In my opinion, there is simply nothing better than lying under the warmth of a blanket with a smooth cup of tea and the soft tune of Jack Johnson absorbing the air. As Americans, we have the tendency to focus on the negatives of life, rather than divulging the positives. After a bad day, rather than sipping tea and relaxing, I unfortunately have the impulse to complain and think negatively. I know I am not alone in this. Americans are this way because of our ever-present news that is constantly shoving pessimism down our throats. With his fluttery tone and rhetorical lyrics, Jack Johnson’s song “Good People” relays this issue of Americans’ overwhelming cynicism. While Johnson has an abundance of songs, for the most part, they all possess the …show more content…
This album is my go-to, despite whatever mood I am in. He sings about “making banana pancakes” and how it's “better when we’re together”. Happy lyrics with a happy tune. I must admit, however, like Sannah, I have always been indifferent about the song “Good People”. Like his other songs, “Good People’s” catchy tune automatically makes me happy, but as I listen to the lyrics, I realize that it is a protest song, questioning, “where’d all the good people go?”. Johnson’s use of this rhetorical question emphasizes his point and makes his audience think. As a listener, I find myself questioning, “where did all the good people go?” It is such a harsh question that is simply unanswerable, which helps to further convey his …show more content…
The problem he talks about is rather obvious, since he repeats it throughout his chorus: “Where’d all the good people go? I’ve been changing channels I don’t see them on the TV shows”. American news is notorious for bombarding its viewers with endless amounts of negativity. It is so easy to flip through the TV channels and not see one positive thing, which makes Americans constantly yearn for negative news. The news never tells an optimistic story, despite the fact that there are so many positive events that happen in the world that should be shared. Due to all of this negativity being shoved down American’s throats, it is no wonder that we have the tendency to focus on negatives, rather than positives. Americans are all around “glass-half-empty” people; Pessimism is taking
Michael Jackson is one of the most widely beloved entertainers and profoundly influential artists of all time; he leaves an indelible imprint on popular music and culture. Commonly referred to as the “King of Pop”, Michael Jackson continues to earn millions of dollars beyond the grave- earning over $700 million in the years since he passed away in 2009. As the pop genre derives from an abbreviation of “popular”, the King of Pop maintained record breaking popularity for extended periods of time. Pop music, is typically short and simple commercially recorded songs oriented towards a youth market; the King of Pop challenged stereotypes and the viewpoints of his audience with songs like “We are the World”, “Man in the Mirror” and many more.
When an individual has to do a compare and contrast for a short story in the realm of literature, I believe that you have to take into account the deeper meaning in a short story. You have to read between the lines, one has to know what the symbols and what metaphors are. “A symbol is something that has a literal identity, but also stands for something else—something abstract—like an idea, a belief, or an emotion. A metaphor is a figure of speech in which an implied comparison is made between one object and another that is different from it.” (Clugston, 2014) The reader needs to know that the author is using figurative language in the short story. Once the individual can understand this, the literature work will be significantly easier to do a compare and contrast essay.
Anticipation is prevalent throughout The Road, which is set by the narrative pace, creating a tense and suspenseful feeling and tone.
One of the most renowned inspirational speakers in the country, Eric Thomas, is a Hip-Hop preacher that influences young people all over. Formerly a high school dropout student, he obtained his Masters in 2005 and is currently getting his PhD in Education Administration from Michigan State University. Living life as a high school dropout and surviving on the streets, Thomas has taken his past hardships and harnessed them in to make a better life for himself. He now changes thousands of lives with his inspirational words. Thomas has various famous speeches, but the most popular of them all is his “How Bad Do You Want It” speech. The rhetoric techniques he uses in the speech range from anaphora to pathos and covers everything in between. Due
Mothers always want the best for their daughters, it’s a given feeling for a mother. Amy Chua’s Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mom is written in her perspective as the mother. In The Joy Luck Club, Amy tan writes the novel through her eyes as the daughter of the relationship. Both passages portray the harsh emotions between the mother and her daughter. These emotions are caused by the mother pressuring her daughter to achieve expectations. The two excerpts have similar stressful tones but Amy Tan’s novel is much more intense and displays a uglier relationship.
