1. What does literature say about the reason the guitar used in so many different genres of music and not other instruments that make similar sounds?
2. What does America's taste in popular music say about our culture?
3. What does literature prove about how the evolution of popular music reflects the change in society?

Checked Off My Bucket List

I have always wanted to write on my walls and make my room my own. The only problem with this is the fact that my parents don't want me writing on the walls. I convinced my parents to at least let me write on my closet door because it won't stand out as much to them. I wrote some of my favorite quotes down in marker. I really hope to complete this eventually. I'm going to write a quote down on the door at the end of the day that goes with my emotions, or find a quote on a thought that has been in my head all day. I have also added some of my favorite lines in songs and inspirational quotes said by famous people.

Interview With Amy

     I interviewed Amy Pereira, a senior in high school. I asked her several questions that gave me a greater understanding of who Amy really is. I personally love music, so naturally I was curious about the best song she has ever heard. "Bohemian Rhapsody." Amy responded. "I like it because it is different, and sticks out." These days, the song she seems to listen to the most is "Nirvana by Sam Smith."

     When asked what she would buy with five hundred dollars, she responded,"I would buy a lot of athletic gear, like spandex and shorts." This leads me to believe that she is very involved in sports. If she could only wear one color for the rest of her life it would be "green, because it is my favorite color." Amy's favorite season is "Spring because the weather is really nice." She continued,"Everyone is outside all of the time and it is green everywhere." I was not surprised by this answer since she enjoys sports. 

     I was intrigued to hear that Amy would go to "Portugal" if she could go anywhere in the world. She then explained that she has "family living there." I was not aware that she has family living there, and found it quite interesting. She told me the best present she has ever received is," a card signed and made by friends in the seventh grade." Amy said if she could pick any super power to have, it would be to "read minds." That would be an amazing power to have! Overall, I found Amy to be a very interesting person to interview.

Incentives and Aesthetic

A)      Incentives help govern human behavior because it gives them a goal. When there is a goal, people become determined and harder working. Money seems to be the biggest motivator for many people right now. Some people seem like they will do close to anything for money. People can use money to get many different things, so naturally people are going to want money. They really want it for whatever reason they have in mind. When people get money out of being determined and hard working, they will usually do as best as they can to achieve it. If there are less incentives, people will not do there task or work as hard as they would with more incentives. If you have more incentives, you will have a better chance of motivating someone to do something that you want.

B)      My aesthetic experience was going to a stadium concert. An aesthetic experience is when all of your senses are at there full potential. It is the best feeling to go to a concert and literally feel the beat of the drums moving my body. I also love the excitement that everyone has while waiting in anticipation for their favorite musician to come on stage. It is so cool to be part of a crowed and surrounded by people who have the same tastes in music as me. All my senses were really at their full potential when I went to a stadium concert.

Bucket List

Short Term

 

 

1. Graduate High School

I really hope that I will be able to graduate high school before I die. Graduation closes and starts a new phase in life and it would be a shame if I never got to the point where I could celebrate this new chapter.

2. Speak Spanish fluently

I want to be able to speak Spanish clearly and correctly before I graduate high school. It would be really cool to learn the language with just the Spanish class that I am required to take. This way I would be able to communicate easily with people who speak Spanish and I could go to a Spanish speaking country.

3. Get my license

It would be a shame if I never got my license. Getting your license is basically a right of passage once your able to get it. I would want to be able to go wherever I want to and not have to rely on others to bring me.

 

4. Get my first job

I know working is not fun or easy, but I would love to make my own money. On the free time that I do have with my friends or just out by myself, I always end up spending money. Also, it is a part of growing up to get my first job.

 

 

 

Long Term

 

 

 1. Bungee Jumping

I would love to go bungee jumping. It looks so amazing and free to fly through the air like you don't have a care in the world. It would be an experience that I would never forget.

 

2. Go to Hawaii

 Hawaii is really beautiful and since I do not live there, I would love to at least be able to go there for vacation. There are so many things that you can do there that you just cant do in America and I would really like to do them at some point in my life.

 

3. Learn how to surf

 I have always wanted to learn how to surf. I love to swim and be in water, and people who are surfing seem to always impress me. I think the beach and waves are so beautiful, and a sport that you can actually be I the waves is so cool.

 

4. Meet Ed Sheeran
 Ed Sheeran is one of my favorite singers. He is an amazing song writer and has a beautiful voice. I have always wanted to meet him and have made it a goal to meet him at some point in my life.

