One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest Reading Three

1. If the reader had been introduced to the nurse after being introduces to McMurphy, how would the reader's opinion be changed?
-The reader's opinion would be different in the beginning of the book because McMurphy could be painted in a destructive light that makes Nurse Ratched act the way she does toward the patients, but as the book goes on and the story develops, the readers opinion would end up being the same. McMurphy changes from being a ringleader to truly wanted to help the patients even if he went about it in an unprofessional manner. Nurse Ratched goes out of her way to make his life difficult and even though she says she wants to help him, she really doesn't.
2. How would the reader's view of the book and the other characters be different if Nurse Ratched was the narrator?
-If Nurse Ratched was the narrator, the reader would not have as much compassion or sympathy for the patients because the nurse doesn't view them as people but as things that need fixing. The reader wouldn't see the struggles the patients went through or be able to establish any kind of connection with the.
3. Why did Kesey put so much emphasis on the interaction between the aids and the patients?
-Kesey put emphasis on all the interactions between the patients and the aids because the aids were either really caring and loving or exact copies of Ratched. The aids were there to control the patients, and sometimes they didn't even care which didn't help. By not having the aids help, it was more discouraging to the patients and it showed them that no one truly cared about them and they were ultimately lost causes.
4. What was the significance of almost all the patients leaving the ward?
-When all the patients leave the ward, it not only shows that Nurse Ratched lost the battle for power, but that the patients gained control of their lives. They made the choice to go back into society or to transfer to another ward because they were tired of dealing with the nurse. McMurphy taught them to stand their ground and fight for what they believe in.

One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest Reading Two

The actues are getting the best of the rivalry between Nurse Ratchet and McMurphy because they are able to follow along with his attempts to make Ratchet lose her temper, which is often times funny. Many times when McMurphy is trying to upset Ratchet, he is merely being idiotic. When he leaves the bathroom in his boxers, it was a good laughing moment and he also gained on his goal of making her mad. At this point in the story, my perception of Chief is that he plays an important role of portraying the story from an outsider view point, but we also get the thoughts of an actual patient. I think he has the possibility of being a hero at the end of the book, but right now he is just staying in the background. McMurphy has made Chief, in some aspects more frustrated with the system because he didn't necessarily enjoy many of the things Ratchet did, but he never fought them. Chief rolled with the punches and went on about his day, but now with McMurphy, Chief can't roll with the punches because he doesn't know what to expect. At this point, I am rooting for McMurphy because he is bringing life to the ward and he is standing up to Ratchet because even though he is just trying to make her mad, he is in some ways bettering the lives of the patients. McMurphy may not go about everything the best of ways, but he is good intentions that will most likely end him up on top.

One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest Reading One

Nurse Ratched is a villain because she views the patients as objects and doesn't truly care about them. Even when Chief is being shaved and he is being resistant, she doesn't take the time to try and talk to him and calm him down. She just shoves pills down his throat to knock him out and so she wouldn't have to deal with him. She wants to fix the patients and send them on their way. She took an acute and instead of taking the time to care for him, she made him worse and now he is a vegetable in the chronic wing of the institute. The Chief may or may not end up being a hero, right now the reader trusts him because he is a patient, he is telling the story, and he is the one the reader trusts. He may end up being just a character in the book with importance but not hero worthy. Mr. McMurry is an anti-hero because he brings life to the mental hospital and he shows up with a boasting personality and depends attention and doesn't let Mrs. Ratched push him around. He gives in and complies with the rules but on his own time.

Great Gatsby Ch. 7-9

-What makes Nick, rather than any other character, a more effective narrator?
Nick is a more effective narrator because not only does he have connections to all the characters, but he learns about Gatsby and all the infidelities the same time the reader does. He tells the story as it was happening around him, which made it easier for the reader to picture the scene and be more apart of the book. We as the audience could almost, to some extent, live in the book though Nick.
-Why is it effective when Nick imagines that America was a goal for explorers, like Daisy was for Gatsby?
Nick imagines that the explores viewed America was this great goal for dreamers and explorers and how it was "too good to be true". He compares Daisy and Gatsby to this because, Gatsby has idealized Daisy to such a point that she will never be able to live up to his expectations. Gatsby has this dream of what his life with Daisy would/could be.
-What is the significance of using symbols, such as the Valley of Ashes or the green light at the end of the dock, in the book?
The significance of using symbols in the book is to, get the reader to think more about what is really going on in that time period. The Valley of Ashes is essentially the working class and how it isn't the most ideal place to live and it is often looked down upon by the upper class, but it isn't the bottom of the bottom. The green light at the end of the dock is used to show how deeply Gatsby wants to be with Daisy but no matter how hard he tries, he never will have her.
-How does Gatsby embody the American dream?
Gatsby embodies the American dream because he is the success story of coming from little to nothing to this huge mansion with luxurious rooms that he doesn't use other than for parties. He goes from being a janitor to go to school, to being veteran and an "Oxford Man" living in New York with an envied house and fabulous parties. Gatsby does fall short in the American Dream because he doesn't feel satisfied. He has all this success and fortune, but he only truly wants Daisy.

