"Inspiration Information" by Shuggie Otis

What is the overall feel of the song?
- The song is very smooth and relaxed but at the same time very exciting and upbeat.

What musical elements put off this vibe?
- The guitar kept the song very relaxed and the drums kept it upbeat and happy. The vocalists' voices were also very smooth and happy.

Identify the choices the musician had to make to get this feel and why it worked.
- The musicians had to choose to make all of the aspects of the song do something different so that they would put off many different vibes at one times. For example, singers were smooth, drums were upbeat, guitar was relaxed etc.

"Semeadores" by Diego Rivera

S- labor
O- hard times in Hispanic lives
A- working class Hispanics
P- to show Hispanics that others are going through the same hard times
S- other working class Hispanics
Tone- sympathetic

The meaning of the painting is that working class Hispanics had very difficult lives. The lines in the painting are very smooth showing that all working class Hispanics are going through the same thing, not one has it any better. The colors are all neutral also showing they all are going through the same thing.

Writing

-Summarize Wilco's approach to creating a song.
He and his band get together and make the basic part of the song (the melody and such) then, they completely destroy the song and make it better than it was before.

-What is your creative process for writing?
First, I sit down and think, once and idea comes into my head I begin to pre-write. I think of my main points and decide how many paragraphs I want to have on each point. I then write an outline of the points I will put in each paragraph. After this I start writing based on my pre-write.

Nostalgia

-What is nostalgia?
Nostalgia is the feeling of wanting to go back to the past.

-What images come to mind when you hear this music?
In the first song I think of swing dancing. I picture people swing dancing together in a large room. I see a band in the background playing music. For the second song I picture the movie The Notebook during the scene when they are dancing in the street to Billie Holiday. I couldn't really picture much more than a band playing music for the third song.

-What images pop into your head when you think of your childhood? What smells, sounds, and feelings are associated with these images?
I picture swings, playing outside, t-ball, my grandma, and dance recitals. Sour cream salad makes me think of my grandma because every time I would go to her house we would always make it together because it was my favorite food. The smell of cut grass makes me think of coming home from school, dropping my backpack on the ground and swinging until it got dark.

The Pinch of Poverty

-What are the major contributing factors to poverty?
Money is the main contributing factor to poverty today. If one does not have any money then they are unable to buy food, water, clothes, etc. I think money is the main factor of poverty but work is also another factor that also contributes with poverty and money. Without a job people have no money to provide for themselves and their family.

-How does this artist portray poverty?
This artists portrays poverty in a negative light, the people in the painting look very sad and the colors are very gloomy.

-What is this artist's message about poverty?
The artist's message is that poverty may be very sad but you can always find hope. Even if the people in the painting may be in very dark times they will always be able to find hope somewhere.

-Identify and explain 2 elements of art that enhance the message?
The colors are very dark and gloomy except for the flowers in the little girls hands. The colors in flowers show that there will always be hope you may just have to find it. The flowers show that there is hope as in the author's message. The placement of the people also shows the message. The mom, baby and little boy are all huddled up and look as if they have given up. The daughter is a little away from them and looks hopeful that she will get money to help to support her family.

Poverty- 2 Articles

In the article "Live Free and Starve" Divakaruni discusses how the United States interfering with third world countries child labor may be making the child's life worse even though it was a good intention. The United States may have been starving the children when they prevented imports from countries with child labor. Divakaruni talks about a boy that came to work for her family when she was little because his family did not have enough money to support him. She says, "The uncle explained to my mother that Nimai's parents were too poor to feed their several children, and while his brother were already working in the fields and earning their keep, Nimai was too frail to do so." If her family had not allowed Nimai to work for her family then he may have died because his family could not support him. Although this is not a desirable life it may have been better than starving. Divakaruni says, it is wrong for America to take other countries situations into their own hands when they do not know much about it at all. She says, "It is easy for us in America to make the error of evaluating situations in the rest of the world as though they were happening in this country and propose solutions that make excellent sense- in the context of our society." She believes that the United States should let other countries handle their own problems and we should not try to jump in.

Singer however has a totally different opinion on a similar subject. He discusses in "The Singer Solution to World Poverty" that Americans should be giving money and trying as hard as they can to help other countries in poverty. He criticizes Americans for spending all their money on unnecessary things and not helping save lives in other countries. He uses an example from a book about a man that lets a kid get killed by a train instead of letting the train hit his expensive car. He says, "The child is killed . For many years to come, Bob enjoys his Bugatti..." He emphasizes Americans spending saving on useless things and not bothering to save lives. "Whatever you're spending on luxuries, not necessities, should be given away." Singer wants to persuade readers to send all of their money in to help people in poverty.

Both authors are trying to help the poor but in two different ways. They have two completely different opinions. I agree more with Singers opinion but, I don't believe that we should cut off all of our extra luxuries, that is too much to ask. Also not all people have money to contribute. By sending money into an organization you are interfering with their country but not directly. I believe that it is a good idea to help the poor by sending in a few dollars. I do believe that I have a bias toward this opinion because I have heard of charities and I see commercials about the poor and helping them. I however have never heard of the opinion to not help them at all and to let the countries deal with it themselves.

Ariel Pink's Haunted Grafitti "Round and Round"

The song "Round and Round" was part of a different style of music than I am used to listening to. I do not usually listen to this type of music and therefore I had a bias. The song had harmonies and changed beats. These facts influenced my opinion because I do not normally like a lot of harmony but, in this song I liked how the harmonies were not really pointed out. I liked how you had to really listen to hear them because the background music was much louder than the singers in some parts. Also, if  the song had stayed smooth the whole time I would not have really liked it because it was boring and not interesting. However, the song changed from soft to loud and slow to fast during many parts which made it more interesting. These both influenced my opinion of the song because without the two things the song would have been very dull to me and because I do not usually listen to this type of music I would not have liked it, but because of these facts I grew to like the song as it progressed. I do believe that I have a bias because I don't usually listen to this type of music therefore in the beginning I was thinking that I was not going to like the song. However, as the song advanced I began to like it.