The Unquiet Death of Robert Harris

         Michael Kroll's article was more effective because it used pathos within a narrative to get the audience more emotionally invested. Kroll's essay focused primarily on the appeal of pathos, which is used to create an emotional appeal for the audience. He did this with detailed description, as evident when he describes the death of Robert Harris: "He writhed for seven minutes, his head falling on his chest, saliva drooling from his open mouth. He lifted his head again and again. Seven minutes. A lifetime." This is one of many examples of description that stirs something in the reader, and makes he or she feel bad for Harris. The attachment process that takes place by using an emotional appeal is stronger than that of a logical appeal, and that is why Kroll's essay was much more effective in persuading me than Mencken's article.

"Sixteen Military Wives" - The Decemberists

1. This song is about military wives who, some of which, lost their husbands to death and are very sad about it. It could also be about celebrities who live complicated lives, and maybe the "cannibal kings" line is representative of the government and how they don't care that much.
2. I think the songwriter(s) of this song wanted to tell the audience that we have lost our focus in terms of every day life. We are too fixed on celebrities and unimportant things that we lose touch of what truly matters.

"Race for the Prize"- The Flaming Lips

           The theme of this song is that one can get lose track of reality when striving for a goal. In "Race for the Prize", the end of the first stanza states that they are "locked in heated battle for the cure that is their prize, But its so dangerous, But they're determined." This shows that no matter what these people will not give up on their goal. It also says that "if it kills them" they are only just human. This shows that they will stop at nothing to achieve their goal, and that they are in another world almost.

Fallacies

JFK Inauguration Speech
"I do not believe that any of us would exchange places with any other people or any other generation."

      This quote is an example of the Argument from Omniscience fallacy. JFK speaks for everybody when he says he wouldn't trade places and is being one sided. There may be many people who would like to have lived at a different time or place. This speech, though largely famous, commits many fallacies. I believe that a speech can be so effective and so well-remembered even if it contains lots of fallacies. If a speech has a subject matter that is of huge national importance or comes at a troubled time, it will stand the test of time as a great speech no matter what techniques it uses.

Duck and Cover

       The overt message was that we should always be prepared for disaster, and should duck and cover to protect ourselves. This message was stated a dozen times throughout the video, and was clearly meant to be the main message. I don't think there was a covert message; I believe that the video was purely intended to inform us on what we should do if we are attacked. Not propaganda, just information.

Destination America

1. The overt message is that we need oil for everything and that oil is good. The covert message is that America is the best place to be because we use oil, and it is better than any other country or government.
2. Propaganda is heavily used. It is used to give an underlying message that any way but the American way is wrong and inefficient. It is also used to show that oil is important. Clearly propaganda.

Propaganda (WWII)

1. The overt message is that we should eat less bread.
2. The covert message is that we should support our troops by eating less bread, but also putting women in the kitchen to make more bread. Where they belong, supposedly.
3. The propaganda that is created is that the woman is dressed in red, white, and blue, therefore enhancing you to support America. Also, that women should be in the kitchen,

"Clampdown"- The Clash

1. I think this song means that society is trying to sway our opinion and make us conform to the point where we believe and do only what is socially acceptable to believe and do. "You start wearing the blue and brown You're working for the clampdown." "You drift until you brutalize." This shows the transformation of how we conform.
2. The intensity of the song, with the guitar, makes you want to rebel, just pump your fist and hate the clampdown.
3. The deception and propaganda of the clampdown is what the author wants you to avoid.

Propoganda, Persuasion, and Deception

The quotes I liked the best from J-L were numbers 510, 520, 545, and 575.

I enjoyed quote 545 the best because I thought it was one of the most relevant to today. In short, it said that good, true journalism is done impartially. Straight facts with no influence of personal feelings. In a world filled with computers, televisions, personal devices, and newspapers, you can get your news instantly. You can also get it from thousands of different sources, and the reliability of many of these sources is in question. People used to just watch Walter Cronkite to get all the news they needed. Today the news is given to us in a variety of different ways, skewed to influence our political beliefs based on what news they show and how they present it. Basically, this quote is questioning the validity of many news sources, and is saying that persuasion is used much to often to sway our views, and is used in unnecessary places like the news.