Date of Award
9-1-2011
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Department
Rhetoric and Writing
First Advisor
Joseph Williams
Abstract
This thesis examines how the contemporary American media can and do function as a medium for propaganda at the behest of elite interests, such as the federal government and big business. It examines how the media often present stories in the context of cultural narratives that are deeply rooted in the American cultural consciousness, regardless of whether such a context is appropriate or even accurate, and that it does so in service to power. It examines how this practice employs Sophistic rhetorical techniques and contrasts them with a Platonic view of rhetoric. It will also demonstrate how this practice is similar to practices employed by the governments of four modern dystopian novels, and in turn how those novels deal with Sophistic and Platonic rhetoric.
Recommended Citation
Baumgardner, Caleb, "The War for Your Mind: Propaganda, Cultural Narratives, and the American Media" (2011). Theses and Dissertations. 319.
https://research.ualr.edu/etd/319
