FINA 200 Study Guide - Quiz Guide: Vehicle Insurance, Justin Trudeau
PART ONE
At the beginning of the course I viewed propaganda as something that is a part of our lives whether we
notice it or not, that has the ability to change our views and beliefs. I highly agreed with Randal Marlin’s view
of propaganda as a structured way to introduce attitudes as well as presenting attitudes that already exist. Randal
says that propaganda is “The organized attempt through communication to affect belief or action or to inculcate
attitudes in a large audience…” (Marlin, 2002). The goal is to put ideas in the target audience’s heads that they
may not have had before. I mainly saw propaganda as a form of manipulation that has always been a part of our
lives. Although these definitions do describe propaganda, they are almost too vague because propaganda is a
very complex idea that has many different elements involved in it that help to inforce it. Though in my midterm
essay I chose to explain how propaganda is a technique, I do believe that it can be a phenomenon as well as a
technique. It is something that we often cannot explain because it is embedded everywhere in our world.
However, in today’s technological world it is mostly a technique due to the world’s continued increase with
communication technology.
Nowadays there are so many ways of distributing propaganda that most individuals cannot decipher the
difference between propaganda and the truth. We see propaganda on Instagram profiles, in YouTube videos and
on the screen on most websites that we visit. Ever since the internet became a legitimate way of earning money,
there has been an increase of propaganda online (Carson, 2017). A lot of instagrammers with many followers
are paid by companies to promote certain products. A popular product that is often promoted on Instagram is
called Sugar Bear Hair. The instagrammer is paid to post a picture of themselves with the product, writing how
before using the product they had unhealthy hair and now it is thicker than ever. As stated by doctor Dennis
Murphy at the beginning of lesson 2, propaganda is simply telling you what you already know. You are not
necessarily learning anything new, although a new view is being put in your head. Therefore, because a famous
and attractive online person is promoting such a product, even though many of the followers know it is an
advertisement, they will most likely be tempted to buy the product because they look up to the Instagrammer.
I used to believe that advertising and propaganda were the same and although they are similar, they are
very different. In advertisements consumers are nearly always given choices, however in propaganda that is not
the case. In advertising the goal is to earn a profit but in propaganda the goal is to change human behavior. The
goal behind the people who create these commercials and/or advertisements is to influence the public opinions
of an audience through the transmission of ideas and values.
PART TWO
In today’s world with the increase of social media, propaganda is more prominent than ever, however
because of this, it is also more difficult for the public to notice it. The first mass presentation of propaganda was
in WW1 when the British government used propaganda in motivating the population against Germany.
Propaganda used to be used predominantly to scare the public and it was more noticeable because there were
less ways of broadcasting it. It was most commonly spread with the use of posters and the radio. Today because
there are so many ways of broadcasting it that it becomes difficult for society to notice it. Propaganda is made
up of ten characteristics that help make it effective. I believe that the two most important characteristics of
propaganda are total and trust. Total means that the propaganda is organized and has the reach of an
organization to design and implement its messages to an audience. Trust means that the propaganda has to be
credible in order for it to be accepted. These two elements are very important when it comes to the existence of
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Document Summary
At the beginning of the course i viewed propaganda as something that is a part of our lives whether we notice it or not, that has the ability to change our views and beliefs. I highly agreed with randal marlin"s view of propaganda as a structured way to introduce attitudes as well as presenting attitudes that already exist. Randal says that propaganda is the organized attempt through communication to affect belief or action or to inculcate attitudes in a large audience (marlin, 2002). The goal is to put ideas in the target audience"s heads that they may not have had before. I mainly saw propaganda as a form of manipulation that has always been a part of our lives. Although these definitions do describe propaganda, they are almost too vague because propaganda is a very complex idea that has many different elements involved in it that help to inforce it.
