Saturday, April 7, 2012

Cuckoo's Nest Blog #2

By the end of Part 1, McMurphy and the Nurse have a big rivalry going on. At this point, I believe McMurphy is getting the best of their rivalry. He does many small things that break down the nurse  more and more, and whatever tactic she does to bring him down never work. The one "attack" against "Big Nurse" that might really bring her over the edge is the final one of Part 1- "And we're all sitting there lined up in front of that blanked-out TV set, watching the gray screen just like we could see the baseball game clear as day, and she's ranting and screaming behind us, (128)". This occured when McMurphy wanted to watch the World Series and Big Nurse wouldnt allow him to, and it shows McMurphy really throwing Big Nurse over the edge.

At this point in the story, I see Chief becoming stronger and a little bit more confident, but as soon as I see this, he becomes weak again, always trying to retreat into his fog. With McMurphy around, however, Chief finds himself coming out of his fog more, becoming confident enough to join in the World Series "watching", even though it would contradict his being deaf.

As of right now, I am rooting for McMurphy, as Big Nurse is mean and needs to be put in her place.

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Cuckoo's Nest Blog #1

Just as we saw in The Great Gatsby, we can find examples of heroes, antiheroes, and villains in Cuckoo's Nest. An example of a hero so far in this book would be McMurphy. In these first chapters of the boook, McMurphy is the new guy in the mental institution. It doesn't seem like he has any idea about the turth behind the institution, so when he finds out, I think that he will come out to help the others break against the rules. We can see evidence of this on page 28 where it says, "'...ya know-that is the ex-act thing somebody always tells me about the rules....just when they figure I'm about to do the dead opposite,'". We can see his potential for hero-like actions.

With the information read so far, the narrator-Chief Bromden-will fit the antihero role. He is kindof like a fly on the wall, always watching and listening, but never talking or trying to be seen. Even though he is an observer, I feel that farther in the book, he may unintentionally get in the hero's way, or knows information about the villain that could help others, but keeps it to himself. On purpose or not, this could be his future in the book.

Finally, the villain role would be filled by Big Nurse and the "black boys". I can see them being the villains because of their actions seen in just these first sixty or so pages. Big Nurse is a seemingly nice nurse, but can turn to evil in a second, and she keeps secrets from the patients. The boys are basically Big Nurse's minions, as they follow her every order even before she had to "think it". They torture the patients and cause mayhem. Based on their personalities already, they will most likely be the villains of the book.

Monday, March 5, 2012

The Great Gatsby Blog #3

1. Interpretive: What can we interpret to be the main theme of the book?
          There are multiple themes that we can interpret to be the main ones. These range from a person's happiness to how one should live their life. Personally, I interpreted the main theme to be that money can't always lead you to happiness. We can see this with Daisy, because even though she married Tom for money, she wasn't happy or that much in love with him. We can also see this with Gatsby, as he had a lot of money as well. However, he didnt really have any "true" friends (besides Nick), he lost Daisy, and no one had even showed up at his funeral (other than his dad and Nick).

2. Interpretive: What can we predict about Daisy's future?
          Daisy's future is very vague, but we can pinpoint a few details that may be true to her future. Based on her extreme want for money, we can assume that she will stay with Tom. Also, in order to stay with him, she will most likely keep the truth about who was driving the car that killed Mrs. Wilson to herself, in order to stay with Tom. She will probably suppress her feelings about Gatsby for the money as well.

3. Evaluative: Analyze what the author is meaning through Nick's actions after Gatsby's death.
          At the end of the book after Gatsby died, Nick decides to tie up some loose ends and leave the area and go back to the Midwest. The author's meaning of these actions was to show the truth behind everyone, like how Tom and Daisy are truly hurtful people who think money can save them, and how Jordan was kind of stringing Nick along.

4. Evaluative: Evaluate what the author meant by "So we beat on, boats aganst the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past."
          The author means that we will never go forward in our history. We are stuck with what we have now, and we are only going backward. The author writes this as Nick talking about how we can't reach the American dream, as we have already reached our capacity.

