Students will examine how propaganda devices, specifically testimonials, are used in nonfiction literature. At the end of this lesson, students are going to:
- Determine assertions, details, well-reasoned conclusions, and viewpoints throughout texts.
- Determine how testimonials are used.
- Cite textual evidence to support your claims, conclusions, and inferences about the use of testimonials.

- How can readers decide which information from what they hear, read, and see to believe?
- How do literary and informational texts become meaningful to strategic readers?
- How does interaction with text elicit thought and response?
- How can one improve and expand their vocabulary?
- What exactly is the topic of this text?

- Author’s Purpose: The author’s intent is either to inform or teach about something, to entertain people, or to persuade or convince the audience to do or not do something.
- Inference: A judgment based on reasoning rather than on a direct or explicit statement. A conclusion based on facts or circumstances; understanding gained by “reading between the lines.”
- Propaganda Techniques and Persuasive Tactics: Propaganda techniques and persuasive tactics are used to influence people to believe, buy, or do something. Students should be able to identify and comprehend the propaganda technique and persuasive tactics listed below:
+ Testimonial: An attempt to persuade the reader by using a famous person to endorse a product or idea (for instance, a celebrity endorsement).

The materials for this lesson were chosen because they are examples of testimonials. Teachers may substitute other materials or texts to provide a range of reading and level of text complexity. 
+ list of propaganda techniques www.pbs.org/weta/reportingamericaatwar/teachers/pdf/propaganda.pdf 
+ testimonial technique www.propagandacritic.com/articles/ct.fc.testimonial.html 
+ Several ads that use the testimonial technique 
+ visual of Star Power ad www.nitrolicious.com/blog/2009/06/01/louis-vuitton-core-values-campaign-sally-ride-buzz-aldrin-jim-lovell/ 
+“Testimonial” from ChangingMinds.org http://changingminds.org/techniques/propaganda/testimonial.htm 

- Remain focused on propaganda tactics in the lesson, especially concerning testimonies. Determine who needs more assistance by evaluating each student individually based on their participation in the discussions and activities. To ascertain whether students have achieved the lesson's objectives, apply the following criteria: 
+ Students can recognize assertions, details, well-reasoned conclusions, and viewpoints in various texts. 
+ Students can recognize the use of testimonies. 
+ Students can use textual evidence to support claims, conclusions, and inferences about the use of testimonials.

Explicit instruction, modeling, scaffolding, and active engagement
W: Assist students in recognizing instances of flawed reasoning, such as testimonials, and in analyzing and applying propaganda strategies. 
H: Using the analysis of advertisements to pinpoint consumer appeal strategies, get students engaged. 
E: Have students talk about historical and contemporary nonfiction works that employ testimonials as a kind of propaganda. 
R: Assign students to create an advertisement that skillfully employs a testimonial and elucidates the rationale behind selecting a specific historical figure for the campaign. 
E: To further solidify their understanding of the use of testimonials, ask students to write commentary on advertisements. 
T: Offer resources with varying degrees of intricacy so that every student can grasp the material.
O: This lesson's learning activities include large-group instruction and discussion, small-group research, partner work, and concept application. 

Focus Question: How do persuasive strategies affect people?

Invite students to bring in newspaper or magazine ads. Allow small groups to analyze the ads and make notes on what makes each one appealing or persuasive. Ask students to note any facts or opinions that are used in each advertisement. It is also important for students to recognize any emotional appeals.

Part 1

"Advertisers use a variety of propaganda tactics to persuade people," you say. "We've looked at the use of emotional appeal in persuasion. We will cover a few more techniques in this lesson.'

Copy and distribute a list of propaganda tactics, like the one in the Materials list or the one below:

Name-calling: attacking an individual rather than a problem
Bandwagon: an attempt to convince the reader to act, think, or purchase something just because it's trendy or because everyone else is doing it.
Red herring: an attempt to divert the reader's attention with details unrelated to the point being made
Emotional appeal: an effort to convince the reader through the use of words that appeal to emotions rather than logic or reason.
Testimonial: an effort to persuade the reader by presenting a well-known individual as a brand ambassador for a concept or product.
Repetition is the practice of repeatedly presenting a point to persuade the reader.
A sweeping generalization is an oversimplified statement about a group based on little data.
Circular argument: the use of a conclusion as evidence of an argument
Statistics: an effort to convince the reader by indicating the proportion of people who believe a particular statement to be true.

