Transcript The Basics of Rhetoric

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVYzxxg
KXTY
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Persuasion
per·suade
 to prevail on (a person)
to do something, as by
advising or urging: We
could not persuade him
to wait.
 to induce to believe by
appealing to reason or
understanding;
convince: to persuade
the judge of the
prisoner's innocence
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Manipulation
ma·nip·u·late
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to manage or
influence skillfully,
esp. in an unfair
manner: to
manipulate people's
feelings.
to adapt or change
(accounts, figures,
etc.) to suit one's
purpose or advantage.
http://dictionary.reference.
com
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What examples of persuasion do you see?
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How is one person manipulating the other?
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How is the persuasion and manipulation
affecting choice?
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How do authors persuade us of their point of
view?
How do we evaluate the quality of an
argument?
How do we spot logical fallacies?
How do we discern tone and how does the
correct reading of tone change our
understanding of the author’s purpose?
◦ It’s all around us – in conversations, in movies, in
advertisements and books
◦ Aristotle: “Rhetoric may be defined as the faculty of
observing in any given case the available means of
persuasion.”
◦ Rhetoric is the art of language – of using its resources
effectively and usually with a certain goal in mind.
Resources include: word choice, any and all figures of
speech, and structure of composition.
◦ The Rhetorical Triangle:
Subject, Audience, Speaker’s Persona
The Rhetorical Triangle
Speaker
Audience
Subject
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When considering the subject, the writer/speaker
evaluates what he/she already knows and needs
to know, investigates perspectives, and
determines the kinds of evidence or proofs that
seem most useful.
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When considering the audience, the writer or
speaker speculates about the reader’s
expectations, knowledge and disposition with
regard to the subject.
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Speakers/writers use their experiences and
observations
Use who they are, what they know and feel, and
what they’ve seen and done to find their attitudes
toward a subject and their understanding of a
reader.
How we, the reader, characterize the speaker
based upon their language.
Persona – the character the speaker creates as he
or she writes or speaks - voice
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There are two other elements of the rhetorical
situation - the context in which writing or
speaking occurs and the emerging aim or
purpose that underlies many of the writer’s
decisions.
Rhetoric is situational – it has context – the
occasion or the time and place it was written or
spoken.
Rhetoric has a purpose – a goal that the speaker
or writer wants to achieve.
Logos
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Writers appeal to a reader’s sense of logos when
they offer clear, reasonable premises and proofs,
when they develop ideas with appropriate details;
these details and proofs help the readers to
follow the progression of ideas.
Writers use logos to inform speaker’s decisions
and readers’ responses
Ethos
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Writers use ethos when they demonstrate that
they are credible, good-willed, and
knowledgeable about their subjects
Writers connect their thinking to reader’s own
ethical or moral beliefs in that you, the reader,
believe and trust this writer to be credible, goodwilled, and knowledgeable, and want to continue
listening.
Pathos
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When writers draw on the emotions and interests
of readers, and highlight them, they use pathos.
Use of personal stories or observations to
provoke readers’ sympathetic reaction.
Figurative language is often used to heighten the
emotional connections readers make to the
subject.
"Fans, for the past two weeks you have been reading about the bad break I got. Yet today I
consider myself the luckiest man on the face of this earth. I have been in ballparks for
seventeen years and have never received anything but kindness and encouragement from you
fans.
"Look at these grand men. Which of you wouldn't consider it the highlight of his career just to
associate with them for even one day? Sure, I'm lucky. Who wouldn't consider it an honor to
have known Jacob Ruppert? Also, the builder of baseball's greatest empire, Ed Barrow? To
have spent six years with that wonderful little fellow, Miller Huggins? Then to have spent the
next nine years with that outstanding leader, that smart student of psychology, the best
manager in baseball today, Joe McCarthy? Sure, I'm lucky.
"When the New York Giants, a team you would give your right arm to beat, and vice versa,
sends you a gift - that's something. When everybody down to the groundskeepers and those
boys in white coats remember you with trophies - that's something. When you have a
wonderful mother-in-law who takes sides with you in squabbles with her own daughter that's something. When you have a father and a mother who work all their lives so you can
have an education and build your body - it's a blessing. When you have a wife who has been a
tower of strength and shown more courage than you dreamed existed - that's the finest I know.
