Some concepts and contexts of Western Music class notes

class notes:

rhythm ordering of music through time

dactylic kind of rhythm that is long-short-short

triple meter one accented beat followed by two weaker beats

duple meter one-two, one-two (first beat is accented)

texture refers to the amount of "voices"

unison more than one is singing or on the same note

homophonic "same" -phonic, when there is support from other voices

polyphonic every line is a melody, or "many" = poly

timbre the color/quality of the sound. What distinguishes one instrument from another

dynamics range of softness to loudness

form the way in which a work's individual units are put together. form is based on three and only three

possible strategies: 1) repetition, 2) variation, 3) and contrast. Possible form ideas (common) are :

aabbc, aabca, aba

genre Symphony, sonata, song, are all examples. Reason for making different genres: to appeal to different

audiences, because of conventions that we follow; mash up : a song that is combined with another to

create a new piece.

Punk rock A type of genre, developed from 1976 - 1978, which was in response to popular rock and roll from

the 1970's, as an anti-establishment, anarchist, and anti-government voice.

Christian A type of genre that has been around since the middle-ages/end of the Roman empire. First began

as chants. Contemporary music can be metal, rock and roll, alternative, pop, that uses the word of

Jesus Christ or Christian beliefs in their music.

Periods in

Western Music

Medieval (476ad-1400), Renaissance (1500-1600), Baroque (1600-1750), Classical (1750-1800),

Romantic or 19th Century (1800-1900), and 20th Century (1900-present). "Impressionistic is not a

period."

Medieval ages Separate orders of medieval society: Oratores (Clergy), Bellatores (Knights/nobility), and the

Laborares (laborers/peasants).

Plain Chant Largely monophonic music and "melismatic." Segregation of voices due to "separate spheres." Latin

text, and the text is drawn from the liturgy.

Melismatic Having a single syllable drawn out over multiple notes in vocal music.

Medieval music Didn't have standards for modes to use in music as we do now (like melodic minor/major), but

instead, had many different modes. In the court, there would be traveling musicians known as

troubadours/trouveres/minnesingers. They were the first court composers, and were hired as

teachers/performers/composers and promoted courtly behavior and society, such as : chivalry and

courtly love. Sometimes they contributed to the text.

Bernard de

Ventadorn

Wrote texts in early French. Was a minnesinger. Vernacular language and not in the sacred language

of the liturgy, or Latin.

Syllabic One note per syllable

Hildegard Founded a convent for women, wrote melismatic music, active in a lecture circuit in areas around

Germany and music and poetry. She was knowledgeable about science. Play of virtues a character,

Satin, pitted against sixteen virtues who are played by a chorus of singers. Wrote melismatic chant,

monophonic music,

Gregorian

chant

The collection of chants that are attributed to pope Gregory the first.

Gregorian

chant

The collection of chants that are attributed to pope Gregory the first.

2/11/13

Renaissance period

Josquin des Prez- French composer

William Byrd - English composer

Historical Context:

The Enlightenment

Invention of the printing press

Nobility and Royalty were prominent

Instruments used:

Organ

Early wind, brass, and string instruments

Baroque period:

Composers (Prominent)

Claudio Monteverdi

Barbara Strozzi

Pachelbel

Vivaldi

Handel

J.s. Bach

Scarlatti

Inventions:

Printing Press

Early forms developed : sonata, counterpoint, metered music, fugue, prelude, concerti. Within a

concerto, there would be ritornello = or return of the other instruments (without the soloist).

Instruments used:

Pianoforte invented

Harpsichord

Classical period:

Composers:

Beethoven (Though he was the bridge into the Romantic period)

Mozart

Haydn

Billings

2/16/13

Vocables - meaningless sung syllables

ABA - a kind of form where there are three sections

Gregorian chant - Chants written mostly by Pope Gregory I.

Terraced - A melody that resolves on a low tone

Polyphony - Where two or more voices of equal importance combine in such a way that each voice

retains its own identity

Cadence - a brief stopping point at which the music pauses

Strophes (Stanzas) - In a vocal piece, where the text shapes the form of the work.

Courtly love- A love song written during the Middle Ages where a nobleman admires and literally

sings the praises of a noblewoman, even if and especially if she takes no interest in him.

Heterophony - When both instruments play the same melody at the same time, but one f them

plays a more elaborate and embellished form of it. It's almost unison, except it is not.

Humanism - First began as a movement in the Renaissance, dominantly, which was an intellectual

and cultural movement that explored human interests and values through the pursuit of science.

Renaissance Era:

Renaissance - Rebirth of forgotten arts and sciences that were lost during the Middle Ages.

Notes about Renaissance : Lutheran Church doesn't stray too far from Catholic traditions.

Composers during this time - Du fay, Johannes Ockeghem, Josquin des Prez, Thomas Tallis, Tielman

Susato, Orlande de Lassus, William Byrd, Andrea Gabrieli, Thomas Weelkes.

Invention of the Printing Press - =Occurred during the mid-15th century, allowed composers to

achieve international renowned s

-status.

Counterpoint - a system of rules and procedures governing the composition of multiple melodies

that are not only satisfying when played alone but sound good when played together.

Ternary form = ABA

Madrigal - A musical setting of a text in a single strophe.

