...Izquierdo Tim Melnarik English 1A March 21, 2016 Music Identity Music is a form of art that has been around since the dawn of man. It touches our inner soul without psychically feeling its presence. Without music, the world would be dull and dreary. Music is one of the most expressionistic forms of media known to society. It sometimes gives you the extra push for moments of inspiration and self-confidence. It helps express our feelings, and assist us to get through moments of sorrow. It also unshackles us from reality, and takes us into a euphoric state of mind where our problems become inexistent. Music can quickly change the mood into a romantic setting, or can completely change it into a blissful dance affair. It’s a bridge that connects our inner self with the outside world. Even though music can be portrayed as a form of art and entertainment it can also posses a much greater force that some tend to belittle. Music plays a vital role in pop culture, and has the clout of shaping ones identity. The development of self-identity is a vigorous process in both internal and external interfaces. One’s self-image is something that is crucial growing up, and our choice of musical preference inclines to influence that journey dramatically. To begin with, the personality trait that we all develop is a primary example of an internal type of self-image interface. As we grow older, we tend to be exposed to different types of music that influence our personality, and it tends to alter...
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...Identity Assignment (25 points) Objective: To better understand how music reflects personal and social identities of an individual or group. Requirements: Write a 700–1000 word essay (roughly three pages) discussing a particular song or composition that you feel best expresses your personal and social identity. Include a tape or CD (label it with your name) of the example along with your essay. DUE DATE: To be announced _______________________________________________________________________ Music is a manifestation of the personal and social identities of an individual or group. The function of the music, the structure of it, the context in which it is performed, etc., all reflect the cultural environment that surrounds a musical performance and indicate significant values of the people who create it. Recognizing and understanding how music reflects the identity of a community is an important means of “getting to know” other people and how music expresses “who they are.” I want to “get to know you” and discover what music says about “who you are.” As music majors, I assume that you consider music an important element of your life. Undoubtedly, most of you listen to many kinds of music, i.e., classical, rock, rap, gamelan(?). Your task is to choose ONE example of music that you feel best expresses the many facets of YOU, i.e., your identity. This will prove more difficult than you think if you put some thought into it. Don't tell me what music means to you, explain how the example...
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...a process of identity construction, a process that is based not only on what they think about themselves, but also on the social representations. This is the period of human development in which time dedicated to music and listening to music is at its peak and identity is hesitant, flexible, and shaped by multiple means of communication, as contemporary hip hop music. In this context, it is notable that contemporary hip hop is the favorite genre between adolescents at Omni Middle School. Adolescence is an important phase in the process of reaffirming personal identity, psychosocial identity and sexual identity. Identity is understood...
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...The findings of the two ethnic identities tie loosely together by political statement as both rap groups produce music that is socio-political and expressing a certain viewpoint on politics depending on the ideals of both ethnic groups. Although, Assassin hold stronger views against the government, making statements that they are not slaves or puppets of the government. Whereas, Fabulous Trobadors focus more on their Occitan roots and patriotism of Occitan tradition. Despite having two different interpretations and ideas of French rap and what both parties could bring to the French music scene, both successfully created their own ideologies which developed different ethnic groups and socio-cultural circles. More so, the difference in the...
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...positive impact music has on one’s identity In his musical lyrics, Bob Marley, a singer, songwriter and musician, motivates people across the world with his positive and encouraging music. In his biggest hi “One Love, One Heart, Let’s Get Together and Feel Alright,” created an atmosphere of love and exhilaration 2among people of different backgrounds and culture. After his death, Marley was venerated by people all over the world for his outstanding work and role model to the society. An icon had died. The positive influence of a song can reflect one’s character in different ways. One’s culture, attitude and appearance create an identity that can leave a positive impact on society. The cultural identity is those attributes, behavior patterns, lifestyles, and social structures that distinguish a person from another. Culture is learned and passed through generations and includes the believes and value system of a society. If we can examine the role of culture in a group formation, for example. If participants are told they share musical taste with an individual, they are more likely to appraise them positively and want to become their friend….. All these components of culture have an effect on one’s character. Music can have both positive and negative influences on one’s attitude. For example, a child that tends to listen more positive and influential music will tend to have a better attitude and meditation towards his/her character than a child who is influence by music that promotes...
