Journal April 26

Feed, or feed, as it is written in the book, was a mind-boggling book. One thing that I noticed through-out the book was the lack of correct capitalization. For example, on the first page of the book (where it said the title), I noticed that feed was not capitalized.

At first, I thought that this was just a simple mistake, but then I noticed that none of the chapters were capitalized. I believe that this was to further enforce the point of the book. I believe that this book was showing that society is getting dumber and dumber because we are getting more connected to technology, and we are not having to do as much for ourselves. I also noticed that none of the pages, which said the chapter name, had page numbers. I think that this is also put in their to further enforce the point of the book. 

Journal April 19

1. 

http://youtu.be/uKoTpcs8ip8

This commercial is for the 2015 Dodge Challenger, and it is filled with tons of logical fallacies.  It starts off with having an abundance of elderly people talk about their life and to live yours with no regrets. They give advice and make you proud and happy. This is an example of the Appeal to Emotion fallacy. Dodge wants you to associate proudness and happiness with the 2015 Dodge Challenger, so they fill the commercial with things to make you proud and happy. The second fallacy committed is Appeal to Authority. It has many elderly people in its commercial, which makes the viewer think that it is a good idea to buy the car, since many people with tons of life experience are supporting it. The third logical fallacy committed is Bandwagon. It has lots of happy people supporting this, which makes the viewer want to be happy, and thus "join" the bandwagon. This commercial also commits False Cause. It makes the viewer think that the 2015 Dodge Challenger causes people to live long, happy lives, since it shows all of these elderly people before it shows the car. It tricks the viewer into thinking that there is no other reason that these elderly people would be in the commercial, except for the fact that they are happy because of Dodge. In conclusion, this commercial contains many logical fallacies, such as Appeal to Emotion, Appeal to Authority, and False Cause. 

Journal April 12

http://youtu.be/dP3r3SPXgKs

This video is a commercial for Proactive, aka one of the most persausive acne brands. It uses pathos and logos to persuade the viewer, but mostly ethos. The main way it uses ethos is by having one of the most famous pop stars, Katy Perry, act and promote this product. She starts off talking about how she has tried all other acne medicines, and says that none of them work. She then says she finally tried Proactive and it was fabulous. This makes the viewer feel like they need to buy it since one of the most famous people in the world buys and uses it. People watching feel as if they can trust Katy Perry because she is a famous person. She opens up to the camera about her insecurities and backstory, which makes her seem vunerable and even more trustworthy. It uses pathos by playing upbeat music, which makes the viewer happy and more likely to want to buy the product. It also shows lots of people smiling and Katy Perry performing, which makes people watching think that all people who use proactive are happy or successful. It finally uses logos by providing many before and after pictures, which show how well Proactive works. Overall, I believe that this commercial does a good job of balancing pathos, ethos, and logos, and persuading many people to buy Proactive. I think that it is geared towards mostly younger people, who would know who Katy Perry is. It is also filled with young adults, which makes me think even more that it is geared towards young people. 

Journal March 1

After finishing the book, I think that the Green World vs. City World theory is supported even more. Portia still clearly is in charge of Belmont, as one can see from this line, "I had it of him. Pardon me, Bassanio, for by this ring the doctor lay with me." She basically says that she can still do whatever she wants. She also tricks Bassanio, her husband, into giving someone his ring, which he told her he would never part with. This shows that she is still higher than him in ranking. Portia also let's Antonio into her house. Bassanio doesn't just bring him into her house, he has to ask her if it is okay. This again shows that Portia is higher than Bassanio. Also, the main conflict in the play, Shylock vs. Antonio, is solved by women. If Portia didn't sneak into the court, Antonio would have been killed. This again shows that the women in this play are higher up than the men. The romantic situation with Portia and the caskets has also been solved. A main characteristic of the green world is that romantic problems are solved. Portia solves her romantic problem by marrying Bassanio. Nerissa and Gratanio also decided to get married, which is another romantic problem that has been solved. Another characteristic of a "Green World" is it is the opposite of the city world. Problems in Belmont(Portia and the caskets) are being solved right as problems in Venice are being made(Shylock and Antonio's loans). Once the problems in Venice were solved(end of court scene), problems in Belmont are being made(Portia and Bassanio getting mad over the ring). This further supports the theory that Belmont is the Green World.