Iambic - A rhythm in poetry in which the every other syllable follows this pattern, first starting with

a short duration then long; basically, short-long, short-long, short-long. This effects the music

written with lyrics/texts.

Anapestic - Short-short-long, short-short-long, short-short-long

Trochaic - Long-short, long-short, long-short

Syncopated - Notes that run against the regular pulse of the musical meter.

Word painting - Common in the Renaissance madrigal, is words that are very graphic, like "To skip,"

"did trip it."

Anthem - what William Byrd used in his composition, "Sing Joyfully," which is what composers who

wrote for the Roman Catholic Church called a Motet, a sacred choral work.

A cappella choral music - More than one singer to a part, without instrumental accompaniment.

Imitative counterpoint (imitative)- Particular style of counterpoint where one voice enters the

piece, and then another voice imitates the same melody.

Rhyme singer - The lead singer in monophony during the Renaissance

Call-and-response - The lead singer calls and the other parts respond.

Treble line - Has two halves, where one goes up, then the other goes down.

Bass - Occurs under the rhyme line as support. It typically dips in the middle of the phrase, then

goes back to a pitch near the beginning.

Baroque era:

Highly ornamented, constant movement, and virtuosic

Fugal Texture : Repeat of the main theme in lower voices, Bach fugue in c minor book 1. Imitative

counterpoint. One line introduces one line and another melody. Form : exposition, there are two

parts: subjective = melody, then the imitation of the subject, which is just a repeat of the melody

in a different voice. When the subject is gone, it moves on to the "episode."

Oratorio

Handel (born in the same year and died nearly on the same year): Both people are German. He

wrote a lot of operas. "Messiah."

Oratorio: An opera that would be performed in a church. A liturgical drama.

Recitatives = Segments sung without a development of melody.

Aria = An operatic song with development of a melody.

Chorus = "Hallelujah", by Handel, is an example.

Musical Theatre

Opera in the Baroque and

Classical Eras

Developed in the early 17th century. How drama could be explored through music.

Homophonic texture.

Recitative and Aria Aria, beautiful songs that one will remember. Recitative, less melodic and it serves to

progress the story. Individual (solo) musicians.

L'Orfeo (Orpheus) Composed in 1607 by Monteverdi. Based on Greek mythology. Orpheus -- a Greek

musician God. Uridous, his wife, gets bit by a fatal snake. He then goes to Hades to ask

to be granted permission to return Uridous back to life.

Ukelali Represents Hawaii as a individual state apart from United States

Ethnomusicology Coined and developed by Jaap Kunst, a Dutch violinist in 1919

Gamelan = single instrument

orchestra

An instrument in Bhali, which is next to the island of Java. Gamelan = orchestra.

World's Columbian

Exposition in Chicago

Dutch colonialism brought Western visitors to Java and Bali.

Increased Western tourism

and development of

Balinese gong kebyar

1920's

World Exposition in Paris 1889

Basso continuo Continuous bass played during the Orpheus opera. It provides an underlying harmony

and bass line to the melody above.

Operetta A spoken-play with music added to it. It's also smaller than an opera.

Recitative It is heard as singing, but it's closer to speaking. Usually occurs in operas/operettas. It

literally means to recite.

Overture A period when music is used to "calm down the audience" usually at the beginning of an

opera in the Baroque period. It had different functions later, as audiences respected the

operatic form more.

Purcell An English composer in the 17th century who wrote his operas, including "Aeneus and

Dido" in English. He's considered the greatest English composer during the Baroque

period.

Comic opera Mozart's "The Marriage of Figaro" is considered a comedy. In Italian, it's called "opera

buffa," which means buffoon. The plot does not have historical or mythical figure.

Instead the characters are very believable, and don't behave as a symbol.

Made with Outline+

Music and drama in

Film

Gives a sense of time and place. Enhances the mood/emotion. Clarifies the plot or

narrative. Is used to foreshadow plot elements. It communicates plot development.

Overture Its purpose is to quiet the audience. It usually has pieces of all the songs of the opera. It

foreshadows the plot elements.

Crouching Tiger, Hidden

Dragon (2000)

Composed by Tan Dun. A martial arts and foreign film, which was produced in Hong Kong.

Leitmotif Vogner, "Valkuere." A short melodic segment that is attached to characters, place, that come

back.

Western Orchestra Grew in the late Renaissance along with Opera in the 17th centuries.

Vivaldi (1678-1741) Italian composer. Four seasons is a collection of violin concertos. Part of the baroque

period.

Four violin concertos,

Each of the concertos are split into three movements.

They are defined by tempo. (Fast, slow, fast)

Ritonello - The full orchestra

Solo - With the soloist

During Vivaldi, the modern violin is developed and the standard is set.

"Winter," first movement - Has a bass continuo. Alternates between ritonello, solo, ritonello,

solo, etc.

George Frederic Handel

(1685 - 1759)

German composer in the English court. Best known for the Messiah. Part of the baroque

period.

Water music (1717) A collection of dance music, or a suite, composed by Handel. It has strings, woodwinds, and

basso continuo. Oboes, bassoon.

"Hornpipe" - A dance in triple meter. Hornpipe was an instrument and a dance. Binary form:

AABBAABBAA

Cadence - pause between two sections in a work or the end of a work.

