i hope no one reads this blog anymore. this would be embarassing

4 Discussion Q's over Cuckoo's Nest

1.) How does McMurphy symbolize a Christ figure?
McMurphy, throughout the story, displays acts of defiance, temptation, and sacrifice. He is completely open about his purpose and his motivations. Towards the end of the book McMurphy realizes that he can make the ultimate sacrifice for the group and be their "savior" from the Ward.

2.) At what point does McMurphy realize that it is he that can save everyone?
There is no distinct point of realization for McMurphy of this information. He comes to the realization that he can be the Savior for the group slowly and then this idea takes root in his mind and thats how he does his magic.

3.) Why does McMurphy make such a large sacrifice for the group?
From what I see, McMurphy has nothing to lose and he was already trying to help these people escape from the beginning. He made this ultimate sacrifice so that the others could take their chances and escape.

4.) What does "the fog" symbolize?
To me the fog symbolizes the Big Nurse's control over the group. Throughout the story, Chief sees the fog when the Big Nurse has control. When McMurphy steps in and disrupts the Nurse's power, the fog lifts and it is no longer there.

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest Blog #2

At the end of Part One, I think that the Big Nurse is getting the best of the rivalry at this point because throughout the book she has planned out every step of these people's daily lives and controls basically every aspect of how they react. She has control to tire them by speeding up the day processes and the ability to drive them insane with the freezing of all daily controls for many hours at a time. This control that she has over everyone, no matter how manipulative McMurphy is at times, allows the Big Nurse to keep the lead in this fight.
My perception of Chief is that he is playing dumb in order to keep himself safe. It says this right in the text and that is what i see him as still. He oversees basically all that happens while keeping himself safe because everyone thinks that he is deaf and dumb.
At this point in the story i am rooting for chief to make a move and take everyone by surprise. I know he has a humongous stature and is not dumb as the others take him to be. Under this "costume" that he has worn throughout the book, I believe that Chief can take over the hospital and he will have a definate advantage if he does because he will have the element of surprise on his side.

First Cuckoo's Nest Blog

As of now, there is no way for me to accurately place individual characters into a category such as Hero of Anti-hero.
If I were to make an educated guess as to what the current characters might turn into, i would have to say:
McMurphy would be the Anti-Hero. He (at this point) is mainly against all of our (as a society) values and morals but he seems at the same time like he would be the hero because he plans on rescuing these people from this prison-like place that they are trapped in.
The Big Nurse would be more of the Villain figure. She is portrayed in this negative light that is keeping her real intentions shaded from our view because we are blinded with this cover of the authors portrayal of her.

Final Gatsby post

Interpretive:

When did Nick realize that Daisy was the one that hit Mrs. Wilson?

Nick came into this realization slowly. He was being told a story by Mr. Gatsby when he gathered all the pieces to make this assumption. Gatsby was the owner of the car but not the one who ran over Mrs. Wilson.

Which Character best follows the theme shown in the book that one should always chase one’s dreams?

Gatsby is the one that best represents the theme above. He had spent the last 5 years of his life chasing this dream of his and he had almost reached this goal he had set until Mr. Wilson shot him. Gatsby shows persistence and determination when he spends his time trying to relive the past. The past that he is trying to relive is the love that was felt between Daisy and Mr. Gatsby 5 years previous to the story.

Evaluative:

 What is the best analysis of the behavior of Mr. Wilson after the event of his wife being killed?

Mr. Wilson was acting quite insane after his wife was killed by a mystery person. I think that the fact that he did not know who the killer was could have affected the way he responded to the whole situation. Quite frankly, Mr. Wilson was going crazy after his wife’s death. The addition of Tom and the others who watched over him probably did not help him at all. Tom especially caused a lot of fuss and was (in my opinion) the reason for Gatsby’s death.

Why did Gatsby act so oddly after the accident?

The most obvious reason might be the fact that it was a traumatic event but I think the reason was deeper. I believe that Mr. Gatsby was a very intelligent person and I think that he was thinking ahead into the future and he knew that Mr. Wilson might find out that it was his car that hit Mrs. Wilson. Gatsby was a very smart old sport. This is why I think that he was acting inexplicably odd after the accident.

