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Understanding bias and propaganda in literature and media

Mon, 26 May 2014 01:59:40 +0100

As an English scholar studying various texts, you need to know how to differentiate between texts that are impartial (neutral and give facts only)and texts that are biased (one sided and often manipulated to suit the writer’s point of view). When communicated via mass media, biased information is termed: propaganda.

English students are most likely to meet bias and propaganda in their literature texts (plays, novels, short stories and poetry), oral texts such as speeches as well as in film studies, cartoons, advertisements, newspaper articles and comprehension passages. Some bias is unintentional and is as a result of the writer or speaker’s ignorance, personal experiences or limited facts. A lot of it however is intentional and is deliberately meant to deceive and alter the recipient’s state of mind in favour of the propagandist’s point of view.

Bias in some common literature texts

In the Merchant of Venice, we see Shylock (a Jew) and Antonio (a Christian) both having pre-conceived negative stereotypes about each other’s religion. This causes them to have unkind and biased comments about each other. In Othello, Desdemona’s father, Brabantio, arrives at the conclusion that the only way that his daughter could have fallen for a black man from Africa is if that man used witchcraft. Squealer in Animal Farm is a master propagandist who paints a rosy picture of a very successful and productive farm led by the pigs. He justifies the privileges that the pigs reserve only for themselves on the farm such as sleeping on beds and eating the windfalls. He tells the rest of the animals that because the pigs are the brains of the farm, they must be the ones who consume the apples because their brains need that kind of nutrition.

Bias in advertising

In the advert above, Samsung twists the comments Apple is said to have made about the Samsung Galaxy cellphone being the same as Apple's iphone. Samsung implies in this advert that buying a Galaxy S3 will get you a similar phone as the iphone, only at a lower price and with the advantage of more features and a better product. The side by side visual portrayal of the two cellphones shows the Samsung Galaxy as a bigger sized cellphone, again suggesting its superiority. The truth however is that for Samsung’ s claimse to be believed, they needed to show us a detailed comparison of the features of the Galaxy S3 and those of a specific iphone model. Samsung has deliberately omitted mention of the context under which Apple admitted the similarity of the Galaxy to their own product. The fact that the Samsung Galaxy S3 appears bigger than as unspecified iphone model in the graphic, does not make it a better cellphone. Questions should also be raised as to why Samsung would want to use a rival product as a measure of excellence instead of letting their product's features speak for themselves.

Propaganda in politics

Below are two famous spin doctors (professional propagandists). Reading more about these men will help you to understand how propaganda plays a huge yet controversial role in politics.

1) Muhammad Saeed al-Sahhaf (Comical Ali)

(Former Iraqi information minister during the Saddam Hussein era)

Comical Ali made a name for himself internationally in the 2003 Iraqi War through his televised propaganda broadcasts. He was known for his statements about the Americans allegedly suffering sound defeat at the hands of the Iraqi army. This was however not true, as were most of the statements he made on television. Here is an example of such a statement quoted from http://www.welovetheiraqiinformationminister.com

' “August 11 - The LA Times reports that the Iraqi military was itself fooled by the creative reporting of furloughed Iraqi Information Minister Muhammed Saeed al-Sahaf (M.S.S.):

"After the information minister claimed that Iraqi forces had retaken the Baghdad airport from U.S. troops, two former commanders said, Republican Guard Gen. Mohammed Daash was dispatched to check out a rumor that four or five American tanks had survived the Iraqi counterattack. Daash returned to his headquarters in a panic. "Four or five tanks!'' the commanders quoted Daash as telling his fellow generals."Are you out of your minds? The whole damn American Army is at the airport!'' '

2) Joseph Goebbels – The Nazi Minister of Propaganda during Hitler’s government

Goebbels took total control of German media and controlled what was aired on the radio and what was printed in the newspapers. He was also a gifted speaker who together with Hitler was able to gain support from many Germans for their Nazi principles even though they were racist, xenophobic and full of hate. Here is what he is quoted as having once written about his boss and close friend, Hitler:

“We saw and experienced the Führer as a speaker at the Party Rally of Freedom in 1935. He spoke fifteen times within a period of seven days. Not once did he repeat a thought or a phrase. Everything was new, fresh, young, vital, and compelling. He spoke in one way to officials, another to the S.A. and S.S. men, one way to the youth and another to the women. In his major speech on culture, he explained the deepest secrets of the arts, and his speech to the Wehrmacht was understood by the last soldier in the last battalion. The entire life of the German people was spanned by his speeches. He is a proclaimer of the word who can express its thousand-fold nature through the grace of God.”

