Rockwell Intro Paragraph

America in the 1950s is widely seen as being calm and peaceful. And yet while not reflected in mainstream culture, strong undertones of resistance and opposition existed. Rockwell's "The Runaway" overlooks the fundamental rift that was rising in America throughout the 1950s- an emerging counter-culture that was not concerned with how things were in America but rather how they are.

Inspiration Information- Shuggie Otis

• This song feels groovy.
• The use of synthesizer, strong beat, moderate tempo, and unclear vocals contribute to this feeling.
• Otis' choice to make heavy use of the synthesizer contributed to its feel because it created unnatural, otherworldly sounds.  His choice of unclear vocals helps the feel by creating a focus on sound of the voice rather than lyrics.

Semeadores- Diego Rivera

• Subject: Mexican farmers, Occasion: 20th century Mexico, Audience: everyday Mexicans who don't farm, Purpose: to show harmony of peasantry with land, Speaker: Mexican, communist, pro-labor, Tone: harmonious
• Rivera's painting deals with the harmony between peasants and the land by expressing the literal and figurative beauty associated with this relationshiop. He shows this harmony through the use of lines: the peasants' bodies are curved to match the background of the land. Color is also used to demonstrate this harmony: the man on the right's shirt and pants blend together.

Wilco-Creative Process

• They come up with a rough outline of what the song should sound like, and then go through and test alternate options to determine the most interesting form the song can take.
• When writing, I first create an outline. Next, I write a thesis statement. I then sit down and write my paper ( if necessary, I do research beforehand). I edit my paper and revise it as needed. Depending on its importance, I may read it aloud to minimize grammar and spelling mistakes.

Wilco- Creative Process

• They come up with a rough outline of what the song should sound like, and then go through and test alternate options to determine the most interesting form the song can take. 
• When writing, I first create an outline. Next, I write a thesis statement. I then sit down and write my paper (if necessary, I do research beforehand). I edit my paper and revise it as needed. Depending on its importance, I may read it aloud to minimize grammar and spelling mistakes.

American Graffiti

• Nostalgia is a sense of longing for some aspect of the past
• This song made me think of college-aged students driving in a convertible along the West coast.
• Many of my childhood memories took place on my preschool (Central Christian) playground or Maxwell Elementary's classrooms. Sounds I remember include a kindergarten teacher speaking slowly in Spanish, and a first grade teacher (Srta. Swilski) speaking in fast, Peruvian Spanish. A smell and texture I remember is that of the slimy ham we ate in preschool. 

The Pinch of Poverty

• Causes of poverty include lack of access to education, class disparities, and familial poverty.
• Poverty is portrayed in a negative light, as the artist shows poverty's negative effects on those who don't deserve it: children and a woman who looks victimized by society.
• He believes that poverty has negative effects on many different people- even women and children who've done nothing to deserve poverty feel its ill effects.
• The use of a rainy day is symbolic of how poverty removes joy and happiness from its victims. The children and mother are dressed in gray scale, also showing the sadness and dreariness that accompany poverty.

Reading Response- Poverty

Chitra Divakaruni's "Live Free and Starve" argues that a bill that passed the US House designed to improve the lives of children throughout the world by outlawing child labor is counterproductive in that such labor is the only means of sustaining themselves available to many children of third world countries. I agree with the author in her argument that for improvement of children's lives in developing countries, a more holistic approach is needed. Divakaruni writes, "A bill like the one we've just passed is of no use unless it goes hand in hand with programs that will offer a new life to these newly released children." I agree, and while I have difficulty with the notion that America has an interminable moral obligation to all children-or indeed, all people- if America should wish to aid children abroad, we should do so in a manner that accounts for underlying factors and not merely symptoms. One bias I have in this situation is toward extensive evaluation of the entirety of an effort, resulting from my debate experience and my parent's anthropological background. This encourages me to side with Divakaruni, and I do.

Peter Singer's "The Singer Solution to World Poverty" advocates that citizens of wealthy nations donate as close to all of their disposable income to charity in order to alleviate poverty. While I believe that the work of UNICEF, OXFAM, and such organizations is vitally important to humanitarian efforts, Singer commits multiple logical fallacies that weaken his argument. For example, Singer argues against group-think, writing, "We do not excuse them [Germans who didn't stop Nazi atrocities] because others were behaving no better." And yes, group-think can be bad- but it can also have immense positive results. For example, volunteerism is heightened by its social component. Singer also leaves unproven the assertion that individuals have a moral obligation to assist others to their own detriment, thus leaving untouched the most important philosophical question inherent in his scenarios. A bias present here is my rejection of utter utilitarianism, as to me such a concept justifies genocide, discrimination, and numerous other societal ills. This bias leads me to reject Singer's philosophical argument, while accepting much of his practical argument.

Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti- "Round and Round"

The fact that I found the lyrics in this song hard to understand leads me to have a negative opinion of the song. To me, lyrics are an important part of music with vocals, and because I was not able to easily understand these lyrics, I felt as though I missed out on a great portion of the meaning and value of the music. The fact that there was a varying tempo also had a negative impact on my opinion because I tend towards steady, strong beats. I selected those two facts as they are good examples of my opinion of the song: while not awful, I did not particularly like it. Yes, I have bias. My exposure to meaningful lyrics in the past (ex: Flobots) has led me to appreciate lyrics as an important part of song, and my exposure to songs with strong beats has predisposed my liking of beat-oriented songs.