...Blake was seven, he received music lessons from their neighbor teacher, Margret Marshall, an organist form the Methodist church. In 1901 Blake danced and played melodeon with Dr. Frazier's Medicine Show. In the following year, he joined the touring company in Old Kentucky, which took him briefly to New York City. From New York, Blake returned to Baltimore and received a job as a relief pianist for Big Head Wilbur at Alfred Greenfield's saloon, an establishment built by light weight boxing Champion Joe Gans. After two years at Greenfield's, Blake found steady work at Annie Gilly's sporting house. In this is Ragtime, Blake related how he “ragged” popular songs and classics from Wagner to Viennese waltzes. Able to compose numbers in any key, and possessing a finger span of twelve notes, which was unheard of in this time period, Blake earned a reputation as one of the finest ragtime pianists of the eastern school. In 1911, Blake wrote...
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...Born in the late 1860s in Texarkana, on the border between Texas and Arkansas, Scott Joplin took up the piano as a child and eventually became a travelling musician as a teen. He immersed himself in the emerging musical form known as ragtime and became the genre’s foremost composer with tunes like "The Entertainer," "Solace" and "The Maple Leaf Rag," which is the biggest-selling ragtime song in history. Joplin also penned the operas Guest of Honor and Treemonisha. He died in New York City on April 1, 1917. Scott Joplin (1867/1868 – April 1, 1917) was an African-American composer and pianist. Joplin achieved fame for his ragtime compositions and was dubbed the "King of Ragtime Writers". During his brief career, he wrote 44 original ragtime pieces, one ragtime ballet, and two operas. One of his first pieces, the "Maple Leaf Rag", became ragtime's first and most influential hit, and has been recognized as the archetypal rag. "Scott Joplin." Bio. A&E Television Networks, 2015. Web. 30 Mar. 2015. www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMAtL7n_-rc The story of the piano begins in Padua, Italy in 1709, in the shop of a harpsichord maker named Bartolomeo di Francesco Cristofori (1655-1731). Many other stringed and keyboard instruments preceded the piano and led to the development of the instrument as we know it today. Cristofori's piano was developed from the harpsichord and consequently rather small and made entirely out of wood. As time passed, however, the development of larger instruments...
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...Assignment 3 – Ragtime Introduction The novel Ragtime takes place in America in the early 1900's. It illustrates several life stories and destinies all woven together in different ways. Most of the characters in the novel are pure fictitious but some historical men and women from the era are featured. We get to met Houdini, the biggest illusionists of his time, JP Morgan, one of the wealthiest men in America, Henry Ford, the founder of the Ford Motor Company and Emma Goldman, an anarchist and political activist. One of the main characters, and the main focus of this analysis is the Latvian, Jewish immigrant referred to as Tateh. We follow Tateh and his daughter Sha's progression through the different stages of becoming assimilated in the American melting pot that is the American culture. Main Body Tateh and his family arrived to America in the beginning of the nineteenth century. This was a time in history when immigrants, mostly europeans were flowing into New York. Between 1901 and 1910 as many as 8.8 million people arrived from overseas (Duncan and Goddard, 2009:66) all stepping of the boat filled with dreams and hopes of a better life in “the land of opportunity”. The reality in New York was different. The streets were dirty, crime was increasing along with the growing population and assimilation was not easy. “The officials changed names they couldn't pronounce and tore people from their families... “They were despised by New Yorkers. They were filthy...
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...early 1900s, a time of change brought many prosperous beginnings, a time for capitalism, a time for opportunities. However, with them came a time of conflict and turmoil for the poor, the immigrants, and the ostracized—women. In society a woman was classified as the maiden, the nurturer, the Madonna, the sex goddess, the witch, or the whore. In the novel Ragtime, E.L. Doctorow portrays these different types of women as Mameh, Mother, Evelyn Nesbit, and Emma Goldman. Doctorow uses fictional characters along with real historical characters to paint a colorful and vivid picture of these times, to portray the social class distinctions, the morality of women, and the many undergoing changes of this era. Like an hour glass figure the social classes were very distinct among women; there were the rich, the poor, and a few in between. The women of higher social status, the wealthy were embedded with the idea that sexual purity was a must in order to get married. It was considered a stain in a family’s reputation for a woman to have premarital sex and worse promiscuous sex. The importance of reputation is clearly illustrated in Ragtime. “Runaway women died in the rigors of ecstasy. Stories were hushed up and reporters paid off by rich families” (Doctorow 4). To women of wealth marriage was their goal, and their reputation was the only thing they had. In contrast to the wealthy, the poor were not worried as much about their reputation, but more on hunger and struggling to survive. “Thousands...
