...through more devices and outlets than ever before. One of popular music's advantages has always been it's catchy hooks, rhythmic hits, and exciting, memorable lyrics. Often times people are so caught up in what's popular they don’t realize the meaning behind the music they are listening to. Most of the music that society listens to, especially rap and pop music, have lyrics that repeatedly reference sex, violence and drugs. In the music industry sex is known to sell records. For artists to ensure success, they talk about sex in their lyrics to become popular and marketable. After analyzing three...
Words: 1540 - Pages: 7
...we each are? Do what we listen to support our core values in life? To answer this I sought out the one song I listened to most, “This Kiss” by Alex Days and Carrie Hope Fletcher, and interpreted its lyrics to see if it matched with my core values of commitment, happiness, and love. My most listened to song is Alex Days and Carrie Hope Fletcher’s rendition of Faith Hill’s “This Kiss”. It tells of a story about two people who fall in love. Before they found each other, they were hurt by previous relationships but when they meet, they spark an indescribable romance. Throughout the song, they symbolize their love by their kiss. This song does support my values of...
Words: 1050 - Pages: 5
...though I have no had an experience yet, struggle with. Because I am African American, I am looked upon differently in society. This is one of the reasons why for the project, I was excited about “the Story of O.J” song by Jay-Z. This song encompassed the negative stereotypes that were placed on Black people while also giving the modern...
Words: 645 - Pages: 3
...anyone to express themselves through melodies, timbre, dynamics, and lyrics. People around the world are composing, as well as listening to, all kinds of music, and this unifies nations in all countries and continents. Introduction to Literature is an anthology that consists of a variety of literary works – poems, short stories, and excerpts from novels – that discusses globalization. I believe that a chapter regarding the subject of music and its evolution should be included in the Introduction to Literature. Music has continuously been changing ever since the first beat was tapped, the first piano was struck, the first violin was plucked, and the first horn was blown; however, in the last 150 years, the meaning of lyrics and the style of music has changed drastically. From Bing Crosby to Elvis Presley, Michael Jackson and Eminem, the artists and composers have altered the way music sounds on the radio, computer, and other musical devices. Every genre has artists, who have songs, which have lyrics that contain a story. Whether the story is from a memory, a dream, or an ambition, it becomes clear when it is being heard by billions of people. Music has become a basis for artists to exert their most inner emotions and thoughts into lyrics that others can relate to, live by, and act upon, as well as a means to degrade women in an approach that people don’t realize until the lyrics are sought out, the song is heard an abundance of times, or the video is seen. This proposed...
Words: 2731 - Pages: 11
...the feeling or thoughts of individual cultures or a society as whole. Racism continues to be a major focus of music. “Say it loud” (I’m black and proud) by James brown (Brown, 1968) Brown uses a “call and response format in this song. The name of the song is a call to power. It is a call for blacks to embrace the fact that they are black. The song came out in the perfect time. The civil rights act of 1964 and the voting rights act of 1965 had just been passed, much to the dismay to many whites. That is very important when analyzing this song because James Brown was standing up to the views and opinions of his white counterparts. Brown seemed to portray through the lyrics of this song that just because blacks were told they had equal rights and blacks could vote, didn’t necessarily mean they were equal . This song also addressed issues about an overwhelming number of blacks continuing to live in poverty, James calls blacks to rise up and become economically, self-sufficient. What very interesting about this song is the fact that James Brown knew that this song would be very controversial, for the simple fact that he was demanding that other blacks demand what they deserved and fight for equal rights. This greatly hampered the ability for his song to have a “crossover affect” because many whites simply , just did not want to hear this message. “Fight the power” by public enemy (Public...
Words: 1274 - Pages: 6
...HOW DOES A MUSIC PROGRAM AFFECT THE READING FLUENCY OF SECOND GRADE ESL STUDENTS? by Candace Rose Cooper A Thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Master of Arts degree in English as a Second Language Hamline University St. Paul, Minnesota April, 2011 Committee: Ann Mabbott-Primary Advisor Cynthia Lundgren-Secondary Advisor Kristin Weidlein-Peer Reader To my aunt, Mary Lou Merdan, Ph.D., who dedicated her career to reading literacy through the education of children and teachers. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter One: Introduction……………………………………………………………….1 Folk Songs………………………………………………………………………...1 Background of the Research………………………………………………………3 Benefits of Music Education……………………………………………………...4 Conclusion………………………………………………………………………...5 Chapter Two: Literature Review…………………………………………………………7 Music, Motivation, Language, and Reading Fluency……………………………..7 Music and Language…………………………………………………………..…..8 Music and Motivation……………………………………………………………10 Oral Language……………………………………………………………………15 Reading Fluency…………………………………………………………………17 Strategies for Enhancing Reading Fluency………………………………………21 Fluency and ELLs…………………………………………………...…………...24 Fluency Assessment……………………………………………………………...25 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………….29 Chapter Three: Methodology…………………………………………….……………...31 Participants and Research Design………………………………………………..31 Research Paradigm…………………………………………….………………....31 Setting………………………….………………………………………………...32 iii Participants………………………………………………………………………...
