By now, through teaching these lessons on propaganda in the classroom, students should know what propaganda is and how it is used. Students should be able to identify various forms of propaganda, what the message is and how it is conveyed. This lesson plan asks students to identify specific examples of modern propaganda in their own personal lives.
Begin the lesson by asking each student to bring in a newspaper. It does not have to be a current newspaper. Ask students to pick one article that they consider to be propaganda. Discuss the article with students. Ask students why they consider the article to be propaganda and what message is being conveyed. Ask students how they felt about the topic in the article before reading the article. Discuss with students how they feel about the topic now that they have read the article. Explain how this is a form of written propaganda. Further explain that propaganda comes in many forms beside the written form.
Give students this assignment; Students are to demonstrate 3 other forms of propaganda in a written report. Students will further be required to bring in one example of propaganda. Stress that the students must pick propaganda that is appropriate to the classroom setting. The propaganda must not be in the form of a newspaper or magazine.
The written report should contain the following information.
- Give examples of other forms of propaganda. (These should not be general statements such as "songs". Instead, they should be statements such as "John Lennon's song Imagine was trying to convince society that peace was the correct route.")
- How did the student view the subject matter before and after being subjected to propaganda?
- Is the propaganda a legal form of propaganda?
- Is the propaganda an ethical form of propaganda? If no one comes up with subliminal messages as a form of propaganda, this would be a good time to introduce the topic and ask for views on it.
Discuss the reports with the students. Allow students to voice opinions about propaganda in its various forms and how it effects society as a whole.
