COM-341 Persuasion and Propaganda   Tags: communication, television  

An honest politician is one who when he’s bought stays bought.
—Simon Cameron, attributed, c. 1850

Politics & Politicians. (1997). In Rawson's Dictionary of American Quotations. Retrieved from Credo Reference.

Persuasive Text Analysis Paper Template

I. Brief introduction to political campaign ads. Include at least three from the following perspectives.

1.    Who make political campaign ads?

2.    How they are made?

3.    What are the expenses?

4.    What are the major persuasive goals of these ads?

5.    The general effectiveness of these campaign ads.

II. Describe the specific campaign ad you choose to analyze.

1.    Who is the intended audience?

2.    What is the general background of the campaign ad?

3.    What is the author trying to persuade the audience to believe or do?

4.    What arguments are used in the text to convince the reader?

5.    What evidence is used to support the argument of the text?

6.    How does the author use reasoned argument (logos), emotion(pathos), or personal character (ethos) to persuade?

III. What psychological persuasion strategies does the message employ? (For example, peripheral vs. central processing, social judgment theory, consistent theory, etc.)

IV. Analyze the social impact of the campaign ad.

1. How true/powerful is the message to different audiences?
2. How effective is the text in accomplishing the purpose for which it was created?