Words: 20500 - Pages: 82
...make a certain impression on the viewer. In this essay I will do a video analysis on Adele’s song “Someone like you. My goal is to illustrate my understanding of the many ways media producers make meaning and how we interpret that meaning. I will use narrative and semiotic analysis to see what strategies are being used to make the video. Through a careful analysis of how the video is being made we can see what type of meaning is trying to be expressed. Theoretical Frame To be able to do a video analysis it is important to understand semiotics. Semiotics is the discipline that studies the nature of any type of communication (Grossberg p.143). Its important to understand this does not only involve language but other forms of communicating such as traffic light codes, dress codes, or rolls that men and woman play. In all these things we are communicating with each other by using a system that we all understand and can relate to. Semiotics define that system as codes and those codes are constructed signs. For example the English language is a code that we use to communicate with each other. The code consist of words or signs that arbitrarily symbolize something for us. As mentioned above the traffic light is another code of communicating through signs such as red, green, and yellow. The signs themselves are chosen arbitrarily. By itself red does not mean stop but we choose that meaning for this system. Through that example you can see the importance of everybody understanding...
Words: 1569 - Pages: 7
...Vivaldi's Spring Concerto (within the “Four Seasons” set) is comprised of three movements, from allegro to largo and back to allegro. The first movement ends at roughly 3 minutes 15 seconds, followed by the second movement ending at about 5 minutes 35 seconds, and the third movement concluding the concerto at 9 minutes and 12 seconds. It is a violin concerto that has a tutti made up of multiple violins, violas, cellos, bass and harpsichord. From the first movement to the last it starts with a fairly basic ritornello form (excepting the free form of the second movement), falling back to the main theme every so often in repetition and carrying what is generally a homophonic texture. The dynamics are highly contrasting based upon the depth of the major/minor key. As the portion of the piece falls into either chord primarily, be it major or minor, it tends to increase in dynamics, boosting the intensity and directly influencing the mood. During the transition, there seems to be somewhat of a fall in dynamics, with a clever drop at certain points to inherently draw the focus of the listener, along with various crescendos and decrescendos leading up to and trailing away from roughly the mid-point and end of each movement. The beat varies throughout all three movements, typically quicker in the first and the last and more subdued and slowed in the second....
Words: 574 - Pages: 3
...THE MEANING OF 'INDEPENDENT WOMAN'' IN MUSIC MiA MOODY Introduction Rapper Roxanne Shanté's 1989 rendition of "Independent Woman," explored relationships and admonished women not to dote on partners who do not reciprocate or to buy into the fairytale dream that a man would always take care of them. The definition of an "Independent Woman" in the Urban Dictionary, a predominantly African American written and defined Web site, is "A woman who pays her own bills, buys her own things, and does not allow a man to affect her stability or self-confidence. She supports herself on her own entirely and is proud to be able to do so." Another depiction of independence is found in Tina Portis' video clip titled the "Deception of the Independent Woman" posted to YouTube in 2010. Portis, an entrepreneur and former single mother, offers her opinion on statistics showing 42% of U.S. black women have never been married and are "independent" because they focus on achievement, often waiting too long to compete for the small number of black men who are equal in status (Johnson, 2010). In the video, she asserts that independent women do not need a pat on the back for doing what grownups are supposed to do: pay their bills, buy houses and cars, etc. She adds that independence discourages relationships as people begin to believe they can do everything alone, so they do not need a mate. Mia Moody, PhD, is a professor of journalism at Baylor University. She is the author of ...
Words: 4726 - Pages: 19
...An example of an allusion from Week one’s reading assignments comes from The Hack Driver by Sinclair Lewis. During the story, the author makes reference the express man. He comments on how this man will probably get to Heaven’s gate and call St Peter “Pete” (LA Rocco & Coughlin, 1996, p. 59). Connotation- Connotation is the meaning or implication that the author gives, and the reader receives while reading a literary work. Connotations are not difficult to spot, because they are usually presented in the form of an opinion or assumption. For example, To Be of Use, by Marge Piercy, refers to workers becoming natives to the elements of their work environment (LA Rocco & Coughlin, 1996, p. 248). The entire poem places much emphasis on the positive aspects of good workers. As the author refers to these workers as natives, it implies that they perform their jobs easily and naturally, so the connotation is positive. Denotation- A denotation is the actual meaning of a word used in a literary work. Denotations provide contrast within literature; because they possess a literal meaning, while almost everything else is comprised of figurative meanings. For...
