2. Propaganda: information aimed at positively
or negatively influencing the opinions or
behaviors of large numbers of people.
Propaganda Techniques: Propaganda
techniques and persuasive tactics are used to
influence people to believe, buy, or do
something.
***You should be able to identify and comprehend
the following propaganda techniques and
persuasive tactics***
3. 1. Name-calling (Ad hominem) - an attack on a
person instead of an issue
Textual Example:
Squealer tells the
animals to be glad they
didn’t listen to
Snowball’s windmill
plan because he, “was
no better than a
criminal” (50).
http://mycoignofvantage.wordpress.com/tag/ad-
hominem/
4. 2. Bandwagon tries to persuade the reader to
do, think, or buy something because it is
popular or because “everyone” is doing it.
Textual Example: The
bleating of “four legs
good, two legs bad” –
singing the “Beasts of
England” song. Appeals
to group mentality
5. 3. Red herring – an attempt to distract the
reader or audience with details not relevant to
the argument.
Textual Example: “Never mind the milk, comrades!” cried
Napoleon, placing himself in front of the buckets.
“That will be attended to. The harvest is more
important. Comrade Napoleon will lead the way […]
The hay is waiting.
AND
When [Squealer] was arguing some difficult point, he
had a way of skipping from side to side and whisking
his tail which was somehow very persuasive
6. 4. Testimonial attempts to persuade the
reader by using a famous person to endorse a
product or idea (for instance, the celebrity
endorsement).
Pop culture example: Subway commercials
Textual Examples: When Boxer shares his
personal maxims of “Napoleon is always
right” and “I will work harder” (51).
7. 5. Repetition attempts to persuade the reader
by repeating a message over and over again.
Example from the Text:
The sheep bleating out “four
legs good, two legs bad” and
then “four legs good, two
legs better” (118)
8. 6. Sweeping generalization (stereotyping) makes
an oversimplified statement about a group based
on limited information
Examples from the text:
“All men are enemies.
All animals are comrades” (7).
“Man is the only real enemy
we have. Remove Man from
the scene, and the root cause
of hunger and overwork is abolished forever” (5)
9. 7. Circular argument states a conclusion as
part of the proof of the argument.
When Squealer tells the animals that
Snowball was grazed with the bullet in the
battle of the Cowshed as “part of the
arrangement. I could show you this in his
own writing if you were able to read it”
(73).
10. 8. Appeal to numbers, facts, or statistics
attempts to persuade the reader by showing
how many people think
11. 9. Plain Folks – an appeal to audience by
making the speaker or product seem ordinary
or for the everyday
person.
Example from the Text:
Comrade Napoleon
12. 10. Transfer –words, images, or ideas with
positive or negative connotations are used to
suggest that the positive or negative
qualities are associated with the
product, person, or cause.
Example from the text: “In
glowing sentences he painted
a picture of Animal Farm as it
might be when sordid labour
was lifted from the animals’
backs” (47).