Great Gatsby Ch. 4-6

Meyer Wolfsheim's purpose as a character is to help support or add detail to Gatsby's background. He also further illustrates how far Gatsby has come on the social ladder. They used to bootleg illegal alcohol and now Gatsby doesn't even really drink. Having a character such as Wolfsheim makes the audience want to distrust Gatsby, but we already do because of events earlier in the book. If Wolfsheim had been introduced early in the book, we as an audience would be more hesitant with trusting Gatsby. Jay and Daisy's background pushes the reader to, in essence, root more for Gatsby because of the love story between the two and how he had nothing when they meet and when he went off to war she left him for a man with money, and now that Gatsby has money, the audience wants Daisy to go back to Gatsby for the happily ever after they deserve. The audience wants Gatsby to succeed because he didn't have much when he was younger and he had to work to go to college and one day by chance his life was changed. It was a "Cinderella Story" and it just makes the audience puttying in the writer's hands. I like Gatsby more because before he was a mysterious character and there wasn't much substance to him and now that he had a backstory and it isn't terrible sad yet isn't terribly happy, I find myself liking him more and more.

Great Gatsby Ch. 1-3

Gatsby is a hero because we don't know much about him right now, but he could turn out to save another characters life or benefit the society immensely. Nick Carraway is going to be a anti-hero because he is educated and seems to mean well, but he seems self-oriented because he says, "And, after boasting this way of my tolerance, I come to the admission that it has a limit," (2). Tom Buchanan and Myrtle are going to be a villains because Tom is cheating on his wife with Myrtle and Tom didn't even Wilson the time of day. Tom also shows a violent outbreak when he breaks Myrtle's nose when she begins to chant Daisy's name. Daisy will be an anti-hero because she means well but she married Tom for his money, not for love. T. J. Ecleburg is a hero because he has the eyes on his sign that watch over everything and he doesn't seem to have done anything wrong other than the fact that he is vanished.

Listening Journal: February 21, 2012

I envisioned Gatsby's parties to be a bunch of nicely dressed people dancing, socializing, and or eating. There would be a live band and lots of fine dinning food options along with practically five star service and waitors. The parties were well planned out and greatly anticipated by people. The song "Black Bottom Stomp" by Jelly Roll Morton creates an upbeat happy feeling because the song is faster in tempo and is lively. It's not slow and drawn out like sad songs and not people wouldn't be sitting and socializing or eating with this song playing.

Art Journal: February 16, 2012

The style of the three paintings was very chill and relaxed. The people in the paintings seemed very laid back and had an easy going aura to them. The paintings were distorted but that added to the relaxed, non-structured feel.

Reading Response: January 29, 2012

The article on the death penalty by Mencken was more logos based. Mencken broke down other people's arguments and proved why they were wrong and why he was right. Michael Kroll's article on the death penalty relied heavily on pathos. Kroll told a personal account of the use of the death penalty and he really used imagery and pathos to draw people in. I find myself more of a pathos person, which is what made Kroll's argument stronger and more persuasive for me, personally. I do not agree with his stance on the matter, but he does present a more compelling argument than Mencken does.

Listening Journal: January 24, 2012

The song is about all the different kinds of people who make up America. The theme of the song is about how powerful America is and "if America says it's so, It's so!" The song is trying to get Americans to think about how powerful and controlling our government is. When the song talks about the anchorperson talking and how the lyrics are just la de da's and they have no substance, they symbolize how American's are often times blindly follow things. American's aren't really listening and paying attention to what is going on around them.

