Characters:
Billie Holiday - The autobiographer the blues", was also knows as Eleanora Fagan. She was a legendary jazz singer who found her calling at a desperate attempt or a job.
Piano Player - The piano player at "Pod's and Jerry's" who was the first person to notice her singing abilities
Terms:
Ermines - The fur of the old world white easel, with a black tip at the corner
In this excerpt of chapter three in "Lady Sings the Blues," Billie Holiday goes around desperately looking for a job. Finally she comes across a club to audition for a dancing position. With no dancing skill what so ever, Billie was turned down and was almost thrown out again. A decent piano player took pity upon Billie and asked if she could sing. With the sound of her voice, the whole audience became speechless. For the first time in Billie's life, she made enough money to support herself as well as her mother by receiving a job where she performs at often. She even found her mother a position at the club as well. All of this thanks to one piano player who asked one simple question.
If the piano player hadn't asked Billie if she could sing, would she have been discovered another way? Or would her talent die along with her?
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
From Tonya
Assigned Reading- The Erlking
1. Identify and briefly define important words, terms, concepts, or characters.
The Erlking- The spirit that comes to take the life of the child
The Father- The father tries his best to keep his son from “Crossing over to the other side
The Son- Heavily influenced by the Erlking’s manner of speaking
2. Summarize the main idea, theme, action, or event of the reading. Be sure to include quotation that best captures the overall feeling or mood of the reading.
It seems as if the child is sick and is between a life and death situation. The Erlking uses persuasion to try and lure the child away from the father and to him. One can elude that the Erlking is something like death. The Erlking’s persuasion is very appropriate when talking to a child. He entices the child by agreeing to play with him and telling him that there are other children there with him as well. The father tries turn his son away from the Erlking by telling the child that it is only the wind and to ignore what he think he hears. Eventually the Erlking takes the child and the father is left with the son’s lifeless body.
3. Formulate a question for discussion. The question should be relatively substantial, based upon a specified passage or scene from the text, and capable of sustaining a thoughtful discussion.
The Erlking has a distinct way of capturing the child attention. For example, “My handsome boy will you come with me?” and “I will play the prettiest game with you”. What if the father had not dismissed the calls of the Erlking and the son was still alive? What could the father have sad to keep his son from dying?
1. Identify and briefly define important words, terms, concepts, or characters.
The Erlking- The spirit that comes to take the life of the child
The Father- The father tries his best to keep his son from “Crossing over to the other side
The Son- Heavily influenced by the Erlking’s manner of speaking
2. Summarize the main idea, theme, action, or event of the reading. Be sure to include quotation that best captures the overall feeling or mood of the reading.
It seems as if the child is sick and is between a life and death situation. The Erlking uses persuasion to try and lure the child away from the father and to him. One can elude that the Erlking is something like death. The Erlking’s persuasion is very appropriate when talking to a child. He entices the child by agreeing to play with him and telling him that there are other children there with him as well. The father tries turn his son away from the Erlking by telling the child that it is only the wind and to ignore what he think he hears. Eventually the Erlking takes the child and the father is left with the son’s lifeless body.
3. Formulate a question for discussion. The question should be relatively substantial, based upon a specified passage or scene from the text, and capable of sustaining a thoughtful discussion.
The Erlking has a distinct way of capturing the child attention. For example, “My handsome boy will you come with me?” and “I will play the prettiest game with you”. What if the father had not dismissed the calls of the Erlking and the son was still alive? What could the father have sad to keep his son from dying?
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Aryeh: Erlking by Schubert
1) Identify ideas, definitions, words, etc.
Franz Schubert: (1797-1828)
Romantic Era: (1820-1914)
Characters:
Narrator, Father, Son, Erlking
Erlkonig (Erlking): The angel of death
Lied (Lieder): German art song
Grotesque vs. Sublime: Romantic idea
2) Summarize main idea, theme, action, and include quotation.