"So I close in saying that I may have had a tough break, but I have an awful lot to live for."
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Context & Purpose:
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Speaker, Audience, Subject:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qswig8dcEAY
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The Appeals: Logos, Pathos, Ethos:
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The goal of an argument is to strengthen or
weaken rather than overturn one’s
convictions/thoughts/beliefs
An argument is…
o a way of establishing and testing out ideas
o an activity that helps us form our beliefs and
determine our actions
o a process of discussion and deliberation rather
than a contest of opposites
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Rhetoric is the way to connect intentions with
responses, the way to reconcile readers and
writers.
Investigating how readers perceive intentions
exposes where and how communication
happens or is lost.
Intention is sometimes embodied in a thesis
statement – but intention is carried out
throughout a piece and it often changes.
Speaker
Occasion
Audience
Purpose
Subject
Tone
An acronym for a series of questions that
students must first ask themselves, and then
answer, as they begin to plan their essays
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Who is the Speaker?
◦ The voice that tells the story –Who are you? What details will you
reveal? Why is it important that the audience know who you are?
What is the Occasion?
o The time and place of the piece: the context that prompted the
writing – How does your knowledge of the larger occasion and
the immediate occasion affect what you are writing about?
o Larger Occasion – an environment of ideas, attitudes, and
emotions that swirl around a broad issue – the bigger picture
o Immediate Occasion – an event or situation that catches the
writer’s attention and triggers a response.
Who is the Audience?
o
The group of readers to whom this piece is directed –
What are the characteristics of this group? How are they
related to you? Why are you addressing them?
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What is the Purpose?
o The reason behind the text – “What do I want my
audience to think or do as a result of reading my
text?” Explain yourself – what you hope to
accomplish by this expression of opinion. How
would you like your audience to respond?
What is the Subject?
o Students should be able to state the focus on the
intended task – What are you talking about?
What is the Tone?
o The attitude of the author –How will your attitude
enhance the effectiveness of your piece?
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Students must learn to convey tone in their:
Diction – choice of words
Syntax – sentence construction
Figurative Language – imagery,
metaphors, similes, and other
figurative language (involves
rhetorical device)
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Denotation: the explicit or direct meaning of
a word
Connotation: the associated or secondary
meaning of a word
Jolliffe’s Rhetorical
Framework Design
Exigence (a need
or demand)
Rhetorical
Situation
Audience
Purpose
Logos
Appeals
Ethos
Pathos
Organization/Structure/Form
Diction
Syntax
Imagery
Surface Features
Figurative
Language
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Imagery – those words, those details that
create vivid images; based within the five
senses
Metaphor- comparison of two unlike
objects
Simile – comparison of two unlike objects
using like or as
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Alliteration – repetition of initial consonant
sounds (consonance = repetition of consonants;
assonance = repetition of vowels)
 “While I nodded nearly napping,”
-Edgar Allen Poe, “The Raven”
Allusion – a reference, explicit or implicit, to
something in previous literature and history
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• “The girl's love of diamonds was her Achilles’ heel.”
http://www.buzzle.com/articles/allusion-examples.html
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Anaphora – the repetition of words, phrases, or
clauses in successive lines, stanzas, or
paragraphs.
 “It’s the story of students who sat where you sit 250 years
ago, and went on to wage a revolution and they founded this
nation. Young people. Students who sat where you sit 75
years ago who overcame a Depression and won a world war;
who fought for civil rights and put a man on the moon.
Students who sat where you sit 20 years ago who founded
Google and Twitter and Facebook…
-Barack Obama, National Address to America’s
School Children, 2009
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Counterargument – to anticipate objections or
opposing views; a way to appeal to logos
 Concede – in acknowledging a counterargument you agree
(concede) that an opposing argument may be true, but then
you…
 Refute – to prove to be false - the validity of all or part of
the argument.
This concession or refutation actually strengthens your
argument; it appeals to logos by demonstrating that you
have considered your subject carefully before making your
argument.
