War Propaganda

The definition of propaganda is: information, especially of a biased or misleading nature, used to promote or publicize a particular political cause or point of view.

For this assignment, you are to find a piece of war propaganda from any time period. This can be in the form of something visual (like a war poster or cartoon), something written or spoken, or a piece of music. Keep in mind that war propaganda is used for both pro-war and anti-war purposes. Once you find a piece of propaganda that sticks out to you, answer the following questions. (Please do not paste the propaganda below. Your job is to describe it. Please type into this form, single space. Turn in a hard copy in class. It is worth 5 points.)

Describe what this piece of propaganda is and speak to the following questions: Give a description of the propaganda. Who is the target audience? How and when was it used? What is effective or ineffective about it? What were or could be the effects of accepting the ideas put forth? Does it seem to be a purposeful misrepresentation of facts, or the product of a natural and unintentional bias? Why do you think people are inclined to accept propaganda? (Be sure to give some good detail and explanation to these questions and write a minimum of 500 words)

“Blowin’ in the Wind” by Bob Dylan was meant, not to be a “protest song”, but that ended up making it a strong protest song during the 1960’s. It was first used as a cover song by another musical group and then Bob Dylan appeared in one of their shows. The song itself, according to Bob Dylan, was written in ten minutes. It not only kicked off his career in the music business, but was also a go-to song for many people. He first introduced it to an audience in a small venue, targeting just about anyone. He used it to express his feelings about war, civil rights, and other ongoing conflicts. It mostly targeted the people against the war and the people who were pro civil rights movement. It even became a “theme” song for the civil rights movement. Lyrics such as “How many roads must a man walk down before you call him a man?” are pointed to the rights of other races and “Yes, ‘n’ how many seas must a white dove sail before she sleeps in the sand?” represents the want and need for peace. I think this song was very effective as to getting people to think about what was going on. He was getting his point of view out across to the world along with showing people that not everyone believes in war, etc. The lyrics of this song hit hard on to the people of that time