The Great Gatsby #2

1.) The purpose of Meyer Wolfsheim is to show the connections between Nick and Mr. Gatsby. Nick is in the bond business as well as Meyer Wolfsheim. Wolfsheim connects Gatsby and Nick in another unrelated way. Wolfsheim also shows contrast between Gatsby and Nick. Nick does not particularly like Wolfsheim at first and gives Nick an uncomfortable feeling being around him.
2.) The background story of Gatsby and Daisy gives us the impression that Gatsby is shy and innocent in a way. He wants Daisy to remember him for who he is and like him without knowing that the crush she had is the rich and extravagant man living across the bay.
3.) The addition of the rest of Gatsby past gives us a more respectable view of Gatsby because he has a logical timeline of events and experiences to back him up. The story he tells us also disproves the rumors going around about him and builds his credibility.
4.) Over the last 3 Chapters i have come to like Gatsby more. He is the kind of guy i would hang out with on a Saturday.

The Great Gatsby #1

The Characters we have met so far are not very easily classified in to the three categories of Hero, Antihero, or Villain.
If I had to choose a few characters that appear to deserve one of these titles, I would go with Mr. Gatsby and Nick, As they are two of the most understood characters so far.
Mr. Gatsby is Defined as a Hero in my eyes. The way he is portrayed allows the reader to view him as an equal (similar views, morals, etc.) as proved by this quote from the book, "'i'm Gatsby' he said suddenly. 'What!' I exclaimed." During this conversation, Nick thought that the man he was talking to was just a normal guy who was very kind and relatable, but it turns out that this man Nick was speaking to was the famous Mr. Gatsby himself. This only proves that Gatsby was kind. To truely define him as a hero I honestly think we would need to know more about him as we progress through the book.
Nick, though we do know more about him than we do Mr. Gatsby, we still need more information on his life and ideas in order to fully place him (or any other character for that matter) in one of the categories above. If I had to choose at this point, I would say that Nick will most likely turn out to be a hero.

Menken vs. Kroll

The article i found most persuasive was written by Kroll. His article contained mostly Pathos which, with a controversial topic such as the death penalty, is most effective. The perspective Kroll took in his article gave the audience the point of view of the ones losing a friend. Also the point of view of Kroll allowed the audience to see the cruelty of the entire process from his perspective.

"Sixteen Military Wives" by The Decemberists

Theme?
The theme of this song is that america is such a great place at face value but when you become a part of it, it is bad. Things such as military wives losing their husbands and celebrities being idolized more than the real heroes are things that you can see within America.
America thinks that it can do whatever it wants to just because it has been such a large world power in the past. But this stubbornness will eventually be the fall of america and it's backward population.

"Race for the Prize" by The Flaming Lips

Theme?
The theme of this song is everyone who supports one cause should work together instead of fighting.
"Theirs is to win, It will kill them," both scientists are racing and competing to create this cure. each scientist wants their cure to win but the competition will kill them both first. Everyone should work together in order to accomplish the goal set forth faster and of higher quality. and without everyone dying.

Fallacies in Patrick Henry's speech

The following quote from Patrick Henry's speech commits the "Appeal to Faith" fallacy.
"Besides, sir, we shall not fight our battles alone. There is a just God who presides over the destinies of nations, and who will raise up friends to fight our battles for us.
This quote commits the "Appeal to Faith" fallacy because it implies that those with faith in God will go along with this idea because God will assure that they win.
Speeches with fallacies are still effective because normal people do not listen to a speech with the intent to pick out fallacies. So when they hear the fallacy, they believe it as it is said and do not look deeply into the argument being presented.

Destination Earth

The overt message is that you should use oil for everything to make your life better.
The covert message is that you should support oil companies and all the hard work they do and not be against them.
This is Propaganda. The producers used techniques such as Bandwagon (Everyone is doing it), Plain folks ("normal" people do this), and Transfer (Clump oil with Americans).

"Clampdown" by The Clash

-This song is about overcoming Government control.
"kick over the wall 'cause the governments to fall"
-The steady beat and muffled voice pushed this message because the muffled voice sounded like it was being suppressed (by government maybe...)
-This relates to Propaganda, Pursuasion, and Rhetoric because the government can pursuade people to work for them in return for protection.

Propaganda Quote

The Quote I felt was the most relatable and Reliable was number 181.

181. The most imaginative people are often the most credulous, for to them everything is possible.

ALEXANDER CHASE, Perspectives, 1966.

This Quote applies to every situation involving pursuasion, from children trying to get a new toy, to canidates running for President of the United States. The people who are the most imaginative will have the better chance of winning the pursuasive war. They do not let any limitations hinder their thinking.

This quote is very straight forward but also very true. There is no further anylization that I can synthesize.