"Sixteen Military Wives" (2004) by the Decemberists

The song is about tradgic events that start from things in everyday life. In just a few minutes, the song has switched from 16 military wives to 14 cannibal kings. It is showing the gradual, yet not so gradual destruction of America. "Cause America can and America can't say no". The thesis is that America's desire to show strength and pride often has the potential to be its downfall. America can't say no, and that's what will cause it to come crashing down.

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

The theme of this song is that personal ambition often makes us lose sight of what is important in life. "Theirs is to win. If it kills them. If it kills them. They're just humans. With wives and children". The two scientists in the song are so focused on finding "the cure that is their prize" that they are willing to risk the well being and happiness of their family for it. The soft vocals in the song help emphasize a sense of hopelessness. In a way, they've already sealed their fate since they have lost focus on the important things in life.

Mencken vs Kroll

Kroll's essay was more effective than Mencken's because it had a better use of pathos. In Mencken's essay, the closest we as the readers come to being emotionally attachted to the argument is when he associates the hangman with other unpleasant jobs. Given the fact that most of us aren't trashmen, plumbers, and the like, the pathos in the essay is very weak. In Kroll's essay, however, we're right in the middle of the story. We can basically create the picture of Robert Harris getting executed. This opens our thoughts up emotionally to Kroll's hidden argument against the nature of the death penalty. It is through this emotional connection that Kroll's essay is more effective than Mencken.

Example of Fallacy in Patrick Henry Speech

1) "Has Great Britain any enemy, in this quarter of the world, to call for all this accumulation of navies and armies?"

2) This is an example of loaded questions because Henry is trying to get the audience to say no to this question in their heads. This way, he come right back and say that they were "meant for us". This allows him to feed his desirable answer into the mind of the audience.

3) Even though Patrick Henry's speech is full of fallacy, his ability to deliver it with passion gains him great emotional favor with the audience. In fact, a sizeable margin of the speech uses pathos to spark the patriotism inside the audience, thus making his speech highly popular as a turning point in American History.

Duck and Cover

Overt- The governent wants you to be safe (They are giving you safety precautions against a new danger: the atomic bomb)

Covert- The government can't really prevent the atomic bomb from striking, so they're trying to do their best to protect you, although you're not really safe. (They never mention any ways they can stop the atomic bomb from striking)

This is propaganda because they are trying to make you feel safe without telling you they have no way of stopping a nuclear attack.

Destination Earth

Overt- America is great because of oil (Cars, and all other inventions associated with oil)

Covert- Go buy more oil (Generates revenue for economy). Go into the oil industry (Martians starting their own oil wells)

This is propaganda because the American Petroleum Institute (the sponsors of the cartoon) doesn't want you to know that the goal is to sell more oil and recruit more quality workers for the oil industry.

Transfer- Oil is why America is great
Bandwagon- Everyone is buying oil or starting oil wells

Propaganda (WW2 1941-1945)

Overt- Eat less bread

Covert- Sacrifice consuming wheat to send to troops overseas

This is propaganda because it doesn't really tell you the specific reason why you should eat less bread. It is holding something back.

"Clampdown" by the Clash (1979)

The song is about the Nazi's reign over Europe and how the people are ushered into Nazi life. "We will train our blue-eyed men" refers to Hitler's preference to blue eyes. "We will teach our twisted speech" refers to the radical ideals of the Nazi's being covered by less radical themes.

The strong vocals give off an authoritative tone. They act like Nazi authorities barking orders in your face, almost in a threating manner.

This song relates to persuasion by showing the wear on the oppressed's resistance until they finally buy into Nazi demands. From stanza to stanza, the "clampdown" drags the subjects in little by little until they give up their original moral values for brutal ideologies.

Propoganda, Persuasion, Rhetotric, and Argument

The four quotes I liked the most were 13, 23, 137, and 151. They all deal with the forming and managing of political systems, and the advantages and drawbacks that can come with them.