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...Identity-formation by white oppression is something that is still existent in today’s music genre: rap but not a total focus in contemporary rap music much like it was in the late 1970’s, the 1980’s, and 90’s. Even though, some rap music of today strays from the lyrics of white oppression, most rap music still expresses the means of identity-formation affected by social construction just like original rap music. Contemporary, twenty-first century, rap music expresses two concerns: social construction on identity-formation and the life of the rapper. Rap music, when it first broke out, was viewed by society as a deviance from social construction, and the rappers were aware- but they in way- did not care. In King of Rock, a rap song released in 1985 by Run-D.M.C, the rappers’ lyrics, “I won’t stop rockin’ till I retire…It’s all brand new, never ever old school…Cause they don’t make no songs like these!”, shows that they know their music is different, but no matter what they will not change because they were content with the new identity-formation. A contemporary song that shows that same idea of the “I don’t care attitude” towards social construction on identity-formation is Look at Me Now by Chris Brown, featuring Lil Wayne and Busta Rhymes. This song was released in 2011. The whole song is about how the rappers do not care about what other people think because the life their living and who they are, they are completely contempt and satisfied with. “You ain’t never gonna stop...
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...My Cultural Identity I have never took my cultural identity into consideration before this essay. I've learned that cultural identity is what you believe and the way you live your life. My cultural identity could be related to the informational text “What is Cultural Identity?” by Elise Trumbull and Maria Pacheco. Which talked about defying the words cultural identity. Also the personal essay “ Two Kinds” by Amy Tan that has also taught me about my cultural identity in comparison with other people. With that in mind, parts of my cultural include my love of music, my passion for sports, and my obsession for spicy food. The instrumentation of music is what I connect to most. When I played the trumpet I really felt music. I love how the different...
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...Therefore, a significant number of youth globally are having difficulties identifying themselves and finding their sense of belonging in this world (Bourn, 2008). Sociologist has provided strong evidence that globalization on youth culture has not only contributed positively to society but also have negative impact on the current global youth (Kahn & Kellner, 2002). To outline the aforementioned statement, the scope of this essay will confine on youth culture and the influential paradigm that contour youth cultural globally. The theoretical perspective such as post-modernism will be explored to provide a depth understanding of cultural studies. Altogether, this discussion examines the impact of globalization on communication technology and music and fashion industry of youth culture by observing different perspective of youths from both developed and developing nations. Youth is defined as a person who is no longer considered as child and not yet recognized as an adult (Bourn, 2008). Youth culture is a group of people who share similar values, beliefs and social experiences and these similarities distinct them from other age groups (Heaven &...
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...Alexander Francis ENG 200 November 4, 2013 Prof. Hamann, Erika Thesis: WWII was critical to the degree at which swing influenced the development of American identity; not only through recognition of social inequalities, but furthering the development of a musical identity that still influences the modern sounds of our ever-changing culture. Why Swing Swung What separates you from others can appropriately be deemed as a series of conflict’s, conflict is critical to the development of identity; without conflict the unconscious perception of us, them, we or they would not exist. Humans being naturally prone to argument create a cultural identity designed around the conflicts in which a number of people are affected, in turn allowing people to identify with each other through common grounds; unintentionally creating a communication barrier between them and us. This model although small demonstrates how groups are formed, and can be projected upon the development of a musical identity within America during the Second World War. Possibly seen as the largest conflict in recorded history, World War II set the boundaries for numerous identities; creating a conscious affiliation of differences, people now identified themselves through stereotypes that otherwise would not have developed. Most of these conflicts or stereotypes would happen to be woven inside the United States due to propaganda: a necessary war tool developed to instill a feeling of pride and ensure a feeling of...
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...commitment to the Pleasure” is a short story written by Hanif Kureishi. The story is about a father who takes his twin sons to a rock concert. During the concert, he thinks back on his own youth and the music back then. He discovers music again through his sons and like his sons; he spends a lot of time listening to it. Through the short British history, we get from the father. He tells us that regardless if you are Black, Asian, gay, lesbian, hetero or what class you are in music is for everyone. It is the way to speak out freely, being heard, the way we get our identity, and the way. 2. All the texts have partly the same vision on each other. In the first text “The commitment to the Pleasure”, the main character's statement about pop music is very positive. He sees pop music as something everybody can hear and something where one can express themselves. He believes that pop music is Britain's identity. In the second story, the narrator is not quite agreeing with the statement of the main character of the first text, about pop music. He agrees that everybody can listen to pop music but believes that pop music has become more or less pornographic. He also believes that children can be damaged by the music and that Lady Gaga and Rihanna are the ones that show the way forward in the music world. In the third text, the narrator agrees with the opinion about Lady Gaga singing too much about sex and through that damaging the children. But the reason why Lady Gaga is doing her shows...
