Blog Day- What does Nick really think?

Characters

-Daisy: I'm aware that Daisy is pretentious, passive-aggressive and attention-seeking, but she's charming and she's family, and I want the best for her. Though I don't want to get directly involved in her mistreatment by Tom, I'll help her and Gatsby get together.
-Gatsby: I admire Gatsby, but I have some disdain for his "confidential" dealings. I know Gatsby has secrets, and I'm occasionally skeptical, but he has a certain correctness about him, and Jordan and Daisy both seem to like him. I hope things work out well for him and Daisy; it seems to mean a lot to both of them, and Gatsby would likely be better for Daisy than Tom. I wonder why he keeps the company of Mr. Wolfsheim and what exactly he obtains such large funds from.
-Tom: Tom is a hulking, violent, imposing, and frightening brute. I don't feel it's my place to step in the way of his wrongdoings, but I wish he hadn't married my cousin Daisy. He even abuses his mistress, which is alarming. He's not very smart either, going on ignorantly and defensively about this or that to dominate a conversation.
-Mr. Wolfsheim- Mr. Wolfsheim is a sleaze. I don't know what kinds of dealings he's into, but judging by his morbid cuff-links, I don't want to. His presence is unsettling, and he always looks nervously around like he's some sort of criminal. His accent adds to his grotesqueness and everything about him hints that he's sketchy. I wonder why a good man like Gatsby spends time with him.
-Jordan- From what I've seen so far, Jordan is clearly chronically dishonest, but deceit isn't something I'm concerned about as far as our relationship. She's attractive, athletic, and interesting. Sometimes I wonder why she participates in so much gossip, but I'll readily dismiss it; I wouldn't want to interfere anyway.

Event #1- Chapt 2: Mrs. Wilson's party
Tom more or less forces me to meet his mistress. Though I'm drinking, I do notice how incredibly pretentious Mrs. Wilson and her sister are. These people like to make up lies just for the sake of lying, like saying Daisy's a Catholic. It's irritating that they keep pulling me to stay when I'd much rather be alone. The only sensible person here is an artist named Mr. McKee. I don't much like participating in social gatherings and I don't particularly enjoy this one. What happens at the end of the night is outrageous: Tom broke Mrs. Wilson's nose! I knew they had been jabbing at one another's spouses, but I hadn't expected any kind of violence. At this point though, I've been waiting on an excuse to dash out so I'm leaving immediately.

Event #2- Chapt 4: Gatsby's Supposed Back-story
I noticed while we were leaving West Egg that Gatsby seemed to become less elegant. We're traveling through the valley of ashes and he seems to be letting his guard down and he's starting to lose his suave. He's explaining to me that he wants me to know the truth about him instead of judging him based off of the rumors spread at his parties. He tells me that he really did graduate from Oxford and spent some time in Europe and that he inherited money, but I'm not sure if I believe him completely. He's showing me a picture of himself at Oxford, so that makes him seem more credible, but something about his sideways glance and the way he says "Oxford" seems dishonest. I don't understand why he wants Jordan and I to go out to tea together to discuss something about him, but the thought of it makes me nervous. Now that we're back towards the city, Gatsby is suddenly silent and I can see that his correctness is growing again.

Event #3- Chapt 5: Gatsby's meeting with Daisy
Gatsby seems completely disheveled, a regular mess compared to his general self. He has completely forgotten how to behave and he's acting extremely anxious. It's a bit infuriating that he's lost his manners in front of Daisy and the atmosphere is dreadfully awkward. Thankfully, my stepping out for a moment seems to have helped and they're on good terms together. Again I'm skeptical of Gatsby's income, but never mind that now. Gatsby clearly adores Daisy, and he obsesses over her words. I can tell he's anticipated this meaning for some time now and now that it's occurring he's acting positively odd. I'm not sure if I like how invested in my cousin he is, but Daisy seems to be overwhelmed too (she's crying for a second time this evening). They both seem to be too engrossed in each other to notice my leaving, and it satisfies me that Gatsby is so pleased to be near Daisy.

