Nick's Journal

I feel that I was being used for Gatsby and Daisy to meet. I understand that it's been a while since they've seen each other and they wanted to reconnect, but I just don't understand why Gatsby couldn't have called up Daisy herself and had her over to his grand house.

Gatsby is a good guy overall. He's been very nice to me in cutting my lawn and buying me all of the things required for this tea. Yet I can't help but feel he was only ever inviting me to parties and buying me things because he wanted to meet Daisy. I didn't know that Gatsby had to make his own money before. (Page 90 "It took me three years to earn the money that bought this house.") I had just assumed that he had used the money that he had inhereted from his family. It painted Gatsby in a better light, in that he actually had to work for his money, like myself, to get all of the extravegant possessions he has now. I feel like he's been working so hard along with having a side business just to impress Daisy. He bought the house so that he could see her, the items to impress her, and used me as a connection. But when Gatsby saw Daisy walking throughout his house, gazing at all his items, he didn't even care. He just wanted her to be impressed, showing that he cared more about her. Also, one event that shows Gatsby's love is when he gets phoned and he says that he is busy because he is with Daisy. He usually always takes the calls.
(Page 93 "I can't talk now.")

Daisy seems, to me, like she's finally where she belongs. She was crying when she saw the clothes that Gatsby possessed because she realized all that she could've had, along with the true love of her life, if only they hadn't broken up. She was imagining herself with Gatsby and how much happier she would be if she were with Gatsby. I can also tell that Daisy is on a more personal level with Gatsby because she calls him Jay, unlike everyone else. (Page 89 "I'm Glad, Jay.")

Tom, on the other hand, is not a nice person. I understand that he is cheating on his wife because they no longer get along, but he could at least be honest. And plus, Myrtle is not that attractive of a women. She lives in the valley of Ashes after all, a dump compared to Tom's house. Maybe he's with a dump of a woman because he feels like he can't be seen with her. Maybe he feels in control of the situation because he has more money and more power over her. Really I think Tom just wants to "wear the pants" in the relationship again. Obviously Daisy has had enough of Tom and stands up to him from time to time. Tom is just sick of it.

BP propaganda

1. Testimonial- has emeril in it saying that he lives in the gulf and that he is effected. Apparently he gets his fish from there, but I'm sure he does not heavily rely on the gulf only.
Fallacy- observational selection- he's only selecting to look at the good things that are happening slowly and failing to mention or realize the awful tragedy that the spill is and how it effected the animals.

2. Transfer- it transfers the good thoughts and symbol of the Olympics to be associated with BP and so sense the Olympics are good then so is BP.
Fallacy: red herring- it was trying to get your attention away from the actual oil spill and to how people jump over hurdles like them

3. Card stacking- saying that they have paid the most amount of money to America than any other energy company. Yet they fail to mention that they are the sole energy company responsible for the biggest environmental disaster in US history.
Fallacy: statistics of small numbers- just because a few numbers say that the tourists seasons are good doesn't mean that the gulf is actually better.

This Land is Your Land

Guthrie thinks that this land is a beautiful place of freedom. Yet some things are not fair. Like places being cut off from access "the sign said no trespassing" or how his people are "hungry". But Guthrie decides that nobody can stop him in his freedom and his rights. I agree that some things may not be fair in that people are hungry and don't have the advantages that others have, or land that others have, but you must continue to look up and enjoy the beautiful land we live in.

Where Have You Gone Charming Billy?

The setting and the mood of this excerpt convey a sympathetic feeling towards PFC Paul Berlin. The setting of this is during a war in a rice paddy. It is night and it is dark and no one is speaking. Paul Berlin is feeling scared of this first day at war. He wants to be with his father again, so the reader knows that he is scared. The reader can sympathize with him because he is in the dark, not allowed to talk, not safe yet. The mood is dark yet hopeful. As Paul is wanting to be with his father, he knows that when he reaches safety it will be better and he will learn. We sympathize with him that he is not to safety yet and that he can only hope that his conditions will improve.

Commercials From 1970

Commercial 1- Corn Flakes
This ad uses logos when it says "Will not wilt when covered in milk" because this is a fact that is supposed to convince you to buy them because they will not get soggy. This ad also uses half truth because it says "its made of corn" but they don't say what else is in it.
Commercial 2- Alka Seltzer
This ad uses ethos because it says "Better for your stomach than any other" and that builds their credibility that they are better than other things. This ad also uses argument from omniscience because it says "Better than anything else. Anything." To know that it is better than anything else they would have to know how everything else works and how they treat stomachs but they don't.
Commercial 3- Delk
This ad uses logos because it presents statistics like "a checkup takes just minutes and only costs six dollars" since it is cheap and doesnt take long it convinces people to go and get the service.

Chain Gang Song

Message: people work very hard to earn their money. With the industrial revolution there were a lot more available jobs. People feel chained to their work and their coworkers instead of family. Like where it says "see my woman who I love so dear, but I have to work right here". They feel enslaved to their jobs, like everyone is in unison instead of being unique or different. The jobs constrict them to be just another worker in the chain of people.

Maybe Chain gangs aren't good. The chain gangs stand for unified work. Maybe he is saying that trying to fit in with the "American way of life" limits you and you should not try to fit in. You should break away from it. You can infer its bad by words like "moaning their lives away". That's bad. So we should move away from it.

"Soma"

People run away from their problems because they are too scared to face the realities of them. Whenever something bad is happening, they simply take their soma and they feel better, running away from their problems. THey do not want to fix their problems they simply want to mask them so to "feel better" with themselves. This doesn't fix any problems and probably just causes more.
Sentence analysis:

1. Topic sentence and theme
2. Support #1 and connects theme to song
3. Example for support #1
4. Explanation of quote and connects to topic sentence
5. Support #2, extends topic sentence
6. Example of support #2 and quote explanation, leads to support #3
7. Support #3, back to topic sentence
8. Example of support #3
9. Sums up support #3 and connects to topic sentence