LESSON TWO
The Art of Persuasion

“The role of the artist is that of the soldier of the revolution”
– Diego Rivera

LESSON TWO
The Art of Persuasion

Images Courtesy of SELMA

Key themes

Resistance and Persuasion

Participants will examine modes of persuasion to learn how these techniques are used to change the behaviors and actions of others. They will also analyze a piece of protest art for the issues the artwork aims to address.

Objectives

At the end of this lesson, participants will be able to:

Learn how persuasion impacts the behaviors and actions of others.
Identify and differentiate between persuasion modes (i.e. logos, pathos, ethos).
Understand the utility of protest tactics including songs, paintings and other art forms as tools for protest.

There are two activities in this lesson.

Image Courtesy of SELMA

Key themes

Resistance and Persuasion

Participants will examine modes of persuasion to learn how these techniques are used to change the behaviors and actions of others. They will also analyze a piece of protest art for the issues the artwork aims to address.

Objectives

At the end of this lesson, participants will be able to:

Learn how persuasion impacts the behaviors and actions of others.
Identify and differentiate between persuasion modes (i.e. logos, pathos, ethos).
Understand the utility of protest tactics including songs, paintings and other art forms as tools for protest.

There are two activities in this lesson.

Selma-29-Director-Ava-DuVernay-and-Carmen-Ejogo

Image Courtesy of NATIONAL ARCHIVES

LESSON TWO

Introduction

During the three-day journey to Montgomery, AL, the voices of two young girls were recorded singing “Ain’t gonna let nobody turn me around; Keep on a-walkin’, keep on a-talkin’; Gonna build a brand new world.” These powerful lyrics, once a 1920s Negro Spiritual and later used as a protest song by the Rev. Ralph Abernathy during demonstrations in Albany, GA, is an example of music that gave protestors energy and focus as they marched with intention towards their goal.

A protest is a channeling of collective energy used to catalyze further action. This energy often takes the form of an assembly or public demonstration, but it can also be channeled into art forms such as performance, music, sculpture or painting.

Throughout history, images and sounds have provided fuel to protests that expand a movement’s reach by persuading the public in a different way. This lesson explores how art can give protests power as well as a legacy symbol that might outlive the protest itself.

LESSON TWO

Activity I.

Understanding modes of persuasion

Play Part I of The Art of Persuasion (see video below). Review the meaning of logos, pathos and ethos. During the paused portion of the lesson, participants will discuss the prompt provided on the video. The facilitator will guide participants to support their responses and identify which modes of persuasion are being used in their decision-making. Answers will vary.

Play Part II of the video (see video below). Participants will reflect upon their previous discussion as possible answers are given. Afterward, students will be shown a scene from SELMA. In the scene, actors portraying President Lyndon B. Johnson and/or Dr. King use various modes of persuasion (i.e. ethos, logos and pathos) to convince an audience to change an attitude or behavior.

Play Part I of The Art of Persuasion (see video below). Review the meaning of logos, pathos and ethos. During the paused portion of the lesson, participants will discuss the prompt provided on the video. The facilitator will guide participants to support their responses and identify which modes of persuasion are being used in their decision-making. Answers will vary.

Play Part II (Starting at 1:47) of the video. Participants will reflect upon their previous discussion as possible answers are given. Afterward, students will be shown a scene from SELMA. In the scene, actors portraying President Lyndon B. Johnson and/or Dr. King use various modes of persuasion (i.e. ethos, logos and pathos) to convince an audience to change an attitude or behavior.

Vocabulary Cards: Flip (hover) to see the definition of the vocabulary words for this activity

Vocabulary Cards: Flip to see the definition of the vocabulary words for this activity

Persuasion

Flip Card

the action or process of convincing someone to do or believe something.

Ethos

Flip Card

a mode of persuasion which relies on ethical appeal (e.g. good moral character or trustworthiness)

Logos

Flip Card

a mode of persuasion which relies on logical appeal (e.g. facts, statistics)

Pathos

Flip Card

a mode of persuasion which relies on emotional appeal (e.g. sadness, anger)

Download and read the transcript, then make note of the specific phrases used in the movie clip and which modes of persuasion they follow. Be sure to answer the following questions:

Discussion Questions

What claims are being made?
Which modes of persuasion are being used to support these claims?

LESSON TWO

Activity II.

Identify and Analyze Protest Art

Procedure

Work individually or as a group to find one piece of protest art that successfully supported a movement. Use the “Suggested Works” list below for inspiration. Create a short presentation, individually or as a group, showcasing how the artwork is calling for social change.

Image Courtesy of Library of Congress

Suggested Works

Key things to include in your analysis

“Slogans” or short repeated phrases related to the key issue
Call to action
Storytelling
Tone
Delivery
Historical references
Speaker & audience
Wordplay

Images, symbols that indicate the intent of the poster
Slogans
Call to action
Audience, speaker if applicable
Wordplay
Tone
Current or historical references

Suggested Works

Songs

Posters

Other Mediums

Key things to include in your analysis

Songs / Poems

“Slogans” or short repeated phrases related to the key issue
Call to action
Storytelling
Tone
Delivery
Historical references
Speaker & audience
Wordplay

Posters / Visual Art

Images, symbols that indicate the intent of the poster
Slogans
Call to action
Audience, speaker if applicable
Wordplay
Tone
Current or historical references

Questions the Presentation Should Answer

How effectively does the artist communicate the issue at hand, and what do they offer as a way to combat this issue?
How does the delivery of the message impact the way it is received? Is the tone somber, angry, hopeful, optimistic, etc.?
How does the artist utilize the specific art form to best communicate their message? What freedoms or limitations come with the medium the artist is using?
Does the artist directly indicate a target audience? If not, who do you infer the artist is speaking to and why?
Does the artist explicitly tell the audience to take action? If not, what do you infer the artist wants to persuade their audience to do?
What is the obligation of artists to reflect the social and political challenges of the larger culture in their work? Does this change in times of chaos or disorder? Why or why not?
Is SELMA a form of protest art even though it recounts events from the past? Use evidence from the film to support your opinions.

LESSON TWO

Digging Deeper with SELMA Online

Have participants view the “Timeline of Events” on pages 14 through 17 of the SELMA Online Teaching Guide. Have participants find the event in February on the timeline where protest songs were used to move the demand for voting rights forward.

SELMA Online Timeline of Events (pages 14- 17)

LESSON TWO

Additional Resources

Armed with a paintbrush, portrait artist Tatyana Fazlalizadeh combats gender-based street harassment. Get to know her on Oxygen’s In Progress 52 series.