The+Use+of+Language+as+Propaganda+By+Kristina+Kazanjian

How have America’s social views and uses of the terms freedom and terrorism affected our world views and shape our ideas about?

I will be using library and online research combined with content analysis. I will also be researching public opinion polls and analyzing the way the questions are worded along with analyzing the data collected. I will also be making my own polls and surveys all of which will use specific language.

Language allows us to communicate our thoughts, feelings, and experiences. It allows us to talk about and understand the world around us. At the same time it is also limiting; by using certain words we communicate an opinion. The problem is that the media, government officials, and common citizens use these terms as fact rather than as opinions. A person who is questioning, or for lack of a better word, rebelling against something, let’s say a government, can either be called a ‘freedom fighter ‘or a ‘terrorist,’ all depending on the perspective of the person labeling that individual. These word choices are a form of propaganda. By using the term ‘freedom,’ which we, as Americans, are taught to value from a young age, or by using the term ‘terrorist’ in a message, we are coerced to accept certain opinion. We do not necessarily have free will to accept this message as true or false because of the terminology used.

I will be focusing on how American culture has programmed its people to regard the terms freedom and patriotic as important words. Because of this programming it is has become increasingly easy for our leaders and the media to shape our opinions and get our support. When making statements about policies, or about the world around us if the terms freedom or patriotic are used then it is increasingly easy to get the support of the American people, because we are programmed to favor those specific words. For example when President Bush implicated the Patriot Act in 2001 in response to the 9/11 attacks. The title first off has Patriot in it, and this act was advertised as a patriotic act. By using the propaganda of the word patriot Bush was able to get many supporters for this act, even though it violated many of our freedoms. When getting involved with foreign affairs if America condones and rebellion or a movement it is labeled in the media as a fight for freedom, this gets the America people to agree with our involvement.

This concept can also be used with the term terrorist, just in a negative way. Enemies of America are generally called terrorist, we say that they a danger to freedom, and we fight against them so that we may have freedom and democracy across the globe. Since the 9/11 attacks the term terrorist has been associated with our enemies. It was said that those against America going to war were in fact terrorist. Since this that association has continued. Now since that association has started to be embedded in the American public's eyes if a new opponent or enemy were to stand in America's way there is now an easier way to get the public to support a war or movement against that enemy. This can be done by labeling the enemy a terrorist force. If this term is used it is easier to have to public go along with a specific cause because of the associations in the publics head with the term.

To research this topic I will first collect statistics on the usage of these words in various media sources. I will then continue to find public opinion polls on various topics and rebellions going on in the world. I will pay attention to the wording in these polls and see if there are variations on the answers based on how the questions are worded. I will also conduct my own polls on current events and word my questions in one of three ways, using the word ‘freedom,’ using the word ‘terrorism’ and excluding both words. I will also be using online and library research to find scholars who have written about the power and influence of the human language to support my theories.

This is a classic topic for propaganda since it was first identified by the Greeks over 3000 year ago, and then by noteworthy figures such as George Orwell and others. You will probably need to focus more since this is a HUGE topic, but see what you can do to develop the "21st century" angle a bit more. Perhaps you look at how the word "terrorist" is used by different types of politicians and special interest groups in shaping attitudes about Arab people and cultures.