Monday, February 27, 2012

The Great Gatsby Blog #2

The character of Jay Gatsby is developed to be different from what I thought he would be. He is associated with Meyer Wolfsheim. While Wolfsheim isn't a major charcter, he is the shady business partner of Gatsby, and his purpose is to reveal more about Gatsby. Wolfsheim puts him in a negative light.
The stories of Jay's and Daisy's past make our impression of him a little more clear in the negative part, as we see the whole purpose of all of his plans and parties revolving around her. While it seems sweet on the surface, we can almost see his true intentions underneath.
The inconsistent stories of Gatsby make us have a bad impression of him, as the story of his past seems to change. We look down upon him for this.
Over these three chapters, my overall impression of Gatsby has gone down. I like him less now because his past is now catching up with him and shoeing his true colors, like his intentions with Daisy and shady business ventures.

Jelly Roll Morton "Black Bottom Stomp"

-The song is kind of upbeat, so people would want to get up, have fun, and dance & enjoy themselves.
-The mood is light, skippy, and playful. It is like this with the horns and the soft, almost nonexistent beat.
-The activity that goes along with this song is dancing.

Monday, February 20, 2012

The Great Gatsby Blog #1

Based on the first three chapters of the book, I would classify different characters as different types of people. I would classify Nick as a hero, because he is nice to everyone and is polite. Whenever he is mistaken, he is also apologetic, as seen when he didn't know when he was talking to Gatsby himself; "'I'm Gatsby,' he said suddenly. 'What!' I exclaimed. 'Oh, I beg your pardon.'"( Fitzgerald, 48). Another person I would consider to be a hero would be Gatsby, as he is a nice, somewhat charitable person, as can be seen when he helps out a woman with her torn dress. "...Lucille said, 'When I was here last I tore my gown on a chair, and [Gatsby] asked me my name and my address-inside of a week I got a package from Crorier's with a new evening gown in it,'"(Fitzgerald, 43).
As for the villain, I would say Tom Buchanan and Jordan Baker would fit this role. I would tag Tom as a villain because he seems maniacally and violent, like when he hit Mrs. Wilson. "'Daisy! Daisy! Daisy!' shouted Mrs. Wilson. 'I'll say it whenever I want to! Daisy! Dai-'. Making a short deft movement, Tom Buchanan broke her nose with his open hand."(Fitzgerald, 37). I would tag Jordan Baker as a villain because she seems like she has the ability to be really mean and crazy toward people, as manipulates things to get them her way. "[Jordan Baker] was incurably dishonest. She wasn't able to endure being at a disadvantage and, given this unwillingness, I suppose she had begun dealing in subterfuges when she was very young in order to keep that cool, insolent smile turned to the world and yet satisfy the demands of her hard, jaunty body."(Fitzgerald, 58).
As the antihero, I would put Daisy into this role. she seems like she is nice, but her intentions may put her in the way of the hero's goal(s). Her ignorance, like when she knows about Tom's "other woman", will most likely lead her to bad ways without even knowing.

Thursday, February 16, 2012

Bua

Bua had many style themes going throughout his paintings. One theme was the heavy dimensions-there extreme curves and distorted proportions. The paintings also looked like as though they were through a "fish eye lens". Dark colors are also used (reds, blues, browns, and blacks) in the paintings, giving them a kind of dark sense.

Saturday, January 28, 2012

Compare/Contrast Paragraph

Kroll's and Mencken's articles both touch on the topic of the death penalty. Kroll's article is more filled with appeal, and Mencken's article is more filled with support for a main topic. However, the Kroll article is more persuasive because of its appeals and fallacies. Mencken's article, while full of logical support, has a confusing, somewhat "red herring" ending that makes me want to stop reading for lack of understanding. It doesn't have that emotion and sense that Kroll inserts into his article. So, the appeals in a persuasive piece matter more than the support for the article.