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...Streaming Media: The Tailor-Made Option In today’s world entertainment such as: Television, music, movies, etc. are all available at any time to be streamed through the internet. Streaming media means that data is instantly available where in the it would either have to be downloaded to a harddrive on come pre downloaded like in a CD or DVD. When we stream media we are allowing ourselves to pick and choose when, where, and what we want to spend our time watching or as we say streaming. Streaming media is now providing entertainment that is applicable to one’s individual routine making it tailor-made for us all to enjoy. This means that we, as consumers, have access to huge amounts of personalized data without any wait times or ever having to leave the house. As technology continues to grow and get stronger, we find ourselves purchasing equipment to make our tailor-made services of streaming even better. Between BlueRay DVD Players, Apple TV boxes, PlayStations, and many more. The majority of these providers can easily stream media straight from them. When streaming media is mentioned to most people the first thing that comes to mind is Netflix. Music is in there too but with Netflix one can watch TV shows with majority of the seasons, as well as the movies that Netflix has purchased. It can not get much better than that, even though a person will only have to pay a small monthly fee of $8.99 Netflix pays for itself after one or two movies which could cost up to twenty dollars...
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...during the 1950’s “referring to distinctive sets of values that set the delinquent apart from mainstream or dominate culture” (McLaughlin and Muncie, 2001, p.296). This idea of a subculture developed from the study of youths in urban settings. In society many music subcultures include, Goths, Punks and Hip Hop, plus many more. The question which has to be considered is whether subcultures are useful when trying to understand the link between youth, music and identity. Most commonly subcultural theories have been observed by two pieces of research, ‘The Chicago School of Sociology’ and ‘The Centre...
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...Cultural identity is what makes you who you are. Cultural identity can range from various different things. But in today's culture people do not take the time to explore one another's background, they judge others based upon appearance. I am mainly considered a spoiled, stuck up white girl who went to a catholic school, when none of that is true. I have significant things that make me who I am, from my family's rituals, to how old I am, the food I enjoy, the music I listen to, and the sport I play. We have always been close to my mom's side of the family, from me spending every day with my grandmother since I was born, to having my grandparents over for dinner every Sunday. We also spend every holiday with each other, even if something comes up, we still find a way to see them. My mom's side of the family and I have a tradition of going to their camp in Toledo Bend every Labor Day weekend to fish. These traditions might seem like no big deal to others, however, it...
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...Amanda Waterhouse January 29, 2012 Abstract Interpretation The meaning of, “Worldwide, non-western cultures faced fundamental challenges to their cultural identities-not so much a recentering of culture but a decentering of culture” (Sayre, 2010), Sayre is saying that Western cultures have begun to lose their identities that brought them over from native countries. Almost every culture that migrated to the US brought some kind of their culture with them. Even though some only came with only clothes and nothing else. They came here to hoping to fill their dreams and for a better life. Cultural Identities Culture identity is perception of oneself and they group they ma belong to. This can be influenced or inherited. Culture and belief is a big identity in most culture. There are many identities that identify a culture. Some examples of those identities are clothing, music, food, religion, language etc. (http://www.digitrends.com/crossingcultures/iden.htm) Meaning of “decentering” of a Culture Non-western cultures in the late ninetieth, early twentieth century were influenced by western cultures due to globalization. During the twentieth century, such as technology of music, media, traditions, communication progress the culture felt overwhelmed. Technology had begun growing and modernizes to the times. Music and literature has been passed down from generation to generation. Impact of Western or European Cultures Africa is an example that suffered from decentering...
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...Through Pravaz’s discussion on the Globalization of Musics in Transit with specific detail of the Transnational Samba, we can learn a lot about how an art form rooted so strongly in one culture can have such a profound presence in another. The Brazilian samba traveled with the migrants as they moved to Canada. The Brazilian music genre has been gaining worldwide popularity since the early 1900’s, but it was in Toronto, Canada that capoeira and samba are especially celebrated. For that reason, Pravaz welcomes native Canadians in her definition of the diasporic musical space. By properly appreciating the culture of Brazilian migrants, Canadians work with all members of their community to create a place that can be considered home. The first aspect of Pravaz’s research that I found to be particularly interesting was how she argued that the diasporic musical space should includes both those from Brazil and those who have a profound...
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