Lesson 2: Propaganda in Action

Reflect and Respond

Display the “Buy War Stamps and Bonds” propaganda poster without showing the caption or any context yet. Give students 30–45 seconds to silently observe the image.

Say these Directions: Look at the image. Record your thinking about the image in the Reflect and Respond graphic organizer using the “My thoughts and responses” and “Questions I have” boxes. Think about the following questions:

• What details about this poster immediately stand out to you?

• What emotions does this image bring up for you?

• What message do you think the creator wants you, the viewer, to understand?

• How could a message like this potentially influence people’s behavior?

Allow two to three students to share their responses.

• I notice that the poster is referencing George Washington. And, I notice that it’s saying we should buy war stamps and bonds. This poster brings up feelings of patriotism and wanting to ensure that we keep our freedom, the freedom that was originally won by George Washington when America first started. The message is that we should buy war stamps and bonds for a war that is happening abroad.

Teach: Propaganda Background

Display the Essential Question from Investigation 1 that was shared in the previous lesson:

• Investigation 1: How do propaganda and rhetorical techniques influence what people believe and how they act?

Tell students that they will discuss propaganda first and will address rhetorical techniques later in the lesson.

• Say: Propaganda is the information or messages created to influence what people think or how they act, often by appealing to emotions rather than presenting all the facts.

Explain that propaganda has a purpose and a specific audience in mind.

• Say: Purpose is the reason a message is created, usually to influence what people think, feel, or do.

• Say: Audience is the specific group of people the message is meant to reach or persuade.

Turn and Talk

Say these Directions: Observe the poster again and look back at your notes in the graphic organizer. The caption for this image is:

“During World War II, the American government promoted the sale of war stamps and bonds to support the war effort abroad.”

• Say: The image was created during World War II by the American government because America needed to finance the war effort, and to do that, they needed to sell war bonds and stamps so that the citizens could lend their money to help support the war. “Buy war stamps and bonds” is a slogan. Slogans are words that are meant to be memorable and can be a call to action to the reader.

Discuss the question below with a partner and add more notes to your organizer.

• How is this poster an example of propaganda? Use the words propaganda, purpose, and audience in your response.

  • This poster from the U.S. government has a strong message that it wants the audience, Americans, to buy war stamps and bonds so that they can protect their freedom. It is influencing the audience because it may make some viewers feel more enticed to buy war bonds and stamps since the poster is saying that it is one way they can protect their freedom. Also, the poster makes use of George Washington and the important battle of the American Revolution when he crossed the Delaware and how we beat the British to win our freedom. Through this image, the poster is saying to Americans that he was willing to fight for our country, and we can do the same by buying war bonds and stamps. The purpose of this poster is to persuade the audience to take action by buying war bonds and stamps, especially since our soldiers are crossing oceans to keep our freedom. It feels like the least the viewer can do as part of the war effort.

Connection to Today’s Learning:

• Say: Today, you will focus on propaganda in action and its purpose by examining how images and messages are intentionally designed to influence what the audience believes and how they behave. Propaganda is especially powerful during moments of uncertainty or change, such as revolutions or wars, because it can unify groups, motivate action, or reinforce authority.

Part A: Explore Rhetorical Techniques (RI.8.6) (10 minutes)

Teach: Rhetorical Techniques in Propaganda

Present the Essential Question from Investigation 1 again:

• Investigation 1: How do propaganda and rhetorical techniques influence what people believe and how they act?

Define rhetorical techniques for students, and have them add the term to their Personal Dictionary.

• Say: Rhetorical techniques are strategic uses of language or imagery intended to persuade an audience.

Explain that there are many types of rhetorical techniques. Present the list of techniques for students:

emotional appeal: targets feelings such as pride, anger, hope, or sympathy to influence decisions

fear appeal: warns of danger or negative consequences to pressure people into acting

bandwagon: encourages people to join in because “everyone else is doing it”

cult of personality: creates an idealized and/or heroic public image of a person who then advocates for a specific cause or position

name-calling: uses negative labels or insults to create distrust or dislike of a person or group

idealism: connects a message to strong values like freedom, fairness, honor, or patriotism to inspire support

scapegoating: unfairly blames a person or group for a problem to shift responsibility away from others

symbolism: uses images, colors, or objects to represent bigger ideas or messages

Turn and Talk

Say these Directions: Observe the war bonds poster again and discuss the questions below with a partner.

• Ask: Which rhetorical techniques do you see used in this propaganda image, and how are they used to influence the audience?

