Socio-Political Writing Homework
Composition Courses
Those who need votes, sponsors, support, or want to get things done, often rely on persuasive writing skills to create logical, emotional, and moral petitions.
Objectives
This homework assesses your mastery of the Socio-Political Learning Unit objectives:
i. Identify forms of persuasive writing in a socio-political writing situation
ii. Analyze visual images
iii. Write clear and comprehensible sentences
iv. Navigate the persuasive writing process
Topic Choices
Begin noticing and thinking about images, signs, and symbols you find problematic. Look for propaganda in your neighborhood.
For example, a Vietnamese restaurant in Dallas choose a red star as part of its logo. The red star may represent communist propaganda to many refugees who escaped the Vietnam War. Is this a good idea for business? Probably not.
Traditional and SAGE Student Topic Ideas
Rejected topics
Many of the following companies and organizations have corrected or resolved cases of discrimination, slander, and propaganda. Sending a letter to these companies will be silly, so do not write a letter to the following companies or organizations:
a. Sports teams using Native American images, mascots, and logos
b. Dove Soap company's discrimination against Black Americans
c. Makeup companies who do not offer various shades of makeup
d. The Kellogg's Company's use of racial profiling on cereal boxes
e. Victoria Secret's lack of plus-size models and use of skinny models
f. Carl's Jr. restaurant's use of sexual imagery in their ads
g. Cities that have removed racist statues
Do not search and copy an online image; rather, use your own camera and capture a visual image of propaganda in your neighborhood, workplace, campus, church, or community center.
Acceptable topics
I. Capture a photo of a monument that represents propaganda in your neighborhood. This can be a monument of a person or historical event. Remember, you are analyzing the problematic aspects of the monument, its shape, symbolism, position, composition, context, and so forth. For example, don't just argue a statue of Robert
i. E. Lee is racist because Lee was a Confederate General and the confederates supported slavery. Show us how and why Lee's statue perpetuates racist propaganda in your neighborhood, how its features hurt residents, and then persuade an authorized person such as a city manager to remove, alter, or improve the monument.
II. Capture a photo of propaganda created by a government or political organization near your home, work, campus, church, or other area. Persuade a person at this organization to discontinue, alter, or improve the image and problematic message behind the image. A few examples may include the following:
a. A government agency such as the EPA uses imagery to promote its environmental agenda. Some of these images may be propaganda, promoting the US President's political party or interests since presidents choose EPA directors. Don't argue the EPA is doing nothing to resolve global warming; rather, show your reader how and why a certain image used by the EPA is a form of propaganda used to cover up scientific facts concerning global warming, or show how it is changing people's minds for or against global warming or encouraging them to vote in a certain way.
b. A political party such as the Green Party, Republican, Democratic, Independent, or Libertarian Party uses imagery to promote their political agendas. What image in your neighborhood intends to deceive the public into voting for one of these political parties? How and why does this image accomplish this agenda?
c. A political action committee (PAC) or non-profit organization backed by industry may be using ads, posters, or other images to promote certain behaviors such as promoting war to boost weapon manufacturing profits, discounting global warming to encourage people to burn more gasoline, or blaming others to hide responsibility (e.g. drug companies blaming school shootings on guns rather than pharmaceuticals to hide the fact that many active shooters use drugs).
d. City governments use posters and ads to promote city programs. Do you see any propaganda being used in your town?
e. North Lake College creates posters, ads, and promotional materials for programs. Any propaganda on campus?
f. Planned Parenthood publishes many images of certain gender, race, and age groups. Is this a problem?
g. The military relies heavily on posters of soldiers. Do you see any propaganda there?
III. Capture a photo or image of a company or nonprofit organization's advertising imagery. Notice how companies and nonprofits choose to display certain ethnicities, genders, religions, economic statuses, or types of people doing certain things while feeling certain ways as a way to attract customers or support. Some of their promotional imagery is propaganda.
Persuade a guilty company or organization to discontinue, alter, or improve their problematic images and messages behind the images. A few examples may include the following:
a. Energy company: Sustainable energy companies use logos or images of green pastures and clean air on advertisements. Does this work for them? Fossil Fuel energy companies also use logos and images to promote their energy products. Do their images work for their types of resources?
b. Fast Food: In the case of fast food restaurants, Burger King often uses images of Black Americans more than other ethnic groups. Why? Black Americans experience greater chances of suffering from diabetes and heart disease which are linked to diet. Is there a problem with this?
c. Textiles: Clothing manufactures often display images of cotton farmers and people happily working in factories, yet many countries allow clothing manufacturers to enslave workers. Is this a problem?
d. Gender bias: A plethora of companies display certain images in form of gender bias. Is this a problem?
e. Groceries: Many food manufactures display farms, bucolic sunsets, healthy plants and animals on their product packaging. Often slogans such as "all natural" accompany these images. How does this reconcile with the fact that most food in packages is grown indoors, on feed lots, and within monoculture environments? How can the food be natural when its grown or raised with artificial fertilizer, chemicals, feed, and then preserved by more chemicals?
f. Church or religious group: some churches use images to scare people, attract people, or reject people. Do you see any religious literature using propaganda?
IV. Analyze and critique an existing form of propaganda found in an advertisement produced by a company or organization in your neighborhood, create an original image, and persuade the company or organization to discontinue using their problematic image and adopt your image. Show your reader how and why your image is better.
Format your homework according to the give formatting requirements:
1. The answer must be double spaced, typed, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides.
2. The response also includes a cover page containing the title of the homework, the course title, the student's name, and the date. The cover page is not included in the required page length.
3. Also include a reference page. The references and Citations should follow APA format. The reference page is not included in the required page length.
Attachment:- Socio-Political-Comp-Homework.rar