What are your views about propaganda? Which other examples of propaganda have you come across in both the print and electronic media? Your comments are welcome

Spring

Thu, 20 Sep 2012 16:58:42 +0100

SPRING

The amazing sweet smell of trees

The lovely sweet songs sung by birds

The heat of the sun rising from the sun…

Spring…spring…spring

It excites me…It explores my mood to

The limit of happiness…It squashes the anger

Out of my heart. . Spring is knocking on the door?

Oh. I welcome it with warm

Because it keeps me in a dancing mood.

It’s fresh, it’s amazing and sweet…

It smells of fresh violets…

In spring there is no anger, greediness …

Spring brings fun, joy and happiness!

BY : MS.T.I.MOTSIKOE

LIFE

Thu, 28 Jun 2012 19:17:29 +0100

LIFE by Tsepang Khoboko

Life, the period between birth and death, simple??? Not really!!! Life has its complications many of which we bring upon ourselves. In other words; life could be anything we want it to be just by simply mastering a few disciplines.

What is life if you do not have a purpose or aim??? Nothing!!! Believe it or not, the successful always have a number of projects planned. They look forward to these; after all, anyone of them could change their lives. Setting goals and boundaries for oneself is the first step towards success. There are various ways in which one could do so: visualize your goals, draw a ‘bucket list’ (a list of things you want to accomplish before you “kick the bucket”) or do anything that will remind you of your goals all the time. The secret behind setting goals is being realistic and also setting short term goals (ticking off achieved goals motivates one to keep going.)

There is nothing worse than letting an opportunity slip through one’s fingers. An opportunity lost is success delayed because opportunities are as irreplaceable as time and words. Once gone, never again. Make the best of every opportunity that you get. I believe that the biggest risk is not taking any risks. We live and we learn, so go ahead, make mistakes but never make the mistake of repeating the same mistakes.

Accept life the way it is. We often worry too much about the window that just closed on us not noticing the door that has been opened for us. Life is not about the good times only. This is well learnt from Anthony Robbins who says: “The secret of success is learning how to use pain and pleasure instead of having pain and pleasure use you. If you do that, you are in control of your life. If you do not, life controls you.” I strongly believe that challenges either make us or break us. In saying that I mean that we must take every challenge as a stepping stone towards our goals; that way we rejoice in our challenges and revel in our accomplishments.

Believing is achieving – receiving may be deceiving.

Don’t be fooled by materialistic things. A poor man with happiness in life is worth much more than a millionaire with no happiness. Life is about appreciating the little things like the support we have, the smiles we see, the things we learn and most importantly, the people we have. Remember that work will not assist you in times of trouble but family and friends will, so make time and appreciate!!!

Last but not least: Life is not all work and no play. The true beauty behind life is balancing the two. Laugh for no reason, scream no matter the season. Please yourself and forget everything else because having fun is just as important as living life.

L- Live and Love

I- Imagine and Inspire

F- Facilitate and focus

E- Encourage and finally… ENJOY

PS: Trying to master life is like attempting to be perfect… EVERYONE HAS THEIR OWN WAY!!!

Using television as a tool for learning English

Mon, 02 Apr 2012 09:49:48 +0100

Did you know that television can be used as a tool for learning and improving your English skills? Besides the obvious way of watching educational programmes on the learning channels, any programme that is in good English can be a resource for learning new English words, new English expressions, as well as pronunciation.

The trick though is to choose a news programme, documentary, talk show, comedy or other production that uses formal and good English. I enjoy watching the likes of ENews, CNN and the BBC news channels and also talk shows such as Orprah. Advertisements are also great for metaphoric and emotive language. You might want to be careful though, about following content that is in American English when you speak British English and vice-versa.

Dedicate regularly, about half an hour or whatever amount of time you have to spare, to listen to your favourite presenter, actress or talk show host. Make a conscious effort to listen and concentrate on what he or she or they are saying. It is important to remind yourself that for that time duration, your aim is improve your English. This will make you focus and prevent you from watching and listening for entertainment purposes only. Jot down on paper or your electronic note pad, any words or expressions that catch your ear. Later, you will use your paperback or web based dictionary to look up the meaning and make a conscious effort to use it in your own sentences. You can even try and enact the scene that you watched and see if you can do it better than it was done on television.

Analyse why certain things in a series, show or advertisement have been said in a certain way as opposed to another way. Ask yourself what the effect would have been if the information been said in a different way. How have words been used by one character to convince, manipulate or influence another character or you the viewer?

