Writing 2

I have never liked writing. My hatred for writing was amplified my junior year in my Honors British Literature class. Just saying those three words brings chills down my spine. The readings were monotonous and the analytical papers we had to write were torturous. If that wasn't bad enough, the teacher was terrible and graded our papers extremely hard. I would spend hours trying to perfect my paper only to receive a C. This experience caused me to relate writing with tireless work and failure, so you can see why writing is not my favorite.

This is the first writing class that I didn't hate, which for me is saying a lot. I'm not going to lie or exaggerate and say that I love writing, but the damage that my Brit Lit class caused is gone. The reason why I enjoyed this class was because it focused on music, we had a lot of freedom in what we wrote about, and because of the professor. I've had many teachers in my life, and there are only a few that I have actually liked, and this happens to be one of them. It is obvious that Chris Dean truly cares about his students and helping them learn. You would think that this should be true about all teachers and professors, but it sadly is not. Dean makes an effort to give his students as much help as they need by making himself extremely available and by giving back a lot of helpful feedback on papers before they are graded. He also makes his class as interesting as possible for his students by asking what the students want to talk and learn about. I learned a lot from this writing class and believe that I am a better writer now than I was before.

(P.S. I am aware that you, Chris, are reading this. I honestly didn't write this to suck up, it is truly how I feel. I contemplated not writing about this because I felt like a brown-noser and didn't want you to think I'm just trying to get a better grade, but I couldn't think of anything else to write about. I really did learn a lot this quarter and just wanted to say thank you.)

Podcast Assignment

When the class first went over the syllabus on the first day of class and I first became aware of the podcast assignment, I was not very thrilled. I have never done anything like this assignment so I did not know what to expect. When I started thinking about what I was going to write, I had no idea. I changed my mind several times. My first idea was to write about Halloween in Isla Vista. Then news about Joe Paterno's release from Penn State came out, I wanted to write about that. Later, when more details about the case were revealed, I felt uncomfortable talking about that sensitive subject. Finally I decided that I wanted to write about something that had to do with music so I could incorporate songs in my podcast. I chose to write about the Beastie Boys because they are one of my favorite artists and I knew that I would have plenty to write about. I was initially just going to talk about the Beastie Boys and their history as a group, but I realized there was no point I was making. After researching the group, I learned just how important they were to the hip hop world and decided to write about their tremendous influence on music.

I was not expecting to enjoy this assignment, but I actually did. I am very passionate about music, so being able to write purely about music and about a group that I love made the assignment interesting and, dare I say it, fun.

Morality of Illegally Downloading Music

In The Ethicist's article on the morality of illegally downloading music, he/she states that downloading music from the internet illegally is theft and that you should not do it. He/she also explains that although it is unethical, it is also understandable.

The morality of illegally downloading music is very tough for me to decide. Technically, I would have to admit that illegally downloading music is unethical, but it is a very gray matter for me. I definitely believe that downloading music and then distributing the song for profit is completely unethical; profitting off of somebody else's work is wrong. It is true that downloading music is stealing, but by downloading the music, you become a bigger fan of the artist and find more of their music and spread word to your friends about the artist. This in turn increases the popularity of the artist, which will then benefit the artist in more ways than just monetarily.

Later in the article the ethicist explains how the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) understands that people illegally download music because it is extremely easy and not because they are bad people. The media VP for ASCAP, Mark Morgenstern, states that they are "going on the assumption that people want to be good" and that they are "looking for ways to help make it easy for [people] to do the right thing." ASCAP is trying to make it impossible for people to download music illegally, which I believe this is the best way to approach the issue. As long as illegally downloading music is as simple as it is now, I believe that people will continue to illegally download.

Over Protective Parenting

In Alissa Quart’s article titled Extreme Parenting, she discusses the phenomenon of parents spending money to make their fetuses and infants smarter. Today parents, especially in America, obsess over making sure that their child will be gifted and successful. Of course, all parents want their child to succeed, but Quart feels like it is going to an extreme that is unnecessary, and sometimes detrimental. After the “Mozart Effect” became popular, the theory that listening to music will somehow make you smarter was translated to fetuses and infants. Companies monopolized on the Mozart Effect and parents’ desire for their child’s success and created toys, movies, and other products that they claim will help a child become smarter. Parents jumped on the bandwagon and bought all of these products because of a study done about classical music and it’s affect on a person’s ability to cut paper. Quart later goes on to explain that although these products claim to stop infant brain cell death, brain cell death is a normal and healthy occurrence that allows the brain to create pathways.

Before I read this article, I knew that when I had children I would buy all of the Baby Einstein products and similar items to make sure my child would have every advantage and become as successful as possible. I never really wondered if there was any actual scientific support to these videos, I just assumed that they were helpful. This article really helped me get a better understanding of these products and their origins. I realized that going outside and having your child actually see things can be a better way to learn than to sit in front of a television.

Music Popularity

In Bjorn Carey’s article The Science of Hit Songs, the reasons that make songs popular is discussed. In a recent study, researchers have found that songs that have been downloaded more were selected more often, but popular songs were popular no matter what, as with unpopular songs. They also concluded that when people are faced with too many choices, they choose what is popular to listen to because of lack of time.

I agree that some people do listen to music because it is popular and their friends are listening to it. I don’t think that this is necessarily because they just want to listen to what their friends are listening to just to fit in, but because it actually is a good song, which is the reason that it is popular. On the other hand, I feel like some people don't care much about music so they just listen to whatever is popular. I agree that when people are faced with too many options, they will just listen to what is popular. I know that when I first hear of an artist, I will look them up on Youtube or iTunes and find their most popular songs and listen to them. If I really like the artist then I will spend more time looking for songs by them that may not be as popular but I still enjoy.

Sexual Lyrics

In a lot of today's music, the lyrics to songs contain very sexual lyrics. I believe that a lot of these lyrics are extremely inappropriate for children to be listening to. I feel like these lyrics make it more socially acceptable for women to be objectified and seen only as sexual objects.

Although I do believe that many lyrics are inappropriate, I do not believe that the lyrics directly cause adolescents to become sexually active at a younger age in the vast majority of cases. I think that most people just listen to the songs with the sexual lyrics because they like the beat, not because of the lyrics. I know that I listen to songs with explicit lyrics, but I don't really think about the lyrics, even if I am singing along with the song. I think that movies and tv shows with sexual content have a much greater affect on adolecents' sexual experiences because they are watching the sexual acts and it seems more like reality than songs do.

Rock N Roll compared to Dubstep/House Music

When I was reading A Social History of Rock and Roll by Paul Friedlander, I realized that Rock n Roll and Dubstep have a lot in common. In the 1950's, adults and parents believed that Rock and Roll was "evil" and was too suggestive. Today, many parents see Dubstep and the "rave" scene as dangerous and associate them with drugs. Dubstep and other similar types of electronic music is extremely popular among teens and college students, just like Rock and Roll was popular with teens in the 1950s. Most adults listen to dubstep and just hear a bunch of random and loud noises, while the younger generation hears a song that they enjoy listening to. I personally believe that dubstep has the power to change your mood and make you happier. Whenever I hear a good dubstep or house song I feel like getting up and dancing and I feel happy. There is a feeling of excitement that also accompanies the happiness.

The music festivals described in the chapters we read remind me a lot of today's raves. Both the festivals and raves have many artists performing and a few headliners. The main audience for both were teens and parents saw these festivals as dangerous. Today, most parents associate drugs with raves. While it is true that many people do take drugs while at raves, many people don't. Everybody is there to enjoy the music and have a good time.