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Donna Woolfolk Cross's Argument Against Propaganda

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Donna Woolfolk Cross posits that being informed about the many forms of propaganda is important for everyone living in a democratic society. She backs up her argument by pointing out the common misconceptions about propaganda, such as the reality that even though most people are against propaganda, they are likely not to understand some of the more common applications of propaganda. Cross suggests that, because of this misunderstanding, many of those who are against propaganda may be fooled by it frequently. This nation-wide manipulation occurs every day, and if a democratic system is to ever represent the whole of a population, instead of just a fraction’s manipulations, then it is essential that individuals learn how to detect and deal with propaganda. Cross offers up several points of advice for people in regards to handling propaganda. She goes about labeling each different type of propaganda, because without first knowing what propaganda is, it would be impossible to fight it. Within each of these explanations she provides several relatable examples that help connect the reader to her main points. She …show more content…

Among these are the tendency to pull tired metaphors, similes, and other figures of speech out of a hat, resulting in a Tetris level of participation. Then there is the common substitution of long, bloated words that carry the shallow appearance of intelligent thought in the place of shorter, meaningful words that get the point across, but may appear dull if the point is dull. Finally, there is the unfortunate padding of sentences with useless operators that cloud the original meaning with vague and passive phrases. Not only are these bad habits stunting creativity in writing, they are manipulating the

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Throughout American history, propaganda pieces have been used to sway the public opinion on one matter or another. The famous Federalist Papers were used to sway the early American public to ratify the Constitution. The Civil War also heavily relied on propaganda to recruit soldiers and boost morale. At the turn of the 20th century, Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle was written as a propaganda piece on socialism, however, it was remembered for its cometary on the ethics of the meat packing industry.

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The author of "Simplicity," William Zinsser has discovered that writing frequently deals with clutter. He makes it obvious in his essay that writing "fuzz" and clutter can annoy and weary a reader. Zinsser emphasizes that clutter in writing not only frustrates readers but also obscures the intended message. He argues that simplicity is key to effective communication, as it allows ideas to shine through and resonate with the audience. Zinsser provides examples of how "clutter" or “fuzz” is harmful to both the writer and his audience, as well as a resource for messy writing.

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Propaganda is in all aspects of daily life , from advertisements on tv to buy a certain product ,to campaign posters and stickers promoting a candidate. Propaganda is around us twenty four seven. It persuades a personal opinion in a good way , but in some cases it does just the opposite. Propaganda comes in many forms such as glittering generalities,stacked cards,negative attacks , endorsements , and many more .It's used in a time of need such as the civil war and in time of want such as elections and advertisements of a product.

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Propaganda is made to emotionally influence the people to join the war, even if it is necessary to lie, or portray the enemy as inhuman. By appealing to pathos, countries could recruit more soldiers, as emotions are easy to manipulate. In Document E, propaganda changes the soldiers’ perspective by demonizing their enemies. This is seen the poster with the angry man where the newspaper title says, “HUNS KILL WOMEN AND CHILDREN”. In this headline, the number of women and children that were killed was not stated.

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An example would be “Be Sure You Have Correct Time.” This poster, aimed to persuade the minds of many Americans to adopt anti-foreign policies on many countries who were going to war with us at the same time. Therefore, the propaganda was trying to exploit the foreign countries’ citizens who we were at war with. A second example would be the poster titled, “This is the Enemy.”

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Beginning in colonial America and used even after we became a country, we have used propaganda countlessly to spark the emotions of our population towards a common issue. The American press constantly provided more and more examples of this propaganda to unsuspectingly persuade its viewers towards their goal. Propaganda was used to unify the people in this new American land to come together and face the problems that it has as a unified people, and that we should all have a sense of

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World War 1 was the first war were propaganda played huge role in keeping people at the home front informed about what was happening throughout the battlefields. This was also the first war where the government introduced propaganda to target the public and change their opinion on war (“Propaganda in World War 1”). There were many reasons for the governments to use propaganda throughout World War 1 such as; to blacken the enemy's name, to turn countries against another country, to persuade people into enlisting, to make war sound glorious ("Facts - AL WWI Propaganda."), and to calm down or even to stir up emotions throughout the war. One of the main ways propaganda was used in World War 1 was to ensure that the public only knew what the governments wanted them to know.

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Propaganda is used by the World State from the novel “Brave New World” and Adolf Hitler, the Nazi Party. Propaganda is a way of persuading the masses for a certain organization or movement. It is a form of mind control and works on the fears and desires of the audience. The three forms of propaganda that the World State and Adolf Hitler, the Nazi Party, use are the following. Bandwagon, convincing the audience to take advantage of the offer before it is too late.

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“To be a leader means to be able to move masses” (Adolf Hitler). The quote epitomizes both the Nazi party in Germany and the World State in the novel ‘Brave New World’. The Nazi’s and World state exercised propaganda to gain dictatorship and control over their people. It is not difficult for one man or society to dictate millions with the help of advanced technology and propaganda techniques. The propaganda techniques like card stacking, glittering generalities, and plain folks are used in the propaganda of the Nazi party(Adolf Hitler) and the World State .

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