New World

It was late at night. I was sleepy and almost done with my English homework. Wondering why I was procrastinating, I started to read the essay,"Sanctuary: For Harry Potter The Movie" by Nikki Giovani, while thinking why both the colon and "For" is in the title and how the authors name resembled a certain female rapper. Questions started to hit my tired state of mind, asking what relationship drums have with the fictional childhood hero of mine, while words crashed onto my thoughtless brain...until I saw the words, "New World Symphony." (77)

You may need to go to Youtube to view the video. But then again Karajan is amazing.

Memories started to flow back in. I was 5th grade, half way through the year, possibly early fall*. I recieved about 8 or 9, possibly 10 pages of music as a second chair second violinist. And yet there I was, flipping through the pages while furiously wondering how I'd be able to lead the section when I had no idea how to play half the notes. First rehearsal was a mess. I remember the conductor telling everyone that it's ok, and that if we all practice, we'd be able to play it well. Months flew by and I remember sitting on stage, staring at the conductor, ready to play the Finale to the Dvorak's 9th Symphony, also known as the New World Symphony. 

Or people often know the Romantic masterpiece as the theme song to the 1975 thriller movie, Jaws. While composer John Williams sampled the Finale to resemble the sharks, Dvorak was thinking of trains when he wrote the piece back in 1892. In fact, he was known to be a big fan of steam locomotives. This showed up in his pieces: the New World Symphony is a perfect example. The phrase where the introductory Adagio accelerates into a faster Allegro sequence in the first movement and the beginning of the the 4th movement, the Finale, the part William sampled for his work on Jaws, are both known to resemble locomotives slowly speeding up.

The No. 9 was named "New World Symphony" for various reasons. Trains, was fairly new, and for Dvorak, who had just moved to America from Czech to conduct at one of the most prestigious conservatories in New York for three years. To him, America itself was a 'new world.' However, there is a seperate reason to why Giovanni alludes to the piece in her essay.

When Dvorak was writing the symphony, he was influenced strongly by Native American and African American music. He, instead of borrowing Native American or African American tunes, invented his own in that of a similar fashion to them. He even insisted that the third movement "was suggested by the scene at the feast in Hiawatha where the Indians dance...imparting local color of an Indian character..." Hiwatha refers to Longfellow's hit epic poem, "The Song of Hiawatha," the story of and Native American hero. Dvorak, in his own way, was already accepting the marginalized parts of society. 

This, coincidentally, falls right on to Nikki Giovanni's purpose in her writing. She, in her essay, calls attention to marginalized parts of society and illustrates the theme of acceptance. The New World Symphony is a perfect match. Giovanni uses this allusion not only to refer to a 'new world' of acceptance, but also to show the efforts of accepting diverse parts of the American society.

The concert was a success. Parents, friends, teachers, and everyone else loved it. It was so popular that the next year, before I graduated, we played the piece one more time.** It were these memories that woke up my half asleep brain on that recent night.

*When I was in 5th grade, I was in Korea, where the semester starts in March and resumes for the second half in September.

**In Korea, there are 6 years in elementary school, followed by 3 in middle and high school.

Direct quotes of Dvorak from Kennedy Center webpage.

WWW:Punctuation

In this ever-changing world, punctuation is set of unchanging rules that reflect upon the style and tone of the writer, and is therefore the necessity to effectively present speech in a clear and organized manner. The primary role of punctuation in the English language (and many other languages) is to give speech clarity, making it comprehendible for the readers. The error in punctuation, however, creates confusion and chaos within the text. Twitter, for example, has created  "dystopian images of...weird alpha-numerical hybrid codes (Gr8 C u l8r...)." (Source A). Not only do these stray from traditional formats in writing, but they fail to clearly give readers a message. In fact, they may give off two separate interpretations, depending on the reader's viewpoint. The image rhetoric, respectively, shows readers the importance of Oxford commas by presenting two phrases to the readers: "strippers, jfk, and stalin" and "strippers, jfk and stalin." (Image Source). While the phrases that originate from the erroneous punctuation may be enjoyable, it certainly cannot fulfill it's role in correctly communicating to the readers. The rules of punctuation must continue to serve their purposes in order to sustain the order in newly developing technologies. If, on the other hand, punctuation were to change with the world, it would require change often, and will not be able to be integrated fast enough and ultimately become a jumble of confusion. Additionally, many have claimed that erroneous punctuation enhance writer's style and expression by giving them a "trail of possibilities."(Source B) This can be true to some extent, but expression and style both cannot hold any value when it is not understandable. Instead, punctuation should be considered even further important for it's ability to convey style and tone. Each punctuation have their own connotations. Dashes give an "informal and essentially playful" tone, and semicolons are able to tell readers that "there is still some more...to be added" like "[grocery] bags" (Source D, E). Yet, these two punctuation marks are both used to mark pauses in sentences. It is evident that with emergence of new technologies, punctuation is becoming more and more crucial to maintain order in speech than before, and also to express the writer's tone and style. *WWW stands for Writing With Warren and indicates that the blog post is much more formal compared to a regular blog post.

