Recognize Evaluative Word Choices to Detect Biases and Propaganda Devices used by Speaker

1. BIAS
AND PROPAGANDA
Week 7 – Day 4

2. BIAS
• Sometimes, we feel so strongly about
something, we want to persuade others to
share our feelings.
• Authors sometimes try to persuade their
readers.
• Bias is an unfair preference for or against
something.
• Why unfair? It is based on an opinion or
generalization—not on solid facts.

3. EXAMPLES OF BIAS:
• “Cats are not good for anything.”
(bias against cats)
• “I don’t like soccer anymore. Last
year I broke my arm playing soccer.”
(bias against soccer because this
person thinks about her broken arm
when she thinks about soccer)

4. EXAMPLES OF BIAS:
•“I like all sports, but none are
as good as football.” (bias
favoring football)

5. 2 MAIN TYPES OF
BIAS:
1. Conscious Bias
– sometimes known as explicit
bias. This is a type of bias that you are
aware of. The bias is happening
consciously, in that you know you are
being biased and are acting with
intent.

6. 2 MAIN TYPES OF
BIAS:
2. Unconscious Bias
– is also known as implicit bias.
Unconscious biases are beliefs and
attitudes that operate outside of a
person's awareness and control.

7. EXAMPLES OF
UNCONSCIOUS
BIAS:
1. Ageism
– this refers to having negative
feelings towards someone or
discriminating against them based on
their age.

8. 2. Beauty Bias
– this is the belief that attractive
people are more successful,
competent, and qualified than
unattractive people.
3. Confirmation Bias
– this is the tendency of selective
observation, whereby you search for
evidence that back up your opinion .

9. 4. Conformity Bias
– is when your views are
influenced or changed by the view of
others. This is related to peer pressure.
5. Gender Bias
– this refers to a preference for one
gender over the other. This is usually a
result of an individual’s beliefs about
gender roles.

10. PROPAGANDA
• Propaganda is information used to influence the way
people think in order to:
• gain support for a cause.
• convince them to buy something.
• convince them to do something.
• Propaganda techniques will twist facts to sell readers
on an idea—to convince them to agree with the
writer.
• Propaganda is common in politics and
advertising.
• Propaganda will usually include some type of
bias, sometimes extreme.

11. PROPAGANDA
TECHNIQUES
Media Techniques
• Audiovisual presentations using special colors, camera
angles, and sounds to influence the viewer
Examples: Scary movies use loud, scary
music to set the mood.
Seeing commercial for food
on TV makes you want
to eat.

12. Name-calling
• Attack on person instead of issue
Bandwagon
• Tries to persuade reader to do, think, or buy
something because it is popular or because
“everyone is doing it”
Red Herring
• An attempt to distract the reader with details
NOT relevant to the argument

13. Emotional Appeal
• Tries to persuade the reader by using words
that appeal to the reader’s emotions instead
of to logic or reason
Testimonial
• Attempts to persuade the reader by using a
famous person to endorse a product or idea
(for instance—celebrity endorsements)
Repetition
• Attempts to persuade by repeating a message
over and over again

14. Stereotyping
• Makes an oversimplified statement about a
GROUP based on limited information
Circular Argument
• States a conclusion as part of the proof of an
argument
Statistics
• Attempts to persuade the reader by showing
how many people think something is true

15. Activity 1
Which persuasive technique is being used?
Bias Red Herring Stereotype
Bandwagon Testimonial Statistic
1. Pro-Activ features Jessica Simpson on
their commercials.
2. A friend tells you that you need a Smart phone
because everyone has one.
3. A toothpaste commercial states that their
product is 25% more effective than the leading
brand.
4. Only tall people can play basketball.

16. Which persuasive technique is being used?
Bias Red Herring Stereotype
Bandwagon Testimonial Statistic
1. Pro-Activ features Jessica Simpson on
their commercials.
Answer: Testimonial
2. A friend tells you that you need a Smart phone
because everyone has one.
Answer: Bandwagon
3. A toothpaste commercial states that their product is 25%
more effective than the leading brand.
Answer: Statistic
4. Only tall people can play basketball.
Answer: Stereotype

17. 1. Hello? Yes, I am Ms. Taylor's reference. Oh, she was a terrific
employee. I highly recommend her work. She showed up on
time, finished projects quickly, and had a lot of new ideas. I
couldn't have been more happy with her work. She shined above
all the other employees even though she is so young, I'm so
proud of her. I remember when she was little, she could read
before all the other little kids. She's always been like that, can
you believe it? You should hire her. What? The same last name?
Well, yes, we do have the same last name.
The person speaking is Ms. Taylor's mother. Most employers do
not accept family members as professional references. Based on
this example, what is the most likely reason employers do not
accept family members as references?

18. A. Family members might not be
biased.
B. Family members might be positively
biased.
C. Family members might be negatively
biased.
D. Family members aren't interested in
being references.

19. ANSWER: B
Bias is something we have to think about
when a person gives his or her opinion.
Because this reference is from the
perspective of a mother, she has a positive
bias toward her daughter and might not
give an accurate or objective reference.

20. 2. Which is the best example of the use
of propaganda?
A. A newspaper article quotes a visitor who
said that Americans are too concerned
with material things.
B. A television news program reported that
American planes dropped food for starving
refugees.
C. The President of the United States declared
that the U.S. would defend itself against any
act of war.
D. A foreign radio broadcasts that Americans
are evil, wicked, and sinful.

21. ANSWER: D
Propaganda is a deliberate effort to spread
ideas in order to influence opinion.
In this example, the foreign radio broadcasts
will spread negative ideas to many people,
therefore influencing their opinion of
Americans.