Discreet Structures class notes

Np Or q is the same as p implies q

Precedence of order of operations:

N, And, Or, implies, bi-conditional.

Contradiction is a statement that is always false.

Tautology is a statement that is always true.

Make flash cards of the following:

EquivalenceS:

P and T is congruent to p, which is the identity law

P and F is congruent to F, which is the domination law.

P or p is congruent to p is the idempotent law.

P or q is congruent to q or p is the communatative law

NnP is the double negation law.

P or (q and r) is congruent to (p or q) and (p or r) is the distributive law.

P and (q or r) is congruent to (p and q) or (p and r) is the 2nd distributive law

P or (p and q is congruent to p is the absorption law.

P and (p or q) is congruent to p is the second aborption law

P or (q or r) is congruent to (p or q) or r is the associative law.

De Morgan's law: n(p or q) is congruent to np and nq.

N(p and q) is congruent to np or nq

Difference between predicates and propositional logic is that predicates involve variables,

and statements in any language that do not have clear propositional operands.

Universal and existential quantifies are both used to limit the variables of a proposition.

Universal uses an upside down "A" symbol to say "for all" x for example and then the universe is

usually defined. For example, If x is the universe of students who have studied abroad.

Existential is used to say that there is at least one one student who has satisfied the

function p(x), which could be "has brought with them their text book." The symbol for

existential is a mirrored "E" or a a reversed "E".

An equivalent way to say N(for all x)p(x) holds is there exists a value x such that Np(x).

The order of quantifies matters.

Direct proofs are the kind of proofs that can be done rather easily.

Indirect proofs use propositional logic and operands to manipulate what you are trying to

prove into something that can more easily be proved.

Proof by contradiction works by showing that the statement is false by something rather

absurd.

A Is a subset of b is a subset if and only if every element in a also belongs in b.

CarDinality is expressed like this: |a|. Cardinality is the amount of elements in a set.

SuRjective Is synonymous with onto. This term means all members of the codomain are

used.

One-to-one means all members of the domain map to a unique member of the codomain.

BiJective A function that is one to one and surjective.

Harmonic Series is written as H subscript n, which is 1 + 1/2 + 1/3 + 1/4 + 1/5 +1/6... 1/n.

The series is divergent. On a Cartesian plane, 1/(x + 1) is equal to the y value.

Stirling's formula isn't required to solve some of these problems, however, it can be useful.

Countable set - A set is countable if it's finite or it has the same cardinality as the set of positive

integers.

If a set is countable, one uses an aleph null symbol to describe its cardinality, which looks like

this:

Power set - The power set of {a,b,c} = {a}, {b}, {c}, {a,b}, {a,c}, {b,c}, {a,b,c}, {null}. It can be

calculated by 2^e where e is the amount of elements, or cardinality of a set.

Rational number - A rational number is a number that can be written as a fraction of an integer

over an integer.

Big O notation : Programmers use bigO notation to find the lowest amount of steps needed to

finish an algorithm by being conservative. However, bigO is a "ceiling estimate," and you're

supposed to find an estimate that satisfies a number of some value n that is larger or smaller

than a constant that the G(n) is greater than F(n).

Binary search works by finding the midpoint of a list or set. It works by comparing the value that is

sorted from the list to the midpoint, then it halves the list/set. The algorithm then looks at either

the left or right sight, if it's one side then it creates another midpoint and goes again. BigO

runtime is (log(n)), or expected run time.

Bubble sort is when there is swapping between elements that are right next to each other. It does

this throughout the list/set in one pass, then it does the pass again n - 1 times, where n is the

cardinality of the set. BigO of the algorithm is n^2.

Big omega notation works exactly like Big O notation except it is an estimate that is the lower

bound of a function.

Theta notation can only be used when big O and big Omega have to have the same polynomials

but different constants before it.

Divide and conquer - is what linear search uses. The complexity is log(n). Log in computer

science is base 2. Divides a set/list in half, then does a comparison test, then spits out a smaller

list, etc. (Creates a midpoint every time).

Invertible vs. not-invertible functions - The requirement for there to be an invertible function is

that both the domain and codomain have to be functions when in original relationship and

switched. So, if a function starts out as one-to-one, but not onto, it can't be invertible because all

elements of the domain, when inverted, have to be pointed at an element in the co-domain. For

all x in the set of R, f(x) = xsquared, for instance, is not a one-to-one function, yet the inverse is

the squareroot of abs(y) with a plus/minus next to it., which is not one-to-one. Each element of

the original R set is now limited to being 0 or above for it to make any sense.
Tractable - A problem that has polynomial worst-case complexity,
Intractable -  Problems that don't fit under that category.

World Music class notes

World Music, Spring Semester 2013

Soundscapes


• Anchored in a specific place


• home environment; music has a space it resides in.


• If you are at sea, the sound changes all the time according to the environment


"Music isn't so static and is constantly affecting different ethnomusicological genres, and to


divide a course into different regions of the world, geographically, would be inaccurate."



• "Ethnos" = greek for groups


• Musical events:


○ setting/places/accomodations

○ people

○ meaning/purpose

○ traditions

○ sound/origin/elements of sound


Singers in Tuva, which is a part of Russia have learned to focus on certain overtones and suppress other overtones

○ There's a main/fundamental tone in their music
○ There are overtones/partials (tones)/harmonic tones


Where we encounter music: concerts, home, cell phones, social setting, background/or foreground, mall


• Whether you are expecting it (music can come at you as a surprise)


Accoustics of a room affect sound and sometimes amplifies certain freqeuences, which is


why DJ's or sound engineers use an equalizer to lower certain frequencies.