"Sixteen Military Wives" by the Decemberists

1. This song is about how America isn't fair. It kills troops and breaks down people, like the "celebrity minds". The anchormen talk about these things on the things like he doesn't care at all, like it an everyday thing.
2. The theme of the song is that America does what it wants to whenever it wants to. It doesn't realize the real heroes, like the soldiers. This is because we don't really care about the news, because we are not emotionally attached.

"Race for the Prize" by the Flaming Lips (1999)

The theme of this song is the pursuit of a good life (happiness) and its dangers. One example that can support this is in the first stanza where they sing "Locked in a heated battle for the cure that is their prize". It doesn't say what the cure is for, but I take it as a cure to making life good. The theme is also supported in the chorus, where they sing "Theirs is to win if it kills them; Their just humans with wives and children". This shows that they aren't machines; they have feelings, and the one they are going for is their "cure", although they ignore those.

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Speeches and Fallacies

1. Appeal to consequences: "But when shall we be stronger? Will it be the next week, or the next year? Will it be when we are totally disarmed, and when the British guard shall be stationed in every house? (Patrick Henry's "Speech to the Virginia Convention")"
2. The fallacy that the quote above commits is appeal to consequence. It is guilty of committing this logical flaw because it is showing the consequence of not being able to cope with "so formidable an adversary". By appealing to a consequence, people will want to become stronger before something bad happens.
3. A speech that blatantly commits so many fallacies can still be so effective and so famous because fallacies are used as forms of propaganda, so the speech writers, if you will, can get people on their side by appealing to them through fallacies. They are famous for their ease in persuading people.

Monday, January 16, 2012

Duck and Cover

1. The overt message is that ducking and covering can save your life in a bombing attack. Other overt messages are that one should always obey the civil defense officer, and one should beware of the flash.
2. The covert message is not mentioned purposefully, as they don't mention that you can die anyway if you are really close to the center of the blast. You can be exploded or burned.
3. Propaganda, because they are still leaving out some important facts to know. The technique used is fear, as they subtly scare children into ducking and covering so they don't die.

Destination Earth

1. The overt message is that oil and competition are the best things in the world.
2. The covert message is saying that communism is not necessarily ideal, but the video is kind of sadistic in how they express it. The martian world was communist, and the oil and freedom made it (the martians) better.
3. Propaganda, because it is implying something that is not outright said. The propaganda techniques that are used are bandwagon, glittering generality, and transfer.

Sunday, January 8, 2012

Propaganda WWII 1941-1945

1. The overt message is to eat less bread.
2. The covert message is what the rationing is for. The rationing is for the troops because when the industry goes and the people eat less, the soldiers have more to eat.
3. It makes it propaganda becaue the questionable underlying message answers the blatant, in-your-face message.

"Clampdown" by the Clash

1. This song is about the government ruling everything like they have the right to do it. It's saying that one doesn't have a choice if they are with the government.
2. The tempo was kind of fast, showing how they don't really feel sympathy for you in the government. The tune isn't smooth and flowing; it has alot of stops and rigidness.
3. It relates to deception. We see this as later, the person has koined the government, and the government is deceiving them.

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Propaganda, Persuasion, and Deception

Four quotes that I like and understand from the document are 427, 375, 498, and 500. My favorite one of these quotes is number 375 by James A. Garfield, saying, "We are apt to be deluded into false security by politcal catchwords, devised to flatter rather than instruct".I found this one the most interesting because it is talking about how ads in politics don't tell the hard truth about someone/something. Instead, they tell alot of fluff to make the object look good, making people believe it is good. For example, there are certain commercials for things like medicines, and after they tell all the good aspects of the object. Then, at the end of the commercial, a deep voice speaks very quickly, and sometimes unnoticeably, about the side effects and the bad things it causes.
In terms of this quote talking about persuasion, it is saying how ads want people to see the "good" things about the object. As propaganda, the ads are trying to cover up the truth about the object, keeping them under the surface.