The Body and The Mind

Relating to people has always been a struggle for me. When people ask what I'm into, it's hard to give a definitive answer. I was definitely surprised, though, when I felt so connected to the Greek culture. With their emphasis and excellence in so many different categories, I felt like their view on the world is similar to my own. For example, I've played a lot of sports, music and art play a big part in my life, and play video games. In a way I'm kind of like Troy Bolton. Researching a little about the Greeks was all it took to relate. With the olympics, successful politics, art, music, theater, military, philosophy, and architecture all leaving a lasting effect on the world, It's easy to see why the Greeks were so popular. Having a good balance of the body and mind and being proficient in everything they did is a good example of how I want to live my life. Inscribed on the shrine of Delphi are the words, "Nothing in excess." Similar to the old saying, "Jack of all trades, master of none" but don't forget the last part "...but better than a master of one."

Should the Songs of One Man Ravage the Culture of Another?

Home Radio

As of the advent of radio music civilizations have been supplementing their ancestral heritage with that of musical pop-culture from far away nations.  This is a situation in which “what a work is man” gets taken to the extreme, with one man taking center stage for an entire culture.  Since the mid 1920’s radio broadcasting many singers to new audiences, by the 1930’s foreign pop-cultures centered on specific singers began to grow in many nations.

"Ut externus alieno pene non sit hominis vice." ["As a foreigner cannot be said to supply us the place of a man."]  And yet, without even gaining the citizenship of the worshiped artist, populations trade a significant part of their dress, time and music with that of foreign singers.

Justin Bieber in Norway

Recently the Canadian singer Justin Bieber became a huge hit in Norway. When he visited in 2012 about 50 fans were injured by each other in the commotion before his performance trying to get closer to where he would be.  How did the proud Norwegians, who fought wars for over 50 years to gain independence as a nation from, the Danish, become so focused on a single Canadian boy?  Any artist, through music, converting masses of fans from other nations seems unbalanced.  

But then, perhaps the pop-artist whose music travels on the waves of the air, is no longer a man of one nation.  "Quisquis ubique habitat, Maxime, nusquam habitat." ["He who lives everywhere, lives nowhere.]  

Perhaps their contribution to civilization enhances the music and art of the world in a general fashion.  Artists such as Shakespeare influenced the world’s popular culture though mass publication.  Was Shakespeare’s art a benefit to the civilization of the world?  It did help standardize English linguistics for many nations today. 

Where is the loyalty of the modern pop-artist?  To the art?  Their nation?  It seems today to belong instead to wealth and fame.  If the communication of art from one nation to another homogenizes world cultures and erases national tradition, then it is for money that ancestral identity is being stolen.

Figurative language about learning to play an instrument...

Tropes about learning to play an instrument:

1. metaphor:

• "Learning to play an instrument is nourishment for the mind." 
• Playing an instrument provides no physical nutrients for the brain, the word nourishment here denotes something healthy that contributes to progress or enrichment.

2. paronomasia:

• "Learning to perform an instrument performs wonders for the idle mind." 
• The word "perform" is used twice, but with a different meaning each time. It might be humorous to think about how great of a performance it might be for one observing for the idle mind to be changed to something more complex and productive. 

3. anthimeria:

• "A key step to learning how to play an instrument is a good daily practice." 
• Practice is a verb not a noun, but is used in the previous sentence as a noun. By turning practice into a verb it seems like it emphasizes the action of practicing more and makes it seem more involved or intense. 

4. hyperbole:

• "Learning to play an instrument is no mere hobby; it is the difference between a life lived to its' fullest and being consigned to decades of mediocrity. "
• Suggesting that playing an instrument is what provides for a fulfilling life and not doing so will lead to unhappiness is an exaggeration. Most people can't really tell the difference between someone who plays an instrument ad someone who doesn't. 

5. oxymoron:

• "The simple complexity of time, rhythm, and movement form the sum of musicality."
• Simple and complexity placed right by each other is paradoxical.

Schemes about learning to play an instrument:

1. parallelism:

• "Memorizing songs to play, poems to recite, or words to use are all expansive to the human mind." 
• "...songs to play... poems to recite... words to use..." are the parallel phrases here. 

2. anastrophe:

• "Rapidly moving were her eyes and hands as she played the notes that passed by quickly on the music before her." 
• Placing the adjective and verb "rapidly moving" before rather than after "her eyes and hands" places more emphasis on the intensity of her movement and the action of movement itself. It causes the phrase to be more active. 

3. ellipsis:

• Actors memorize pretty quickly; the musician, even quicker. 
• The word "memorize" was omitted in the second part of the sentence because it is still implied. 

4. alliteration:

• "When learning an instrument the brain may breach barriers that are broken by the balance of musicality and technicality." 
• B's were repeated throughout the middle of the sentence, it provides greater emphasis on the brain and the words that follow. 

Stylistic Arguments for Music & Studying

Tropes about music’s effect on studying:

-Read my original post about music and studying here: Music & The Mind

1.       Metaphor/Simile

·         “If studying is like attempting to read a road map, then music is a GPS.”

·         This is a combination of a metaphor and a simile. The simile is referencing the act of studying and the metaphor directly compares music to a GPS. I like the use of both here as many people have experienced the pain of trying using a road map, but then experienced the simplicity of having a GPS, which is implied by the metaphor.

2.       Paronomasia

·         “Studying with music brings reward, while studying without brings discord.”