Significance of sound means how important something is. Sign = symbol, or a warning,


caution. Sign also points to something up ahead.



Ethnomusicology Is the study of music from an anthropogenic perspective, looking at observation and


"musical events." alternative names: sociomusicology or musicology


Khoomii "WHOmee"


A style of throat-singing


Accoustics Explores the physical and other processes of that shape the production and conveying of


sound


Fundamental tone The tone most easily singled out by the ear. Harmonic series, harmonics, or partials are produced in every natural occurance (non-digitally) enhanced.


Setting "The context of a musical performance, such as the structure of the performing space or


behavior of those present."


Shruti Pitch, in indian music. There's always a drone or Tambura/Shruti box. Instruments tuned to pitch, not fixed notes


Swaram Sa, Ri, Ga, Ma, Pa, Da, Ni, Sa. Quarter tones. Solfege


Ragam 72 Melakarta Ragams. Ragam is a mode that has at least five notes in a scale.


Arohanam/Avarohanam Scale going up is Arohanam. Scale going down is Avarohanam.


Equivalents:


Ragams for certain times.


Raga Alaap Improv


Gamaka Sort of like vibrato (trills?), the notes change though.


Shankarabharanam Major scale.

Devotional Indian music.  You can tell when listening to it that it uses the word "Shiva."

Music - Organized sound that is meaningful to people within a specific time and place.


Inuit "Katajjaq", when two women sing in a playful manner who sit face to face. The singing ends when one person runs out of breath. It is not considered music, however, because it is considered a vocal game.

"Voiceless" - sounds produced when vocal chords are held apart

"Voiced" - sounds produced when vocal chords are pressed together

Quality of Sound - The color of a sound, arising from acoustical properties of the harmonic series.

Sound sources - The voices and instruments that produce musical sound and whose vibrations give rise to our perceptions of quality.

Vibrato - A regular fluctuation of a sound, produced by varying the pitch of the sound

Straight tone - A sound that lacks any vibrato

Raspy - A singing voice that is rough or gruff in quality.

Chest voice - Sound resonated from within the chest, with a low, powerful, throaty vocal quality.

Head voice - a light, bright, high tone resonated in the head

Falsetto - the process of singing by men in a high register above the normal male singing range

Nasal - A buzzing vocal quality produced by using the sinuses and mask of the face as sound resonators.

Indonesian music - Gamelan is an instrument long believed to have super natural powers.

Japanese bamboo flute - the shakuhachi, has been developed over the course of 1,000 years.

Armenian music - Duduk - a wood binding attached by a string on the left of the instrument is placed over the mouth piece to keep its reeds together

Organology - the study of musical instruments

Ethiopian music - lyre (Krar), is thought to be the "devil's instrument" because of the myth that it arose from the devil's attempt to mimic the larger baganna.

Sachs-Hornbostel system - named after the scholars who developed the system, it is a classification system of of instruments.

1. Idiophones - Self-sounding instruments. The material doesn't matter, but as long as it's sent into vibration. Some examples are Gongs, bells, two hands and feet, etc.
2. Chordophones - Have one or more vibrating strings as the sound source.
3. Membranophones - Struck instruments such as drums, keyboards, that are struck by a hammer or hands--could be other methods as well.  Drums have a membrane (drumhead) stretched across one or both ends of the instrument.
4. Aerophones - Instruments that require air to be blown through it to produce the desired sound.
5. Electrophones - Instruments that require electricity for there to be any sound, such as electronic synthesizers, keyboards, etc.  Also, electric guitar that uses an amp is an example.

Lutes - Those with a neck and body to which strings are parallel.  It's a chordophone.
Harps - those that have a sound board attached.  A chordophone.
Zither - A chordophone without a neck or yoke whose strings are stretched parallel to the soundboard.
Lyre - Chordophone whose strings are stretched over a soundboard and attached to a crossbar that spans the top of a yoke.

Intensity - The loudness or softness of a sound. It refers to volume or dynamics

Pitch - The highess or lowness of a sound

Range - the distance between the highest and lowest pitches that can be sung or played by a voice or instrument.

Interval - The distance between two pitches.

Indian music - Indian solfege uses a system called sargam.

Melody - A sequence of pitches, or a "tune"

Conjunct motion - Stepwise melodic movement using small intervals, as opposed to disjunct motion

Disjunct motion - Melodic motion by leaps of large intervals, as opposed to conjunct motion,

Ornaments - Melodic, rhythmic, and timbral elaborations or decorations such as gracings,

rekrek - grave notes.

Phrase - A brief section of music, analogous to a phrase of spoken language, that sounds somewhat complete in itself, while not self-sufficient. Phrases are typically separated by brief pauses in the singer's voice.


Pulse - The short, regular element of time that underlies beat and rhythm.


Tempo - the music's rate of speed or pace.


Accent - emphasis on a pitch by any of several means, intensity, altered range, or lengthened duration.

