Throughout music’s history it has evolved continuously, but not the same way every time — music changes with new technology or new singers that bring something different into their industry. The evolution of music, however, is influenced by many external forces that cause it to change the way it does. There have been certain organizations, people, and periods that have affected the way music is sung or shown. A few examples of these external factors includes the Catholic Church, Youtube, and the professionals who analyze music.

The Catholic Church has had any influences on many things in our world; in this case, for years they had a ban for Catholics listening to music between C and F sharp. They believed that the distance between these notes was in some way related to the devil. The Church has a massive influence on not just Catholics, but Christian in general. If they were told that if they listened to these notes, it was associated with the devil, they would not listen to it. Another factor is youtube, as we heard in the podcast on how youtube was allowed to count for the Billboard music awards. Youtube changed the way musicians delivered act music and how the public looks at music. Over time the musicians realized that if they created terrific music videos and undermining music they are performing they can still make it to a number one spot. The public sees excellent videos, and they forget about the music in the video which is more important than the video. This creates a culture that believes a good music video equals good music. The last factor is the analysis of the music produced. Most of the time the public does not depend upon the opinion of analysts. Granted if an analysis writes an awful review on a song before it is released to the public then the radio station, MTV, or any other music platform would be hesitant to play the song.

Bob Dylan had dealt head on with this problem of being rejected. Mr. Dylan performed at the Newport Folk Festival with an electric guitar where he was booed, and the audience left the festive. As we all know Bob Dylan would go on to become immensely famous and a leader in the evolution of a new type of folk mixed with rock. The next step with music’s evolution was later on when Bill Board began including youtube music videos hits as part of the calculations towards the number one song. I believe this was not the best idea, not because of the adding of the views for calculating this award, but this creates an environment where musicians want to have the best video and not the best music. People no longer look at the song they performer is singing, but rather how good the video is.

In writing the photo essay, while it was a very open-ended project; I had to find a specific topic to focus on and analysis while still telling a story. Mixing the facts in my narrative with having a beginning, middle, and end is not an easy task. Overall it was a ten step process that I used to write my paper and include the photograph to help tell my story. The first step was to find a topic that I enjoyed talking about and also a topic that people should know more about. The second was for me to understand what message I wanted to convey to my audience. The next was to create a broad outline of what I wanted my project to look like. Following, the fourth step was to develop a thesis statement related to step two and then to implement it in step three.

The fifth step was to find supporting arguments and fact to back up my ideas and thoughts on the topic. This next step, step six, can be very difficult to accomplish, but if done right can be extremely useful. What questions might your audience ask and then once you know those questions address them appropriately. For the photography within this paper, I needed to find and take pictures relating to my topic and then at times create a collage of photos in one space of the essay. Before I talked about how difficult it would be to incorporate the facts into the narrative, this is step eight. Second to last step, step nine is addressing why is my topic important. Finally, depending on the topic and because mine was on helping the Guatemalan people have a better quality of life, step ten was to address how people could help the situation.

When trying to read photography, it can be difficult to see where the photographer wants you to look or get out of his or her photo. There are a few steps to try and help someone trying to read a photograph. The steps consist of trying to find and understand the setting, what was going on in the photo, what was the time period, what photography techniques we’re using in the photo, and what is the bigger picture and meaning behind the photo. Using these steps will help the reader get a better understanding of a photograph instead of just looking at a picture and not seeing the work or meaning behind it.

Trying to find and understand the setting is the first step in reading a photo, this could be difficult because it can relate to a specific time period or social issue. For example, looking at a picture of the Old Library in Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland. You can see that the ceiling are incredibly high and the room is very long rather than wide. The caption tells us that the photo was taken very recently, in 2018. The room itself is very dark with that seems to be natural light. Also, the picture could have been taken while on a tour or the Library. Doing this and understand the circumstances for the photograph makes it easier to understand and relate it to the other steps in this reading process. The second step was, what was going on in the photo. Going back to my example with the Old Library photography, the photographer could have been on a tour of the library and saw the opportunity to take this picture. You can see how the person in the photo was also taking a picture of the library which makes it seem like there was a group of people with them.

