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Lesson 2: Building Background Knowledge: Propaganda in Action
50 min
California CCSS: Focus Standards
California CCSS: Supporting Standards
ELD Standards
Student Lesson
Lesson 2: Building Background Knowledge: Propaganda in Action
Student Learning Objectives
1
Content
Students will analyze propaganda posters to determine purpose, audience, and rhetorical techniques, and explain how messaging influences action and behavior.
2
Language
Students will use domain-specific vocabulary (emotional appeal, symbolism, fear appeal), evaluation verbs (promotes, manipulates, frames), and evidence-based justification to describe, interpret, and evaluate how persuasive imagery influences belief and action in discussion.
Essential Question
How do propaganda and rhetorical techniques influence what people believe and how they act?
Connections to
Knowledge-Building:
Students learn about propaganda and rhetorical techniques and how both work together to influence belief and action.
Enduring Understanding:
Rhetorical techniques can be used in propaganda to influence how people act and believe.
Future Lessons:
In Lesson 3, students will learn about allegory and symbolism. In Lesson 4, students begin reading and analyzing Chapter I of Animal Farm.
Unit Performance Task:
Students make meaning of propaganda and rhetorical techniques before reading Animal Farm so they can apply this understanding to their textual analysis. Students will continue to analyze persuasive messaging in Animal Farm and will provide examples of it to support their overall argument in the performance task.
Lesson Pacing
| Lesson Flow | Purpose of Learning Experience |
|---|---|
Launch15 Minutes | Students will observe a propaganda poster to understand purpose, audience, and persuasion. |
Learning in Action30 Minutes | Part A: Explore Rhetorical Techniques (RI.8.6) Students will learn about and identify rhetorical techniques in a propaganda image. Part B: Analyze Propaganda for Impact (RI.8.6, SL.8.2) Students will analyze Russian Revolution propaganda images for purpose, audience, rhetorical techniques, and impact on actions and beliefs. |
Look Back5 Minutes | Students will synthesize their understanding of how propaganda and rhetorical techniques shape belief and action. |
Vocabulary
Vocabulary Addressed in Lesson
- propaganda
- information or messages created to influence what people think or how they act, often by appealing to emotions rather than presenting all the facts
- purpose
- the reason a message is created, usually to influence what people think, feel, or do
- audience
- the specific group of people the message is meant to reach or persuade
- rhetorical techniques
- strategic uses of language or imagery intended to persuade, inform, or evoke a response from an audience
- emotional
- appeal: a technique that targets feelings such as pride, anger, hope, or sympathy to influence decisions
- fear
- appeal: a technique that warns of danger or negative consequences to pressure people into acting
- bandwagon
- a technique that 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
- a technique that uses negative labels or insults to create distrust or dislike of a person or group
- idealism
- a technique that connects a message to strong values like freedom, fairness, honor, or patriotism to inspire support
- scapegoating
- a technique that unfairly blames a person or group for a problem to shift responsibility away from others
- symbolism
- a technique that uses images, colors, or objects to represent bigger ideas or messages
Vocabulary for Additional Support
- rations:
- a fixed daily allowance of food or other goods, especially when supplies are limited
Material List
- “Buy War Stamps and Bonds” WWII Propaganda Poster
- Reflect and Respond graphic organizer
- Unit 1 Lesson 2 Student Edition
Routines
- Reflect and Respond
- Turn-and-Talk
- Think-Pair-Write-Share
Lesson Sequence
Lesson Texts
Short-Form Text
Soviet Propaganda Posters and Their Purposes
Standard News Bureau
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