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Luisa Vaca
Cindy Cortez
English 85
3 September 2014
Propaganda: How Not To Be Bamboozled
1. According to Cross, propaganda is “Simply a means of persuasion and so it can
be put to work for good causes as well as bad.” Propaganda means ideas, facts, or rumors
purposely spread to further one’s cause or to damage the cause of an opponent. Most
people use propaganda for different things, but I would say big industries are the ones who
use propaganda in their everyday lives, as well as public speakers, senators, etc. It works
well with an audience who aren’t critical, or don’t have enough knowledge to know what is
being portrayed, maybe since they are the ones who are easily in brainwashing and agree
with anything that sounds good. Propaganda is used to try and convince people into why
we should buy their items, why we should vote for them, why we should do for our
community and so forth.
2. Cross thinks it’s important for people to know about the methods and practices of
propaganda since it can be misleading and also deceiving. By not knowing about
propaganda one can make poor decisions on matters that are important or even little things
that aren’t that important such as purchasing items. If people were well informed maybe
some things that have happened in history or even now in present times wouldn’t of
happened. Advice would be to not just go with what the person is saying simply because
what they are saying sounds nice, acceptable, or what you want to hear, we also have to
question why is it good?, what do they really believe?, and will it really benefit us?. If I
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might add, don’t just go with what everybody else is going for or voting for since they
might not have the knowledge to know about propaganda, make your own decisions based
on your own knowledge on if the propaganda is for a good cause or a bad cause.
3. Red-herring is a distraction often used to distract the people from the main issue.
There is a variety of distinct red-herrings that can be used to distract us. People often use
this technique to lure others away from the main issue by focusing on something good or
pleasant but irrelevant. It makes us believe something pleasant even though it doesn’t
relate to the main issue, just to avoid it. Begging the question means assuming in a premise
that which needs to be proven. An example would be, “If our generation wasn’t so into
technology, we wouldn’t be so dumb founded.”
4. According to Cross, the most common propaganda trick is testimonial. This
device includes having a loved one or someone you really know give a supporting speech
for a product or an idea. Giving a speech about something you really don’t know about but
use someone intelligent. Testimonial is used commonly in TV commercials, they make an
object or clothing look appealing by using a model, making people think, “If I get that
product then I can look like her/him.” I have had many experiences with this type of
propaganda, some examples include; hair dye and cosmetics. I once saw a commercial for
a certain hair dye and the model in the commercial was saying how wonderful this product
worked and how it looks as if you just came out of a salon, so I go to Wal-Mart and buy this
hair dye, Revlon by the way, and after I finish dying it I see that my hair looked nothing
like the model in the commercial I then realized that the model hadn’t actually tried the dye
she just had similar hair color so they used her and she was just promoting it. Another
example was when I saw this really “good” foundation on a TV commercial and the
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model’s face looked flawless and she was saying that by using that foundation your skin
would look as if you had nothing on, as soft as a baby’s bottom. So I go on and buy it and
again another lie.
6. An analogy is a special form of comparison in which the writer explains
something complex or unfamiliar by comparing it to something familiar. Now the
question is how does the analogy in the bandwagon appeal work? Well she uses the
examples of the lemmings really well since bandwagon is the when you choose something
or do something since everyone else is doing it, usually to fit in or be accepted by others.
As she says in her essay, lemmings get together in a large group and go into the deep water
to commit suicide by drowning themselves. This was a good analogy for that fact that these
lemmings are gathering each other to commit suicide and for what? Because it’s a thing to
do, because every other lemming is doing it, same question we ask for people. Why are
people just doing things or going for things they have no clue about just because everyone
else is. As Cross says in her essay, “Group approval does not prove that something is true
or worth doing.” Most people think well it must be good if everyone else is doing it so
might as well do it too, not even thinking why is everyone doing this or trying that, or even
asking themselves why should I follow along with everyone else. It is not a false analogy
since Cross uses an actual life analogies such as the lemmings and humans. Analogies help
me as a writer in expressing my point to the readers, it also helps me picture what I am
writing in my head letting me add more detail into my writing.