"The Case Against High-School Sports"

    In the article, "The Case Against High School Sports", by Amanda Ripley, I agreed with her in some aspects, but also disagreed with some of her feelings about this topic. Although sports can make school feel like less of a task for some students, its also very important to focus more on education and learning.
    Sports play a very important role in school and in the some of the students lives. According to Ripley, some of the benefits include, "... exercise, lessons in sportsmanship and perseverance, school spirit, and just plain fun." These definitely are some contributing factors as to why sports are important. The article states, "In these communities, the dominant argument is usually that sports lure students into school and keep them out of more trouble." This is agreeable for me because for some students sports makes school more enjoyable. It is a good distraction from other trouble that they may encounter while outside of school. Another good point that I found while reading this article was, "Another study, conducted by Columbia's Margo Gardner, found that teenagers who participated in extracurriculars had higher college-graduation and voting rates, even after controlling for ethnicity, parental education, and other factors." These extracurricular activities include sports which is a very good reason to include sports in schools.
    On the other hand, sports may have too much of an important role in schools. Sociologist James Coleman stated, "...Altogether, the trophy case would suggest to the innocent visitor that he was entering an athletic club, not an educational institution." I think this is true and when there are trophies as soon as you walk into the school, it shows how sports are more important to celebrate than education. The author also wrote about the town Premont by saying, "Football at Premont cost about $1,300 a player. Math by contrast, cost just $618 a student. For the price of one football season, the district could have hired a full-time elementary-school music teacher for an entire year." By saying this, I can't help but think about the fact that the schools are spending too much money on sports, which is an extracurricular, than the actual extent of education. Finally, I found this quote very interesting, " Athletics even dictate the time that school starts each day: despite research showing that later start times improve student performance, many high schools begin before 8 am., partly to reserve afternoon daylight hours for sports practice." If schools started later, students would be more well rested and perform better academically.

Ripley, Amanda. "The Case Against High-School Sports." The Atlantic Oct. 2013: 72-78. Print

Ethos. Pathos. Logos.

There are examples of Ethos, Pathos, and Logos in the article, "The Power of Music, Tapped in a Cubicle."

Ethos:

• "In biological terms, melodious sounds help encourage the release of dopamine in the reward area of the brain, as would eating a delicacy, looking at something appealing or smelling a pleasant aroma, said Dr. Amit Sood, a physician of integrative medicine with the Mayo Clinic."
• "“It breaks you out of just thinking one way,” said Teresa Lesiuk, an assistant professor in the music therapy program at the University of Miami."
• "Few companies have policies about music listening, said Paul Flaharty, a regional vice president at Robert Half Technology, the staffing agency. But it is still a good idea to check with your manager, even if you see others wearing headphones in the office."
• "Daniel Rubin, a columnist at The Philadelphia Inquirer, said he has listened to jazz and piano concertos for most of his 33-year newspaper career — but only when writing on deadline. He started off using a Sony Walkman, but now makes use of 76 days’ worth of music on his iTunes playlist."

Pathos:

1. The columnist, Daniel Rubin, explains how music helps him to focus on his work and be less distracted by the sounds around him. For people who are interested in a career of writing, to have a him say that might make them want to try listening to music too.
2. This article may also be appealing to companies who want their workers to be more productive. They may wish to offer music to their employees to help with their job performance.

Logos:

• "Dr. Sood, at the Mayo Clinic, said it takes just 15 minutes to a half-hour of listening time to regain concentration."

ARTICLE

My Pet Peeves

1.  Getting my clothes wet.
I hate the feeling of wet clothes on my skin. The worst is when I spill my drink on my jeans and I'm stuck wearing what I have on.

2.  Having something heavy in only one of my pockets.
I really hate when I have something that's heavy in only one pocket because it looks weird and bulky and it also weighs down  the jacket on one which is uneven and annoying.

3.  When all the sugar gathers at the bottom of my iced coffee.
I don't like when I order an iced coffee and when I take a sip from the straw, its way too sweet and I'm basically drinking sugar.

4.  When there are too many commercials on the radio.
Its really irritating when I'm listening to the radio and there are so many commercials in between each song that comes on. I turn on the radio to listen to music not commercials.

5.  When people hear the phone ringing but don't answer it.
I don't get how some people  hear the house phone ringing and don't even get up to see who it is. I would need to get up and check the phone because I would be afraid of it being really important and I missed it.

6.  When I drop my guitar pick inside of my acoustic guitar.
It is especially annoying when I'm playing my acoustic guitar and I drop the pick inside of it. You can not reach under the strings to get it out, so I have to shake it above my head until the pick falls out.