on the events (and following) chapter five:

while Gatsby and Daisy finally seem to be together, falling back into the old friendship that they used to have, I still wonder sometimes if this was the level that they knew each other before, or if this is simply an expression of the years between them. Tom, no doubt, will be furious if (when) he finds out, because there are appearances to keep up no secrets in this town; but on the inside, he won't really care. from day one, Daisy and Tom's marriage has struggled. anyone could see that. this is the first time that I see that both of them do have depth and complexity, it was hidden for a long time as they waited for each other. (persons 1, 2, 3; event 1)

and I'm stuck between the feeling of being happy for them and feeling like I just lost two of the only people will talk to me in this town. for them, it's like they're in their own little world now, and as I walked out and down the stairs that night, it no longer includes me.

it's Jordan Baker that I'm still not sure about. even through the things that she has told me give me insight, and they appear to be true, I suspect that there is more to her than I, or many other people can see. the pages that are taken up by the story that she tells in chapter four explain more of Daisy's story, the classic story of growing up and a life in the city. Jordan is tainted by the rumors that I have heard, and all of this makes me suspicious that everyone is lying to me in some form or another. (person 4; event 2)

in the restaurant, Wolfsheim has the appearance of someone who is up to no good, but I'm convinced that he is really just a weirdo, whose connections and speaking style are odd but unimportant, no matter what my conscious might say to me. (event 3)

finally,

[to be finished later]

identifying propaganda techniques and fallacies

video one: Emeril - uses testimony, tells how he depends on the gulf coast, and that he is not a scientist. "what's going to happen?"
ad populum sentiments that many people are affected. statistics of small numbers: only from what he has seen, things are getting better on the gulf coast.

video two and three: also uses testimony, as many people in america will recognize these people. BP uses transfer (a fallacy) to try to associate the positive feelings towards Olympic athletes with BP and improve their image. an informed viewer would stop and ask, what does this even have to do with an oil spill? really?

video four and five: glittering generalities- the video states over and over that BP as a company is committed to helping restore the gulf coast to the way it was before. it mentions that the gulf is is having it's best tourism season in sever years. confusion of correlation and causation: because of BP's efforts, have things really gotten better? and who is this guy?

"Death of the Ball-Turret Gunner"

"from my mother's sleep I fell into the State" this art talks about going from one place to another, one that is unfamiliar, one where he fell instead of coming voluntarily. the word "State" is also capitalized, suggesting that maybe it is an actual state.

"six miles from the earth" 30,000 feet is about cruising altitude for an airplane, which makes sense, if the reader knows what a ball turret gunner is.

"loosed from the dream of life, I woke to black flack" I really think that 'loosed' means closest to 'shaken from' and this connotation suggests a disconnect from what the narrator is experiencing and the world that the rest of the earth is experiencing. while they have life, he faces what might be his death.

"when I died they washed me out of the turret with a hose" at this point we know that the narrator is definitely dead, but also that his death was a violent one. and yet, he is still treated as insignificant. washed away.

"This Land Is Your Land"
the imagery in the first few stanzas uses imagery to describe the things that he sees as he takes this figurative journey throughout the great land, the  United States, and this is the part that most people remember and know the best.
       "From California to the New York island"
which is an illusion to Ellis Island, where most immigrants entered the country with the promise of open space, a place to work, and a better life. however, later in the song, it talks about the prejudices that people ended up bringing with them and what that would mean for someone living in the US.
      "as I was walking, I saw a sign there
       and on that sign there, it said 'no trespassing'
       but on the other side it didn't say nothing
       this land was made for you and me"
but still, this land is my land, and this land is your land, as the chorus repeats. even if there are problems with this land, the intention in the beginning is good.
is that always enough?

the author uses setting to create a somber mood. the twenty six soldiers have all been marching, silently in the dark, none of them showing any excitement for battle, all of them just desperate for a break and to see the sea. the atmosphere is melancholy not only because the soldiers are weary, but the darker tomes also reflect the grief that the soldiers feel over the loss of one of their comrades. these choices affect the reader by illustrating the emotions of PFC Berlin in a more complete and detailed fashion: the reader can identify not only the grief that he feels, but it is illustrated through the dark and murky mood as Berlin reminisces for his own youth and innocence. almost as if the weather that a character or the reader perceives is a reflection of emotion.

"Chain Gang" - Sam Cooke
and what do you suppose is the message in the song?

obviously, life is diffucult, and it's something that you see everywhere. people singing it in the streets, while they work, at home, just over and over again.
That's the sound of the men,
Working on the chain, gang

these people are stuck together, just part of a machine, and sometimes it gets tiring. 

but:

I'm going home one of these days
I'm going home, see my woman
Whom I love so dear
But meanwhile I gotta work right here

there is hope. the people in this 'chain gang' all have something to look forward to, whether it is a person, a home, or something. in life, there will be work and hardships, but there will also be a time to rest. 

this is a post for later i forgot what i was supposed to do