Quote 151: I cannot tell what part of me deceives the other- George Buchner

This quote serves as the main theme nearly all fallen world civilizations in history. No matter what era, nations that crumble usually don't see destruction coming until it's too late. Whether it be political corruption, civilian rebellion or the like, these nations usually destroy themselves. They are too busy with other matters that they are caught out of position when the upmost strength is needed to keep the nation intact. By then, they've already sunk their own ship, or something more disastrous.

Final Brave New World Blog

1. Does the One State really view getting rid of art, science, and religion as a "sacrifice"?

2. Can a breed like the savage survive the scrutiny of the One State?

3. Is the One State more willing to acknowledge weakness and sacrifice more than Oceania?

Brave New World Entry #2

1.       Do the high ranking officials really fear new ways of thinking as a threat to civilization?

Answer: The officials don’t exactly fear new thinking as a major end threat to civilization yet. First of all, they don’t really make anyone who doesn’t conform disappear as seen in 1984. Rather, they simply try to defend the public from radical views without going overboard. For example, the Director tries to isolate Bernard from the rest of civilization by proclaiming “In Iceland he will have small opportunity to lead others astray by his unfordly example” (Huxley 149). This shows that rather than completely taking the minority idea off the face of the earth, the government simply tries to keep it from reaching the public. Therefore, the officials cannot view the radical ideas as a major threat to their civilization.

2.       Could the “Ford State” survive without soma?

Answer: It would be nearly impossible for the Ford State to survive without their precious soma tablets. In Brave New World, soma basically takes the place of nicotine in the modern world. The citizens have developed a psychological need or addiction for soma. “Oh, I wish I had my soma,” said Lenina when the encountered the repulsive savage reservation (Huxley 116). The need for soma tends to come from being in an unpleasant situation. In a world with so many unpleasant aspects, taking away soma would be devastating to the population. The Ford State would be unable to function. People would not have the physical capacity to perform daily actions. It would be the end of the Ford State as they knew it.

3.        Could Bernard start a possible philosophical rebellion against standard Ford principles?

Answer: Yes, but it would have to be with the lower castes. The bottom line is that Bernard does not have the required presence to influence high ranking Alphas and Betas.  Huxley describes Bernard as a “creature with a Gamma-Minus physique” (173). If that’s the case, then shouldn’t he be better equipped to lead people such as the Gammas, Deltas, and Epsilons? Until becoming good friends with the Savage (John), Bernard was looked down upon by his colleagues. Almost all of them were taller and better looking than him. That said, they certainly aren’t going to want to take orders from him. It makes sense that he would have better success leading a thought rebellion with lower classes as opposed to talking up to more popular authority.

Brave New World Entry #1

The Ford State has created equality and conformity through misleading equality through social castes. These castes determine what jobs they will hold, their personal preferences, and their influence in society. This, however, is not 100% equal from the outside. Gammas, Deltas, and Epsilons, for example, are considered the lower class in this society. They take all of the factory-like jobs. The Alphas and Betas, on the other hand, take the leadership roles in society. They have the more sophisticated jobs, such as those in the conditioning centre. There is clearly a gap in lifestyles between the Epsilons and Alphas. "But in Epsilons, we don't need intelligence" Mr. Foster says (Huxley 15). The groups are staggered in order to fill all positions needed for the society to thrive. However, these groups are actually conditioned to be content with who they are. "I'm so glad I'm a Beta," says the Director (Huxley 27). In a typical social caste system, one would likely aspire to be of Alpha status. But in this system, the groups are made to have negative reactions to the other castes. For example, the Betas argue that the Alphas "work much harder than we do" ( Huxley 27). This system allows for greater conformity and minimal rebellion from the lower class.