Students should review the advertisements from the first activity after a brief discussion of the techniques. Ask students to name some instances of the strategies that are listed.

Students should concentrate on the testimonial technique, which is an effort to convince the reader by endorsing a product or idea with the help of a well-known person. Give the material in the testimonials article (www.propagandacritic.com/articles/ct.fc.testimonial.html) to your students to read or summarize for them.

Have students think of print or television advertisements that have testimonials (e.g., well-known athletes promoting shoes or making an appearance on a cereal box). Remind students that celebrity endorsements do not guarantee the quality of a product; rather, advertisers hope that the celebrity association will drive consumers to choose their brand. Ask the question, "How can a knowledgeable customer determine the level of quality of a product?"

Assign students to analyze advertisements that make use of the testimonial technique in small groups. Ask them to write their responses to the following questions:

What is the advertisement's goal? (To inform, educate, amuse, persuade, or contrast and compare.)
Who is the targeted audience?
Do you believe that individuals outside of the target market find the advertisement appealing? If so, how?
Who appears in the advertisement?
What do the individuals represent?
Why were the individuals selected?
Is the ad effective? Why/why not?
Gather the advertisements and accompanying commentary from the students.

Part 2

Say, "Propaganda techniques are used to call us to action and to sell products and ideas. They could be employed for commendable purposes, monetary advantage, political gain, or dubious purposes. It is our responsibility to discern the propaganda's intent and choose the appropriate course of action."

Show the image of the Star Power advertisement from http://www.nitrolicious.com/blog/2009/06/01/louis-vuitton-core-values-campaign-sally-ride-buzz-aldrin-jim-lovell/ 

Note: The first photo, which shows astronauts Buzz Aldrin and Jim Lovell alongside Sally Ride, the first woman in space, has been used in magazines as an advertisement for Louis Vuitton.

Ask, "Why might the company have selected the astronauts for the advertisement?" (making buyers feel that they, too, are daring and courageous, like the astronauts, by connecting the Vuitton travel bag on the hood of the pickup with incredible journeys, like that of the astronauts into space.)

Say, "Now you will create an advertisement featuring a testimonial in groups. You could make an audiovisual presentation or a print advertisement." Give the following instructions:

A historical figure ought to appear in the advertisement.
The individual in the advertisement might support a cause, a product, or a group like the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
Specify the audience for the advertisement.
Provide a brief justification for your choice of this person and the traits you wish to see reflected in the organization or product in your advertisement.
While the students are working, move around and assist those who are having trouble grasping the concept of a testimonial. Additionally, offer them a few historical figures to consider, like Franklin Roosevelt, Edgar Allan Poe, or Amelia Earhart, if they are having trouble coming up with one. Advise students to consider the personality, interests, and accomplishments of the testimonial person in addition to the organization or product they are considering. Remind students that the idea, the advertisement, and the audience are the main points of emphasis for this assignment.

Have students use testimonials in their group ads, either on display or presented. Students should take a gallery walk to examine print advertisements. After audio/visual presentations, invite students to comment and ask questions. Ask students to discuss their choice of historical figure before outlining the group's rationale. Request that a group member read aloud the rationale behind the group's decision as well as the personal attributes that the product embodies.

After every group has finished their presentation or shown their work, gather the explanations.

Extension:

Students who are prepared to go above and beyond the standard should be directed to the ChangingMinds.org discussion "Testimonial," which can be accessed at http://changingminds.org/techniques/propaganda/testimonial.htm. Have students list the article's key points in brief. (Celebrities lend credibility to the products or causes they support, which is a problem with celebrity testimonials. Testimonials from "ordinary folks" and experts whose identities are unknown might be more valuable than those from famous people.) Students may also find examples to back up the ideas presented in the article.
If a student still needs more practice, they can try a matching exercise where they have to match a celebrity and their attributes to a product and explain why the celebrity would make a good spokesperson for the product.