Music Essays Concept of Music

Music Essays Concept of Music Concept of music Journal Entry for Reading The given article clearly describes the concept of music and has helped me in understanding the music. According to my perception regarding the article, Music is a kind of art and environment. It is an art of transcription of sounds in time for creating a continuous, integrated and resonant composition with the assistance of melody, harmony, rhythm and timbre. It is a combination of pleasing and harmonious sounds. It helped me in understanding the basic constituents of a musical composition. I have become able to understand that it is an eminent part of all the living beings. Music has its presence everywhere, in every creature and in different forms. It provides relaxation to the mind. When I feel very tired and I use to hear music. It provides relaxation and energy to my body. Firstly, I was introduced to music at my school. I learned singing as well as playing harmonium at that time. After that, I learned music at a summer camp. My music teacher was surprised with my understanding of music and the abilities of learning music at a faster pace in comparison to my fellows. I really love music and want to become a singer in near future. For the achievement of my goal, I am working hard towards learning the skills. Journal Entry for Music Controversies The genre of music can be classified into two categories, i.e. good or bad. With the assistance of this, the content of the genre of music can be evaluated. Different kinds of music are present world wide in different cultures. Music differs from one culture to another. The different genres of music act as the web around the culture of the respective country. The music videos forecasted on different television channels are not according to the ethical standards of the society. The videos show vulgarity, which puts negative impact on the society. The growing multinational companies in music industry, and the utilization of independent record labels for the survival in the market by these companies has negatively impacted the young listeners. The young listeners are tending towards excessive use of drugs and violence after watching such controversial music records of rap, rock n roll, etc (Dalton, 2008). In the past few years, there is an increase in the listening of rap music by youths in America, which has led to an increase in crimes such as robberies, murders, rapes, etc. The rap music has led to social and political controversies. The critics have suggested proposing laws against such controversial cases and government has implemented security review for warning labels on records. Tupac was a critic of the system. He revealed the critical situations related to the system in his poetry. His work was mainly focusing on the lifestyles of ghetto and social militant engaged in activism. His lyrics were about the problems existing in the society and the conflicts due to racism. The listening of music is fine, but the images displayed on the television and copying them by the youths and children are the controversial aspects of music. Journal Entry for Movies Music plays a significant role in movies. Whether it is a play, drama, or a movie, all of them are incomplete without musical compositions. We can consider the example of the movie ‘Amadeus’ in which a child has a possession to become a famous composer. The life cycle to become a great composer and the twist in life of the hero are shown with very effective combination of musical tracks. The movie shows the courage of the director towards the life of Mozart and becomes successful in producing curiosity in the viewers towards music (Amadeus, 2008). In the movie ‘Dearly Beloved’, spiritual music has been composed by the composer and the movie shows a romantic mixture with musical lyrics. Music is present everywhere from the ancient time and it is integrated to nature. The movie ‘Phantom of the Opera’ is composed with classic silent version of the music, which shows a visual percept for the movie. The movie also presents a musical mystery. The basic requirement of any movie is an effective combination of sound effects with musical compositions. Music composed in the movies is the auditory art form, which can make the movie successful. The creativity of musicians and composers makes the music records successful in the industry. Journal Entry for Music in Puerto Rico African and European formation of music has a great influence on the music of Puerto Rico. It is famous world wide and mostly in the Caribbean region. The music of Puerto Rico has different genres, such as native genres: decimal and seis, and folk music genres: salsa, rock, danza, bomba, plena, etc. Each genre produces different and unique pitch and tone. The musical composers utilize different genres for composing music of movies related to love tragedies, and different stories conveying moral lessons. There are various radio stations in Puerto Rico. Among them, only one radio station carries classical music. The rap and hip hop music genres negatively influence the society. The criminal activities and actions increase in the society. The people will deviate from the cultural values and loose their old traditional roots (Welcome to Puerto Rico, 2008). The music industry of Puerto Rico must have to concentrate on its native and folk music genres instead of external music genres from different countries. The youth should be motivated towards learning classical music and promoting the original music genres of Puerto Rico world wide. The culture of Puerto Rico is mainly shaped by the music. The music of Puerto Rico has evolved out of the combination of other cultures with a distinctive tone of music. Thus, the Puerto Rican music should focus on its traditional music to bind the people and the cultural values in the society, as contemporary music has provided many popular stars like Ricky Martin, Olga Tanon, etc. with name and fame in the world of music. References Amadeus (2008). Retrieved August 23, 2008, from http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086879/ Dalton, C. (2008). Controversy between Rap Music Society. Retrieved August 23, 2008, from http://www.writing.com/main/view_item/item_id/1320365 Welcome to Puerto Rico (2008). Retrieved August 23, 2008, from http://welcome.topuertorico.org/culture/music.shtml

