Mencken vs. Kroll

For myself, Kroll had both an essay that I sympathized with more and a more effective one overall. I was on the fence between which I thought was more effective until I picked out this quote from Kroll's which pulled me over the edge onto his side: "His head began to roll and his eyes closed, then opened again. His head dropped, then came up with an abrupt jerk and rolled some more. It was grotesque and hideous...we were in the middle of something indescribably ugly. Not just the cold-blooded killing of a human being, and not even the fact that we happened to love him-but the ritual of it, the participation of us, the witnesses, the witnessing itself of this most private and personal act." This passage had more voice than all of Mencken's piece combined I thought, and passion, voice, and personality will always win me over more than a redundant essay about 'katharsis.'

16 Military Wives

1. The song is about different groups of people and how they deal with the struggles in their lives.\

2. The theme of the song is how America has rampant consumerism and we end up with "la-de-da-de-da."

"Race For the Prize" by Flaming Lips

The theme of this song is that a goal can only be achieved through extreme dedication and sometimes might not be worth it. Through its instrumentals the song creates a sullen, gloomy tone that nearly conveys impossibility of achievement. However, the lyrics almost oppose the music with an inspirational, hard-working sense. Meanwhile, their message is very different. The early verses of the song are about achieving a goal even "if" it kills you; while the ladder half of the song's verses contain the phrase "when it kills you." In this way the lyrics demonstrate that the "prize" might not always be worth the dedication.

Fallacies

"Can we forge against these enemies a grand and global alliance, North and South, East and West, that can assure a more fruitful life for all mankind?  Will you join in that historic effort?"


This quote "begs the question" because JFK assumes that we will join him and his views and something will come out of it. When he says that it "begs the question," will we actually find "a more fruitful life for all mankind?"


The reason why a speech like this one can still be successful is because the fallacies fly over the public's head and, to them, make the speech sound fantastic.

Duck and Cover

The overt message of this film is how to be ready for dangers.
The covert message of this film is that the United States is disliked and expects and atomic bomb attack.
This is an informational video which educates students of how to react to a warning siren or an atomic bomb flash.

Destination Earth

The overt message is that the way to a better life is having a good source of energy and competition.
The covert message is that monopolies and communism are bad and will hurt the style of American life. I understood this because all of the people on Mars were unhappy about Ogg but were overjoyed at the opportunity of competition.
This is propaganda because there is an underlying message and they aren't trying to persuade you to do anything.

Propaganda

The overt message is that cooking is a woman's job and that is a good thing.
The covert message is that women can be a major factor in the war's outcome.
The repetition of the overt message flatters you and eventually makes you think about why and what actually lies in the propaganda. This reveals the covert message which either will or won't persuade you.

Clampdown

This song is about wanting independence; this is proved by the quote, "the governments to fall / how can you refuse it?"
The beat was a primary emphasis in this song and the rhymes corresponded with it. This made them more emphatic.
It shows that governments have so much control over the societal environment they can essentially control and mold the people to be exactly what they want them to be.

Quotes

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#586:  "How one thinks and what one thinks about are molded by the language one uses to express one’s
thoughts."
         
This quote, I believe, is heavily intertwined in what we are talking about in class. For example, today we talked a lot about word choice and how that affects the effectiveness of persuasion. In 1984, it always said "Big Brother is watching you," but what it meant was that "Big Brother' had control over you. However, this word choice wouldn't express what it needed too. By using "watching," it implied that if one did something wrong, the consequences would be inescapable. The genius behind that word, however, is that to the person who experiences the propaganda it seems like they have the choice to do whatever they want to do, even if "Big Brother" wouldn't approve. Plus the constant reinforcement of this propaganda makes the citizens, like Winston, who are somewhat free thinkers, think about their consequences and weigh their options. All of this brings them back to the brainwashed state of being an average citizen in that society.