The Crisis

Thomas Paine and the art of

Propaganda
 “These are the times
that try men’s souls…”
In 1776 Paine wrote Common Sense,
an extremely popular and successful
pamphlet arguing for independence
from England.
General Washington found it so
inspiring, he ordered that it be read to
the troops at Valley Forge.
“The Crisis” is chock full
of propaganda
 It’s a form of persuasion that attempts to influence the
emotions, attitudes, opinions, and actions of a target
audiences for various purposes
 Ideological (related to your beliefs)
 political
 commercial
 It uses one-sided messages (which may or may not be
based on fact).
 It often uses loaded messages to produce an emotional
rather than rational response to the information presented.
 Propaganda, simply put, tries to manipulate public
opinion to get us to believe what someone wants us
to believe.
Famous examples
 So what are the
propaganda techniques?
Bandwagon: this
approach
encourages you to
think that because
everyone else is
doing something,
you should do it
too, or you'll be left
out.
Glittering Generalities:
This technique uses
important-sounding "glad
words" that have little or no
real meaning. When these
words are used, they
demand approval without
thinking.
For example, when a
person is asked to do
something in "defense of
democracy" they are more
likely to agree.
Name calling: This
attaches a negative
label to a person or a
thing. People engage in
this type of behavior
when they are trying to
avoid supporting their
own opinion with facts.
Rather than explain
what they believe in,
they prefer to try to tear
their opponent down.
Plain Folks: This
technique uses a
folksy approach to
convince us to
support someone or
something. These
ads depict people
with ordinary looks
doing ordinary
activities.
Transfer: An attempt is
made to transfer the
prestige of a positive
symbol to a person or
an idea. For example,
using the American flag
as a backdrop for a
political event makes
the implication that the
event is patriotic and in
the best interest of the
U.S.
Testimonial: when
"big name"
personalities are used
to endorse a product.
Whenever you see
someone famous
endorsing a product,
ask yourself how much
that person knows
about the product, and
what he or she stands
to gain by promoting it.
Card Stacking:This term
comes from stacking a
deck of cards in your
favor. Card stacking is
used to slant a message.
Key words may be
included or
unfavorable statistics
may be omitted in an ad
or commercial, leading to
a series of half-truths.
So what does this have
to do with