Wednesday, February 20, 2013
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?
Thursday, February 14, 2013
"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.
"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.
Thursday, February 7, 2013
"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 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?
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