Name
Date
Section
Propaganda and Free Will?
Directions: Using the examples on the FRONT WHITE BOARD. There are no wrong answers; just think about
how you read advertisements and understand marketing. You can talk to one another! No more than 5 minutes!!
When you are done, go back to your seats because there is more!!! Save room for class notes!!
Think about the following:
 What are you being asked to buy: what is the product/service?
 Who is the audience and how do you know?
 How does this advertisement appeal to you?
 What is the company/brand using to “sell” this product to you? How are the selling it to you?
Example # ______
Product:
Audience:
Appeal:
The Sell:
Name
Date
Section
Rhetoric and Rhetorical Strategies:
Rhetoric (n) – The art of speaking or writing effectively
According to Aristotle, rhetoric is “the ability, in each particular case, to see the available means of persuasion.”
He described three main forms of Rhetoric: Kairos, Ethos, Pathos, Logos
KAIROS:
 The perfect time to act, you need to act now; a favorable moment for decision or action.
 Basically, an audience’s situation is taken into consideration by the speaker and the speaker caters to the
needs of the audience. Use the audience’s situation to get what you want.
 EXAMPLE:
o Germany’s situation in WWII caused Hitler was successful not only because of his personal
charisma and his mastery of delivery, but because he spoke at the right time: the German people
wanted a way out of its economic distress and its cultural shame. Hitler provided them both; had
Germany been doing better economically, Hitler's words would have bounced harmlessly off the
air.
ETHOS:
 The appeal is based on the character of the speaker. An ethos driven document relies on the reputation of
the author:
 Connection to advertisement: the “speaker” could be the brand, like Nike or Chevy. Also, the “speaker”
can also be the person endorsing the product, like a celebrity.
 EXAMPLE:
o Something you have “trusted for over 30 years” or using a spokesperson to vouch for integrity like
Tiger Woods for Gatorade or Match.com
o Current examples:
LOGOS:
 Appeal is driven based on logic or reason
 Documents distributed by companies or corporations are logos-drives, as are scholarly essays/documents
 Something that uses a statistic or convincing reasons, appeals to the reason of the people
reading/viewing/hearing it
 EXAMPLE:
o Four out of five dentists agree…
o Lower your car insurance by 15%
o Current examples:
PATHOS:
 Appeal based on emotions or feelings
 Use your Latin! Think about: emPATHy or symPATHy
 Something playing on sympathy, fears, and desires (yes, SEX falls into this category most often)
 Meant to produce an emotional response from the people reading it.
 EXAMPLE:
o MSPCA commercial. Done.
o Current Examples:
Name
Date
Section
NOTE #_______
Finding Propaganda
DIRECTIONS: Using this sheet for your answers, look around the room. There are numbered advertisements
hanging on the walls. Choose ANY 4 and decide what product is being sold, the audience, and which rhetorical
technique is being used. Think about how/why it works and is effective:
Example # ______
Example # ______
Product:
Product:
Audience:
Audience:
Rhetorical technique(s):
Rhetorical technique(s):
Why/how it works
Why/how it works
Example # ______
Example # ______
Product:
Product:
Audience:
Audience:
Rhetorical technique(s):
Rhetorical technique(s):
Why/how it works
Why/how it works