Compound meter - groupings of six, nine, or twelve beats per measure.

syncopation - A thythmic effect that provides an unexpected accent, often by temporarily unsettling the meter through a change in the established pattern of stressed and unstressed beats.

Irregular meter- Asymmetrical groupings with different numbers of beats per measure.

Free rhythm - Rhythm that is not organized around a regular pulse.

Biphonic singing - A singing technique of inner asian origin in which two tones, the fundamental and an overtone, are made audible simultaneously by a single singer; also known as harmonic singing.

Monophony - a "single sound", the simplest musical texture

Homophony - a musical texture, where the arts perform different pitches but move in the same rhythm.

Polyrhythms - different rhythms.

Bag-pipe music, Scottish, Ireland, Spain.  The earliest reference to bag-pipes is a bag of skin. 1500's bc = mccrimons

Uilleann pipes = most popular, it looks different you play sitting down and you don't blow into it.

Gaita = Spanish bag pipes

Gaida = similar to Spanish bag pipes, but from Bulgaria

Tulum = from Turkey, without the drones

Masak = India, Pakistan bag pipe.  Some say bag-pipes originated in India or the Middle East.  They use ornamentation

Doubling - Is on the first beat of a measure

Grip - Give a sense of the sound stopping.

Birl -

Taorlauath -


They are an instrument of war (music)


Transformation to Classical - Piobaireachd


Mouth Music


Canntaireachd


Civic Functions


Parades, military, dances, police and fire departments, funerals


Entertainment and Dance


Ceilidhs


Highland garnes and Scottish festivals


Competitions


War-oriented heritage


UI Pipe band ended in 2008






Portable What you learn is from your education, which isn't entirely true. You can learn from experience, not


repeating the same mistake twice, and being self-taught. Learning in an educational setting,


however, is the most efficient way of learning.


Unilinear One line process. Migration as a unilinear process from point A to point B.


Diaspora A community who has migrated from one group to another group/who have a shared heritage and


homeland as an idea of a homeland for Jews


Little Italy New York City


China Town In New York City


Town Pela Dutch


Power The ability to create ideas of groups of people.


Identity A group of peoples' difference that separates a group from one another.


1840's Irish/Scottish Migration


1864 Immigration Act


1880's Southern and Eastern Europe


1882 Chinese Exclusion Act


1C9an2t1onese Emergency Quota Act


narrative


songs


Shang Chi. Muk'gu or Muyu. Southern Chinese Song. It combines song and speech--it's


amateur and recreational songs. An example of a lyrical line is "Uncle 'NG' comes to


gold Mountain". The text centered on the migration experience set in his home place/


homeland. Second part of the text talks about living in USA, and he talks about


returning home in the song with gold + financial success.


Lebanese-


American


migration


music


One form is Mawwal. They're songs that make use of colloquil Arabic. The form


alternates between free rhythm + refrains. It allows for technical abilities in


improvisation. Listen to CD2-5. "Wakef'ala Shat Baber," which is recorded in 1950.


Maqam


huzan


Cross between Indian Rhagha and Western Scale


Chinese instruments


Erhu A stringed instrument that is very tall and it operates like a


violin.


Dance in India


Dance with


music


Can motivate people; dance is the visual part. Dance flows with the music.


Field song Labor songs/people working the plantations/etc.


Love poems A story of a man and a woman in different stage of a relationship. The name of the


song, Balavi, like a flower.


Mudras A hand gesture. Poetics, 1080AD, power of suggestion. Mudras the oldest forms of





graphics formed with the hands. They have meaning.

Reading response on Esmeralda’s When I was Puerto Rican: A Memoir

1.       Discuss the impact of genre and perspective on the narrative

Like Jane Austin’s novel, Persuasion, where in the narrative we have a bildungsroman of a young woman who grows up, Negi similarly grows up as evidenced by her physical changes that are subtly interwoven into the plot.  A sense of time is created by the narrator’s mother, Mami, having babies one after the other.  Her perspective becomes more sophisticated as she is permitted by her parents to learn newer things, and some things she learns on her own.  From her perspective, Negi is very negatively affected emotionally by her parents' fighting up until the very end of the section assigned for Tuesday.  She at times before, though, has learned to tune the conflicts out in order to feel emotionally stable.  In the book, there's a motif of a subgenre of music (Latin American) called boleros.  This offers a different perspective in terms of musical taste. 

2.    What are the essential things that readers need to know to understand the difficult relationship that Negi has with her mother?  Is part of this due to the times that she is born into (1940s-60s)?

There are several scenes in the narrative that are essential to understanding the conflicts that occur between her mother and herself.  Many of the conflicts occur because of her mother's constant concern for Negi's father, Papi, who leaves mysteriously and then returns, sometimes, days later.  Negi's father has a strong love for his daughter that her mother envies, and she doesn't think her daughter comprehends or understands the things that are occurring due to the complexity of gender inequality in Puerto Rico at the time.  In Puerto Rico, as poor Jibaras, the accepted more for what a man does is to find a prostitute somewhere, which would have been in Jurutungo (Santiago, page 49).  Perhaps men are expected to come home to their wives more so now than in the past, but I think that this is still prevalent in hispanic and Latin American culture.

