P‌‍‍‍‌‍‍‌‌‍‍‍‌‍‍‍‍‌‍‍urpose (What’s the point of this midterm exam?) • To review political propaganda and political satire/entertainment, two areas that we haven’t had the chance to explore with a short-write or required listening/viewing assignment. • To synthesize course information across academic concepts • To provide your own scholarly analysis and critique of core academic concepts (I want to hear what YOU think about these academic concepts, too!) Time: A well-prepared student, who has completed the readings, watched the video lectures, and understands the course material should expect to spend about 3-4 hours on the exam. Length: To thoroughly answer all of the prompts, the exam length will likely be between 6 and 8 pages (double-spaced), including the References page. Formatting: • APA Style (American Psychological Association). Please see the Purdue Owl Online for help: https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/apa_style/apa_formatting_and_ style_guide/general_format.html • Use headings and subheadings to organize your paper • 12-point font • Times New Roman, Calibri, or Cambria font style • Double-spaced, 1-inch margins on all sides • Written in complete sentences in paragraph form (no bullet point answers or incomplete sentences allowed) • Upload a .doc or a .docx file to WyoCourses Evidence-Based Arguments: You should ground your views, tone, and responses in an academic and professional style. This means making evidence-based arguments using the readings and core concepts from the class lectures. These are your informed, scholarly opinions. Sources: I expect you to use the book, video lectures, and the material in the PowerPoint slides to derive your answers. You are not required to seek and use additional source materials in your work. However, you are certainly welcome to seek and use additional source materials in your work. Please ensure any additional source materials are indeed high quality and appropriate. 2 Citation/References: Please use in-text citations (APA Style) when you are referring to specific readings or video lectures. Remember when you use an in-text citation, then you must put the citation in a References section as well. See the Purdue Owl Online for assistance with any APA Style questions. Please read the entire prompt before starting to write your response! Prompt 1: Propaganda In this first question, you are expected to educate yourself about the history of Heart Mountain Japanese Internment Camp, located near Cody, Wyoming, which operated during World War II. You are expected to visit this website and read about the history of Heart Mountain on this web page. Please spend about 20 minutes on the website. Below is a screen shot of the page and the link below it. Figure 1. Screenshot of the website for the Heart Mountain WWII Japanese American Confinement Site. Screenshot shows a black and white photo of young Japanese girls outside a barrack. Scroll down and you’ll notice there are five distinct sub webpages to read about. Please review these five pages: (1) Coming to American; (2) Before the War; (3) Forced Removal; (4) Life in the Camp; (5) Honor Roll. 3 See screenshot on the next page. After reviewing the history of Heart Mountain on the webpages above for about 20 minutes, please watch the following video about the . Government’s internment of Japanese Americans during World War II. Japanese Relocation – Government Film (1942) – 10 minute video: Now, please watch this second video about Star Trek actor George Takei’s personal experiences with Japanese internment during WWII. Why I love a country that once betrayed me | George Takei – 15 minute video Next, please answer the following questions: (a) To what extent would you describe the . Government video as political propaganda? Address all of the following criteria in your response. Explain how these criteria helped guide your response to whether (and to what extent) this is political propaganda. (40 points). Note: Please organize your response (., using subheadings or bolded words) and clearly indicate what aspect of propaganda you’re referring to. 1. Who is communicating? 4 2. How much power does the communicator have? 3. What is the purpose of the message (to educate, persuade, judge, inform)? 4. What motivations may exist for the message and communicator? Does the communicator have reasons to manipulate or misinform? And are these motivations personally beneficial for the communicator? 5. What is the context of the media environment? Is it seen as favorable to the communicator and message? Is the message appearing on the free press? 6. What is the historical context of the message and communicator? What events are occurring that may influence the broader understanding of the message? 7. What is the public opinion climate like? Is it largely favorable, unfavorable, or perhaps split toward the communicator and current events? 8. How would someone’s personal bias (., dislike or admiration for the communicator) impact the disdain or appreciation for the message? 