Yesterday I recieved back the first assignment since the beginning of my MA, the first assignment in about 5 years which hasn’t been about English Literature. I found the thought of writing in a different style about a subject I’m relatively new to extremely daunting but it turns out I did very well – better than I did in most of my degree work actually. This has really helped me and I’m feeling much more confident as I was actually beginning to doubt the course due to financial reasons. So, even though it was one relatively small assignment it’s meant a lot to me.
I have also been thinking a lot today about the dissertation topic I’ll choose after Christmas. I’m currently beginning an assignment about a quote from Bernays’ Propaganda and I’m finding some of the issues particularly interesting. For instance, the social and political role of PR and PR as a powerful tool of manipulation. Maybe I could question whether PR could ever be considered ethically sound when it has origins in propaganda and manipulation? I have to learn much more about these issues before I can devise any questions for investigation or research ideas but for now I’ve been enjoying looking at examples of propaganda throughout the ages. And, below is one of my favourite examples so far. I think challenging masculinity is a very effective form of manipulation…
Tags: advertising, MA Public Relations, propaganda
November 5, 2008 at 3:51 pm
Hi Becca, you seem to have taken to blogging like a duck to water. Good luck with your dissertation – I will do my best to give you a hand where possible.