3.    How does food relate to identity (local/national), to gender, to socio-economic status, to life in general?

     Many Latin American cultures, but specifically Puerto Rico's, have a unique heritage and culture, just like European, Asian, African cultures do.  Part of this culture are the foods that that culture has learned to cook and eat--the people are generally well adapted to it, and changing to another set of customs is difficult.  In Santiago's story, food, when related to gender, is not a big issue, because that's not the center of the conflict between the narrator's parents.  Food is, however, a central part to Negi's life who begins to assimilate and understand that her culture's food is not the only food in the world.  When the American arrives and teaches the audience the food pyramid and shows them what amazing foods Americans have, as if Americans are healthier, Negi begins to ponder the cultural wealth of American culture in a positive light, though her parents think this is not necessarily true; her parents are more critical-minded, due to their years of experience and wisdom.  The fact that they were poor to begin with, food is not an issue for them because of the cheapness of rice and beans, and so they do not starve.  Whereas, in the USA, a country that has an obesity epidemic, some people have too much food that they literally do not know what else to do with it except eat it.

4.  Select two of my favorite metaphors and provide an interpretation.

Santiago imagines a bus being a steamboat, which is enigmatic of the fact that she's young and she's trying to express the world in terms of what she already knows, since clearly a bus cannot chug but a steamboat can (Santiago, page 37).  Furthermore, a bathroom where people go to use the toilet or take showers and take baths typically, is used to describe a wholly different kind of structure, the playground, on the same page.  A playground would be a wooden structure, or metal, where kids hang on and go down slides or pretend to be monkeys.  This however, is highly unlike a bathroom, and so I thought of it more as a conceit than a regular metaphor, which is why I liked it.  

Haikus 6-10

Haiku #6
Music is to bear
Dissonance to the riped soul.
Harmonies hug 'stead.

Haiku #7
That chord that struck loud
Grew your heart rate and stupor.
It affects you much.

Haiku #8
The following chord
Softened the cold world anew
Your expression warmed.

Haiku #9
Her melody lifted
The crazy man's face again.
He shot her a glance.

Haiku #10
In the daze of the
Tundra, the first rain ensues.
She waves bye at last.

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Haikus 1-5

Haiku #1
Your transparency
Deludes them in majestic,
Their color haunts them.

Haiku #2
Your brown eyes're not blind
Were flashed to mine too rare.
Though they're the same kind.

Haiku #3
Wind wooshes close by,
Then it changes direction.
I kiss your hand bye.

Haiku #4
On a world of night,
The girl sits in yearn of day.
What we lack we pray.

Haiku #5
A crazy man sits
Underneath the bright suns' glow.
The light ensues, burns.

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Rushdie’s and Jordan’s common interest in Solving Racial Tensions

Rushdie’s and Jordan’s common interest in Solving Racial Tensions

Rushdie’s concern with South African people joining the ghettos is similar to Jordan’s concern for her son’s financial security to receive an education that Reagan wishes to take away.  They are both well-founded fears that are understandable for anyone in a higher position of either wisdom or power, respectively, has for those who have to make choices.  In the beginning of Jordan’s narrative essay about racial prejudice, the narrator who is Jordan, criticizes a white woman for her political stance that supports Reagan’s plan to cut student loans from the government spending.  Then, Jordan takes offence to her stance since Reagan’s policy would directly affect her son’s financial well-being, even though it’s from tax payer money.  In Rushdie’s essay, “Imaginary Homelands,” he sees conflict in South Africa arising out of a narrowing of one’s cultural viewpoint on others.  Jordan faces a similar turmoil from racial ignorance and prejudice in her own country, the United States much like how Rushdie has made it a point to make it aware to his audience where art comes from, which is from reenacting the past.

  In Rushdie’s essay, he mentions an “unmentionable country” that’s “across the border” in order to prove his point about the connection between art and heritage (Rushdie, pg. 9).  As a transnationalist, Rushdie severely criticizes prejudice and ignorance much like how Jordan does.  But more importantly to him, as a transnationalist author who likes to philosophize on what is art, he does more with theorizing where art comes from than does Jordan.  With Jordan, she thinks story telling is what’s necessary to get the point across though the point is silent.  For Rushdie, for a novel to be a successful novel, especially if one is a transnationalist such as himself, one must see into one’s past.  He essentially believes novels are reenactments of the past, to some extent too, whether it’s happening in one’s imagination or an actual visit to one’s first homeland, like when he visited the Taj Mahal in India and what it did to inspire his writing (Rushdie, pg. 11).  To analyze Jordan’s essay, “Report from the Bahamas,” she writes about her own past, too, like Rushdie.  She goes about it differently however.

Jordan focuses primarily on religious teachings, which are universal in their importance, whereas Rushdie is more philosophical in his way of going about his point.  In her uniquely formatted essay, she cites examples of injustice that have caused her to feel emotionally crushed.  She even asks, philosophically, “[if my friend] abandons me to ’my’ problems of race, then why should I support ‘her’ problems of housewifely oblivion?” This is when she discovers that her friend’s husband has alcoholism and beats her, constantly (Jordan, pg. 44).    About that quote, her diction is another allusion to the New Testament of a famous quote by Jesus Christ.  Furthermore, she uses that to further her questioning racial prejudice and injustice: “Unity on the basis of sexual oppression is something natural, then why do we women, the majority people on the planet, still have a problem?” (Jordan, pg. 46).  She uses this question to further her claim that if we get along, we will mutually help one another, which is the fundamental basis for one of Rushdie’s examples as a teacher.  This teaching could be summed up with this quote: “it may be argued that the past is a country from which we have all emigrated, that its loss is part of our common humanity” (Rushdie, pg. 12).  Both arguments share the yearning for commonalities between people, that by finding similarities rather than differences, one can connect more easily and naturally.