The Ford State has reduced conflict by establishing both a national religion and a lack of exclusivity. First of all, everyone in the society worships "Ford", a godlike being from which the state is named after. In many instances, the phrase Ford has taken the place of where the word God would normally be. For example, phrases like "Our Ford", "Thank Ford", and "Oh, for Ford's sake" are very common in the society (Huxley 90, 92, 94). Worshipping any other religion is highly frowned upon and nearly impossible, since the only people who practice "Chrisianity and totenism and ancestor worship" are savages (Huxley 103).  Secondly, the exclusive nature in which today's monogamous couples live in is completely impossible in Ford society. "Everyone works for everyone else" is the perfect way to describe the lack of privacy in relationships (Huxley 91). There are no marriages and no couples. Anyone can be with anyone at any given time. Faithfulness and love go out the window, thus making the citizens less unfaithful to the government.

The Ford State has created happiness by creating specific points of view for each social caste. Each group has reasons why they are glad to be what they are. For the most part, it's because they have only experienced life in one social caste (their own). Epsilons, for example, "don't know what it's like being anything else" (Huxley 74). Each group has different preferences as identified in their conditioning. Therefore, they don't think any lifestyle is better than the one they are living now.

The Ford society is definitely a utopia because of the lack of government intervention required to keep the society running. In 1984, the government basically had to silence (kill) anyone who tried to talk bad about the government. However, the Ford society hits that problem at the source. Instead of allowing people to generate their own thoughts in their mind, they pre-condition them to think and act the way they want to. Every physical, mental, and social aspect is controlled from the beginning of the creation process. The government is free to do what they want because there isn't any possibility for revolt. Those who are born don't have any objections to what the government does because they don't know any better. For example, the government can say that "Making ninety-six human beings where only one grew before" is "Progress" without taking any heat from the public. There is a lack of wrongdoing in the society. Therefore, the Ford Society must be indentified as a Utopia.

Final 1984 Blog

Big Brother has won over Winston simply because Winston no longer has the fighting spirit and hatred he once had toward Big Brother. He didn't have that same desire to hate the government any more.  Even though it said "He had won victory over himself" on page 245, he was actually being controlled by Big Brother. He had submitted to their demands, and they were able to destroy his will to rise against the system. He didn't want to go against them now. The mental and physical toll had done enough damage on Winston. Therefore, Big Brother won over Winston.

One way the One State can be destroyed was if the Party was to completely block off their territory from the proles. They would grow in number and become a bigger threat. Eventually, someone would organize a rebellion while the major nations were at fierce war with each other. Then, the proles would attack from the inside out, slowly pushing the Party back to their borders. Eventually, something would have to give. They would have to either let the proles rule over them or submit to their Eurasia and Eastasia.

Even though Orwell describes that "The long-hoped-for bullet was entering his brain" at the end of the novel, I think he was describing the death of Winston's rebellious spirit inside of him. He no longer showed resenment towards Big Brother. He was tired of fighting for what was right and not getting anywhere by doing so. The metaphorical bullet entering his brain completes he re-birth into the society. As the last line of the novel reads, "He loved Big Brother." Eventually, I think he is killed by the party, but that is not what Orwell was describing.

10-28-11 "This land is your land" by Woodie Guthrie

Guthrie's message is collectivist because he doesn't solely emphasize himself. He uses the phrase "this land was made for you and me" selflessly to show that he's not the only focus in the world.

This song is anit-government because Guthrie doesn't want the government to take his rights away. He doesn't think anyone can ever stop him. He doesn't care what the government thinks.

Journal- Aristotle's quote

"It is the mark of an eductaed mind to be able to entertain a thought withot accepting it."-Aristotle

I agree with this quote because having an open mind allows you to see multiple viewpoints on one particular subject. Those who are sternly opinionated tend not to consider other possibilities. Therefore, they lack the certain level of mental development that Aristotle describes.

Journal 10-26-11

Americans can sometimes be viewed as selfish and overly competitive. They can sometimess be hostile or superficial to members of other cultures. This may give off the impression that American friendships are not sincere. Capitalism has a major impact on that. In our money-driven society, friendship takes the back seat to success. Before you can worry about making friends, you have to make sure you put food on the table. This connects to Maslow's Hierarchy of needs, where physiological needs take precedence before social needs.

