The Essay that I wrote is an example essay. I chose this essay style because it lets me give examples as to how music makes people feel happy and/or sad. I described how when I went to Warped Tour and saw my favorite band, I was extremely happy and excited, yet I still wanted to cry out of Joy. I also stated how music is a therapy and the lyrics and sounds can help people get through bad experiences that they are experiencing.
Listen to the Music March 11, 2008
Music: my escape route, my knight in shining armor, my companion. It’s something I can always turn to; something that I know will forever be a part of my life in some way or another. “The odd thing about music is that we understand and respond to it without actually having to learn it” (Ackerman). Although I can’t play any instruments myself, listening to the sound of other people creating melodies that help people get through their lives peacefully is absolutely amazing to me. Music, to me, is a way to get away from everything. When I feel as if too much is going on in my life, I turn on my music and sink into the deep sea of the sound. When I feel as though life could not get any better, I do the same. No matter what type of mood I’m in, I know that I can always turn on my music and a world of emotions will come swarming into my soul. Every individual, even the most unmusical, is likely to be touched by music if they choose the right song (Isaacson).
What is the right song anyway? When somebody asks me what my favorite song is, my answer is given in either complete silence or I rattle off the name of a song that I will probably only like for two days, before moving onto something new. I have favorite songs for different parts of my life, such as my depressed middle school days or a song from the cd I listened to most during my favorite summer. When I’m missing parts of those times or people from that period, I dig through my cd collection and find the songs that remind me most of who or what I’m thinking of. When I travel home from school for vacations, I listen to music and sing my heart out during my three hour drive. My emotions for those three hours are completely ridiculous, in the way that I have never been happier or sadder in my life. It’s as though the music is actually the being that is sad. As Trivedi stated “In hearing the music, we make-believably bring it to life and imagine that it is the very being whose emotion is being expressed, so that it seems as if it is the music itself that is sad or joyous.” I listen to the widest range of music; some of it making me cry tears of joy, others making me shed tears of sorrow. A musical passage can make us cry, or send our blood pressure soaring (Ackerman).
When I went to the Vans Warped Tour this summer, never in my life have I been filled with so much powerful energy. When I heard my favorite band, The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, begin to play before me, my heart filled with so much excitement and joy that I really thought I was going to burst into tears. The energy they emitted from the stage made every fan in the audience pause, before beginning to thrash their bodies in the sea of people. When I heard them play I thought of everything that any of their songs have ever helped me through or made me think of. I felt like I was part of the actual band; living my dream and putting my heart out there for the world to see. Like pure emotions, music surges and sighs, rampages or grows quiet, and it behaves so much like our emotions it seems often to symbolize them, to mirror them, to communicate them to others, and thus frees us from the elaborate nuisance and inaccuracy of the words (Ackerman). Music is one crazy roller coaster of emotions; the words and sounds make me lose my mind in the crazy chaos of the world.
Music is my therapy; It helps me through the bad times I have, and helps me to realize how good my life truly is when I need to hear it the most. Music is something that has always been a part of my life, and always will be. Whether I hear the sounds of my favorite bands live or hear them from a recording, the messages that they send out are going to be instilled in my soul everytime I listen to them. I feel as though music is something that has and always will help me to find out who I truly am in life. In a world so large and confusing, I know that the sounds of music will always be there to guide me through my life.
Works Cited
Ackerman, Diane. A Natural History of the Senses. New York: Vintage books, 1990.
Isaacson, Greg. “Different Grooves for Different Moods.” Psychology Today 40 Oct 2007 22. 05 Feb 2008 <http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=1&hid=5&sid=1ffa962b-1a5c-4596-a058-0894f4c07450%40sessionmgr7>.
Trivedi, Saam. “Expressiveness as a Property of the Music Itself.” Journal of Aesthetics and Art Cristicism 40.52007 22. 05 Feb 2008 <http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=1&hid=5&sid=1ffa962b-1a5c-4596-a058-0894f4c07450%40sessionmgr7>.
Music Test #2 March 7, 2008
This song is one that I would definitely listen to on my own. It’s like music that I’ve heard before and music that I listen to alot. I don’t think I’ve heard this song before but the voice sounds very familiar so I might have heard some music from this band already.