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Parallel Structure – means using the same pattern
of words to show that two or more ideas have the
same level of importance.
◦ The usual way: to join parallel phrases/clauses with
the use of coordinating conjunctions “and” or “or”
Mary likes hiking, swimming, and bicycling
-The Owl, Purdue University
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Rhetorical Question – a statement constructed as
a question that is not intended to be answered
◦ “Isn’t it a bit unnerving that doctors call what they do
‘practice’?”
 George Carlin, yahoo.com
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The Imperative – the command form
of the verb
Listen!
Go!
Wait!
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Analogy – a kind of extended metaphor or long
simile in which an explicit comparison is made
between two things (events, people, etc.) for the
purpose of furthering a line of reason or drawing
an inference
In other words – an analogy relates difficult issues
to something familiar
"Remember this, ladies and gentlemen. It's an old phrase, basically
anonymous -- that politicians are a lot like diapers: They should be
changed frequently and for the same reason. Keep that in mind next time
you vote. Good night.
-- delivered by Robin Williams (from the movie Man of the Year)
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If-then clause – a device used to emphasize
the potential consequences of certain
actions - usually phrased as a warning or to
express potentially negative consequences
For example:
If you do not clean your room immediately ,
then you will not be going out this
weekend.
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Onomatopoeia:
◦ 1. the formation of words whose sound is
imitative of the sound of the noise or action
designated, such as hiss, buzz, and bang
◦ 2. the use of such words for poetic or rhetorical
effect
◦ * From the Greek: “to make words”
http://dictionary.reference.com
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Hyperbole/exaggeration
◦ 1. obvious and intentional exaggeration.
◦ 2. an extravagant statement or figure of speech
not intended to be taken literally, as “to wait an
eternity.”
http://dictionary.reference.com
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Understatement:
◦ the act or an instance of stating something in
restrained terms, or as less than it is
◦ A form of irony in which something is intentionally
represented as less than it is: “Hank Aaron was a
pretty good ball player.”
http://dictionary.reference.com
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To show or indicate beforehand; prefigure:
Political upheavals foreshadowed war.
http://dictionary.reference.com
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Chronological: The story’s key events are
presented as they occur
“A flashback is a narrative technique that allows a
writer to present past events during current events,
in order to provide background for the current
narration. By giving material that occurred prior to
the present event, the writer provides the reader
with insight into a character's motivation and or
background to a conflict. This is done by various
methods, narration, dream sequences, and
memories” (Canada).
http://www.courses.vcu.edu/ENG-jeh/BeginningReporting/Writing/storystructure.htm
http://www.uncp.edu/home/canada/work/allam/general/glossary.htm
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1. a position from which someone or
something is observed (the manner
something is considered or evaluated) - from
the point of view of a doctor.
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2. an opinion, attitude, or judgment - He
refuses to change his point of view in the
matter.
3. the position of the narrator in relation to
the story - (examples: first person, third
person, limited, omniscient).
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First Person: “…the main character conveys the incidents he
encounters, as well as giving the reader insight into himself as
he reveals his thoughts, feelings, and intentions” (Canada).
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Objective Third Person: “…a ‘nonparticipant’ serves as the
narrator and has no insight into the characters' minds. The
narrator presents the events using the pronouns he, it, they, and
reveals no inner thoughts of the characters” (Canada).
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Third Person Omniscient: “…‘all knowing’ …narrator [who]
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Third Person Limited: the narrator focuses on only a few
‘moves from one character to another as necessary’ to provide
those characters’ respective motivations and emotions” (Canada).
(often only one) characters, sharing thoughts and feelings of that
one or those few characters.
◦ Verbal:
◦ Situational:
◦ Dramatic:
◦ Verbal:
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◦ Situational:
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◦ Dramatic:
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Sarcasm; you say one
thing but mean the
opposite. The irony of
her reply, “How nice!”
when I said I had to work
all weekend.
An outcome of events
contrary to what was, or
might have been,
expected. (the opposite
of what you think is
going to happen).
The reader/audience
knows something that a
character does not know.