The third step, like I stated before shows that the photo was taken recently so here the context of a time period or social issue do not play a huge role in understanding the picture. Also, you can look at the history of the Old Library why it is so famous. This plays a massive role in understanding and close reading this photo for example. The next part of reading a picture is finding out what techniques the photographer using in taking the photo itself. An example of this would be the rule of thirds where the subject would be on one of the two sides of the image and not the middle or leading lines to the subject, here the leading lines show all the bookcases and leaving you to the brighter middle right section by the women’s hands. Finally, the last step in reading a photo and understanding would be after you go through this list and check off everything, then you can make the conclusion of a more significant meaning behind it or is the picture the way it is presented. Some photos mean precisely what you see in the image; however, most of the time you can find a more profound and more significant meaning behind what the picture shows. Again, going back to this image of the Old Library, after using these steps you can see how the history of this Library plays a role in a deeper meaning of the picture.

Overall there are many ways to close read a photograph, but this list gives you the basis you need to understand what the author wants to tell you and what it means to them. It also gives you a great appreciation for photography because even though this photo only shows you bookcase with the sunlight on them and a women taking another photograph, it means so much more and is a terrific way of showing this Library to the public and what it means to the photographer.

Works Cited

A Tourist Takes Pictures in the the Long Room of the Old Library in Trinity College . Dublin, Irland,

14 Sept. 2018.

My feelings towards comics, in general, were that they are mainly for superheroes and young children as many believe. With that being said, I do not have an opinion them either way; however, they are interesting to read. I think that the act of reading a comic seems like there is more work required than to read a regular style book. Everyone has their idea of what normal is, buy comics, in general, have a very abstract presence about them. The art of being able to draw and write comics for the masses can be very useful in many instances. I agree with Chute’s idea that comics can be challenging to read at times because of the format and space on the pages. I never had an interest in reading comics or graphic novels growing up, so reading comics for me will take time getting used too.

On page 61, in Understanding Comics, by Scott McCloud. The panels at the bottom of the page, he is talking about his legs in the drawings. McCloud is essential talking about people assuming reality, meanings that he knows that Morocco exists even though McCloud has never been before. Here the drawing depicts McCloud sitting in a chair, but the reader can not see his legs. In the first panel, he says that you can see his legs, even though you assume they are there. Then in the following image, he is shown with no words looking down at his legs with his palms out. The last panel shows McCloud saying that his legs are not there because it’s just a drawing and not reality, even though we assume it. He says that that is just the way we are in society and we believe things are most likely true in reality, but obviously not in this comic (McCloud, Scott).

After I read it the first time I did not fully understand what he was getting at, and I also just skimmed the images. I had to read it for a second time to get what McCloud was saying, and it made perfect sense. With regard for the drawings, once I took a deeper look at them I found them similar to the chapter prior when he was talking about the pipe and how the pipe in the picture is not a real pipe at all, but only a picture. This is relating back to how the author is having a conversation with the reader making the reader feel more involved with the comic.

Works Cited

McCloud, Scott. “Understanding Comics.” p. 61

Personally, I never had an interest in reading comics growing up. When I was in elementary school, there was a very popular comic called, Bone, by Jeff Smith and it was about a ghost like figure who traveled around with different adventures and dealt with monsters and other fantasy situations. I could never find an interest in reading this comic or comics in general. In the “Bone” comic they used slang frequency, and as a young reader, I found it difficult to follow and then soon lost interest. Comics, when I was growing up, was similar to a fad, in my opinion, there was a time that everyone in my grade wanted to read them, and then it died off. As a young kid, I wanted to see what the big deal was about this comic and never sparked an interest in me. Besides my own experience in comics, I know how useful they can be in influencing the general public at times. One specific time that presents itself is war, war and the propaganda that stems from it influences the public’s opinion greatly. (Smith, Jeff).

In World War II, comics were used daily to make fun of Hitler and Mussolini; mainly, they also created one of the most famous superheroes of many generations, Captain America. In war, it is a terrible time, with many deaths and terrible tragedies. The public needed something to help ease the pain, and comics did that. This is where in, Why Comics, by Hillary Chute brings up a great point, that comics do not have to be funny. They, however, most are with the purpose of making someone laugh, but there are thousands of comics that are to point out social issues or other issues that are made fun of without the purposes of making someone laugh necessarily. Each “cartoonist” has his or her way of creating comics with a light hearted story or with deeper meaning to point out an issue.

