...skin as we were waiting for the band. We were ready to pursue towards the stage. The crowd started to inch its way forward as the last band performed, I became restless. As I began to get closer to the stage I focused my gaze onto the stage. What a beautiful sight it was. The stage was the size of an elephant in a dump truck! It had colorful banners hanging from the top of the stage. The banners had little cartoon skeletons with skateboards and flat-bill hats on. On the stage there were more than a dozen people setting up amplifiers and helping set up the equipment. They were scrambling to get the equipment together in time before the crowd started to...
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...The abrasive sound echoed through the air. The vibration ringed in my ear after our last note, after my first and last performance in marching band, and immediately relief and poignancy sweeps through my feet. I felt happy and accomplished, after all the sweat and tears everyone has shed to finish this show. In my previous school in Japan, we had marching band unlike this one with no competitors, but both groups has shaped the person I am today. Just like my hobby of illustration, I learned that the more detailed and precise we paint, the more vivid and lively our results become. Both of these marching band organizations helped me realize that outcomes are just superficial, and that people could gain from failures. By joining the band I started to practice more of my clarinet, took extra care to balance both academic work and marching band practice, and made communication with people I was not accustomed to. When afterwards I got compliments from...
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...Have you ever thought about being a rock star? What about a drummer for a touring band? Well go no more, because I know a guy who is both and his name is Joshua Fassbender. Josh has been a friend of mine since 8th grade and I met him through marching band. He later on in life developed a true passion for drumming and is now a drummer for a pop punk/grunge band called Radioactive Red. I recently interview Josh to see how it is being on tour. Here we are right before a gig on night to make the scene more band like. His throne of drums where already set up and he was warmed up. Josh was ready for the night to start but they had a band playing before them. He could not help himself but to tap on his legs and I asked, "Why do drummer always tap on their legs and or just randomly hit objects?' His response was very calm lowering how hard he was hitting his legs, "A drummer keeps the rhythm going by always keeping tempo. I do this to make sure I can still stay on beat." I was shocked because I always assumed it was ADHD or something drummers did to get their mind off of the show....
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...the Massaponax High School marching band season, there is a day when the entire band, known as the MP2, goes to various neighborhoods in Spotsylvania to ask homeowners if they would like to donate to the band. Each marching band season comes with monumental costs, so this event is crucial to our success. It is so special an occasion that we all wear our black and teal uniforms. The staff call it “Band-Aid Day.” I did not particularly enjoy spending the greater margin of my Saturday trotting around with a group of other band members and chaperones basically begging people for money, but it was a necessary evil. After the event, when all the money was collected and counted, the band members would congregate in the band room and exchange stories about any crazy events that may have transpired whilst perusing neighborhoods for good samaritans with generous wallets. There were instances where some band members...
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...I had to audition for concert band in the seventh grade. I was thirteen years old and had a decent number of friends, most of which were also in the band. My two best friends were Brett and Ryan. Brett played tuba and Ryan played trombone. I also played trombone and was fairly talented at it ,but I was worried because I heard that the band directors were very strict and most people didn't make it into the top bands at Centennial middle school. In addition to that I was also nervous as a result of my recent aquisition of a new trombone that was a higher quality instrument than my previous trombone, and I hadn't fully adjusted to the new instrument. After all of the band students received the audition music for next year we all started practicing...
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...I remember the first time I stepped foot in the band room for the first marching band rehearsal of the season. The band room was full of chaos and people eager to meet me and show me what to do. I was immediately overwhelmed and not dressed properly. I had black yoga pants on and black flip flops. I’m not sure what was going through my mind knowing this was marching band and I should be in shorts and tennis shoes. Despite my wardrobe, the first rehearsal was extremely tiring and I did not know how I was going to survive the whole season if every practice was operated like that. I had never worked so hard and quite frankly, did not understand why I needed to for marching band. We were doing sit ups, push-ups, lunges,...
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...During marching band, I had never really been one to want to stand out. I always wanted to blend in with the rest of the flute section and make the formation look as perfect as possible; being quite shy my first two years of high school, I just wanted to play and go through the motions along with everyone else. I was afraid of the rest of my fellow flutes judging me, my ideas, and my playing skills, so I never stood out or spoke up. That is, until my junior year – I decided that I would try to step outside of my already very minimal comfort zone. This year, I signed up to play piccolo for this season’s show, since I had one lying around at home. Although, it was definitely a switch to get used to. After a few practices, my relationship with...
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...Marching Madness My stomach dropped. My heart broke. I didn’t know things would turn out like this. I thought it would be me up there on that podium, standing tall and proud as the new marching band drum major —the new leader—in front of all my peers and close friends. As it turned out, I stood there ultimately defeated, with the rest of the candidates in the back of the room, silently trying to come to terms with the upsetting truth of my failure. There had been eight people running for the position of marching band drum major, six of whom were my friends, the seventh was my best friend. Although we were running against one another, we all supported each other throughout the campaign. I would help my best friend with grammatical and structural errors in her speech and vice versa.The day of the announcement was when all the kids in marching band met and had a fun, relaxing picnic. Soon the time came for the voting to end, and I was nervous yet excited to hear the results. There was a chance that I would win and become drum major, but there was also a gigantic chance that I might lose. All the votes had been tallied, so the candidates were lined up...