Video Journal 10-25-11: Individual and Collectivist Cultures

1. Personality Traits:
Individual- hardworking, competitive, selfish
Collectivist- selfless, caring, social

2. I do think opinions for highly published PhD's are less likely to be challenged in both societies. However, the status given is very different. Individualist would see them both as leaders ans as competition, whereas collectivists would see them more as role models and colleagues.

3. A new teacher may find that she is no longer able to collaborate with other teachers on new assignments. Therefore, she would haveto come up with her own assignments in order to compete with the other teachers. This would cause her to be more private and selfish in her work.

4. A fellow colleague that shares the same career, interests, or beliefs. It has a negative connotation because instead of them being friends, they are merely colleagues in the same field.

1984 Book 2 Response

First of all, Winston is having difficult time accepting the words of Big Brother and The Party because he knows that they are full of lies. In fact, his profession is to replace the past truth with lies. He has bought into the system his entire life and now he is finally starting to realize that the government is lying to him. On the sixth day of hate week, for example, "at this moment it had been announced that Oceania was not after all at war with Eurasia. Oceania was at war with Eastasia. Eurasia was an ally". Obviously, Winston knows that this is a flat out lie by the government he works for. Just minutes earlier it was an established fact that Oceania had been at war with Eurasia. This is yet another attempt by the government to rewrite the past by substituting truth with lies.

Secondly, Winston's acts of mental questioning are not just acts of protests, they are by definition "thoughtcrime". Winston is generating thoughts that are detrimental to The Party's ideals. However, this is not only thoughtcrime. This is also "doublethink". For example, on page 176, Goldstein's book reads," Doublethink menas the power of holding teo contradictory beliefs in one's mind simultaneously, and accepting both of them. By generating contradictory thoughts while at the same time working for the Ministry of Truth, Winston Smith is comitting doublethink. While his protests might seem small to him, The Party views them as a major threat to their empire.

Lastly, Winston's rebellion and Occupy Wall Street, even with completely different motives, still share some of the basic principles of a "little guy" movement. Basically, both parties are fighting for equality.Winston and the 99% both claim to be under control by the bigger party. However, the adversity they both encounter is much different. Occupy Wall Street is simply over the fact that the rich are getting paid and the poor are missing out. Regardless of a lack of motive or reasoning, what the protestors really want is for the slope of income and tax breaks to be leveled so that they can make more money simply by standing with carboard signs in New York City. Winston Smith, on the other hand, is in danger of losing his grasp on what is real and what is a lie. The government keeps feeding him and everyone else rewritten past and flat out lies. However, Winston has no way of proving it. As far as everyone else knows, the new truth has always been the truth. Winston has finally had enough of it. He has come to the point that he would rather die than continue to be part of such a corrupt governmental system.

Listening Journal 10-21-11: "2+2=5" by Radiohead

This song is talking about how the narrator's world is full of lies and without truth. In his world, things aren't the way they should be. For example, "January has April's Showers" is a generally false statement made in the song. In reality, January is more of a snow and ice season than a rain season. This is also apparent in the title: "2+2=5", which is actually a false math equation.

The solemn and dreary tone the music creates helps push the message by showing that a life without truth is dark and lonely.

The 2+2=5 allusion goes back to 1984 when Winston said that if the government wanted to make 2+2=5, they could. This shows that the government has no regard for truth whatsoever.

Video Journal 10-19-11: Globalization

Conflict: The main conflict identified in the video is that Western Globalization is starting to overshadow indigenous cultures such as the culture of Muslim women. The reason this is a conflict is because the western culture does not agree with some of the customs women from Muslim parts of the world have. For example, the speaker mentions that women who wear a scarf to cover their face are generally discriminated against in Western cultures. The speaker proceeds to mention that women can sometimes be denied opportunities such as health care and education simply because they are muslims. When the speaker said that globalization flows one way, she meant that indigenous people must either conform to Western society or suffer the consequences of missing out on valuable opportunities. However, the speaker says that in her home in Saudi Arabia, she actually likes wearing the traditional dress because she can weak whatever she wants underneath. She also says that Muslims/Westerners live by two texts: The Quran and the Constitution.