Comics started in newspapers in the 1890s, which later during the war people would love to see the “Sunday supplement” for the comic strips. The physical books began printing in the 1930s and then the graphic novels in the 1970s. Currently, the general comic book industry is estimated to be worth over 1 billion dollars, and even though books sales are down, the comic books remain steady. Over time comics have not seemed to me that they have ever been in the limelight, but have always been there making an influence on people very sudaly. Even though today, we see comics as superhero stories and good versus evil, in the past and in stories like the one we listened to about the refugees have had a greater influence on us than we realize.

Works CitedSmith,

Jeff. Boneville.

  In Paul Kalanithi Prologue, Breath Becomes Air, he talks about his end of education and looking forward to becoming a neurosurgeon. After many years of studying and working to get to where he is now, he has the whole world ahead of him. Until Paul beings to have signs of cancer, leading him to have to put his life on hold to deal with his downfall.

   In the prologue, Paul helps his readers gain more context and understanding through the details he give the reader. A few consists of his traveling experience, long work hours, relationship with his wife, reading his medical reports, the trip with his friends, and the hospital room where he was admitted. To begin when we learn about Paul and his medical education, how long hours and hard taxing work affected him. He began to lose weight rapidly, and experience significant back pain. He believed that it only formed the work he was doing for the residency. Later he then talks about how his back pain increased significantly, to the point where when he was traveling. On a bench was lying down in agonizing pain holding back his tears. Also, the weight loss has gone from losing a few pounds to Paul weighing 175 to 145. This dramatic shift from talking about him losing weight to losing 30 pounds in a tiny window of time with no change in diet and how he was crying form the back pain he was experiencing.

   Another was when he was on his trip to New York to visit his friends. The entire time he was frail and only wanted to sleep. Later leading him to talking with his friend over a drink explaining to him that he very well could have cancer. Before him leaving he began having marriage troubles. His wife was looking at possible types of cancer for his age group. This lead to her believing that he was worried about his cancer when she was also anxious as well. She left for a little while, and after coming to terms learning from him that he does have cancer, the ended up staying together and helping Paul though this terrible time. This is another example of them he was on his couch telling his wife and her putting his head off his chest saying I love you. This brings the reader into his living room as if he or she was with the two of them experience the same thing.

   The last examples that bring the reader deeper into Paul’s experience were when he was admitted into the hospital. He talks about how he was brought into the same room that he would treat or talk to his patients when he was in residency. He explains different examples of this including, telling patients they are cured of a disease or pronouncing someone dead. At this point he goes into detail talking about his life, and how he looked forward to so many of his goals as a father, husband, and doctor; then leaving the prologue off as saying how it was all over and how he was going to deal with this terrible calamity in his life now.

   In the second peace, The Story of My Life, it talks about how we used stories in our everyday life; explaining our own life stories and how each day of our lives add to that story. Stories help us as a community and ourselves by telling our experiences. At times we tell stories to understand better what happens to us, not just to tell someone else what happened. Trying to under our world and lives is not an easy task to handle, but when we talk to other people about here stories or experiences then that could have an effect on us and how was do things as we go forward. If we use stories to help shape us as people, then that will affect our personalities. When we tell stories, everyone has a different way of doing that, and that’s what makes it so unique. These different ways of telling these stories are our personality so when we hear or experience new stories that could affect the way we tell them later on and in connection change our personalities.

In the story, Then You Will Know, by Moshe Schulman. Moshe goes into detail explaining his Jewish Orthodox faith he was brought up by. He describes how after following the rules for years and listening to his parents and rabbis his faith in his religion faded. Later he tells how he went to live with his aunt in Long Island who was nowhere near as religious as him and his family. The reason he lived with his aunt was that his parents were going through a terrible divorce and he did not want to be around either of his parents. After testing his luck with moving his yamaka forward on his head at school and listening to Howard Stern on the bus to school. He began to realize that God was not going to strike him down and that he could try new things without dying.

Concerning Down’s terms for analyzing rhetorical stories, I found that association, identification, and rhetorical ecology are in this story.

Firstly, association in terms for Moshe’s faith. When most people hear the word orthodox, it means a more refined strikers version of whatever subject is orthodox, here it is Judaism. When people see families or men walking on the street with larger hats, and all dressed in black, the women wearing wigs and long skirts. We associate that with the Orthodox Jewish faith, there are many groups within the Jewish faith, but being orthodox can at time be much easier to associate specific attributes to.

