Homework:
Read Propaganda Techniques. Prepare to respond to one of the Writing Topics on Thursday. Also identify the fallacies associated with the "techniques," be prepared to share.
For extra credit, post a summary here.
Find a scholarly article on BLM and John Howard Griffin. What arguments are raised either for or against the project? Put the more salient -- Griffin's and three others, in standard form. use those arguments posed by authorities, famous people (smile).
Post a summary of one of the articles here: the analysis or the biography. Also, post the arguments. Do you see any fallacious arguments? If so, you can post one of them as one of the three. What is the fallacy? Name it.
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Andrea Giang
ReplyDeleteProfessor Sabir
English 5
11 May 2011
Summary of “Social Action, Spirituality and the Curriculum of the Heart: John Griffin’s respect for Beauty”
John Griffin’s book is about what he experienced after he dyed his skin black. Instead of talking about racism in terms of numbers and legalities, he took matters into his own hands and learned personally what it’s like to be discriminated against. Peter Willis writes in his article that Griffin’s life consisted on three themes: the beauty of life, the honoring of journalism, and social relations especially how racism affects it. Griffin seemed to want to find the beauty of every part of his life. According to Willis, Griffin values the simplicity of life. This is believed to be because for a few years he lost his sight. After his experience in the south as a black person, Griffin returned and became involved in anti-racism. Willis believes that he is greatly influenced by his friends.
Griffin’s argument:
Premise 1: No white person judged a black person by their characteristics but by the color of their skin
Premise 2: White people have a certain stereotypic view of black people that they can’t get pass.
Conclusion: White society has preconceptions of black people: those who are trouble and those who are stereotypes of “good blacks.”
Argument Against Project:
Premise 1: People might make an example of Griffin
Premise 2: Possible resentment from all hate groups and they’ll try to discredit Griffin
Conclusion: Backlashes from his experiment could prove to be dangerous to him and those associated with him.
Argument For Project:
Premise 1: Communication between whites and blacks don’t exist
Premise 2: A southern black person would not tell a white person the truth if asked.
Conclusion: Become a black person to experience discrimination and learn the truth
Peter Willis’s Argument:
Premise 1: While he was blind, his friends lend them their eyes and ears.
Premise 2: Since he learned compassion from his friends, he uses this to expose the ugliness of prejudice and racism to the world.
Conclusion: Even though there are ugly things such as prejudice and racism in the world, there can still be beauty such as friendship and compassion.
Andrea Giang
ReplyDeleteProfessor Sabir
English 5
11 May 2011
Propaganda Techniques Summary
In “Propaganda Techniques in Today’s Advertising,” Ann McClintock writes that we are all victims of advertising. Those who are exposed to ads absorb the messages into their subconscious. Advertisers use ads to try to sell products to people. The word propaganda means to convince people to side with a certain view. Although we tend to think that propaganda is associated with war, they can also apply to the selling of products. The point is to convince people to believe what they want you to believe.
There are seven types of propaganda: name calling, glittering generalities, transfer, testimonial, plain folks, card stacking, and bandwagon. Name calling is the act of calling the competition negative names. This makes the audience feel negatively about the competitor. Glittering generalities is a tactic advertisers use to make their product more appealing. They tend to use words that can have different meanings depending on the person. Transfer is when advertisers use a symbol that people trust to convince their audience that their product is safe. Testimonial is when advertisers use someone famous to speak for their product. Plain folks is a tactic that associates the product with everyone else. It makes the product seem normal, just like everyone else. Card stacking is when the advertisers show just one side of the story and not the other. Bandwagon is a method where the advertisers try to convince to buy the product because everyone else is buying it.
These advertising tactics work because they appeal to emotions rather than logic. So instead of researching the product ourselves, we let ourselves believe what the advertiser claims.
Dennis Foley
ReplyDeleteProfessor Sabir
English 5
12th May 2011
Scholarly article on BLM:
“Passing the fictions of identity” By Elaine K. Ginsberg
In the article “Passing the fictions of identity”, Elaine K. Ginsberg supports Griffins experiment as a remarkable work of civil advocacy. Ginsberg discusses what this book accomplished some challenges he faced and why his research is so important. He says that “Griffin’s preface sentimentalizes and romanticizes “black experience” in order to authenticate the interpretive power of the white male voice” (156).