This piece by Schubert is an example of a “Lied”, which was very popular during the romantic era (Schubert wrote over 650 songs in this style). This style focuses on a connection between the lyrics and the music, where the music represents what is going on in the lyrics as if it is painting a picture. In “Erlkonig”, Schubert represents the ‘grotesque’ as opposed to the ‘sublime’ (two ideas of romantic thought). The Erlkonig means the angel of death which clearly represents the idea of grotesque as well as the most notable line, “My father, my father, now he is taking hold of me! The Erlking has hurt me!” This is also represented by a continuous baseline (throughout the song) that represents the child’s heartbeat, which abruptly stops when the child is killed.
3) Formulate a question for discussion.
How does Schubert’s “Erlkonig” represent the Romanticist idea of the “sublime & grotesque”?
Franz Schubert: (1797-1828)
Romantic Era: (1820-1914)
Characters:
Narrator, Father, Son, Erlking
Erlkonig (Erlking): The angel of death
Lied (Lieder): German art song
Grotesque vs. Sublime: Romantic idea
2) Summarize main idea, theme, action, and include quotation.
This piece by Schubert is an example of a “Lied”, which was very popular during the romantic era (Schubert wrote over 650 songs in this style). This style focuses on a connection between the lyrics and the music, where the music represents what is going on in the lyrics as if it is painting a picture. In “Erlkonig”, Schubert represents the ‘grotesque’ as opposed to the ‘sublime’ (two ideas of romantic thought). The Erlkonig means the angel of death which clearly represents the idea of grotesque as well as the most notable line, “My father, my father, now he is taking hold of me! The Erlking has hurt me!” This is also represented by a continuous baseline (throughout the song) that represents the child’s heartbeat, which abruptly stops when the child is killed.
3) Formulate a question for discussion.
How does Schubert’s “Erlkonig” represent the Romanticist idea of the “sublime & grotesque”?
Sunday, November 18, 2007
Artem: Rosalind Franklin - The Dark Lady of DNA by Maddox
1. Identify and briefly define important words, terms, concepts, or characters.
Rosalind Franklin- A Crystallographer (deals with the science of crystal structure and phenomena). Franklin was a very smart and strong woman (inappropriate at the time)
‘The Patterson’- A method used by Rosalind Franklin and other scientists for circumventing the difficult ‘phase’ problem of measuring x-ray’s peaks and troughs.
James Watson- A Scientist who stole Rosalind Franklin’s photos and took credit for it.
2. Summarize the main idea, theme, action, or event of the reading. Be sure to include quotation that best captures the overall feeling or mood of the reading.
“ With her photographs increasingly clear and sharp, Rosalind took a set to Oxford to show Dorothy Hodgkin…Hodgkin exclaimed that Rosalind’s photographs were the best she had ever seen- so clear, in fact, that it might be possible to work out the space group of the crystal.”
Rosalind Franklin, the protagonist, was a very strong and intellectual woman. She was a crystallographer who could have been known as one of the greatest crystallographers thanks to her amazing photographs of DNA. Her work was superb. The only problem was that she was not given all the credit that she deserved. While she was working and improving on herself, a man named James Watson came along and saw that her amazing work was not published, rapidly stealing her photos and publishing the discovery of them, taking credit for Franklin’s work. Watson’s view on life was different than Franklin’s; he viewed research as a competition. Watson points out that there are many ways to come to a conclusion. By this chapter we can see that creating one icon (Watson) puts another down (Franklin). They were also talking about undeclared race.
3. Formulate a question for discussion. The question should be relatively substantial, based upon a specified passage or scene from the text, and capable of sustaining a thoughtful discussion.
Would Rosalind Franklin have more fame and recognition today if she was given all the credit that she deserved for her work?
Rosalind Franklin- A Crystallographer (deals with the science of crystal structure and phenomena). Franklin was a very smart and strong woman (inappropriate at the time)
‘The Patterson’- A method used by Rosalind Franklin and other scientists for circumventing the difficult ‘phase’ problem of measuring x-ray’s peaks and troughs.
James Watson- A Scientist who stole Rosalind Franklin’s photos and took credit for it.