Book Review: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

BOOK REVIEW: HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN BY J. K ROWLING Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, written by J. K Rowling is the third book in the phenomenal Harry Potter series. The genre of this book is fantasy which involves magic, spells and Hogwarts, School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I chose this book because the whole series is incredible, and J. K Rowling is by far one of the all-time greatest authors in the world. The adventure of Harry Potter, along with his best friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, takes place in Hogwarts, home to many young wizards and witches.In their third year, Harry is forced to go on another roller coaster ride with many challenges that occur in the book. The plot starts when Sirius Black, a convicted murderer, escapes the prison of Azkaban. As Harry learns about Sirius Black’s unforgivable pass, he’s emotions start to rise and boil. As the book twists and turns, it follows Harry in his magical world not only with his friends Ron and Hermione, but also with the troubles that occur. The Dementors (huge cloaked, black, figures that float in the air) plays a huge part in the story.As part of a precaution, Dementors are put on Hogwarts ground to catch Sirius Black and protect students and teachers of Hogwarts. A new teacher was also introduced in this story, Professor Remus Lupin, who takes â€Å"Defence Against the Dark Arts†. Lupin also becomes very close to Harry. My favourite part of the story was when Harry caught the Snitch in the Quidditch Finals against the Slytherins. Main characters in this book include Harry, Ron, Hermione, Sirius Black, Professor Lupin, Dumbledore (Headmaster) , Professor Snape and Hagrid (Keeper Of The Keys and Grounds Keeper).As a reader, â€Å"Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkaban†, could well possibly be my favourite book. It is also the best, in my opinion, Harry Potter book J. K Rowling ever written. The storyline of this book flows very well and e very aspect of the book is detailed. There was not a single bit of this book that I do not enjoy. The book can be described as funny, adventurous, quirky and very imaginative. I score this book 10/10 and I’ll give it 5 stars. I would recommend this book to children and parents, 7+.

