Listening Journal 1-23-12

1. This song is about the price of success and victory. It states time and again that this race is dangerous. It says that it could kill them, but they're still striving. Also the song seems to draw reference to the cold war. Two human forces striving for victory and supremacy in cures, space exploration, and preparation for the future since the song mentions a cure and forging the future.

1-17-12 Fallacy

 Patrick Henry's speech to convince representatives to revolt is full of fallacy. For instance in the second paragraph when he says "For my own part I consider it as nothing less than a question of freedom or slaver" is a fallacy. Henry excludes the middle much like he does in the famous quote at the speech's end "Give me liberty or give me death". In both cases he offers only two extremes as options, but ignores any middle ground or alternative options.

1-5-12 Propaganda

1. The overt message is to eat less bread.

2. The covert message is that patriots will eat less bread to serve their country, but those who choose not to eat less bread aren't patriotic.

3. The piece doesn't come out and say that if you don’t eat less bread you hate America, but it does allude to eating less bread being tightly linked to patriotism as a covert message.

Listening Journal 1-4-12

1. This song is about an either economically or politically oppressive society. Lyrically it alludes to Russia and Nazi Germany, Russia through the Petersburg reference and Germany via the mention of Jews and blonde hair.

2. The music was repetitive and the repetition in the words working for the clamp down established the monotony one would expect in a controlled society.

3. One line mentions cunning voices in "your" head which seems to point towards a deceptive force. The mention of twisted speech in another line seems to allude to propaganda as well.

Propaganda

1041.In the case of propaganda using purely rational material the style is factual, information or logical,

and the act of persuasion lies mainly in the selection of facts favorable to the argument and the

leaving out or discounting of those which are not. … The purely emotional [style of propaganda]

relies on the use of subjective ideas projected with a high level of emotive force accompanied

probably by an exploitation of some or all of the techniques of event management. OLIVER

THOMSON, Easily Led: A History of Propaganda, 1999

Thomson is making a statement about propaganda being a manipulation of truth. He feels that in propaganda only the convenient truths are told to persuade its audience. Showing that with persuasion such as propaganda actual fact and validity of an argument become fairly arbitrary when one can simply pick and choose from anything in a way that emboldens the argument while ignoring any flaws in it. He paints propaganda to be more a tool of deception than an actual means of education or logical reasoning. 

Brave New World Final Post

1. Why did Huxley choose to set his story in a dystopia that actually seemed to be an ideal place to live?

2. Will Huxley's world continue on as it did before?

3. Do the two seemingly opposite societies established by Orwell and Huxley convey similar messages with a similar purpose?

Brave New World Post #2

1.  How did the state unify the entire planet?

The actual process of unification that occurred isn't really outlined for us, however we are given a glimpse at how the single state is maintained. It appears that the world is divided into 10 regions or districts ruled by controllers. "Mustafa Mond! The Resident Controller of Western Europe! One of the Ten World Controllers" (Huxley 47). This shows what I have outlined above, but it also gives us a little insight into how their system of rule works, or at least the status of its 10 rulers. They are highly admired by the citizens of the state, and it would appear that subjects aren't often exposed to these rulers considering the shock.
"Alpha children wear grey. They work much harder than we do because they are so frightfully clever. I'm really awfully glad I'm a beta because we don't work so hard. And then we are much better than the Gammas and Deltas. Gammas are all stupid, they all wear green and Delta children wear khaki. Oh no I don't want to play with Delta children. And Epsilons are still worse" (Huxley 40). Control is maintained through organization. The strict caste system illustrated above organizes everyone keeping all peoples in line even within their own minds making for an easily unified whole.

2. Why is everyone so interested in John when they are appalled by anything else that is different?

It makes sense for people to be naturally interested by things that are different, but this society has tried so very hard to eliminate difference and ostracize it in every way. So it seems peculiar and makes little sense for them to be obsessed with something so foreign to them in every way. " The poor man had resigned and never set foot in the Centre again-  had flopped down and called him my father!" (Huxley 160). The fact that viviparous relationships were some strange facet of the past and considered almost barbaric by this society should have made John something to fear or at least avoid, but rather even though he violates this norm he is admired and fascinates the people.  " 'And they say he spends all his time alone.' There was horror in Fanny's voice " (Huxley 57). If something as simple as Bernard spending time alone were enough to appall his fellow citizen it seems very strange and almost impossible that John would be so accepted. There is almost no logical reason for the obsession leaving the only conclusion that it happened because it was necessary to Huxley's message.

3. Why is it that a society so based on control and sameness allows individuals that are so different to act almost completely unchecked other than the threat of relocation?

 "But his reputation?" (Huxley 57). This quote illustrates that people were very much aware that Bernard was an outsider, but it would appear that action was never taken against him because of it. His difference while observed was tolerated even by his supervisors.  "I've been cutting all my committees and all my girls. You can't believe what a big hullabaloo they've been making about it at the college" (Huxley 80). Helmholtz is violating a major part of life in this society one by not going to committees and being alone, but also in not "having" any women.  He is basically in opposition of two of the largest social norms that exist within the one state and yet only a hullabaloo is being made about it. In 1984 similar violations would be met with harsh repercussions, but Helmholtz is allowed to continue almost unchecked. It is likely that the strict conditioning of this society allows its leaders to feel less concerned about a select few outsiders since all those pertaining to the norms would never violate them.