Advertisements and Commercials

Advertising is generally what pays the bills in many industries. Marketing a product takes creativity and the ability to PERSUADE. Have you ever bought a product solely on its advertisers' ability to market that product? Identify a particular advertisement that you have seen or heard that is particularly persuasive (i.e. television, radio, billboard, magazine, newspaper, etc.). What kinds of PERSUASIVE DEVICES do they use to entice the general public or a particular age or social group? Have you seen any ineffective advertising?

Protest Songs

For our classwork this week, we will be looking at songs and speeches which demand that people look more closely and think about a specific issue or problem in society. Some do so gently; some inspire listeners to action. Look at the lyrics and related information for one of the protest songs on the following 60's website and comment. Can a song change the world? What makes some more persuasive than others? www.sfheart.com/protest/index1.html

Jumping to Conclusions

The media (radio, tv, Internet, newspapers, etc.) often creates a stir about a topic or person so much so that people begin to GENERALIZE and jump to conclusions about people and groups of people. For example, people see one teenager breaking the law, and they think ALL teenagers are vandals. In our own high school, gossip (true or not true) generates the same results. Comment on some aspect of this issue which affects all of us. Is it part of human nature? Or can we educate people about jumping to false conclusions?