Biography of Ataturk

Mustafa Kemal Ataturk was the founder of the Turkish Republic and its first President. He was born in 1881 to Ali Riza Efendi and Zubeyde Hanim. His father was a militia officer, title deed clerk, and lumber trader. Mustafa Kemal had five siblings, only one of whom survived until 1956 (Biography of Ataturk). Mustafa Kemal lost his father in 1888, at a time when the young boy had been attending school. The boy returned to his birth town, Salonika, to finish his studies after his father’s demise. After his primary education, he joined a secondary school only to be transferred soon to a military institution.Mustafa Kemal attended the Manastir Military School and later the Military School in Istanbul from which he graduated with the rank of lieutenant in the year 1902 (Biography of Ataturk). The young man entered the Military Academy afterwards and graduated with the rank of major in the year 1905. This began Mustafa Kemal’s career as a soldier. Between 1905-1907, the man w as stationed with the 5th Army in Damascus. He was promoted to the rank of senior major in 1907, and was posted in Manastir with the 3rd Army. When the â€Å"Special Troops† entered Istanbul in 1909, Mustafa Kemal was the Staff Officer of the troops (Biography of Ataturk).The man was sent to Paris in 1910 where he attended the Picardie maneuvers. In 1911, Mustafa Kemal returned to Turkey where he began to work at the General Staff Office in Istanbul. He won the Tobruk battle against the Italians in the same year, after which he was made the Commander of Derne. Mustafa Kemal’s rapid progress as a soldier did not stop here, BIOGRAPHY OF ATATURK Page # 2 however.He was promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel in 1914 during the Balkan War because his contributions to the recapturing of Dimetoka and Edirne were considerable (Biography of Ataturk). When the First World War began with the involvement of the Ottoman Empire, the man was posted to Tekirdag and charged with th e formation of the 19th Division. Then, at Canakkale, Mustafa Kemal won more accolades for heroism. He was promoted to the rank of colonel after a victory he won in the First World War. Mustafa Kemal went on to win more victories against the Allied forces.At one time, he commanded his soldiers thus: â€Å"I am not giving you an order to attack, I am ordering you to die! (Biography of Ataturk)† Mustafa Kemal was promoted to the rank of lieutenant general in 1916. He returned to Istanbul in 1917 and soon began traveling to Germany with the heir to the throne. To Khalleppo he returned in 1918 as the Commander of the 7th Army. He was successful in his defense wars and soon appointed as the Commander of Yildirim Armies. On 13 November 1918, the man returned again to Istanbul to work at the Ministry of Defense (Biography of Ataturk).Mustafa Kemal went to Samsun as the 9th Army Inspector in 1919 once the Allied forces had begun to take over the Ottoman armies. He called the meeting of the Sivas Congress at this point and also convened the Erzerum Congress to define the path to be followed towards the freedom of Turkey. The initiation of the Turkish Grand National Assembly in 1920 was a significant step in this direction. Mustafa Kemal was elected at this time as the head of the National Assembly as well as the head of the Turkish Republic.With this decision, the Grand National Assembly also started putting into effect the legislative measures required for a successful conclusion to the BIOGRAPHY OF ATATURK Page # 3 Turkish Independence War. This war had begun on 15 May 1919 during the Greek occupation of Izmir. Militia forces called Kuva-yi Milliye had begun their fight against the victors of the First World War who had divided up the Ottoman Empire.The war was concluded when the Turkish Assembly achieved integration between the army and the militia. Under the command of Mustafa Kemal, the Turks recaptured Sarikamis, Kars, and Gumru besides attaining other imp ortant victories (Biography of Ataturk). After the conclusion of the Turkish War of Independence, Mustafa Kemal was free to form a new nation on the Turkish soil – now considerably shrunk through the Treaty of Sevres which had partitioned the Turkish Empire. On 29 October 1923, the Turkish Republic was officially proclaimed and Mustafa Kemal was elected as its first President.Ismet Inonu formed the first government of the Republic, and Mustafa Kemal assumed his position of principle leadership with the twin principles of the Turkish Republic: â€Å"Sovereignty unconditionally belongs to the nation† and â€Å"peace at home, peace in the world† (Biography of Ataturk). The man undertook a series of reforms at this point in order to modernize Turkey. He was elected as the Speaker of the Grand Assembly in 1920 and again in 1923. Moreover, in recognition of his efforts, the Turkish National Assembly conferred upon him the surname, â€Å"Ataturk† or the Father T urk and Ancestor Turk on 24 November 1934 (Mango).Ataturk died on 10 November 1938, finally defeated by a liver ailment (Biography of Ataturk). BIOGRAPHY OF ATATURK Page # 4 Works Cited 1. Biography of Ataturk (2007). Retrieved from www. ataturk. com. (27 February 2007). 2. Mango, Andrew. Ataturk: The Biography of the founder of Modern Turkey. New York: John Murray, 2004.

Comparing Fall of the House of Usher, Young Goodman...

Comparing Fall of the House of Usher, Young Goodman Brown, and Rip Van Winkle In the early eighteen hundreds, literature in the Americas started a revolution of style in upcoming authors. Authors started to look towards nature for symbolism and society as a source of sin. The underlined meaning in most of these stories was meant to leave the reader with a new perspective of their personal lives and society as a whole. Three stories that use this particular technique are Nathaniel Hawthornes Young Goodman Brown, Edgar Allen Poes Fall of the House of Usher, and Washington Irvings Rip Van Winkle. Young Goodman Brown, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, is a story of a man named Goodman Brown, who is of strong Puritan belief. Goodman Brown†¦show more content†¦The only person that felt any different from that night in the woods was Goodman Brown. As he entered the village he saw Faith gazing anxiously forth any sign of him.. Once she saw him, she burst into such joy at sight of him that she skipped along the street and almost kissed her husband before the whole village. But Goodman Brown looked sternly and sadly into her face, and passed on without a greeting(947). Goodman Brown is then punished the rest of his life, due to his unrealistic belief that everyone is perfect and no one sins. Goodman Brown is very distrustful to everyone in his community and ironically creates his own hell. The Fall of the House of Usher, by Edgar Allen Poe, is about a man named Roderick Usher and the insanity that he experiences after the death of his sister Madeline. The narrator of the story is an old friend of Roderick and visits him in his time of grief and misery. On the night the narrator arrives, Rodericks sister Madeline finally passes away. Roderick is very disturbed by his sisters death. Roderick begins to go insane after the burial of his sister. Stricken with guilt, he starts to believe that she is still alive in her tomb. The narrator tries to calm Roderick by reading him a story entitled Mad Twist. This story is very ironic to the situation that the narrator is resolving. It was, however, the only book immediately at hand: and I indulged a vague hope that the excitement which now