Exam 1: Introduction to Persuasion in Everyday Practices

Discuss the rationale for studying persuasion theory and the application that persuasive discourse has in the fields of religion, politics, education, public relations, and advertising.

George Gerbner believed that heavy television viewing generated the "mean world syndrome," in which viewers became fearful and had distorted views of society.

Senator Joseph McCarthy was a patriot who spoke with great courage and honesty about government officials and the communist scare.

Subliminal means beneath the level of awareness.

What discipline involves "the faculty of observing in any given case the available means of persuasion"?

Cultural myths and allegories have no role in persuasion because they are fantasies.

Art has a rhetorical function in the way specific works affect existing:

The "Age of Enlightenment" proposed the "marketplace of ideas," which meant dissenters should be heard as well as the majority.

Propaganda extends persuasion beyond the realm of ethics to objectify people and use them for questionable ends.

Explain who Edward Bernays was and why he defined public relations as the "engineering of consent."

Explain the elaboration likelihood theory and discuss how this is relevant to persuasion.

Academic freedom means that only academicians should be heard in classrooms.

Explain the functions of persuasion and support your answer with examples.