

Literal level – what is actually
happening in the story

Symbolic level – what the story and/or
characters symbolize from real life.
A LLUSION


Reference to a well-known person,
place, event, literary work, or work of
art.
Example: “But it was a time of vague
optimism for some of the people:
Maycomb County had recently been
told it had nothing to fear but fear
itself,” (Lee 6).
 Reference to Franklin D. Roosevelt’s
inaugural speech.
M ETAPHOR

An analogy that compares two
unlike things by saying they are the
same thing.

Examples:

School is a prison.

The clouds are marshmallows in
the sky.
A LLITERATION

Repetition of initial consonant sounds.

Used to give emphasis to words, imitate
sounds, and create musical effects.

Example:

The ridiculously rabid rodent bit the
child.
P ROPAGANDA A SSIGNMENT
Now it’s your turn to create a piece of your own propaganda.
You have just been hired by Propaganda Inc. to create
advertisements for their main products. You need to create
an advertisement that portrays one of the types of
propaganda we have discussed. You will need a visual which
can be in the form a poster or you can act it out with your
group. You will also need a paragraph explaining the type of
propaganda you use. Things you will need to include in your
paragraph: what type of propaganda your advertisement is,
a description of the advertisement itself, and why the
propaganda will work on the general public.