Somewhere In America, Miley Cyrus is Still Twerkin'

People sell things that's not normal.It's nothing new; China tea cups were a hit, and so was Marilyn Monroe. And so is Miley Cyrus.

It only took one year for the internet to replace image search results of the pop star from Hannah Montana to a half naked lady shaking her butt off. It's really amazing yet awful. After all, someone to having their image replaced within such a short amount of time is not a common thing. This is also the reason her change was such an issue.

The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, portrayed a similar situation. Hester was labeled the A, a physical label that declared her an adulterer. This caused mass hysteria against Hester in the village; mobs formed around her and she was sent the bottom of the social hierarchy.

What should be noted is the reaction. People go crazy on Hester, demanding that the A is not enough, or that she should be executed (Chapter 2). Mob mentality does play a role here (except maybe that lady who speaks against those yell at Hester), but the fact is that she was sensational enough to have sermons preached about her. This is the same thing Miley Cyrus went for.

Miley Cyrus claimed (after she got the haircut) that she "never felt more her." Whether this is true or not, this generated a huge media reaction that is still ongoing, one year later. What is true, however, is that her single, "Wrecking Ball" became phenomenal. The fact that she got a bunch of hate comments doesn't matter too much; she got the views and the media spotlight. She gave herself the label, and used it to her own advantage.

People have said that the fact that women get labeled based on their behavior is an example of gender inequality. This is completely true, as it can be harmful not only to the women who cannot go unmarked, but also to the men, who cannot get marked as much as women. Deborah Tennen, in her essay, "There is No Unmarked Women", points out that most men dress in a similar fashion. But what if the regular businessman wants to look different from the guy next to him?

The correct solution to solving the gender difference does not lie in reducing all labels of women. Changing the perspective on the opposite gender too is a step closer to gender equality.

Chillings

I like to call Chillingsworth, from the romantic historical fiction, The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Chillings. This actually has a few reasons. Besides from the fact that his name is too long, the character is often portrayed as an angry man who seeks revenge on whoever gave the A on hit chest of his love. With all his anger, he needs to go 'Chillin'. While we discussed him in class, I noticed many students viewed him as the flat antagonist. Hawthorne, furthermore, portrays Chillings as an ugly hunchback who gets even worse as his intentions turn darker. Portrayals like these obviously do not appeal well to the readers; it simply isn't meant to. Hawthorne, through his portrayal of Chillings, tell us that revenge is not worth it.

One time he said you never really know a man until you stand in his shoes and walk around in them.
-Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird

Let's put on Chillingsworth's shoes for a minute. He loves his beautiful bride, Hester. He had to send her first to America while he took care of buisness in Europe. He got in a shipwreck. And he got captured by Indians. After the long journey to his wife, he finds out that the love he had been yearning for is accused of sleeping with another man, with a baby in her arms as a bonus. Well that's lovely.

Chillings is truly loved his wife, and this becomes his motivation for his revenge. The course of actions he has been through, in order to reach Hester, is enough mental pressure. Furthermore, he loves Hester very dearly, quite unlike most men at this time period. For example, he promises not to hurt not only Hester, but also her baby. This, even compared to men today, takes not only understanding and mercy, but love. Chillings, from his point of view, only gets uglier and uglier because beautiful with love in the inside. He is the true oyster and the true, "Pearl."

"During the Goreyo Dynasty, Hanyeos(female sea diving hunters)

didnt even pick up the oysters, because obviously it is ugly on the outside.

It was not until almost 200 years later when theiy changed their point of views

and found out that these were so beautiful on the inside."

What is This? Water? I See Me! And a Bunch of Other Things Behind Me!

Even if you're not a rose

Be a sweet Narcissus,

A fanatic of self-existence

-Fana, Move Again

David Foster Wallace, in his commencement speech, This is Water, begins with a short didactic about fish, how the younger fish does not notice "What the hxll" water is. (1) Wallce compares this with human thought; how we don't notice that we are thinking all the time, and therefore should control of what we are thinking. Instead of making self centered thoughts, he claims that we all think toward others.

Ok. Sure. You can go ahead. Not me though.