2. Summarize the main idea, theme, action, or event of the reading. Be sure to include quotation that best captures the overall feeling or mood of the reading.
“ With her photographs increasingly clear and sharp, Rosalind took a set to Oxford to show Dorothy Hodgkin…Hodgkin exclaimed that Rosalind’s photographs were the best she had ever seen- so clear, in fact, that it might be possible to work out the space group of the crystal.”
Rosalind Franklin, the protagonist, was a very strong and intellectual woman. She was a crystallographer who could have been known as one of the greatest crystallographers thanks to her amazing photographs of DNA. Her work was superb. The only problem was that she was not given all the credit that she deserved. While she was working and improving on herself, a man named James Watson came along and saw that her amazing work was not published, rapidly stealing her photos and publishing the discovery of them, taking credit for Franklin’s work. Watson’s view on life was different than Franklin’s; he viewed research as a competition. Watson points out that there are many ways to come to a conclusion. By this chapter we can see that creating one icon (Watson) puts another down (Franklin). They were also talking about undeclared race.
3. Formulate a question for discussion. The question should be relatively substantial, based upon a specified passage or scene from the text, and capable of sustaining a thoughtful discussion.
Would Rosalind Franklin have more fame and recognition today if she was given all the credit that she deserved for her work?
Sunday, November 4, 2007
Michelle: Creative Writers and Day-Dreaming by Freud
Creative Writers and Day Dreaming
Spiel- (literally: to play) here its referring to forms of imaginative writing which requires to be linked to tangible objects
Trauerspiel- those who carry out the representation as schauspeler (show players)
This piece of literature begins by discussing creative writers and their similarity to small children who play in a world of imagination. As one gets older he stops playing and begins to day dream, because he has now exchanged one form of ‘phantasy’ for another. As the author goes on the topic becomes more focused on the difference between a creative writer and a day dreamer. Most day dreamers are embarrassed of their thoughts but for creative writers this is there livelihood. What’s the difference between the two?
“The creative writer does the same as the child at play- he created a world of phantasy which he takes very seriously-that is. Which he invests with large amounts of emotion-while separating it sharply from reality”
The above mentioned text it states that our fantasies are formulated differently depending on the time they happen. For example, the small orphaned boy, who while walking to a job interview imagines receiving the job and his entire life escalates from that point on. Do our circumstances really shape our thoughts or do we just imagine anything we want? If we are about to take an exam is that all we day dream about or do we still think like the small child from the text and perhaps fantasize about princesses and castles?
Spiel- (literally: to play) here its referring to forms of imaginative writing which requires to be linked to tangible objects
Trauerspiel- those who carry out the representation as schauspeler (show players)
This piece of literature begins by discussing creative writers and their similarity to small children who play in a world of imagination. As one gets older he stops playing and begins to day dream, because he has now exchanged one form of ‘phantasy’ for another. As the author goes on the topic becomes more focused on the difference between a creative writer and a day dreamer. Most day dreamers are embarrassed of their thoughts but for creative writers this is there livelihood. What’s the difference between the two?
“The creative writer does the same as the child at play- he created a world of phantasy which he takes very seriously-that is. Which he invests with large amounts of emotion-while separating it sharply from reality”
The above mentioned text it states that our fantasies are formulated differently depending on the time they happen. For example, the small orphaned boy, who while walking to a job interview imagines receiving the job and his entire life escalates from that point on. Do our circumstances really shape our thoughts or do we just imagine anything we want? If we are about to take an exam is that all we day dream about or do we still think like the small child from the text and perhaps fantasize about princesses and castles?