9. Are human rights (., upholding the dignity and value of others) at stake in the message? This makes it even more important‌‍‍‍‌‍‍‌‌‍‍‍‌‍‍‍‍‌‍‍ to consider given our world’s history of being manipulated or actively accepting propaganda that creates hate and violence toward “others” by blaming them for problems. 10. In reviewing the textbook’s “ABCs of Propaganda” section on pages 68-70, what roles, if any, do testimonial, bandwagon, and transfer play in your response to whether (and to what extent) this is political propaganda? (b) Next, consider George Takei’s first-person narrative video. How does George Takei’s accounts support (or not support) your argument about whether the . Government video is propaganda (or not propaganda)? (20 points) Value: 60 points total Prompt 2: Political Satire/Entertainment This prompt focuses on John Oliver’s Last Week Tonight show. This political entertainment show has long, deep dives into political issues and current events. Your job is to navigate to the show’s YouTube page at and then choose one video to watch. The only requirement for what video you pick: It needs to be approximately 20 to 25 minutes long. 5 Watch the video and answer these questions. Please clearly organize your response by letter prompt. (a) First, please copy and paste the link to the clip that you viewed. Name the political issue that is the focus of the clip. (b) What is this satire trying to say about society? In other words, what attributes about the political issue does the satire criticize and deconstruct? For example, what problems are revealed with our authority figures (., elite, politicians, celebrities) and institutions (politics, popular culture, religion, economics, scientific research, our society’s habitual behaviors, widespread issues like racism, sexism, xenophobia (fear of foreigners), etc.)? (c) Who does the satirist blame for these issues/problems? (d) Are there any solutions to the issues/problems that the satirist suggests? (e) To what extent was prior knowledge about politics and the political issue required to understand the satire? Relatedly, to what extent do you think this satire encourages consumption of news stories about the relevant political issues? (f) How might partisan identity (being liberal or conservative) impact how viewers react to the satire? (g) What might a viewer gain from this satire? For example, how might people be engaged/encouraged to participate in politics after viewing this satire? How might people’s self-efficacy or confidence in their knowledge about politics increase from this satire? (h) What are some negative impacts from this satire? For example, how may cynicism be evoked by this satire? Could this satire negatively impact political participation or negatively impact trust in government/politicians/society? (i) Finally, think about the bigger picture concepts of political socialization, political civility, and ethical/effective political communication. Consider that notions of power and authority are important to these concepts. In your scholarly opinion, to what extent is this political satire encouraging and/or discouraging political socialization into our democracy in ways that promote political civility and ethical/effective political communication? Value: 40 points total BONUS: Explain how what happened to Japanese Americans during WWII may be relevant in today’s political world, whether that’s in the United States or elsewhere in the world. That is, what connections can you draw to current events? What conditions may allow something like this to happen in the future? Also, what is different today that may prevent something like that from happening again? 6 Value: Maximum of 10 points added to midterm grade. The response will be evaluated for how thoroughness, elaboration, and accuracy. 7 Example References Page in APA Style (Also See the Purdue Owl Online) Notes: 1. You would not include the bolded labels of the type of publication it was. 2. This should be double-spaced, but to save paper, I single spaced it. Please double-space your References section. 3. Please put References in alphabetical order 4. Do not label references like I did below; this is just meant to show you differences between sources References Video Lecture and PowerPoint slides: Landreville, K. D. (2021, September). Title of presentation [PowerPoint slides]. University of Wyoming. Book: Perloff, R. M. (2018). The dynamics of political communication: Media and politics in a digital age, 2nd edition. Routledge. YouTube Video: Oliver, J. (2020, September 29). Census update: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO) [Video]. YouTube. TED talk: Takei, G. (2014, June 4). Why I love a country that once betrayed me. [Video]. TED. Website: Heart Mountain WWII Japanese American Confinement Site. (.). History. Heart Mountain. Funk, C., & Goo, S. K. (2015, September 10). A look at what the public knows and does not know about science. Pew Research Center. content/uploads/sites/14/2015/09/2015-09-10_science-knowledge_ Journal Article: Johnson, D. G., & Verdicchio, M. (2017). Reframing AI discourse. Minds & Machines, 27, 575- 590. Journal Article Without a Volume and Page Numbers: Da‌‍‍‍‌‍‍‌‌‍‍‍‌‍‍‍‍‌‍‍naher, J. (2017). The rise of robots and the crisis of moral patien