Evaulating The Two Paragraphs

I found the Michael Kroll's essay on the death penalty to be much more persuasive than the one by Mencken. Kroll's use of Pathos in his essay pulled at just the right heart strings and made me think predominantly with my empathetic heart rather than my rational mind. I was specifically persuaded by the description of Robert Harris' death. Kroll wrote that his friend was "strangled slowly to death in front of [Kroll]" as he "writhed for seven minutes, his head falling on his chest, saliva drooling from his open mouth." As I read this I could not help to feel sorrow for this man. While Kroll's essay relied on pathos and was very persuasive, Mencken's essay employed more logos and in turn was not nearly as persuasive. I felt excluded from the piece, only a bystander reading it. The arguments in favor of capital punishment were fashioned around simple analogies that over simplified the issue and in the end created a feeling of apathy in me. When writing to persuade on such a touchy subject, Kroll's approach of pathos worked much more effectively than Mencken's dumbed down logos.

"Sixteen Millitary Wives" (2004) the Decemberists

Subject: The lyrics are about military wives mourning the loss of their husbands. In the next verse, the lyrics describe celebrities and their lives. And in the final verses the lyrics describe cannibalistic behavior.

Theme: On a larger scale, I think the song comments on how easily we as a society reduce news to facts and figures that have little meaning once they are reported.

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

The theme of "Race for the Prize" is the prize of life, one's epitome of glory and achievement often comes with a high price. The "cure" that the scientists wre looking for is representative of the desired achievement and both the scientists compete under pressure and in the face of danger in order to obtain the cure. This relates directly back to the theme as one's achievement in life comes with a price just as the scientists had to make sacrifices to find the cure. The melancholy feel of the music adds to the bittersweet idea that life's greatest "prize" can come with great sacrifice and cost.

JFK "Inaguration Speech" Fallacy

1. "We dare not forget today that we are the heirs of that first revolution. Let the word go forth from this time and pace, to friend and foe alike, that the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans, born in this century, tempered by war, disciplied by a hard and bitter peace, proud of our ancient heritage and unwilling to witness or permit the slow undoing of those human rights to which this Nation has always been committed, and to which we are committed today at home and around the world."

2. This is an example of an "appeal to tradition." Kennedy is adressing this wonderful tradtion that Americans have of upholding justic and human rights, as did those of the first revolution. The fallacy is intended to stir up emotions of pride, purpose, and honor that are then transfered to Kennedy as he is the one giving the speech.

3. There are no doubt numerous fallacies in this speech but I do not think that this should be any reason for the speech to not be famous and remembered for such a long time. In fact, it is for this reason that I feel the speech is so. The speech is well written and conceals these fallacies within the text well and then makes you hernestly believe them because they seem so genuine and honest on paper. The fact that JFK gave the speech helps out as well. He was a very attractive man who was loved by the country he was elected to lead and it is as a result that we still read and discuss a speech he gave so long ago.

Destination Earth

1. Overt- Oil allows for the life that we life that we lead in America.
                Competition is a positive aspect of the industry.
    Covert- the Martian society was intended to be seen as a metaphor for communism, casting it in                a negative light= communism is bad.

2. This video should be considered propaganda. It is intended to promote oil use and free market America as well.

Duck and Cover 1/12/18

1. Overt- duck and cover when faced with danger
    Covert- America has a firm grasp on dealilngs with the atomic bomb.
                 You, as a child, need to listen and respect adults because they always know best.
2. I beleive the covert message is intential because it promoted American loyalty as well as a feeling of preperation and peace.

3. This message would be best classified as propaganda becaue it has an under-lying message about supporting the country and one's elders.

Propaganda Ad Post

Overt message: eat less bread
Covert message: the best place for women is in the kitchen cooking a big pot of stew
                            Even though you are on the home front, you too can make a difference

This can be classified as propaganda because the direct message is to eat less bread, ultimately leading to victory. There is also a subliminal message that the American citizens need to thinking of how their actions effect the war in addition to a general spirit of American loyalty.

"Clampdown" by the Clash (1979)

1. the song is about government and oppression. "The men at the factory are old and cunning." I draw a line between the old men and leaders and the factory is the representation of government or institutionalized power of some sort. The term "the clampdown" could refer to authority as a whole.

2. The tempo of the song remains fairly steady throughout but speeds up during the stanza about the men at the factory, seeming to suggest more stress on these cunning men.

3. The term "twisted speech" caught my eye and made me think of propaganda. The speech is still speech but it is altered by being twisted, similar to how propaganda has a face value meaning but is slightly different, twisted if you will.

4 Quotes

1. (268)
2. (274)
3. (287)
4. (289)

• 289-As the quote says, life is full of "ifs" but in order to create a medium that requires little additional thought to understand the large majority of media takes these "ifs" out creating a black and white, right and wrong situation. When one gives the subject a moment of thought it becomes clear that tv does regularly create one clear cut protagonist and one clear cut antagonist. Superman is good, only does good and his enemies are bad and therefore only do bad. The news reports stories as true as possible but there is still an indiviudal who the audiance is expected to side with and another indiviudal who is the antagonist for that individual. TV and other forms of mass media are very prominent in today's culture and in turn the people who have been soaking up this particular style of thought have translated it into their own way of thinking. If an idividual were asked if someone is both good and bad the idividual would most likely find it hard to give an answer, possibly deflecting to something along the lines of "Well he or she is mostly good or mostly bad." This becomes evident when one looks at politics and how candidates and elected officials talk about members of their oposing party. Rarely does a politican congradulate or even acknowledge that a member of another party is competent enough to tie their own shoelaces. There is the good, the bad, the smart, the dumb, but there is absolutely no normal.