Words: 1022 - Pages: 5
...music while we drive in our car, children in the neighborhood sing songs while playing outside, and most cell phones play some kind of melody when there is an incoming call. Furthermore, music embellishes movies and selling recorded songs developed into an extremely profitable business. Listening to music in our culture is inevitable. However, with all this exposure to music on a regular basis, our society forgets that music is so much more than only entertainment. Garfias states that “the manner in which music and, in fact, all the arts, are treated in modern society gives little indication of the more important role which it...
Words: 1364 - Pages: 6
...society 4 4. 3 Themes of love prevalent in Love Songs 5 5. Conclusion 6 6. Work cited 7 1. Introduction During the time of ancient Egypt's New Kingdom, love songs were recorded and later discovered by excavators. The importances of these songs are that they contradicted the perception which Egyptologists had of the ancient Egyptians. No longer were the ancient Egyptians viewed as being a dull society, focused on death and the afterlife, but rather a society with a love for living through loving love itself (Fowler 1994:xiv). Thus, in this essay, through analyzing the Ramesside love songs, I shall explore this different view of the ancient Egyptians and attempt to understand what the concept of love truly meant to them. In going about this, I shall firstly look at how sense was made of the concept love and then look at love from the perspective of girls, boys and society. Furthermore, I shall address three themes regarding the concept of love, prevalent in the love songs and finally, conclude through drawing on my findings throughout my essay. 2. How they made sense of love When looking at ancient Egyptian religion, art and practices, two themes is consistent, this is the use of metaphors and similes. These were the methods used by the ancient Egyptians to not only explain their experiences, but also to validate them (Kaplan 2004:9). Similarly, metaphors and similes are regularly used in love songs to explain lover’s emotions and validate that these...
Words: 1224 - Pages: 5
...LITERATURE Literature is a term used to describe written or spoken material. Broadly speaking, "literature" is used to describe anything from creative writing to more technical or scientific works, but the term is most commonly used to refer to works of the creative imagination, including works of poetry, drama, fiction, and nonfiction. Literature, in its broadest sense, is any written work; etymologically the term derives from Latinliteratura/litteratura "writing formed with letters", although some definitions include spoken or sung texts. More restrictively, it is writing that possesses literary merit, and language that foregrounds literariness, as opposed toordinary language. Literature can be classified according to whether it is fiction or non-fiction and whether it ispoetry or prose; it can be further distinguished according to major forms such as the novel, short story or drama; and works are often categorised according to historical periods or their adherence to certain aesthetic features or expectations (genre). IMPORTANCE OF LITERATURE It also encourages students to think critically, specifically for the discussing and thinking components. Those people studying literature look at poems, plays, essays, stories and novels. Reading and learning about these helps people to sympathize with others and see how complex humans truly are. It aids in broadening a person's intellectual horizons and it stimulates a more active imagination. Literature explores different human...
Words: 1459 - Pages: 6
...If people are manipulated and controlled, they will eventually become dissatisfied with their surroundings . I will be analyzing these themes in the Truman Show directed by Peter Weir, the song ‘Power and Control’ performed by Marina and the Diamonds, and my visual representation. The media is a powerful device that can be used to manipulate and control our thoughts and emotions, this is exposed in the Truman Show directed by Peter Weir. As it increasingly becomes clear to the titular character that his life is being filmed and broadcasted to the world, and as a result becomes unhappy with his world and is determined to escape. An example of manipulation is in the dock scene where Truman's best friend Marlon tries to rationalize Truman's feelings. Truman expresses his recent paranoia, knowing something isn't right. The camera cuts back and forth between close-up shots of Marlon and Truman, as he diverts...
Words: 908 - Pages: 4
...has several definitions, it is not just between boy and girl, not just between husband and wife or not between dad and son. Actually no one can give the truest and deepest meaning of love. Thousands of book related to love, thousands movies and millions definition has been created but no has proved the actual definition of love. The writer of the song “My Heart Will Go on”, Horner James defines love between boy and girl. According to him love is a strong bond once connected nothing can break it. It is trust, believe no matter how far or near you are, which last for a lifetime. This four minute song mirrors the themes of disaster and love from the movie “Titanic”. Every night in my dreams I see you, I feel you That is how I know you, go on The character Rose falls in love with an ordinary boy Jack. The very first phase of her love starts with dreaming about her loving one. Every night she dreams about him, which is strong reason behind knowing him. She holds his hands, go for walk and talks to each other, she really feels like she is in heaven. These lines really says that whenever we fall in love, most of the time we think about him/her. For the further deeper meaning life is the communication between two souls. She promises him that she will never let him go and will dream, feel his love for life time. The phrase “Go on” mean to continue...
Words: 1040 - Pages: 5