 An
apparent contradiction that is
actually true.
◦Example: “Less is more.”
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A character that serves by contrast to
highlight or emphasize opposing
traits in another character. (Both
characters may share some similar
traits.)
http://web.cn.edu/kwheeler/lit_terms_f.html
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Inciting Incident:
Rising Action:
Climax:
Falling Action:
Resolution:
Denouement:
Gustav Freytag was a Nineteenth Century
German novelist who saw common patterns in
the plots of stories and novels and developed a
diagram to analyze them. He diagrammed a
story's plot using a pyramid like the one shown
here:
http://oak.cats.ohiou.edu/~hartleyg/250/freytag.html
Freytag's Pyramid
1. Exposition: setting the scene. The writer introduces the
characters and setting, providing description and
background.
2. Inciting Incident: something happens to begin the action. A
single event usually signals the beginning of the main
conflict. The inciting incident is sometimes called 'the
complication'.
3. Rising Action: the story builds and gets more exciting.
4. Climax: the moment of greatest tension in a story. This is
often the most exciting event. It is the event that the rising
action builds up to and that the falling action follows.
http://oak.cats.ohiou.edu/~hartleyg/250/freytag.html
5. Falling Action: events happen as a result of the climax and we
know that the story will soon end.
6. Resolution: the character solves the main problem/conflict or
someone solves it for him or her.
7. Dénouement: (a French term, pronounced: day-noo-moh) the
ending. At this point, any remaining secrets, questions or mysteries
which remain after the resolution are solved by the characters or
explained by the author. Sometimes the author leaves us to think
about the theme or future possibilities for the characters.
You can think of the dénouement as the opposite of the exposition:
instead of getting ready to tell us the story by introducing the setting
and characters, the author ends the story with a final explanation of
what actually happened and how the characters think or feel about the
events. …It is often very closely tied to the resolution.
http://oak.cats.ohiou.edu/~hartleyg/250/freytag.html
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Internal: in literature - a struggle which
takes place in the character's mind and
through which the character reaches a
new understanding or dynamic change.
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/internal+conflict
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External: in literature - a struggle
between a character and some outside
force
◦ Character vs. Character
◦ Character vs. Nature
◦ Character vs. Society
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/external+conflict
A
kind of writing that ridicules human
weakness, vice, or folly in order to bring
about social reform.
◦ Examples include most political
cartoons and many sections of The
Simpsons.
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The imitation of a person, an author, a work,
or type of work typically for comic effect
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Fallacies are defects that weaken arguments.
By learning to look for them in your own and
others' writing, you can strengthen your
ability to evaluate the arguments you make,
read, and hear.
Two points to consider about fallacies is that
they are common (in ads, newspapers, etc.),
and that the level of false-reasoning can
range from slight to fully false (an argument
can have a very strong section, as well as a
weak part to it).
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Post hoc (also called false cause)
This fallacy gets its name from the Latin phrase "post hoc, ergo propter
hoc," which translates as "after this, therefore because of this."
Definition: Assuming that because B comes after A, A caused B. Of
course, sometimes one event really does cause another one that comes
later—for example, if I register for a class, and my name later appears
on the roll, it's true that the first event caused the one that came later.
But sometimes two events that seem related in time aren't really related
as cause and event. That is, correlation isn't the same thing as causation.
Examples: "President Jones raised taxes, and then the rate of violent
crime went up. Jones is responsible for the rise in crime." The increase in
taxes might or might not be one factor in the rising crime rates, but the
argument hasn't shown us that one caused the other.
Tip: To avoid the post hoc fallacy, the arguer would need to give us
some explanation of the process by which the tax increase is supposed
to have produced higher crime rates. And that's what you should do to
avoid committing this fallacy: If you say that A causes B, you should have
something more to say about how A caused B than just that A came first
and B came later.
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Ad hominem
Definitions: The ad hominem ("against the person") fallacy focuses
our attention on people rather than on arguments or evidence. In
this argument, the conclusion is usually "You shouldn't believe Soand-So's argument." The reason for not believing So-and-So is that
So-and-So is a bad person (ad hominem). In an ad hominem
argument, the arguer attacks his or her opponent instead of the
opponent's argument.