One thing that differentiates me from, say, Billy the ape is that I am able to think more than they do. Besides that, and the fact that they are hairier than myself, we are pretty much the same. We both share the goal of surviving and thriving. In this aspect, thinking for ourselves is an obvious perspective. This is exactly why Wallce calls this "default settings." (5) But is this bad?

Thought is a natural process. Harnessing it so you make it is not natural, you are simply thinking about thinking. This is a mere waste of brainpower and time. Take the example Wallace gives us. He says it is not impossible for people in SUVs have "been in horrible auto accidents" which is the reason behind their poor driving. The possibility is there, but this, for many of us, is not the first thought that comes into mind. Making second hand thoughts, or purposely created thoughts, does not impact our actual emotions. Rather, it takes up time and space.

Thinking positively is obviously a positive thing to do. Question is, how do we achieve it? The process Wallace explains is effective, but the development until one can naturally think optimitcally takes quite an amount of time and willpower. A solution is blocking out negative self centered thoughts.

Back on the highway, with our slow SUV Wallace has given us. Instead of thinking about why the heck it's so slow, just think about something else. The bushy hair that need to be cut. That new bag of chips you bought. Your family at home. The new Kanye West album. Wait, where did the SUV go?

What I'm saying is you don't need to change a potentially negative topic good. Just change the topic.

Freedumb

Being independent is a great thing. Whether it is gaining independence from a oppressive ruler, or going off to college to run away from parents, people work so hard to get it, and when they do, they get a great feeling as if opportunities have been pleasantly presensted to them like gifts on a Chrsitmas morning. What might be in the gift can be a box of toys. Or, it can be coal.

I always had my own reason for the entire 'naughty children get coal' story. Coal is used as a source of energy, just like it warmed up millions of households all over asia during the 70s and 80s, or the iconical train that runs on coal. Without coal, there would be no heat in the small houses, or fuel that allows trains to go forward. Coal, then, symbolizes a motivational push for the 'naughty' kids.

America got a box of coal on the day it won the war with Britain. The box, on the outside, looked very pleasant, with all the colorful wrapping and ribbons. Once it was opened, however, they faced problem after problem until they were able to create a great country. The coal was only there as a source of energy for the Americans.

Today, America has freedom. Americans also have freedom. Problem is, freedom, and furthermore independence, is only coal. What and how we use it is what determines the outcome.

The colonists wanted to free themselves from the British for several reasons,  including political and economical issues. However, the 'independent' America only recreated these conflicts with the rest of the world, or within the nation itself. Being independent requires great sense of responsibility and these are the things America lacks. America is not the only country that became independent from another country, nor the only country that gurantees equal rights. America's next job, then, is to organize those rights so that the rights Americans fought for doesn't become hidden under a pile of work they have to go through.

We lead the world in only three categories: Number of incarcerated citizens per capita, number of adults who believe angels are real, and defense spending, where we spend more than the next twenty-six countries combined, twenty-five of whom are allies.

Who I Am (My Name is My Name)

It’s not a well-known fact, but I listen to hip hop quite often. Coincidentally, one of my friends, who also listen to the genre quite often, suggested an album to me, named My Name is My Name by Pusha T. The album discussed who he is as a rapper, his reputation in the scene, and about his drug dealing backgrounds, using his name as a metaphor to represent who he is. Most importantly, he often talked about protecting (and developing) his reputation.

To ourselves, our name mean who we are. To others, it means our reputation. Understanding this fact and taking advantage of it is crucial in many situations. John Proctor has his own name in Salem; people recognize not only the physical being of John Proctor, but his reputation in the village. That's one of the reasons he hesitates to reveal his adultery with Abigail; because such fact will ruin his reputation, or his 'name'. This is made into a motif in the play and is often referenced. Abigail, in Act 1, claims that Elizabeth is "telling lies about [her]", and that she is therefore "blackening [her] name in the village." (Miller, 460). Pusha T does a very similar thing in his album.

I was thinking 'bout murdering

I ain't getting my hands dirty

Let you worry 'bout serving them

- Pusha T, "Who I Am"

The lines explain that he doesn't actually do the dirty work in order to save his reputation. Instead, he lets his followers do it for him. In a sense, Abigail does a very similar thing; she doesn't actually send people off to jail. Instead, she blames them for witchery, and saves her name from being 'blackened'. Instead, it is Cheever who actually fetches the women. After all, she does run off once Proctor reveals his adultery with her, which had ruined her reputation.

Parris: ...Your name in the town-it is entirely white, is it not?

Abigail (with an edge of resentment): Why, I am sure it is sir. There be no blush about my name.

- Miller, The Crucible, Act 1, 127-130

Pusha T - Who I Am (ft. 2 Chainz, Big Sean)

The song isn't actually bad if you're into hip hop.

Except maybe 2 Chainz.