Duck and Cover

     The overt message in "Duck and Cover" is that atomic bombs are dangerous and you can get badly burned by one. These bombs can fall at any moment; you should always be ready. When you see a bright flash, a atomic bomb exploding, you should duck and cover. This is the overt message because it was repeated over and over again in the video. In order to get people to duck and cover they used appeal to fear and bandwagon. They made it sound like it was definite that an atomic bomb was going to fall and that everyone else would duck and cover so why don't you.
     There is not a covert message in "Duck and Cover". The video was only created to inform people of what to do in case an atomic bomb were to fall.
     Since there is an overt message but no covert message this video was purely informative. Some messages may have come out of this video accidentally. For example, the civil protection agency, government and adults are there to help you always do as they say. (Sounds like the government is trying to say that if something happens, no matter what it is, you should always do as they say. Even if it is harm full to you are someone else.)

Destination Earth

     The overt message in this clip was that oil and competition are good and need for everything in America to run, and that the chance of finding oil is low (1 in 9 wells find oil and 1 in 44 find enough oil to support itself). The covert is basically the same as the overt message: oil is needed and chancy, which is bad.      By having a convert and overt message that are as similar as they are this clip is persuaion, not propaganda. The clip did not hide anything, everything positive and everything negatice about oil was shared. Gliterring Generalities were used to help persuade the audience that oil is needed. The aliens said that "all Americans have cars." This is not true there are plently of Americans who do not own a car, but saying all allowed oil to appear a nesesicity.

The Kitchen is the Key to Victory. Eat Less Bread (WWII 1941-1945)

            What is the overt message in this piece? What is the covert message? Explain how the disparity in the two of those makes it propaganda, and not simply persuasion.

            The overt message is that Americans need to eat less bread, which is a way to win the war. The covert message is that if you don’t eat less bread you are taking away from the victory of America. Something odd about this piece is that it says nothing about how eating less bread is the key to victory; this makes it propaganda. It makes the viewer think, “In order for my country to be victorious, I must eat less bread” without directly saying so.

Clampdown by The Clash (1979)

            Look at the lyrics to this song. What are they about? How do you know (what is your proof from the song)? What musical elements (volume, tempo, instrumentation) helps to push your lyrical interpretation of the song? Find me something in the song that relates to propaganda, persuasion, deception, rhetoric, or argument and explain it.

           

            This song is about believing in yourself and being able to rebel against something higher, even if you are beat down. The song says, “Stop wasting your time, there’s nothing coming.” To me this means you need to stop trying to be what you aren’t, believe in who you are and work with that. Also, I know the song is about rebelling but not winning because in the beginning of the song the character is rebelling against working for the Clampdown. But, when the end of the song comes the character fell and is now working for the Clampdown.

            The intense and rough sounding instrumentation and vocals creates a sense of something falling. Originally, it sounds like the Clampdown is falling. In the end, however, it is the character that has fallen.

            “We will teach our twisted speech” shows that someone (we) is persuading someone else with a twisted speech. The “we” is using rhetoric to persuade someone something that may or may not be entirely true.

Propaganda, Persuasion, Rhetoric, and Argument

Choose four quotes that you like and understand from this document (identify them by number you don't have to write them all out). Choose one of the four quotes from this document to analyze. Don't just pick the first one. You need to find one that you understand and can analyze in depth, using real world or personal examples as support for your views. Be sure to relate what they are saying to what we are talking about in terms of propaganda, persuasion, rhetoric, and argument.

            Four quotes I like: 161, 166, 170, 178

170. Can there be a more horrible object in existence than an eloquent man not speaking the truth. ~THOMAS CARLYLE.

            In this quote Thomas Carlyle is describing a man who is good with rhetoric in persuading people to believe false information. This eloquent man could be The Party in 1984. The Party made up lies every day, and changed history every day. Then, they told the people these lies. These people believed the lies out fear of what would happen to them if they didn’t. The false information presented to the people could easily be believed. The historical documents were changed. The historical pictures were changed. There was nothing for the people to look back to in order to find truth. This eloquence allowed The Party to have the total control they had.  

            Another example of eloquent men not speaking the truth is Santa Claus. Santa does not exist; however, parents do everything in their ability to make their children believe, and they succeed. Now, believe in Santa is not an awful thing, but it does show an example of eloquence. Children all over the world believe in Santa because their parents persuaded the children he exists.

            A horrible example of an eloquent man not speaking the truth is Hitler. He convinced the Nazi’s, and other countries that Jews were evil and that he could created the perfect Aryan race. He convinced some Jews that they were evil, too. To be able to make a group of people believe they are bad and evil takes eloquence. What Hitler did was terrible; approximately 11 million people, not just Jews, died in his reign. His rhetoric abilities had to have been strong to support his largely incorrect opinions.

            One must have rhetoric skills to support their facts and arguement, and facts to support what they are saying. If a person has strong rhetoric abilities, are eloquent, they can persuade many people to believe what every they want to say, whether or not truth is contained.