The same principles can be applied with musical lyrics, but choosing the right material is crucial. Get advice from your English teacher if you are not sure whether or not a certain production is suitable. There is a lot of bad language that is churned out in the media. Language rules are often sacrificed for the sake of artistic freedom. Give this learning tool a chance and you will see your English competency improve and your knowledge increase while you also have fun at the same time!

I AM A WINNER

Mon, 02 Apr 2012 09:29:40 +0100

I AM A WINNER

I have got a story to tell

A story to share

I am perceived to be a loser

When I am actually a winner

I’m a go-getter

That’s what winners are, go getters

I spread my wings wide

I leave no stones unturned

I am an explorer, exploring life to the fullest

That’s what winners are explorers

I face challenges head-on

I am an overcomer

That’s what winners are overcomers

I walk the walk

Talk the talk

I walk tall

With my head held high

Because that’s what winners do

I don’t indulge on my past but

Rather I stretch myself towards reaching my goals for the future

I think ahead, and that’s what winners actually do

I always make the best of a situation

And make sure I get out on top

Winners always come out on top

And that’s what I am, a winner

Bella Mbutho

I AM A WOMAN

Mon, 26 Mar 2012 11:13:59 +0100

I AM A WOMAN

I am a woman

My beauty is not defined by my braided hair and earrings

Instead my beauty runs deeper than that

I am defined by my inner-self

The unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit

Soft but yet so strong

Intense and very powerful

I am a woman

Watch me bringing about life into this world

Watch me protecting and comforting with these hands of mine

Watch me easing the pain with my tender smile

I am a woman

You strike a woman you strike a rock

I’m considered as the one who holds the knife’s sharp edge

Who can do that? Only a woman!

I am a woman, not just a woman but

A Goddess

------------------------------

Bella Mbutho

He is worthy of our praise

Thu, 01 Mar 2012 11:55:57 +0100

HE IS WORTHY OF OUR PRAISE

With faith we believe

With hope we live

With thanksgiving and supplications

We give thanks unto him

Who has the supremacy over all creation

Everything being created by him and for him

The first born of all creation.

With his power we trample over snakes

With his grace we are saved

In his likeness we were created

With his love we are made complete

In his presence we rejoice

With his blood we were bought

With his wounds we are healed

With his strength we are claimed as conquerors

With his word we proclaim life

With his garment of praise we are clothed

With his tenderness we are comforted

In him we live, breathe and have our being

In his name we lift our hands

To him be the glory forever and ever!

Opportunities

Thu, 01 Mar 2012 11:41:01 +0100

OPPORTUNITIES

Opportunity is a chance or time to do something.

Do we ever wonder why life gives us opportunities?

Yes….because we are given a chance to prove ourselves in what we are good at.

Not everyone get that chance,

Why not make the most of it?

It is not in our everyday life that we get opportunities,

So what do we do when we get them…..?

We grab them and make a success of ourselves.

We delight in our prosperity and achievement!

Opportunities are like sunrise,

Delay for too long and you will miss them.

Remember Price is what you pay

And Value is what you get…!

BY BOITUMELO KORIBE GRADE 9

Paradise

Thu, 01 Mar 2012 11:48:56 +0100

Paradise

Is this world a paradise? I wonder to myself every time I see people happy. So much sorrow and pain in this world and we call it paradise? So much war; we lose someone special every day, and still we call this world paradise? Women and children are abused and we don’t even care because we think that this world is paradise.

What is paradise? Is heaven paradise? What does it feel like to be in paradise? Is it a warm, happy and fuzzy feeling? We all want to go to a place called paradise but do we know what it is or what it’s like there. We sometimes tend to forget that one day we will leave this place that we call paradise and go to heaven, our real PARADISE…

Get Educated... ... ...

Thu, 01 Mar 2012 12:07:15 +0100

GET EDUCATED……..

In life it is good to plan and implement things.

Early education is an investment of a lifetime.

No one will ever take away your education.

Working hard, sleeping late and focusing on your studies will reward you with good things. Education is a treasure that does not rot. It is up to you as an individual to decide what you intend to do with your future. Quitting school will never bring good fruit in your life. It is good to hang with people who have light and goals in their lives. Being educated and equipped with knowledge is not a mistake. In life you are the architect of your own life. Education removes the dark cloud of excuses. Opportunity comes once in life, grab it with both hands, make the most of it and one day you will never regret taking it. You choose to be a winner or a loser so that is one of the reasons why education is the key to success………

ANELISA MKHAPHA…..