Journal Feb. 23

1. I believe that Shylock is a tragicomedic character; however, I think the play is a comedy. The play is a comedy because is comedies the character who causes the problem usually dies or is banished. In Merchant of Venice, Shylock, who causes the problem, has a spiritual death. He is forced to convert to Christianity, and to him it probably felt like he was disobeying Judism and that he would go to hell, which is worse than death. However, I believe that he was a tragicomedic character. He clearly has some traits of being a comedic villain. One of the main characteristics of a comedic villain is that they are stupid. Back when Shakespeare wrote this play, the audience probably thought that Shylock was one of the stupidest people on earth. They probably thought this because he was a Jew, and Jews were hated. He was also threatening a Christian's life. They thought that Christianity was the best religion and threatening a Christian was a very stupid thing to do. Another characteristic of being a comedic villain is that they are pure evil. The audience of this play back when Shakespeare wrote it probably thought that Shylock was pure evil because he was a Jew and he was threatening a Christian. However, I think that Shylock changes from being just a comedic villain to a tragicomedic character at loc. 3437. This is when Shylock gives his "Hath not a Jew" speech. During this speech, he shows that he is a tragic character. He says that he is doing this for revenge just like what a Christian would do if a Jew wronged them. He also shows that he is just a human and is not evil, he is just acting like how a Christian would if a Christian were in his position. This is why I believe that he is a tragicomedic character. 

Journal Feb. 15

1. I believe that the Merchant of Venice is a tragicomedy. However, I am not 100% sure since I have not finished reading it. From what we have read so far, it makes since for the play to be a tragicomedy. In tragedies, the main character usually does at the end. In the Merchant of Venice, it seems like Antonio, one of the main characters, is going to die at the end. He is going to die because if he doesn't pay Shylock back, then Shylock gets to take a pound of his flesh. This sentence, "hath an argosy cast away coming from tripolis" makes it seem like Antonio lost one of his ships which was carrying a lot of his money. If this ship was carrying most of his money than he won't be able to pay back Shylock. This is makes it seem like Antonio has bad luck which is another characteristic of a tragedy. However, this story also has many characteristics of a comedy. One main characteristic of a comedy is that at the end there is either a big feast, wedding, or party. in the Merchant of Venice, it seems like it will end with a big wedding since Portia getting married has been such a big part of the play. At the end of Act III, we find out that Portia is getting married to Bassanio. When Bassanio says, "Fair Portia's counterfeit" we know that they are going to get married. I believe that this is a tragicomedy because it has many characteristics of a comedy but also has dark overtones (Antonio and Shylock's deal).

Journal February 9

2. I feel like the Merchant of Venice fits the Green World Theory very well. It has to separate lands, Belmont and Venice. In my mind, I see Venice as the normal world, and I see Belmont as the Green World. One example of this is that the normal world is usually run by males. Venice fits this part of the theory because the main characters in Venice are all male (Antonio, Bassanio, Shylock). Also in  the green world, the females are usually the ones running it. Belmont fits this part because Portia and Nerissa are really the only characters that we have seen in Belmont. They are also both women, and Portia seems to run Belmont because she is able to choose her man. Usually in those days, the men would choose the women, but Portia can tell any man that he can't participate in the contest for her love. The normal world often has many laws and has order. This is shown in the quote, " Three thousand ducats—’tis a good round sum. Three months from twelve, then. Let me see. The rate. " this was said by Shylock when Shylock was giving Antonio and Bassanio a loan. This supports the theory because the idea of loans means that there would have to be some laws. Romance is usually a major theme in the green world. This quote, "Therefore the lottery that he hath devised in these three chests of gold, silver, and lead, whereof who chooses his meaning chooses you, will no doubt never be chosen by any rightly but one who shall rightly love" supports this idea. Nerissa is explaining the lottery to Portia and the audience. This lottery is for Portia's hand in marriage. If a suitor comes along who wants to try the lottery, Portia gives them a choice of picking one of three caskets. One casket contains gold, another contains silver, and the third contains lead. If the pick the on with the gold in it, then they get to marry Portia. However, if they pick the other two, then they can never talk to Portia again. This fits in with the green world theory because this lottery has to do with romance. In the end, I believe that Belmont is the green world, and that Venice is the normal world. However, this could change as the book goes on.