Listening Journal: January 23, 2012

The theme of the song "Race for the Prize" by the Flaming Lips is to go four your dreams and no to let anything get in the way. The lines, "Theirs was to win If it kills them They're just humans with wives and children," show that these two scientists were going for their dreams even if it meant leaving behind their families. They were determined to follow their dreams even if they never fulfilled their dreams, they were going to die trying.

Reading Response: January 17, 2012

"We shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, to assure the survival and the success of liberty."
~John F. Kennedy (Inauguration Speech)
The fallacy committed in this quote is begging the question because JFK is saying that if we as a country do not pay any price, bear and burden, or anything else, our country will not have successful liberty. Our country can have successful liberty without doing all the things JFK mentions, he uses the begging the question fallacy to support his statement. Even though JFK's speech had fallacies in it, the speech was still successful and famous because it had heart and feeling and patriotism. His speech made people believe in their country. He was upfront with many things and even said that he will start things that may not get completed in 1000 days or more but we should still stick together no matter what.

Video Response: January 12, 2012

The overt message of the video is to be careful and "duck and cover" to protect yourself from an atomic bomb. The video mentioned that they had firefighters to put out fires and that street rules were to keep us safe on the road. The covert message of the video, in my opinion, was to push the government and almost cover up what they did to Japan. I also believe the government was afraid that there was a real threat that an atomic bomb would be dropped on the USA. I don't think this was extremely purposeful since the video was made by a public school system; therefore, I would say this video was more informational than it was propaganda.

Video Response: January 11, 2012

The overt message in the video is that oil is extremely important in our society and without it, will we not have many of the things we have. Another overt message was that competition is good within a society. The covert message of the video is that because American's have oil and competition they are happier than other places that don't have oil or competition. This video is propaganda because it uses the bandwagon technique to get the aliens on Mars to start using oil because it is presented as all the American's are doing it , so you should too.

Propaganda: January 5, 2012

The overt message of the advertisement is to eat something different than just bread and this was shown by the woman holding a pot would could suggest a pot roast or a soup. The covert message of the advertisement is even thought our men are out fighting we can be happy here with the women being stronger figures at home. This advertisement gives the idea of patriotism without coming out and saying it, which makes the advertisement propaganda.

Listening Journal: January 4, 2012

I  think the song "Clampdown" by the Clash is about a government training their citizens, mainly the Jewish ones, to do what they want them to do. The song says "We will train our blue-eyed men." The stereotypical Jewish person has blond hair and blue eyes. The song also says after the line "To be young believes." It seems as if the government is training the citizens at a young age to believe in what the government wants them to believe in. The song starts off and you can't hear the lyrics well, which could be the untrained children and how they aren't paying attention to the government. Then when the songs gets to the chorus it is easy to hear the lyrics, and that could be when the government is training or has trained the citizens to listen to them. The song relates to propaganda because in one line it says "They put up a poster saying we earn more than you!" The government has been advertising that people are making more money than other people so they will work harder. The song also relates to deception because it talks about "train[ing] our blue-eyed men to be young believes." The government is training the children to believe in what they are saying before they can even form their own opinions.

Propaganda, Persuasion, Rhetoric: January 3, 2012

The four quotes I choose were 662, 683, 768, and 776.
The quote I choose to analyze was 768:
"Give people a taste of Old Crow, and tell them it's Old Crow. Then give them another taste of Old Crow, but tell them it's Jack Daniel's. Ask them which they prefer. They'll think the two drinks are quite different. They are tasting images."
-David Ogilvy (1911-1999), Ogilvy on Advertising, 1985
After first reading this quote, I thought of little children watching commercials of the remote control helicopters or airplanes to only find out its a complete sham. The quote goes with the concept of not believing everything you hear. When Ogilvy says "They are tasting images," implies they are only tasting what they have been told about those certain drinks, not what they actually taste like. Even though the two drinks are the same, the people tasting them think they are different because they were told they were different. The way the drinks had been advertised to the people majorly affects their opinions of the taste of the drinks. Jack Daniel's might have been advertised with extremely happy people that seem to be really enjoying the drink while Old Crow might have been advertised with not as happy people. The quote "seeing is believing" helps demonstrate Ogilvy's point of "They are tasting images." The people saw other people enjoying a certain drink more than the other, so when they were told they were drinking two different drinks the people thought of the advertisements of the drinks and based their decisions off that.