Rikki: Creative Writers and Day-Dreaming by Freud
1. Identify and briefly define important words, terms, concepts, or characters.
Creative- originality of thought, expression, etc.; imaginative
Play- to engage; A lot of times referred to as fun and games
Phantasy- (fantasy) - to create in one's fancy, daydreams, or the like; imagine
Envisage- to contemplate, visualize; looking into the face of
Dreams- a succession of images, thoughts, or emotions passing through the mind during sleep; an aspiration; goal; wile or vain wanting;
Day dream- a dreaming or imagining of pleasant events; the making of unreal plans etc… while awake
Hero- a man of distinguished courage or ability, admired for his brave deeds and noble qualities; a person who, in the opinion of others, has heroic qualities or has performed a heroic act and is regarded as a model or ideal
2. Summarize the main idea, theme, action, or event of the reading. Be sure to include quotation that best captures the overall feeling or mood of the reading.
When people are young they often play to be happy, it is taken very seriously and is often shared with a group. They make up their own little world but take the physical things in the world of reality to make it please themselves. As time goes by, playing is looked at as being childish and the play is then stopped. This is compared to a creative writer because “the creative writer does the same as the child’s’ play. He creates a world of fantasy which he takes very seriously.” However, the play is not actually stopped it is replaced or substituted because “we can never give anything up; we only exchange one thing for another.” Instead of playing he is now fantasizing. Just like fantasizing comes from something we thought of in our childhood or early years, so to creative writers use already made stories or material to write something new and creative.
3. Formulate a question for discussion. The question should be relatively substantial, based upon a specified passage or scene from the text, and capable of sustaining a thoughtful discussion.
Is it true that someone’s childhood could have such a great impact on their life in the future? Do their creative thoughts stay with them forever and were once known as play become their fantasies? Does a creative writer take the thoughts he uses from no where or are they built up by already-made material?
Creative- originality of thought, expression, etc.; imaginative
Play- to engage; A lot of times referred to as fun and games
Phantasy- (fantasy) - to create in one's fancy, daydreams, or the like; imagine
Envisage- to contemplate, visualize; looking into the face of
Dreams- a succession of images, thoughts, or emotions passing through the mind during sleep; an aspiration; goal; wile or vain wanting;
Day dream- a dreaming or imagining of pleasant events; the making of unreal plans etc… while awake
Hero- a man of distinguished courage or ability, admired for his brave deeds and noble qualities; a person who, in the opinion of others, has heroic qualities or has performed a heroic act and is regarded as a model or ideal
2. Summarize the main idea, theme, action, or event of the reading. Be sure to include quotation that best captures the overall feeling or mood of the reading.
When people are young they often play to be happy, it is taken very seriously and is often shared with a group. They make up their own little world but take the physical things in the world of reality to make it please themselves. As time goes by, playing is looked at as being childish and the play is then stopped. This is compared to a creative writer because “the creative writer does the same as the child’s’ play. He creates a world of fantasy which he takes very seriously.” However, the play is not actually stopped it is replaced or substituted because “we can never give anything up; we only exchange one thing for another.” Instead of playing he is now fantasizing. Just like fantasizing comes from something we thought of in our childhood or early years, so to creative writers use already made stories or material to write something new and creative.
3. Formulate a question for discussion. The question should be relatively substantial, based upon a specified passage or scene from the text, and capable of sustaining a thoughtful discussion.
Is it true that someone’s childhood could have such a great impact on their life in the future? Do their creative thoughts stay with them forever and were once known as play become their fantasies? Does a creative writer take the thoughts he uses from no where or are they built up by already-made material?
Sunday, October 21, 2007
Mark: X-Men by Lee and Kirby
1. Identify and briefly define important words, terms, concepts, or characters.
a) mutant- The next level in human evolution; born with special powers that ordinary humans do not have.
b) X-Men- A team of mutants trained to protect the world from bad mutants and evil.
c) Professor X/Charles Xavier- Born as a mutant with the ability to read minds and to project his own thoughts into the brains of others. He was feared by ordinary people which motivated him to establish a school for X-Men.
d) Cyclops/Scott Summers- A mutant with beams in his eyes, that are protected by a head shield.
e) Iceman/Bobby Drake- A mutant who can freeze objects around him and turn his own body into ice.
f) Angel/Warren Worthington III- A mutant who has the ability to fly with the support of his feathered wings.
g) Beast/Hank McCoy- A mutant who possesses agility and superhuman physical strength.
h) Marvel Girl/Jean Grey- The only mutant girl member in the X-Men squad. She was born with telekinetic and telepathic powers.
i) Magneto- A powerful mutant with the ability to create electricity and magnetism. He was a former friend of Professor X, until disagreements of whether mutants can coexist with humans in society.