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...popularity for such a long time due to its structure building, the laying of lyrics is awesome and the form makes the music flow well. The performance is totally in its own compared to the latest versions of music. There is creative which follows along and make it enjoyable. The dance rhythm of the music “kills” other versions since the natural balance of the accents remains to be superior all over. These writers began from amateur stage and their writing was perfect, coon songs which were rough and risqué made the unusual popularity to the music. Performances of Tin Pan Alley music I do like the way in which the performance was done by the Tin Pan Alley artists. This is because of their assimilation of the rhythm which remained to be ragtime. Once listening to the flow of the music, you will notice repeat choruses which maintain the theme in the song. You will find happiness once listening and watching the performance and you cannot avoid having different mood on the music. Even the latest version of the music is very cool. Response According to the discussion which was held on Friday January 24th 2014 at 5:43 pm, the students were seen to have made a very good approach in analyzing the music of Tin Pan Alley. This is because it’s evident that they really know the music genre and might have made great research. There is a great connection and they rhyme with my research based on the music. This gives out detailed and well explained content and one is able to witness...
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...How African-American Culture Conceived Jazz Near the beginning of the twentieth century, Jazz was a new style of music being invented by African-American musicians who lived in New Orleans, Louisiana. The city of New Orleans during the beginning of the twentieth century was loaded with individuals of different ethnicities and backgrounds. Before the early twentieth century, New Orleans was colonized by the French and Spanish. When the French and Spanish colonized New Orleans, they brought with them their slaves from various regions of the African continent; mainly, the slaves came from West Africa. In the book The Story of Jazz Marshall W. Stearns states: …the various stages in the development of the slave trade had a decisive influence on what part of Africa the slaves came from... the majority of slaves came from the West coast of Africa…inter-tribal raids and dynastic wars in West Africa led to the selling of kings and priests into slavery, people who were specialists in their own tribal music and rituals (16). When the French sold the Louisiana Purchase to the United States, the slave trade existed until it was banned sometime in the early nineteenth century. However, even though the trade was banned, slavery in the United States existed until after the Civil War. Within the confines of slavery, a new tradition was made from a mix of African and American traditions. The mix of African and American traditions started when the slaves were brought...
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...The turn of the century brings about many significant cultural and social changes. Throughout the novel Ragtime by E.L. Doctorow characters face problems due to gender, race, and classes. Some become rich and others become poor. From the revolution of black rights to the creation of the middle class, Doctorow gives insight on how rapidly the United States is changing during the Progressive Era. The two characters who most show these differences are Tateh and Coalhouse. In the early twentieth century, it is the job of the man to be able to provide for his family. The family expects the man to contribute a stable income and safety, along with love to his wife and children. Tateh is a Jewish immigrant, of which between 1900 and 1914, one and a half million arrive at Ellis Island. He who works painting silhouettes on a New York street, making a modicum of money. However, his purpose in life is to take care of his family. Tateh’s daughter, Young Girl, goes to work with him everyday as he is an only parent. At the time in these...
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...Readings for American History Since 1877 Historiography in America...................................................................................................................................................... 2 How to teach history (and how not to) ................................................................................................................................ 6 How Ignorant Are Americans? ........................................................................................................................................... 9 The West ............................................................................................................................................................................... 11 The Education of Native Americans ................................................................................................................................. 11 Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee .................................................................................................................................... 15 Prostitution in the West: .................................................................................................................................................... 17 The Gilded Age ..................................................................................................................................................................... 21 The Duties of American Citizenship ...........................
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...Historiography It is the study of the history and methodology of the discipline of history. The term historiography also denotes a body of historical work on a specialized topic. Scholars discuss historiography topically – such as the “historiography of Catholicism,” the “historiography of early Islam,” or the “historiography of China" – as well as specific approaches such as political history and social history. Beginning in the nineteenth century, at the ascent of academic history, a corpus of historiography literature developed. Furay and Salevouris (1988) define historiography as "the study of the way history has been and is written — the history of historical writing... When you study 'historiography' you do not study the events of the past directly, but the changing interpretations of those events in the works of individual historians." Questions studied Some of the common questions of historiography are: 1. Reliability of the sources used, in terms of authorship, credibility of the author, and the authenticity or corruption of the text. (See also source criticism). 2. Historiographical tradition or framework. Every historian uses one (or more) historiographical traditions, for example Marxist, Annales School, "total history", or political history. The historiography of early Islam refers to the study of the early origins of Islam based on a critical analysis, evaluation, and examination of authentic primary source materials and the organization of these sources into...
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...() from other countries. Therefore in terms of America’s identity historically, politically, economically and socially, these should be understood differently because America was created differently. Hence why the idea of American exceptionalism’ stems from the principle of America being unique. Furthermore, In addition to this the idea that “American exceptionalism” implies superiority is a key concept to embrace and identify through out America history, contemporary politics, foreign policy and social culture. However, due to the essay title I will be analyzing and examining to what extent is “American exceptionalism’ identified as U.S superiority. Although due to the wide context of the theoretical term ‘American exceptionalism’’ and word limit. I will focus on the significant impacts that has led to the idea of ‘American exceptionalism’ to be implied as U.S superiority such as American history, foreign policy, economic and social culture. History Explaination The significant impact of America’s revolutionary history sparked an inspirational movement of independency to pervious colonized nations although on a later stages for them. This highlights America as exceptional historically in being “the first new nation” () to become independent and also being the ideology for independency for previous colonies nations. To an extent on this note “American exceptionalism” in terms of it’s revolutionary independency can be amplified as a model to other nations than...