Music Test #1 March 7, 2008
The song that I listened to was a mix of a few different songs, so it sounded very familiar to me because I knew one of the songs that it was mixed with. The song was very upbeat and made me want to get up and jump and dance around the room. It was a very fun song and it’s something I would definitely listen to on my own. It kind of put me in a good mood, too. =)
Music March 5, 2008
Music: my escape route, my knight in shining armor, my companion. It’s something I can always turn to; something that I know will forever be a part of my life in some way or another. “The odd thing about music is that we understand and respond to it without actually having to learn it” (Ackerman). Although I can’t play any instruments myself, listening to the sound of other people creating melodies that help people live their lives is absolutely amazing to me. Music, to me, is a way to get away from everything. When I feel as if too much is going on in my life, I turn on my music and sink into the deep sea of the sound. When I feel as though life could not get any better, I do the same. No matter what type of mood I’m in, I know that I can always turn on my music and a world of emotions will come swarming into my soul. Every individual, even the most unmusical, is likely to be touched by music if they choose the right song (Isaacson).
What is the right song anyway? When somebody asks me what my favorite song is, my answer is given in either complete silence or I rattle off the name of a song that I will probably only like for two days, before moving onto something new. I have favorite songs for different parts of my life, such as my depressed middle school days or a song from the cd I listened to most during my favorite summer. When I’m missing parts of those times or people from that period, I dig through my cd collection and find the songs that remind me most of who or what I’m thinking of. When I travel home from school for vacations, I listen to music and sing my heart out during my three hour drive. My emotions for those three hours are completely ridiculous, in the way that I have never been happier or sadder in my life. It’s as though the music is actually the being that is sad. As Trivedi stated “In hearing the music, we make-believably bring it to life and imagine that it is the very being whose emotion is being expressed, so that it seems as if it is the music itself that is sad or joyous.” I listen to the widest range of music; some of it making me cry tears of joy, others making me shed tears of sorrow. A musical passage can make us cry, or send our blood pressure soaring (Ackerman).
When I went to the Vans Warped Tour this summer, never in my life have I been filled with so much powerful energy. When I heard my favorite band, The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, begin to play before me, my heart filled with so much excitement and joy that I really thought I was going to burst into tears. The energy they emitted from the stage made every fan in the audience pause, before beginning to thrash their bodies in the sea of people. When I heard them play I thought of everything that any of their songs have ever helped me through or made me think of. I felt like I was part of the actual band; living my dream and putting my heart out there for the world to see. Like pure emotions, music surges and sighs, rampages or grows quiet, and it behaves so much like our emotions it seems often to symbolize them, to mirror them, to communicate them to others, and thus frees us from the elaborate nuisance and inaccuracy of the words (Ackerman).
Works Cited
Ackerman, Diane. A Natural History of the Senses. New York: Vintage books, 1990.
Isaacson, Greg. “Different Grooves for Different Moods.” Psychology Today 40 Oct 2007 22. 05 Feb 2008 <http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=1&hid=5&sid=1ffa962b-1a5c-4596-a058-0894f4c07450%40sessionmgr7>.
Trivedi, Saam. “Expressiveness as a Property of the Music Itself.” Journal of Aesthetics and Art Cristicism 40.52007 22. 05 Feb 2008 <http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=1&hid=5&sid=1ffa962b-1a5c-4596-a058-0894f4c07450%40sessionmgr7>.
Works Cited March 5, 2008
MLA
In-Text Citations:
(Nathan)
(Watson)
Works Cited:
Nathan Bevis. “The Sense of Touch- A Philosophical Surprise.” Journal of Holistic Healthcare. 4.4(2007) 24-31. 28 Feb 2008. <http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=5&hid=3&sid=ddaee885-fe64-432d-a992-35aabae55e09%40SRCSM2>.
Watson, Rhoda. “The Common Touch.” Nursing Older People 17.1(2005) 44-45. 28 Feb 2008. <http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=6&hid=22&sid=ddaee885-fe64-432d-a992-35aabae55e09%40SRCSM2>.
APA
In-Text Citations:
Ackerman (1990)
Morgan (1998)
References:
Ackerman, D. (1990). A Natural History of the Senses. New York: Vintage Books.
