1. According to Du Bois, the significance of what he calls the “sorrow songs”to African American American history and culture is because those songs hold very deep and rooting significance to what African Americans experienced in the dirty grasp of slave owners and slavery in general but it doesn’t only hold significance to that it also acts as sort of a “coping mechanism” for the people and how they held joy and meaning into the words spoken out as retaliation for the sanity they still hold and to heal with the people around them also affected which brought them all in unity.
2. The song that is featured in this chapter that is the most significant in my opinion is “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot” because it holds the meaning of abolition and being set free which is what the whole point of these songs are and help hold up why the significance of these “sorrow songs” are so important because it holds a special place in African American history in gaining freedom.

I believe what Krukowski means when he asserts to “the marginal-the rejected-the repressed” is that the power of marginalization comes from the people entirely.  Over time humans grasp on to something that will last for now but forget it later. By following this logic, he stating that their are also contradictions to his ideal idea of marginalization. He explains this at the very beginning of the episode in simple words, “even yesterday’s hits end up in the dollar bin eventually.” What we might consider marginal, changes over time and whatever catches on will have an effect.

1.The ideas that Krukowski lays out in this episode is to basically project how sounds can be affected in whatever manner you take it in whether you hear it in video or in person the sound is always altered not purposely but it depends on the device it was taken with. No matter what the exact sounds are way more intimate when you are there to hear it in person like for example, concerts. Overall, I believe his ideas are honestly very well thought out and deserves more recognition considering it opened my mind to new ways of hearing. Throughout the audio, I believe he did extraordinary in explaining and how sound itself holds all the purpose in the world to the point where I myself start to hold this thinking while listening to something as small as small noises or as big as noises in a crowded city.

2. ASMR on it’s own is very fascinating and relaxing to me because I personally hear it myself to calm my anxiety and to help me with sleep and for me personally I see that when it comes to sound ASMR it’s really important since it serves a hug purpose into making sounds that take a certain effect such as people like me who actually watch it.

What do you make of Berger’s argument? Do you agree, disagree, or something in between? Use the information from Chapter 4 of They Say/I Say and the “Sheridan Baker Thesis Machine” and write a thesis statement in which you take a position on Berger’s argument.

I quite frankly stand with Berger’s argument because throughout the reading and the photographs shown to coincide with them it is relevant to note that even when this time period was happening black violence and racial anxieties were on a high rise. As stated by Berger, editors who were mainly white at the time only used images to their advantage to basically feed to the narrative to make black people seem as if they were helpless and depended on others to fight with them as they fight the struggles of an unfair justice system and government entirely. That wasn’t the case though as many images started to flood that were never used to show how much power a protest held for the fight for equal rights for their own people and how much bravery was actually seen among these people. As of today, racial anxieties and police brutality/violence have been very noticeable on social media surround the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Elijah McClain, etc. This narrative that Berger’s pointed out is still seen very much alive today as we see new images of the BLM protests. News outlets make the protesters seem violent and aggressive looters when in reality they are peaceful by taking many actions such as silent protests, petitions, organizations, etc. But, that’s not the narrative news outlets want people to see because it wouldn’t get as much attention. This is why I frankly agree with Berger’s outlook on the way people are perceived by news outlets and how things may seem one way when there is another side of the story.

1. According to Berger, how do “publicity”–what we would call advertising–images influence consumers and why is this significant?

According to Berger, advertising images influence consumers because of certain imagery that can be eye catching for many and can cause this sort of hypnotized trance in wanting the item in hopes that it betters ones life and gives more meaning to them and look forward to something that can fit their best interest as a human being and this is significant because it gives in to the idea of why advertising images influence consumers so much at the blink of an eye.

1. As he compares oil painting to publicity (advertising) photography, Berger argues that oil painting “showed what the owner was already enjoying among his possessions and way of life;” “it enhanced his view of himself as he already was.”  Whereas publicity pictures, “appeal to a way of life that we aspire to or think we aspire to.” Why are these differences important? What do they reveal to us about the production of images for publicity?

These differences are important because between the oil painting and the photograph comparison the oil painting signifies a more raw take on what an artist already has but instead is more exaggerated on painting because of how extraordinary it is to them when in reality it’s the most simplest smallest aspect of their lives but goes to show how much they really appreciate it while photographs display a sense of wanting and needing and it tells us a lot about how much time they put into making photographs more pleasing through editing.

1. Choose one of the “dreams” he offers or think of your own. How does this dream offered by advertising use imagery to manipulate consumers?

Berger introduces 3 main dreams. The dream of “later tonight”, the “skin” dream & the dream of a “faraway place”. The one that mostly resonated with me was the skin dream because of how wildly rampant it is in todays society and how models have to show off and contain this certain lifestyle of perfection to simply impress and persuade consumers. This forces consumers to grasp on to this beauty standard which makes them buy.

The way women are objectified today is somewhat similar but also not related to how people think the way Berger thinks about woman in Renaissance because women nowadays are more sexualized than being seen as an artistic form of expression. Take for example, the women models on Instagram. Most men or women would see them as a sexualized object rather as the model having an artist way of expressing themselves. Nowadays, women have more control over their images on the media. Although, some might disagree I know that people’s ways of thinking are very deeply influenced by new technology compared to Berger’s days where their thoughts come naturally from morals. This is seen heavily throughout the video as you can see he has a vision from morals and the bible which is way different than how people see things now. from videos to trends online. This is why women are objectified today in a similar fashion yet not at the same time than how Berger sees.