Big Yellow Taxi

During a trip to Hawaii, written by famous recording artist Joni Mitchell was inspired to write the song, Big Yellow Taxi. Her inspiration was derived from her view of the Pacific mountains. The mountains were marvelous and stretched beautifully across the land. She recalls looking out her hotel window only to see a parking lot. However, the scenery behind the parking lot was nothing she could describe, it was paradise, hence the lyrics to her song, "They paved paradise to put up a parking lot." The tone of the song is very sentimental and enjoyable to listen to. Although, many people have heard this song while listening to the radio, for the most part the meaning behind Joni Mitchell's lyrics is not understood. Having that said, some may still wonder, what does this song refer to? The song, Big Yellow Taxi reflects the artist's concern for our environment.

Throughout the entire song the artist is focused on mother nature. She is saddened that we are taking away from the land's natural beauty. In reality, the song Big Yellow Taxi provides us with an important life lesson of not to take things for granted. We all should be aware that construction sites and the pesticide DDT (also mentioned in her song) destroys our environment; "… you don't know what you've got until it's gone."
Video below is remade by Counting Crows.

End World Hunger: Eat Babies!

Jonathan Swift’s excerpt, A Modest Proposal is believed to be the most admirable selection of irony in the English language. Irony can defined as the opposition between the literal and intended meaning of a statement. In the passage, A Modest Proposal Jonathan Swift writes: “As to our city of Dublin, shambles may be appointed for this purpose in the most convenient parts of it, and butchers we may be assured will not be wanting; although I rather recommend buying the children alive, and dressing them hot from the knife as we do roasting pigs.” (A Modest Proposal 357)

The following statement is ironic because the author is comparing an infant to an animal that can be cooked for dinner. Many of those who are Irish in the “kingdom” slave like animals for meager pay in return. The author makes this connection in order to emphasize the poor conditions and poverty of the Irish who live under British rule.



Swift, Jonathan."A Modest Proposal." New York: Morrow, 1985. Rpt. in Elements of Argument: A Text and Reader. Annette T. Rottenberg and Donna Haisty Winchell. 9th ed. Boston: Bedford/ St. Martin’s, 2009. 354-361.

Blondes with brains!

Logical fallacies can be defined as a failure of a persons reasoning, that renders on an invalid argument. Pop culture uses many fallacies in entertainment, including but not limited to movies, television shows, advertisements and other commercials. These fallacies attract a persons attention to the subject matter. An example of a logical fallacy would be the portrayal of a blonde female. In the entertainment industry, women with blonde hair for the most part are portrayed as being unintelligent. This type of logical fallacy functions as a type of comic relief for its viewers. In many movies such as House Bunny, the blonde character is known for taking the role of an airhead. The “dumb blonde” stereotype is a result of pop culture, and is a form of hasty generalizations. Stereotypes are a widely held image or idea of a particular type of person or thing. Characterizing all blondes as being dumb is an invalid argument in pop culture because it is based upon person who shares the same attributes but not characteristics.