Morgan, E. (1998). The Power Of a Mother’s Touch. Christian Parenting Magazine. Retrieved February 25, 2008, from http://www.christianitytoday.com/cpt/8g5/8g5072.html
Touch-A Definition Essay March 3, 2008
The essay that I chose to write was a definition or descriptive essay. I wrote this type of essay because I wanted to describe how touch has more than just one meaning. I wrote my essay describing the different ways that the word touch can be portrayed. I think that the world touch can be both a physical and an emotional experience. In my essay I talked about how touch is something physical, and how I touch many objects throughout each of my days. I also talked about how touch can be an emotional experience, such as when somebody does something good for me or the feeling that I get when I’m kissed by somebody I truly care about.
The Feeling of Touch March 3, 2008
Touch is the primary sense, and the tactile sense is the primordial way of experiencing life (Nathan). Without touch I wouldn’t be able to physically feel the things that I do everyday, or really have any sense about what is going on around me. I wouldn’t be able to feel the cold air on my skin in the winter time, or the warmth of the summer’s sun. But physical touch isn’t the only kind of touch there is; I am touched in an emotional or mental way when somebody says something nice to me or performs an act of kindness. I think that without either of these different aspects of the word touch, my life would be completely different.
The physical sense of touching is one that is very important to me. Without it I would not be able to feel the touch of a loved one, or anything else that I am physically touched by. Touch teaches us that we live in a three-dimensional world (Ackerman). Ackerman is simply stating that by touching something in a physical way, one can tell that it is three-dimsional. I also believe that a physical touch can lead to an emotional one. An example of this is having a sensual relationship with somebody that I truly care about. When this person kisses my lips, the touch is simply physical, but the passion behind the kiss causes me to be touched emotionally. I agree with Diane Ackerman completely when she stated, “It’s as if, in the complex language of love, there were a word that could only be spoken by lips when lips touch, a silent contract sealed with a kiss” (Ackerman).
Touch can also be defined as an emotional experience. In the article “The Common Touch” the author explains how receiving a letter or gift touches our hearts (Watson). When someone tells me something they like about me or when I see somebody performing a kind act, it touches my heart. Knowing that there are still decent people in the world makes me want to open my heart even more to others so I can touch their hearts also. When I am emotionally touched by somebody, I usually feel a stronger connection with that person, because whatever the experience may be, it’s usually a genuine one.
I know that I will never really be able to describe the word touch using just one definition, because I think of it in so many different ways. I physically touch many things throughout each and every day that I live and would be lost in the world without my sense of touch. I am also touched emotionally and mentally by things that happen to me. When I am having a bad day and my famly and friends try to make me feel better, I am emotionally touched. The sense of touch is perhaps the sense that is used most, both physically and emotionally, in peoples’ everyday lives, and I don’t think that one definition will ever be enough to truly describe the definition of the word touch.
Works Cited
Ackerman, Diane. A Natural History of the Senses. New York: Vintage books, 1990.
Nathan Bevis. “The Sense of Touch- A Philosophical Surprise.” Journal of Holistic Healthcare. 4.4(2007) 24-31. 28 Feb 2008. <http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=5&hid=3&sid=ddaee885-fe64-432d-a992-35aabae55e09%40SRCSM2>.
Watson, Rhoda. “The Common Touch.” Nursing Older People 17.1(2005) 44-45. 28 Feb 2008. <http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=6&hid=22&sid=ddaee885-fe64-432d-a992-35aabae55e09%40SRCSM2>.
Touch Test #2 February 29, 2008
Before I felt it I was scared as hell because Marlen is super crazy and I had no clue what he would put infront of me. I did like the fact that I had a partner to discuss what I was feeling with, so I didn’t have to go through the experience alone. The first thing I felt when I touch the object was the softness, so i knew that it was some sort of stuffed animal. I felt the heart tag on it so I knew that it was a beanie baby (because I used to have some of them). I felt that the thing had four leg-type things, and they caused me to believe that the object I was touching was a stuffed crab. It had two beady eyes and a little hard thing for a nose, or that’s what I would assume. It reminded me of a blanket that I have because it was super soft.
Touch Test #1 February 29, 2008
The object that was placed in my hand was round like a ball. It had little rounded notches in it. It’s something that I’ve touched before and I’m pretty positive that it was a golf ball. It’s a very common feel that many people would be able to recognize when they touch it, even if they don’t see it.
