1. Read the article in your readings on persuasion and watch the videos after the written material: https://nobaproject.com/modules/persuasion-so-easily-fooled.
2. Find two examples of political advertising that demonstrate one or more of the persuasion techniques or principles. The political advertisements can be those created for TV or print (e.g., newspaper) or those posted on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or YouTube. They can be contemporary (like from this current election cycle) or historical. In your write-up, please include a link of the ad (if it’s a video) or a photo of the ad.
3. Respond to the following questions for each of the political ads (write a paragraph for each political ad):
Which persuasion techniques did the ads apply? Were there multiple that you could identify?
Which persuasion techniques in the ads do you find to be the most effective? Why?
Which techniques do you find to be the least effective? Why?
Do you think that any of these election ads go too far? Why or why not?
Write a third paragraph, answering the following:
How much attention do you pay to political ads?
Out of the techniques described in your reading, which do you see used the most often in current political ads? Which do you see used the least often?
Do you think these persuasion techniques should be “fair game” in politics, or do you think they should not be used? Why or why not? (or under which circumstances?)
What do you think the line is between persuasion and propaganda? How can you tell, as a viewer of ads?