Jordan shares a similarity between her and Rushdie in that they share a concern for South Africa, though it’s for two different concerns—one is Jordan’s concern for the liberation of South Africa in the manifestation of campus groups and political activeness, the other is Rushdie’s concern for the continual interest in South Africa’s population of gangs, which can lead to violence.  Jordan explicitly states, “I knew both of them because I had organized a campus group to aid the liberation struggles of Southern Africa” (Jordan, pg. 48).  Again, as Rushdie had suggested as a source of inspiration to writing and being active (looking into one’s past), Jordan looks into her past as a women’s rights supporter in her attempt to understand her friend’s suffering: “She needed protection.  It was a security crisis.  She needed refuge for battered wives and personal therapy and legal counsel.  She needed a friend” (Jordan, pg. 48).  Though she does not explicitly state it, she has a strong belief in women’s rights.  Also, this is something that Rushdie doesn’t mention, though he would support Jordan’s friend similarly. 

Both Rushdie and Jordan share many commonalities as transnationalist authors, as I suppose most true emigrant artist would be able to truly empathize with.  Both share a similar theme in their reenactments of the past: that of racial injustice, ignorance by the masses, or simply the choosing of the masses to ignore issues based upon damaging principles.  They encounter many ethical dilemmas and respond appropriately, as anyone without a hateful personality would be unwilling to do.  For instance, when faced with the choice to ignore her calling-for-help friend, Cathy, Jordan decides to help her instead.  Rushdie, likewise though more philosophically, says that “redescribing a world is the necessary first step towards changing it” in a peaceful way (Rushdie, pg. 14).  Both authors have a certain method for changing the world like preventing people from joining the ghettos in South Africa as Rushdie does.  They believe authors/writers/artists have the power to use their past to be the driving impetus for change, in a nonviolent and helpful way.  Rushdie uses a counterexample to show how one can be unhelpful and even cause wars if one does not stay true to mutual understanding and mutual helping: the civil war.   And Jordan uses current issues as a way to push her point. 

Reading response on two essays, "Imaginary Homelands" and "Report from the Bahamas"

Daniel Alexander Apatiga

Reading Response #3

“Imaginary Homelands” by Salman Rushdie

“Report from the Bahamas” by June Jordan

                A few key sentences strikes me as I read them in Rushdie’s “Imaginary Homelands: Essays and Criticism.”  One is when he talks about his father, on page 9, and the “unmentionable country” of which I have no idea what he is referring to since he does not indirectly or directly reference a country except maybe his own.  I assume he is referring to his homeland since he’s exposing the reader to his own experiences as a transnational.  The idea of an “unmentionable country” is interesting since it implies a certain dislike of it by others.  Though, it could also mean his homeland’s historic rival, or enemy, Pakistan, in terms of culture and nuclear power, both of which have the same racial identity, and Pakistan is not viewed as a rival of India by many.   Rushdie makes a claim that novels are inspired by memories and present reenactments of the past.  This implies that as an artist, we at least (through the mind) attempt to relive our life’s best moments when contemplating what to write next.  I agree with Rushdie since in my own creative writing I try to not to make things up completely, then, in this mode, it might lead to serious absurdities that conflict with what should be the intention of the creative author.  This intention, Rushdie explains carefully like how Danticat does in “Creating Dangerously: the Immigration Artist at Work”.  If novels for the general author are reenactments of the past, then the displaced transnationalist writers have to recreate their prior homeland anyway, despite being assimilated, in his or her works.  Rushdie makes an important reference to England’s historical and current diaspora, which may have been what perhaps attracted him to the language of English, psychoanalytically.  I was reminded of what I learned in the Intro to English gateway course about how England is made of up Anglo-Saxons, Vikings, etc., who invaded Britannia and settled there.  These people may have left or gone to war because of dissatisfaction at home or the desire, the desire to conquer land and become rich, or simply to attain a higher, nobler status.

                In Jordan’s essay, “Report from the Bahamas,” which has story elements in it since she recounts what actually happened in her past, was interestingly about two women—one was ignorant, Cathy, the other was the author herself.   I completely agreed with Jordan’s criticism of Reagan’s plans to remove government aided student loans, which would have damaged her son’s likelihood of going to college and beyond.   There are emotional moments in the story in which Jordan comes to difficult realizations about her status in the United States, and ignorance that surrounds her of her culture that seem to envelop and crush her.   For instance, she makes a most cunning observation that women of different appearance/race have a tougher time of making it to the canon of well-respected women’s literature than do whites.  In the middle of the essay, she has a developmental section (or B section if this essay would be viewed as a work of music) before the recapitulation or A prime, where she says that if we don’t help one another, we won't get along.  As a Hispanic, I understand where she’s coming from, although I do not profess my writing to be great by any stretch.  Her allusions to important religious teachings, such as, Christ’s famous line, “love thy enemy,” served as the founding basis for her interaction with Cathy in section A prime (the denoument).  Cathy’s husband’s alcoholism that’s threatening her life is a way for them to share a commonality: both Cathy and Jordan are both women and both experience problems from problematic men in their lives, which should be fixed.  I in the end found Jordan’s essay to be about the importance of political activeness in women’s rights and the inequalities that people of different race still face today.   