The second element is identification, for our author, Moshe, as a child be interpreted that if he did certain things in life God would ultimately kill him and he would not go to Heaven. This would scare anyone, that if you did something God would kill you and you would not get to have eternal life in Heaven, primarily as a child. Part of this interpretation was for life outside of his home; he was not allowed to associate with girls, watch television or another social activity that the orthodox faith believed to be sinful. Another example of this interpretation was for Moshe’s food. He was only allowed and think he could eat kosher foods. When he lived in his home with his parents, this was not an issue. However, now that he began living with his non religious aunt, there was little to no kosher food to be found in her house. When they ran out of the kosher food in the house, they went driving around looking for a place to eat or frozen meals to heat up. Concluding that there was no kosher food to be found, he was interested in trying food that was not. Terrified that God was going to kill his aunt, brother, and himself for even getting the food let alone actually teaching it. Throughout this experience of breaking his loyalty to only eating kosher foods, this was the first significant sept for him to leaving the Orthodox Jewish faith which he identified himself with so much for so long.

The last is the rhetorical ecology, being part of the orthodox faith it created a network of influences around the author and it affected how he lived his life. Later eventually making him leave that faith to follow much less strict confidence. During this period is where we see as the reader the identification of how God would kill him, or how strict the faith is in association and the use of kosher foods. As I interpret this story as the reader, I see that the Orthodox faith is not for the faint of heart. Seeing how Moshe goes through his story and explain how he thought he was going to die by a lightning strike in the street for eating a slice of pizza in ludacris, but it creates an interesting story rather than just saying how stricted his faith was while growing up.

In the story’s that we have read in class each has specific characteristics of storytelling in them. In the story Prom, by Hasan Minhaj he writes about how he was told by his teacher that he had to go to the prom. After agreeing to go with a girl who he was friends with at the time and secretly loved, he tells the story of him sneaking out of his home and getting his bike after putting on his new suit and cologne he bought for the prom. Peddled his way to the girl’s house where he found himself rejected at the door because her parents had her go with another guy because Hassan was Indian and not white. He was told that he would not fit into the picture, so at this point, he left the house where he went back to his home to play video games and did not go to the prom.

When we read a story like this one, we overlook the details of what the author is doing in his or her writing. Firstly, Hasan brings us into his home when he is working on his homework with this girl explains the details of what things smell like or the conversation his father and mother are having in a different language. Later on, he was also able to use the element of transporting the character and reader into his calculus classroom twice. When his teacher first decided to make all the kids go to the prom, Hasan went around and gave details of most of the kids in the room and how they were not going to be able to get a date or be able to ask someone to go to the prom with them. The second time is when the next day after the prom, and everyone is mad at him that he was the only one who did not go to and he also did not take the other girl who he was initially supposed to take.

Another two elements were the raising tension regarding him pedaling on his bike and going to her house. As well as him attempting to sneak out of his house without his father realizing it, “I climb out the window and my trusty Huffy to the left of the house.” Hasan brings the reader along with him as he is getting ready to go to her house and also as he explains in his essay that he was trying to peddle a specific speed in order to get there on time, but also not sweat, “I made sure I was biking fast enough that I’d get to her house on time, but slow enough that I wouldn’t get pit stains”. Writing like this creates a more lifelike experience to the reader, and it creates an atmosphere where we can relate to the writer in some way at some point in our lives. The tensions also build up until the point when the girl’s mother opens the door and Hassan sees the other guy putting the corsage on the girl. The mother continues to say how he would not fit in the picture, “See, we have a lot of family back in Ohio, and we’re going to be taking pictures tonight, so we don’t think you’d be a good fit.” At which point he gets back on his bike to go home, that was the climax and the point at which he gets to see the other guy is where it falls. We as the reader followed him along this process of being excited for him riding there to feeling remorse for him as he went home. With these elements, they make for a much better and exciting read rather than just giving the details and the overarching storyline. When writing it is important to keep the reader’s attention though the entirety of your writing. Doing this means that you have to bring in the element of storytelling into your writing to keep it exciting and interesting for everyone.

By,

J. Brian Moran