  • I think emotional and fear appeals are used because the image could make the audience feel proud to be part of the country and afraid of losing the freedom that they fought so hard to get in the first place. Idealism is also a part of being proud of one’s country and wanting to win the war.

Direct students to the definition of propaganda again. Emphasize the phrase “appealing to emotions rather than presenting all the facts.”

• Ask: What points of view do you think are missing or could conflict with the ideas in this poster?

  • The idea of buying war stamps and bonds is nice, but not everyone is able to afford war stamps and bonds, especially during war. This image makes it look like this is the only way you can support the war effort, and it makes you feel guilty, like you are not supporting American freedom if you do not do so. Also, some people may not agree with or support everything about the war.

Have students discuss which of the rhetorical techniques they think is most powerful and why.

• Say: Discuss with your partner which rhetorical technique you think is most powerful. Be sure to support your thinking.

  • I think emotional appeal is the most powerful technique because there are so many emotions we as humans have, and they can be very powerful over our actions. It can be easy to manipulate emotions.

Part B: Analyze Propaganda for Impact (RI.8.6, SL.8.2) (20 minutes)

Explain to students that they will now analyze propaganda in posters from the Russian Revolution and afterward. Remind students that they learned some background information about the Russian Revolution in the previous lesson.

Display a propaganda poster from the Text-Set Texts, such as the poster with the hand holding a sickle and resting on a book with a stalk of wheat between the pages. The poster’s text reads “To have more, you need to produce more. To produce more, you need to know more.”

Think aloud as you model how to identify the purpose, audience, rhetorical techniques used, and predicted impact of the propaganda poster, and record responses.

Say:

• What is the purpose of this propaganda poster?

  • To get people to learn to read or otherwise become more educated, which the government believed would also help them increase productivity. I know this because the image shows a hand holding a sickle, a tool used for harvesting grain, on top of a book with a stalk of wheat in the pages. The text says, “To have more, you need to produce more. To produce more, you need to know more.”

• Who is the intended audience?

  • Workers in Russia, especially those who work in agriculture, and people who do not know how to read or who are not very educated.

• What are the rhetorical techniques used in the poster?

  • I’m noticing symbolism in this poster. The strong hand, holding an agricultural tool, represents the agricultural workers of Russia. The book represents learning or knowledge, and the wheat stalk emerging from it symbolizes that learning will lead to greater wheat (and other crop) production.

• What are the intended motives of this poster? How might it shape how people act or think?

  • The poster is intended to get more people to learn to read. In the early 20th century, Russia’s government was strongly pushing for mass literacy. This poster is designed to convince people that they should learn to read, because being able to read provides access to more knowledge, and more knowledge would lead to better farming practices and more crop generation.

Transition students into pairs. Have student pairs select a poster from one of the Text-Set Texts, such as one of the following:

• “Everything for the Front! Everything for Victory!”

• "Comrade Lenin cleans the Earth from scum."

• “Long live the USSR, model of brotherhood among the workers of world nationalities.”

• "Prepare to fight for the cause of the Communist Party."

Think-Pair-Write-Share

Invite students to work with a partner to analyze one of the propaganda posters from the text set. Explain that they should think about, discuss, and then write about the purpose, audience, rhetorical techniques, and intended impact of the image.

Say these Directions: Work with your partner to analyze the propaganda poster to record the purpose, audience, rhetorical techniques, and impact on people’s actions and beliefs.

• Purpose:

• Intended audience:

• Rhetorical Techniques used:

• Impact on People’s Beliefs and Actions:

Think-Pair-Share

Say these Directions: Discuss the following question with a partner using the Think-Pair-Share routine:

• Based on the poster you analyzed, how does the messaging use rhetorical techniques to shape what people believe or how they act, and why might this purpose be effective? How might leaders use persuasive imagery like this to maintain control of an audience or motivate action?

  • (Answers will vary based on posters analyzed.) The poster, “Long live the USSR, model of brotherhood among the workers of world nationalities,” uses idealism to show that the USSR is uniting workers of all identities, which could encourage the diverse audience to support a cause or change their behavior. When leaders use imagery for persuasive purposes, they can unify groups around a shared goal or influence public opinion, making it easier to gain support or strengthen their authority and impact.

Students read their independent reading book for 20 minutes and complete a reading log entry.

Read your independent reading book for 20 minutes. In your reading log, record the date and pages you read, write 1–2 sentences about what happened or what you learned, and respond to this week’s prompt using evidence from the text.