Reading Response, Edwidge Danticat’s "The Immigrant Artist at Work"

Daniel Apatiga

Reading Response #2, Edwidge Danticat’s The Immigrant Artist at Work

                In the first chapter of "Creating Dangerously: The Immigrant Artist at Work," Danticat attempts to give a brief history of what shapes her life, which in his past was about injustice and fighting for causes that one believes in.  She sees herself as somewhat lesser than those who gave their lives for their country, of the two famous examples were Drouin and Numa.  Although Danticat’s brief introductory chapter makes it sound like the “immigrant artist” fall under a strong category, too, (because of the risk that they run in criticizing authoritarian regimes), Danticat does not outright say that what Drouin and Numa did is the wrong approach.  Nor does she say fighting in guerilla warfare should be avoided but that instead Numa and Drouin are justified in their actions against the authoritarian Haitian regime.  Danticat also uses metonymy in her writing style, though the following example may be ambiguous: he uses “passport” as the vehicle for freedom, though this is not explicit (Danticat, 10).  The reason why I suppose this to be true is that when I first read a sentence containing “passport,” it seemed to be out of place since it would not have made sense.  The next paragraph contains a section about her book that she wrote, The Dew Breaker, which passport could also be a symbol for.  Although, the case might be that she has an American/Haitian passport of some sort, or, simply, Danticat meant what she wrote in the most common denotation.

                Earlier in the chapter, Danticat uses biblical language, like Achebe, to argue that writers and artists who are on the cutting edge or who are putting themselves most at risk, like Numa and Drouin.  Her metaphor that she uses is the Eve story from Genesis of her plucking the apple, which she uses as a strong metaphor for one’s daring role in society, whether it be an artist, warrior, or an intellectual woman making headway in women’s rights.   Where Danticat was going with her country’s history and connecting it with her own, she makes an argument about how immigrant writers tend to know more about a country’s history, especially since they have a more knowledgeable perspective than just the country’s to where he/she ended up.  She creates a most beautiful argument for why there should be history as a field of study, that knowing where one’s ancestors came from is also part of this, and being in touch with one’s family from whichever country one’s from, like his grandmother, Tante Illyana.  In a few ways, I’m like Danticat in that I have an immigrant father (though not an uncle) who came from another country—Mexico.  I, however, know a lot less of his own motivations for coming to this country.  As a second generation immigrant, I’m most inclined to believe that he left for economic reasons, or, merely to get away from his parents to his rebelliousness, perhaps.  In a lot of ways, my father and I are alike. 

               Chapter two is about the abject poverty people live under in Haiti.  In the countryside, I had no idea that education is a desired privilege that only a few can enjoy, still.  On a separate note, I also have a grandmother who reminds me of the character, Tante Illyana.  In Danticat's autobiographical second chapter, she describes her as being pretty, and young for her age, which my grandmother is, too, who’s having her 80^th birthday in Mexico.  I hope to see her in time for her birthday if she does not pass away.   

                

Reading Response on Chinua Achebe essay, "Named for Victoria, Queen of England"

Daniel Apatiga

Reading Response #1 on Chinua Achebe

                In Achebe’s essay, "Named for Victoria, Queen of England," Achebe discusses his interest in his own past, his culture’s history (that of the Ibo people “in Eastern Nigeria”), and devolves his own identity to his audience in a way that conveys a moral lesson (Achebe, 30).  Through his own experiences, Achebe criticizes the tendency of monotheistic religions to look down upon other, non-monotheistic religions.  He views his region's prevalent animism religions, which differs from tribe to tribe at times, with a cultural anthropologic discernment.  Achebe is very wise in this respect, at least, given his Christian upbringing, because he does not take a higher, arrogant position than most fundamentalist Christians.   Achebe also believes one should not be ill-informed of one's own culture.  As a non-practicing Christian, I take a cultural anthropologic approach when facing different cultures that have opposing viewpoints.  This can be done by silently saying to one self, “despite my disagreements with so-and-so’s heathen religion, I will not attempt to insult his/her religion or look down upon it in any way.”  In the retelling of his maternal grand uncle influence over him, Achebe also states that his maternal grand-uncle was the “embodiment of tolerance.”

                Another aspect of Achebe's essay that most intrigues me is his criticism of his father’s “prodigality,” which means being excessive and wasteful of one’s resources—the kind that makes one wonder whether his relationship to him was a good one (OED).  This was later proved to be a humorous anecdote.  At first, this portion of his essay reminded me of works by Dostoevsky that I have read, namely, The Brothers Karamazov, in which the brothers severely criticize their buffoon father for not giving them enough sustenance to live on, as was promised.   But as I read on, Achebe does not have the exact same parallel with his own father as Dmitri did with his father, but rather, had a positive relationship like Alyosha does in The Brother’s Karamazov.  Achebe changes tone when he describes how the missionaries came to his maternal grand-uncle despite his constant questioning and danger, possibly, because of his constant questioning.