·        Both reward and discord end in the same sound, but differ in meaning. What I like most about this statement is the omitted word music from the second part of the statement, and then the word discord to complete the pun has reference to music itself.

3.       Anthimeria

·         “By the looks of these grades, I’d guess you have really been musicing up your studies.”

·         This makes music into a verb, and implies the idea that adding music to this person’s studies has become a regular thing, and produces good results.

4.       Hyperbole

·         “Music isn't a simple aid! It is a catalyst to achieving otherwise unattainable results!”

·         Obviously this is an exaggerated claim, like a hyperbole should be. It also helps that the understatement of the power of music is made clear before the over exaggerated statement of its usefulness.

5.       Oxymoron

·         “Studying is an act of understanding confusion, when music is not involved.”

·         Understanding and confusion are clearly the opposite of each other, and when placed together create a paradoxical idea. Studying for many people can be an attempt to understand things that are confusing and new to them. Music is an aid to the confusion.

Schemes about music’s effect on studying:

1.       Parallelism

·         “Studying is required; music is optional; but both is success.”

·         The parallel parts, which there are three of, are all in the form of “____ is ____”. Although it words a little funny to me I think that the idea is clear, and brings a strong argument to the table.

2.       Anastrophe

·         “Greater focus, music brings to studying.”

·         Much like master Yoda from the Star Wars series the beginning or focus of the sentence becomes “greater focus” rather than music or studying. I think this scheme really helps your audience focus on the benefits of whatever you are arguing.

3.       Ellipsis

·         “Studying with music is assuredly effective, while studying without can go anywhere.”

·         I really think this ellipsis is powerful in my example/topic because it is able to represent exactly what I am arguing: studying with and without music. When music is in the first part of the sentence it ends with a positive word, while when music is missing but implied in the second part of the sentence it ends on a less positive note.

4.       Alliteration

·         “A study with sublime sounds shall score stupendous success, while a study shorn of a single strain of song will settle for sufficiency.”

·         The repeated S’s at the begging and throughout most of the words in this sentence make it sound very smart. I think this specific example is powerful because it is able to incorporate two things (music and studying), without ever using the word music.

Learn an Instrument

Music can have an incredible effect on the mind, in a brief essay posted about two hours ago on this blog Spencer Muir talks about some of the specific positive effects that listening to music has on the human mind. (Authority) Similarly, when one learns the art of performing music his or her mind is enriched. (Similarity) Performing music is incredibly complex; one must learn to read music which involves training the brain to associate symbols with tones, pitches, dynamics, timing, and style, one must develop muscle memory that aligns with all of the tones, pitches, dynamics etc., (whole/parts) after all of this, a musician must develop musicality, or the ability to feel music and translate that feeling through all of the technicalities that he/she has worked to develop. (Definition)

My favorite piece to perform,
you've probably heard it, here is a link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DwHpDOWhkGk

Just think of it! Imagine you are a parent, (possible/impossible) what would you do to help your child develop? Imagine watching them learning and honing all of those skills required by a musician to perform. Imagine how greater their capacity would expand by exercising their mind (cause and effect) rather than mindlessly watching T.V for hours on end. (Contradiction) Learning to perform an instrument provides life long benefits in the health and capacity of the brain. (Antecedent/Consequence) In her article from National Geographic magazine Diane Cole sites several scientific studies and tests that have been performed that show higher levels of grey and white matter in the brains of adults who have played musical instruments since childhood. (Documents)

Post-Concert with one of my stand partners, I
recommend Mark Olson's post, we were
definitely dressed for success.

I personally have seen the benefits of learning to perform a musical instrument. I play the cello, I love it. It is one of my favorite hobbies, it has increased my ability to memorize and the motor skills of my body and brain. (Testimony) Whenever I pick up my cello and play its as though some imaginary wind blows through my mind and clears everything away. (Supernatural) 

Praise, Greed, Escape

The Irrational:

-          First, it is very irrational for Dionysus to be so bitter about not being praised (see lines 378-379). I would be a little upset if people didn't take me seriously as a person or a god, but the fact that not everyone is praising him for his godhood it kind of pitiful and greedy. I don't know if I was accurately interpreting the text, but it seemed like he was upset that he 1) wasn't able to be ruler of Thebes, but also that 2) he couldn't get the entire city to worship him. Then again, Kadmos and Pentheus are the same way- only wanting the power and praise (see lines 394-398).

-          The next completely irrational thing that I found was the different ways that they treated each gender. I understand that at this time, women were seen as more frail and delicate and men were the protector and powerful. I understand that gender roles were different. Even so, reading (on line 876-877) “Women defeated the men--- and not without some god” as if the only way any women could beat a man is with a god’s assistance. There were other lines, too, from that play that seemed fairly irrational in their views of women and men.

The Rational:

-          Although many of the actions portrayed in the this play prove the irrationality of thought in different characters, the play seems to display them in a way that proves rationality- Of course the idea that gods and the worship of them can encourage a whole group of women to abandon everything and run into the woods to become wild is absurd, it shows the rational and realistic view that people can be persuaded and change in character. The irrational (gods, etc.) makes a great framework for the natural (persuasion, wanting to be a part of something bigger, freedom, etc.)

           

The Personal:

-          I have used music in my life to get the freedom and fulfillment that I desire- I was able to feel belonging and purpose by playing in a concert band for about nine years. It’s just too bad that Dionysus couldn't find fulfillment and acceptance in some other way, and neither could the women that ran into the woods.