Examples: "Andrea Dworkin has written several books arguing that
pornography harms women. But Dworkin is an ugly, bitter person,
so you shouldn't listen to her." Dworkin's appearance and character,
which the arguer has characterized so ungenerously, have nothing
to do with the strength of her argument, so using them as evidence
is fallacious.
Tip: Be sure to stay focused on your opponents' reasoning, rather
than on their personal character. (The exception to this is, of course,
if you are making an argument about someone's character—if your
conclusion is "President Clinton is an untrustworthy person,"
premises about his untrustworthy acts are relevant, not fallacious.)
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False dilemma (or, false dichotomy)
Definition: In false dilemma, the arguer sets up the situation so it looks like
there are only two choices. The arguer then eliminates one of the choices, so
it seems that we are left with only one option: the one the arguer wanted us
to pick in the first place. But often there are really many different options,
not just two—and if we thought about them all, we might not be so quick to
pick the one the arguer recommends.
Example: "Caldwell Hall is in bad shape. Either we tear it down and put up a
new building, or we continue to risk students' safety. Obviously we shouldn't
risk anyone's safety, so we must tear the building down." The argument
neglects to mention the possibility that we might repair the building or find
some way to protect students from the risks in question—for example, if
only a few rooms are in bad shape, perhaps we shouldn't hold classes in
those rooms.
Tip: Examine your own arguments: If you're saying that we have to choose
between just two options, is that really so? Or are there other alternatives you
haven't mentioned? If there are other alternatives, don't just ignore them—
explain why they, too, should be ruled out. Although there's no formal name
for it, assuming that there are only three options, four options, etc. when
really there are more is similar to false dilemma, and should also be avoided.
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Non Sequitur ("It does not follow"). This is the simple fallacy of stating, as a
conclusion, something that does not strictly follow from the premises. For
example, "Racism is wrong. Therefore, we need affirmative action." Obviously,
there is at least one missing step in this argument, because the wrongness of
racism does not imply a need for affirmative action without some additional
support (such as, "Racism is common," "Affirmative action would reduce racism,"
"There are no superior alternatives to affirmative action," etc.).
Other examples:
◦ I deserve an A in chemistry because I studied really hard.
◦ This car is the best because it is made in Italy.
This fallacy occurs when the evidence presented doesn't logically support its
claim. Studying hard won't necessarily earn you good grades on assignments (or
an A). Both poorly made cars and fabulous cars are manufactured in Italy, so we
can't assume a car is "the best" because it was made there. Non sequiturs cause
arguments to essentially collapse.
Final Example:
◦ Non Sequitur: The current healthcare program will be ineffective because
almost all Republican congressmen opposed the legislation for it.
◦ More logical argument: The current healthcare program will be ineffective
because it does not safeguard against skyrocketing health insurance premiums.
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Propaganda is a specific type of message
presentation, aimed at serving an agenda. Even if the
message conveys true information, it may be partisan
and fail to paint a complete picture. The primary use
of the term is in political contexts and generally
refers to efforts sponsored by governments.
A similar manipulation of information is well known,
such as in advertising, but normally it is not called
propaganda in this context. The word propaganda
carries a strong negative connotation that advertising
does not.
http://www.history.ucsb.edu/projects/ccws/conflicts/P
DF/terrorism/kelly.pdf
Propaganda can serve to rally people behind a cause, but
often at the cost of exaggerating, misrepresenting, or
lying about the issues in order to gain that support.
 While the issue of propaganda often is discussed in the
context of militarism, war and warmongering, it is around
us in all aspects of life.
 Common tactics include: using selective stories that may
appear to be objective; partial facts; using only a part of a
conversation; using narrow resources of “experts” to
provide insights for a situation (for example: interviewing
retired military to comment upon a current conflict, or
treating government sources as fact, rather than as one
perspective that needs to be verified or researched);
demonizing the enemy;
http://www.history.ucsb.edu/projects/ccws/conflicts/PDF/te
rrorism/kelly.pdf
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