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...Just one more time! The words repeated in my head every day during high school. I was a band nerd and powerlifter, but I was totally known as the crazy band nerd, who stayed in the band hall during her free times. I played the clarinet, I was not the best player, but I never gave up. Band consists of marching season and concert season. Personal, I loved marching season because of each routine Mr. Steele would come up with, but the most hated season was concert. Concert season consists of sightreading, and those were the time I saw the crazy side of the band directors. Plus, the band was split into two bands: Symphony and wind ensemble. Marching season is where all the competitive, fun and honorable memories began my high school and life....
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...position to make the Florida All-State Concert Band in 10th grade. The summer before the audition had me spending hours a day practicing my required musical works. If I stayed consistent there was no doubt I would make a top position in the band with my audition that September. Proper practice and preparation put me in the best position to succeed in making the All-State band. To begin with, every great journey has a beginning. I was 12 years old when I started playing alto saxophone in my middle school Symphonic Band. I had played clarinet for a few months before that but had little interest in it. I started teaching myself how to play the saxophone and in a few weeks had beat...
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...Throughout my life, I try to completely enrich myself in all aspects. These have all affected my personal character and qualities and have made me the person I am today. A very important extra-curricular of mine is marching band, in which I play the tenor saxophone. Additionally, I am the uniform captain, which means I am in charge of sizing everyone for their uniforms, distributing them, and ensuring they are all handled correctly. During marching season, I spend on average around 30 hours a week in practice, competitions, and football games. Marching band has taught me the important qualities of teamwork, cooperation, and creativity. Additionally, marching band has allowed me to meet so many new people and make new friends. I have definitely become much more outgoing and convivial through participating in this activity....
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...I first joined band in 5th grade as a trumpet player at Chapel Hill Elementary School. At the end of my first year, I recieved the award for Most Outstanding in Band, and had participated in district honor band. After two more years of successful trumpet playing, Mrs. Brown asked if any trumpet players would like to play the French Horn. It was at this point with my competitive attitude and love for a challengethat I expressed my intrest of playing a new instrument to her. Once 8th grade started, I quickly adapted to playing the new and more challenging instrument. I persuaded my mom to allow me to join the Southwest Dekalb High School marching band. After a 2 weeks of practice, I performed in my first game as a trumpet player against Pebblebrook High School. After this game, I was approached by Kelley Walker...
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...When I was an 8th grader, I was blessed to be apart of the high school marching band. I remember back then, band camp used to be all day and we’d stay and eat lunch at the school instead of leaving and coming back. After lunch, Mr. Fisher would play videos of these professional marching bands. They were part of an organization called Drum Corps International. It’s like the NFL for marching band kids. The first show we watched was “Spartacus,” performed by Phantom Regiment. At the end of the show, the drum major is slayed and the rest of the show continues without the drum major. This was a big deal within the marching community. I didn't know it at the time, but by watching that one show, my life would forever be changed. Fast forward to Sophomore year and I made the decision I was going to march the following summer. Granted, my parents hadn’t necessarily said yes to me leaving for 3 months and living on a bus for the entire summer, but they did say I could leave for a weekend and see what it was all about. The first corps I auditioned for was Legends. They’re an open class corps based in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Auditions went well; I made friends, got a callback, was able to keep up with all the audition pieces, but something just didn’t feel right. They didn’t feel like home....
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...This past summer I was able to volunteer at my high school band camp. At this band camp, I was able to work with brass players and the guard. I mainly helped with improving technique and fix errors in the show's drill. I decided to help out at this band camp for many reasons. The main two reasons I did this was because it was the high school I graduated from and it will better me as a musician. Only a few months ago I was considered a senior at the high school. I shared many memories with these students. I also dedicated five years to this program. I have gain a lot of knowledge over the years about marching band. It was important to me to share what I learned and what I knew to my peers. It is important to me to see this program excel, and...
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...Specimen Papers and Mark Schemes for English Literature For first AS Examination in 2009 For first A2 Examination in 2010 Subject Code: 5110 Contents Specimen Papers Assessment Unit AS 2 Assessment Unit A2 1 Resource Booklet Assessment Unit A2 2 1 3 9 15 25 Mark Schemes Assessment Unit AS 2 Assessment Unit A2 1 Assessment Unit A2 2 29 31 61 95 Subject Code QAN QAN 5110 500/2493/0 500/2421/8 A CCEA Publication © 2007 Further copies of this publication may be downloaded from www.ccea.org.uk Specimen Papers 1 2 ADVANCED SUBSIDIARY (AS) General Certificate of Education 2009 English Literature Assessment Unit AS 2 assessing The Study of Poetry Written after 1800 and the Study of Prose 1800-1945 SPECIMEN PAPER TIME 2 hours INSTRUCTIONS TO CANDIDATES Write your Centre number and Candidate Number on the Answer Booklet provided. Answer two questions. Answer one question from Section A and one question from Section B. Section A is open book. INFORMATION FOR CANDIDATES The total mark for this paper is 120. All questions carry equal marks, ie 60 marks for each question. Quality of written communication will be assessed in all questions. 3 Section A: The Study of Poetry Written after 1800 Answer one question on your chosen pairing of poets. Heaney: Opened Ground Montague: New Selected Poems 1 John Montague and Seamus Heaney both write about the Irish past. Compare and contrast the two poets’...
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