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...Analyse the way in which history and memory generate compelling and unexpected insights. – Jake Cronin The interaction between history and memory is a complex and dialectic process through which perceptions of the past are negotiated, reinforced or challenged. Despite official history’s dependency on validating its claims through documented evidence, it must be acknowledged that it is not objective and remains vulnerable to distortion of those with political power or hegemony. Similarly, the subjective nature of memory allows for official history to be vulnerable to the bias of personal experience and differing perspectives. Furthermore, although official history and subjective memory both provide adequate insights into the past, it is through the consideration and combination of the two that compelling and unexpected insights into the past are generated. Paul Keating’s ‘The Redfern Address’ offers a reasonable challenge to the dominant historical narrative surrounding the European colonisation of Australia and their acts of social injustice in regards to Indigenous Australians. Similarly, Shaun Tan’s ‘Memorial’ explores Australia’s wartime history through the medium of a community’s personal experiences, perspectives and memories converging to form history, and illuminates the way in which history is dictated by those with political power. Through the dialectic interplay of history and meaning, compelling and unanticipated comprehensions of the past are generated and are...
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...language and reason in history. History as the area of knowledge is virtually indivisible from language and reasoning. Language is one of the most potent means of interpreting and reporting historical information that is derived from the sources pertinent to the events and occurrences. The sources themselves, in their turn, are frequently presented by the written documents, recorded anecdotal experiences, and works of art, archeology, anthropology and photography which, yet again, are interpreted through the language in conjunction with the context of a historical event. It appears to be an endless loop, where language is the alpha and omega, the main vehicle of conveying history. However, to arrive to the valid interpretation of a certain historical event or development, historians frequently use reasoning to connect the factual data of the tangible sources since the latter ones often come in the form of fragments, related to a particular aspect of the happening. Ideally, reasoning, applied to the interpretation of historical data, should be impersonal, unaffected by predominant views and opinions and completely untainted by political agenda. Yet, it is hard to imagine that throughout the centuries those who held power would willingly allow the contemporary historians relate to the masses the adequate information on the details of their governing techniques and actions. As Winston Churchill pointed out, “History will be kind to me for...
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...your parents raise your babies. Even news outlets that are supposed to be legitimate and unbiased are telling only one side of the news to fill a political agenda. Politics are sugar coated and ignored on some networks, or completely farfetched from reality for political gain and control from one party or another. Media writers can put their own agenda and emotion into any piece they report on to give a one sided view of any subject. It is hard to know what is fact or opinion anymore with so many resources out there. Many things on the internet are also untrue, for example history books in public schools are being rewritten with “facts” that were never taught to us, a rewriting of history to fill some modern liberal agenda. I believe that the media is biased and hates anyone or organization that represents morality and especially if Christianity is in any way linked with it. You have to know your history,...
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...the three holocausts, including historical racial problems, historical religion problems and totalitarian. As a modern man, I can not image the scene that tens of thousands of people are killed in these slaughters, and even can not find some reasonable reasons to explain why these killers are so cold and bloody that a lot of women and children are killed by them? Suddenly, I realize that I can not to find some right word s to describe these crazy killers’ behavior, just think they lose human nature at that moment, even can not compare with wild animals. All human history is just from wild animals to human nature, which is a developing history from barbarity to civilization. But in the process, the moment that human nature is veiled often present. In the moment that human beings have highly civilized, but the holocaust appears again and again, which is worthy of all people to ponder! One two three do not cry, history is the silent tell and defense, which also is the miserable...
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...History, Memory, and Monuments: An Overview of the Scholarly Literature on Commemoration Kirk Savage, University of Pittsburgh (…) The first key question might be, what is commemoration? Dictionary definitions tell us that to commemorate is to “call to remembrance,” to mark an event or a person or a group by a ceremony or an observance or a monument of some kind. Commemorations might be ephemeral or permanent; the key point is that they prod collective memory in some conspicuous way. French sociologist Maurice Halbwachs ushered in the modern academic study of collective memory with his book The Social Frameworks of Memory (1925) in which he argued that all memory – even personal memory – is a social process, shaped by the various groups (family, religious, geographical, etc.) to which individuals belong. In an even more influential posthumous essay, “Historical Memory and Collective Memory” (1950), published after his death in a Nazi concentration camp, Halbwachs insisted on a distinction between history and collective memory: history aims for a universal, objective truth severed from the psychology of social groups while “every collective memory requires the support of a group delimited in space and time.” Thus our view of the past does not come primarily from professional historical scholarship but from a much more complicated and interwoven set of relationships to mass media, tourist sites, family tradition, and the spaces of our upbringing with all their regional...
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