Intro
This was a lesson I found particularly effective due to it’s genre-crossing. We covered so many different genres here, from Instagram Ads, to news articles, to Tiktoks. It’s also a lesson that has done well engaging students. I’m bringing current examples to the table and we’re also having a lot of fun creating a fake news article of our own. It makes them get creative and it really forces them to think about how rhetoric can be used for nefarious purposes.
As much as I want students to think about the rhetorical techniques they use in their own work, I also want them to start to recognize the rhetorical techniques that are used to move and sway them in their every day life. I deeply value the Jesuit teaching principles and I want to help my students become community leaders. I feel that in order to be community leaders in our modern world, they must be able to discern and filter through the rhetorical onslaught of nefarious news that we get bombarded with in the digital era. I want to help them become responsible and engaged citizens and learning to recognize rhetoric in action plays a crucial role in doing this.
This is also an assignment that just tends to get students pretty excited too. Even my most quiet of students can’t resist getting in on the ploy to make something so believe that we could dupe people into thinking it’s the real deal. As the teacher, you do have to hold them back a little bit here. But creative projects like this are a must for building the community oriented classroom that leads to students feeling safe. When everyone is involved and pitching their ideas with excitement, students get to know each other better.
Note: This lesson plan is an approximation of the lesson I teach. I tend to be less formal with my lessons; I like to be flexible and able to adjust according to where the students lead me. As such, I give myself examples in my lesson plans and outline happy-paths, but I also don’t necessarily follow them. They serve as outlines more than anything.
Lesson Plan: Fake News, Genres, and Rhetorical Devices
Objective: Students will understand how rhetorical devices are used in fake news, both maliciously and ethically, and will practice identifying and applying these strategies in a controlled exercise.
0–10 min: Roll Call & Quick Introduction
- Take attendance and address any student questions.
- Briefly introduce the lesson objectives:
- Understand fake news and its persuasive techniques.
- Explore rhetorical devices in media.
- Experiment with ethical and unethical uses of rhetoric.
10–30 min: Demonstrations & Analysis
- Celebrity death hoaxes – Explain and discuss.
- Trump 2017 inauguration crowd size – Examine how visuals, framing, and statistics influence perception.
- Fake article exercise:
- Show your drafted article without context.
- Guide students to make it seem more real: add a famous byline, embed in a NYT page, show in a browser with a URL.
- Ask how convincing it feels at each stage and why.
- Reveal the Onion article – Discuss the reveal and student reactions.
- Deepfake example (AOC/Chris Cuomo) – Discuss manipulation, trolling, and ethical concerns.
- Discussion prompt:
- How could AI amplify these risks?
- What rhetorical strategies are being used here?
- Can these strategies be used ethically?
Whole-Class Fake News Lab Plan (20 min)
Objective: Students will collaboratively create a short piece of fake news and analyze the rhetorical devices that make it persuasive.
Step 1: Set the Stage (2 min)
- WE ARE NOT to actually deceive anyone, but to understand how rhetorical devices can make content seem convincing.
- we’ll be creating a safe, clearly fictional story.
Step 2: Choose the Topic (3 min)
- “Campus library introduces robot librarians”
- “A new species of dog is discovered on campus”
- “University to offer free teleportation pods next semester”
- Use mentimeter to solicit topic ideas
Step 3: Brainstorm Elements Together (5 min)
- Ask the class to help decide:
- Headline – Something catchy and convincing.
- Byline / authority figure – Invent a credible author or expert.
- Supporting quote – An “expert” or eyewitness quote that adds authority.
- Emotional hook – Something that makes the reader care or react.
- Visual or formatting ideas – Image description, page layout, URL, etc.
- Write all suggestions live on the board or in a slide so everyone can see the evolving story.
Step 4: Draft the Fake News Piece (5 min)
- You (or a volunteer) type a short article or social media post in real-time while the class provides input.
- Encourage tweaks to make it more “convincing” (but still funny/obviously fictional if someone reads carefully).
- Highlight when they’re using key rhetorical strategies:
- Ethos – Authority/credibility
- Pathos – Emotional appeal
- Logos – Pseudo-evidence or “data”
- Visual cues – Formatting tricks that signal legitimacy
Step 5: Quick Analysis (3 min)
- Once the piece is drafted, ask:
- What makes this seem believable at first glance?
- Which rhetorical devices did we use?
- How might someone detect that it’s fake?
- Highlight the dangers: how easy it is to manipulate attention and trust.
Step 6: Free Writing / Reflection (5–7 min)
- Prompt students to reflect individually:
- How did they feel participating in creating something that could be convincing?
- Which rhetorical strategies do they notice most in media they consume?
- Could they imagine using these strategies ethically?
- Collect reflections or have students jot them down to discuss next class if desired.
Assets
This was an Instagram ad we created together
This is the AI video we looked at of AOC
This is the sample Marquette “Someday” article we created