BP Propaganda

Tony Hayward Commercial
Propaganda- Hayward uses card stacking propaganda by talking primarily about what BP is doing right to fix it, while largely leaving out the horrible impacts on the gulf and the fact that he chose money over the safety of hundreds of lives of humans and sea animals. By using this technique, it makes the audience think that BP is not so bad, and makes them think about the "sincere" apology rather than the horrific wrongdoing.
Fallacy- Tony Hayward commits an argument from omniscience fallacy when he says "there's no one that wants this over more than I do". Although this was intended to create credibility and sincerity, he could not possibly know what everyone else wants, and likely his claim was not correct. His use of fallacy wasn't really successful because it likely turned off many people from the gulf from accepting his apology.

Emeril Legasse
Propaganda- BP uses the testimonial of the familiar face Emeril Legasse to grab the audience's attention and gain credibility, winning trust with the audience who, most likely watches Emeril's cooking show (the video shows the name of a magazine "Good Housekeeping" which would typically appeal to a person who frequently watches cooking shows). Though Emeril's cooking career doesn't have anything to do with BP, by getting him to speak positively about cleaning the spill up boosts public opinion of the company.
Fallacy- Emeril commits a bandwagon fallacy when he says "I think we're doing a great job" and says that a lot of people are making the spill better. This makes the audience feel as if BP is working together with the people and that supporting BP is therefore supporting the cleanup effort and the people of the gulf.

Olympic Athlete Lolo Jones
Propaganda- The vision of a successful athlete and the American flag provoke the viewer's sense of national pride and patriotism, which then transfers trust to BP (whose logo is shown directly after the American flag).
Fallacy- BP commits an argumentum ad populum fallacy when it shows the American flag and has an Olympic athlete talk about persevering through struggles (even the title of the video is "Overcoming Setbacks"). BP raises its public approval by using the audience's sentimental love of America and victory to distract the viewer rather than presenting facts about why the viewer should approve of the company.

Commitment to America
Propaganda- Multiple shots of average, middle-class looking American people smiling create a plain-folks appeal to make the audience feel as if BP is trust-worthy to the general public.
Fallacy- BP commits a "red herring" fallacy when the video changes the subject from the gulf and the oil spill to its provision of jobs in America. Diverting the audience's attention to American jobs during a time when unemployment rates are high is a way of getting the audience to applaud and think highly of BP, despite its scandals.

Gulf Tourism
Propaganda- Words like "great" and phrases like "even better" are glittering generalities used to associate an upbeat feeling about tourism with an approval of BP and its affect on the gulf.
Fallacy- The association of the gulf's great tourism with BP is a non-sequitur fallacy. BP was involved with the gulf, and the gulf is a good place for tourism, but that does not mean that BP made the tourism great.

Delk

Main appeal: ethos- person giving advice on cars, looks like a mechanic
Trust a mechanic, and trust the company

Woody Guthrie: "This Land is Your Land"

Woody Guthrie feels as if America is a great place for independence, but some individuals may suffer. We know that because while he says liberating phrases like "no one can stop me", he says that he knows some people aren't thriving in a land of liberty, but starving because their independence means they are not aided by the government. I think his message is that America doesn't benefit all people, even though it is supposed to be a land of and for the people. I do agree to some point, but today I know we have many social programs and charities that make a difference for the people who are suffering, so perhaps in Woody's time, there was more of a dire need for attention to those who suffered.

Alka-Seltzer

Appeal: pathos- humor (lots of different stomachs in strange circumstances
(Associates laughing/smiling with alka-seltzer)
Fallacy: Argument from omniscience- says that it works on all stomachs, while it doesn't present any statistics supporting this (it's a generalization)

Country Corn Flakes

Appeal: pathos- the person about to kill the cow is unable to do it, so it makes the audience happy, and therefore associating happy endings with Country Corn Flakes
Fallacy: argumentum ad populum: the fact that they're called "country" corn flakes does not actually mean that people from the country would like them, or that country people are supposed to eat them

"Chain Gang" by Sam Cooke

The message of the song is that people of the time feel like they're having to work too hard at their jobs and they feel as if they're trapped, but that maybe it's really not that bad. The "chain gang" could be hyperbolic to create a satirical message. Sam Cooke is saying that life for the majority isn't so bad, and that at least when people are working at their jobs, they're not actually in chains, while the minorities are being actually suppressed. He says it needs to change, and the majority should realize the struggle of the minorities instead of complaining about their lives.