American

Propaganda:
Project Based
Learning
Joshua Alvarez, Juan Secundino,
Yeoreum Kim
American Literature and
Composition
Fall 2017
What is Propaganda?

● Propaganda is information, ideas, or rumors deliberately used

promote or publicize a particular political ideology or cause.
● The means by which it is spread spans from newspaper,
television, radio or any popular form of publication.
What insight did you gain about
propaganda?

● Propaganda, in any form, is used to influence a particular

community in favor of a specific cause or ideology; more often
than not, it achieves this by demonizing the opposition. While
there are instances in which propaganda may ultimately benefit
society, it is inherently hateful.
How had propaganda affected people
historically?

● Propaganda is as old as society. In fact, it is ineffective without

society; its sole purpose is to shift the favor of a community for a
cause or against an opposing cause. Propaganda can be used to
promote patriotism in times of war and encourage people to stay
together. This can be seen during the Cold War when the world
was at a cross between communism and democracy- the United
States promoted the success of democracy and highlighted the
faults of communism.
Propaganda: Image 1 Analysis

The purpose of this piece is to promote support

for American troops. Likely distributed in United
States, the intended audience would be average
American citizens. Knowing this, the propagator
was sure to be inclusive, using words like “your”
and, more directly, “teamwork”. Moreover, the
picture depicts a man in a dress shirt, symbolizing
the average American, operating a machine gun,
alongside American soldiers, illustrating the
cooperation between citizens and troops as if
they were equals in combat.
Propaganda: Image 2 Analysis

A bond of Mexican and American,and that

american considered mexican as also
american,but their are gonna join together to
fight for victory,so they put a image of mexican
and american together and also put both
languages together to indicate that their are
allies and that they can understand and respect
each other traditions.
Propaganda: Image 3 Analysis

● “Thief!” (1920s-30s)
● "The Worst Thief Is He Who Steals The
Playtime of Children"
● A propaganda against the prevalent child
labor.
● Children were forced to work in factories
with heavy and dangerous machines.
Propaganda: Image 4 Analysis

● “Rosie The Riveter” (1943)

● Represents the women of America who
worked in munitions and war supplies
factories during World War II.
● Shows the American women become
strong and support the war.
Propaganda: Image 5 Analysis

Audience: To the Citizens Of The U.S

Purpose: To get Americans to join the army

Argument: It wants the citizens of the U.S to join

the army to support their country.

Persona: Uncle Sam

Info:
Propaganda: Image 6 Analysis

Audience: Women In the U.S

Purpose: Work Harder,

Argument: Exhort hired women to work harder.

Persona: Encouraging
Essential
Questions
1) How has the United States used propaganda in
its history to compel audiences to take action?

The United States have used propaganda to convince people to join

certain groups/wars.

This propaganda explains that it

wants americans to join the army. The
propaganda is telling
Americans that they should take action and join
the army.
2) How do authors of propaganda use images to
make compelling arguments?

Propaganda is a very inclusive medium of news used to gain support

for a cause on a personal level. Artists usually achieve this by
illustrating an act of hate or violence on a symbol of the society the
audience may associate with or a symbol that connects to the
audience directly.
3) How do the elements of argument appear or
function in American propaganda?

● It is also popular to use propaganda in times of elections. In the

early 1800’s Thomas Jefferson used propaganda to steal the
election from John Quincy Adams, falsely claiming that Adams
wanted to attack France, an unpopular idea at the time. Yet
despite Adams disavowing the claims, Jefferson won the
election and became president.
● Propaganda is capable of winning elections and court cases or
even influencing an entire nation’s mindset.