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.