2. Summarize the main idea, theme, action, or event of the reading. Be sure to include quotation that best captures the overall feeling or mood of the reading.
“Here we stay unsuspected by normal humans as we learn to use our powers for the benefit of mankind… To help those who would distrust us if they knew of our existence!”
In an ordinary world, a group of mutants called the X-Men, utilizes their special powers to save the world from Magneto and other mutant threats. The X-Men was formed by Professor X, who was the first mutant in the world. His students are first trained in a private school before going for action. The requirement for this school is to have superhuman abilities.
Each of Professor X’s students obtain special different powers. They are very unique and helpful, which gives the X-Men an extra lift in action against other bad mutants. If one mutant is not able to successfully defeat his opponent using his own power, than his partner who has a distinctive power can be used affectively to finish the opponent. For example, when Angel could not dodge the missiles any longer, Beast came over to help him and employed his feet to hinder the missile before it hit Angel. The chemistry of the X-Men is worked out well by their excessive training. The main purpose of the X-Men is to save the world from all evil mutants.
3. Formulate a question for discussion. The question should be relatively substantial, based upon a specified passage or scene from the text, and capabale of sustaining a thoughtful discussion.
What would happen if Professor X never established a school for the X-Men? Do you think the world would end up in the hands of Magneto and/or other evil mutants?
a) mutant- The next level in human evolution; born with special powers that ordinary humans do not have.
b) X-Men- A team of mutants trained to protect the world from bad mutants and evil.
c) Professor X/Charles Xavier- Born as a mutant with the ability to read minds and to project his own thoughts into the brains of others. He was feared by ordinary people which motivated him to establish a school for X-Men.
d) Cyclops/Scott Summers- A mutant with beams in his eyes, that are protected by a head shield.
e) Iceman/Bobby Drake- A mutant who can freeze objects around him and turn his own body into ice.
f) Angel/Warren Worthington III- A mutant who has the ability to fly with the support of his feathered wings.
g) Beast/Hank McCoy- A mutant who possesses agility and superhuman physical strength.
h) Marvel Girl/Jean Grey- The only mutant girl member in the X-Men squad. She was born with telekinetic and telepathic powers.
i) Magneto- A powerful mutant with the ability to create electricity and magnetism. He was a former friend of Professor X, until disagreements of whether mutants can coexist with humans in society.
2. Summarize the main idea, theme, action, or event of the reading. Be sure to include quotation that best captures the overall feeling or mood of the reading.
“Here we stay unsuspected by normal humans as we learn to use our powers for the benefit of mankind… To help those who would distrust us if they knew of our existence!”
In an ordinary world, a group of mutants called the X-Men, utilizes their special powers to save the world from Magneto and other mutant threats. The X-Men was formed by Professor X, who was the first mutant in the world. His students are first trained in a private school before going for action. The requirement for this school is to have superhuman abilities.
Each of Professor X’s students obtain special different powers. They are very unique and helpful, which gives the X-Men an extra lift in action against other bad mutants. If one mutant is not able to successfully defeat his opponent using his own power, than his partner who has a distinctive power can be used affectively to finish the opponent. For example, when Angel could not dodge the missiles any longer, Beast came over to help him and employed his feet to hinder the missile before it hit Angel. The chemistry of the X-Men is worked out well by their excessive training. The main purpose of the X-Men is to save the world from all evil mutants.
3. Formulate a question for discussion. The question should be relatively substantial, based upon a specified passage or scene from the text, and capabale of sustaining a thoughtful discussion.
What would happen if Professor X never established a school for the X-Men? Do you think the world would end up in the hands of Magneto and/or other evil mutants?
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