The Shawshank Redemption is an inspiring story about Andy Dufreine and his efforts to maintain hope in horrible situations. The directors used many effective methods that displayed signs of hope in such a horrible place. Andy maintained hope by distracting his mind and always staying occupied. Andy was also inspired to survive by helping others find hope in life.
“The New Jim Crow” is an article by Michelle Alexander, published by the Ohio State Journal of Criminal Law. Michelle is a professor at the Ohio State Moritz college of criminal law as well as a civil rights advocate. Ohio State University’s Moritz College of Law is part of the world’s top education system, is accredited by the American Bar Association, and is a long-time member of the American Law association. The goal of “The New Jim Crow” is to inform the public about the issues of race in our country, especially our legal system. The article is written in plain English, so the common person can fully understand it, but it also remains very professional. Throughout the article, Alexander provides factual information about racial issues in our country. She relates them back to the Jim Crow era and explains how the large social problem affects individual lives of people of color all over the country. By doing this, Alexander appeals to the reader’s ethos, logos, and pathos, forming a persuasive essay that shifts the understanding and opinions of all readers.
Some people dream of wealth, happiness, or genius, but is any of that easily attainable? An intellectual young man from the movie Good Will Hunting has an unusually high IQ that is shrouded by emotional problems. Will Hunting is arrested after yet another case of physical assault in Boston, and this time it was a police officer. When he is arrested, his genius is discovered by a college professor, Gerald Lambeau, who sees potential in Will despite his flaws. Instead of jail time, Labeau offers him a fair bargain. As long as Will attends mandatory therapy, he will be allowed to work alongside the professor. But education isn’t everything, because under Wills sarcastic wit and mathematical genius, he hides his true self. Will scares off five different therapists before he finds himself stuck with Sean Maguire, who ends up using personal and profound forms of therapy to crack Wills shell. Sean delivers this speech to help Will realize his ignorance of his insecurities and other people by using ethos, logos, and pathos appeals; Sean addresses that true knowledge and perspective can only
His songs are a narrative of his personal knowledge and wisdom from growing up in the bush, the stories of the people he’s met and the places he’s been.
In the article “It’s Not About You” by David Brooks, Brooks takes a different perspective on this current generation. Many of the past generation huff at the thought of the new age group. Brooks has an incredible, somewhat biased opinion relating to the new generation, which is not unusual since he is from the current generation. Brooks discusses and explores the idea that the current generation is expected to grow up, get educated, get married and then have children. Brooks speculates that the new generation will be less family-orientated and maybe more adventurous and more about just living life and getting to experience things. Overall, Brooks wrote something different from most stories regarding generations.
Born November 7, 1943 in Fort McLeod, Alberta, Canada, Joni Mitchell is one of Canada's most prominent celebrities. I don't quite know what experiences she draws on to create blue; all I know are what experiences I draw on when listening to it. “Blue, song are like tattoos.” With this line I get a feeling of the power of music in general. Tattoos are permanent, just like music is permanent. I can't help but be changed by a song after I listen to it, because it is part of the nature of song. As I implied above, it is important to realize that these statements hold true about the artist as well as the audience.
In his song “Night”, he not only utilizes the literary device of the second person to create a stronger connection to the listener, but he sings about the dreaded work day and how a person’s only freedoms occur when they are driving through the night. Many Americans in the 1970s had jobs that they
Jackson often released songs that had powerful messages behind them e.g. 'We Are the World' and “Black and White”. Michael Jackson’s “They Don’t Care About Us” released as part of the “HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I” album in 1996, was addressed to “the people” in an effort to promote equality, justice, and peace. However, it led to unexpected controversy
For many of us, one of the most accurate and effective ways to express the feelings that really matter to us is through music. We don’t only grow to attached to songs that are catchy, but also those with lyrics that we can relate to. It is not uncommon to feel like sometimes, artists can convey the way we feel better than we could ourselves. The storybook-like lines you read at the start of this page are a collection of lyrics
This articles brings lyrics from a song that was previously considered offensive, which is now clean by today’s standards, and effectively argues for freedom of speech.