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Question Time

Question 1: I’m guessing that I’ll get a B on this upcoming research paper because I’m getting very overwhelmed by it.  Whenever I go to write it I cannot seem to focus because it seems like such a big obstacle. I’m also panicking because I do not have much experience writing research papers, so I feel a little behind because everyone else seems to know what they’re doing.  

 Question 2: Right now, I’m still in the collecting information and organizing the research phase.  I have started writing things down but not in a rough draft form, more like doodles and concepts that I need to bring together somehow.  I’m having a hard time staying organized in this paper because I have so many ideas and good points that it’s becoming messy.  I also have a lot of potential resources and all the options are kind of freaking me out.  

 Question 3: I actually think I’m not very honest with myself about my own writing. I think that I’m not a good writer at all, and obsess over this thought until it controls my every action in my papers.  One of my main problems is overthinking, in my writing but also in every aspect of my life.  

 Question 4: Openminded, overanalyzing, positive, and sympathetic.

 Question 5: Overthinker, informal, creative, and organized.

 Question 6: Caring for people, loving them, and being there for them when they need support.  I’m good at this because I know how it feels to have no one there to support you.  I know how it feels to be alone, so I can sympathize with people and hopefully help them feel like they are never alone.  

 Question 7: I think it is unfair in a way because your really don’t know what you do best.  You may think that is what you do best, but you never know for sure unless you ask other people.  And even that’s not a for sure answer because different people have different options of you.

 Question 8: I would like to write about my favorite Disney movie and why it’s my personal favorite.  Talk about the messages within the movie, to deeply understand and appreciate the meaning of the movie.  

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Reviewing Past Writing Works: Is Rock ‘n’ Roll Dead? Apparently, No One Knows

Grade 85%

This paper definitely a rhetorical analysis and it does its job of talking about rhetorical moves. Throughout the paper you do a good job of finding relevant quotes from the articles to your topic.  There is also nice diction used within the paper, creative words and saying are nice in this kind of paper.  The introduction and the conclusion both do their job well.  By hooking the reader and explaining which paper is better from the beginning so I’m not waiting until the end to know the verdict is, also by wrapping up your thoughts and restating your main point.

One improvement to be made in the rhetorical analysis aspect is to the unpack your points more than you did in the paper.  Just generally more in depth unpacking and explaining of the authors style and their rhetorical moves.   Also, another improvement to be made is to re-work the thesis.  Include a small amount of the rhetorical moves you plan to talk about so it’s clearer to where your planning on going with the paper.  Overall this is a good rhetorical analysis, but it could be improved by being clearer in your writing and unpacking the finer details more.  

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Annotated Bibliography

Aigen, Kenneth S. The Study of Music Therapy Current Issues and Concepts. New York: Routledge, 2014.

 The study of Music Therapy Current Issues and Concepts by Kenneth Aigen defines what the profession of music therapy is and what the music therapist’s role is the medical setting. It discusses the dynamics of music and why it’s a good medium for therapy.  This book also delves into how music is so closely connected to our identities and cultural backgrounds.  It also explains the relationship between the client and the therapist.  How music therapy heals and where it roots from.  It analyses the current music therapy situation and hypothesizes where music therapy is heading.

I plan to use this book to contribute to my definition and explanation of what music therapy in my research paper.  I am planning on using parts from chapters one, nine, ten and thirteen.  Chapter one will help me to define what the music therapy profession is.  Chapters nine and ten will help me to compare music therapy to traditional healing practices, which will strengthen my argument that music therapy has healing abilities.  Chapter thirteen concerns the mother-infant interaction which will help to set the basis for my thesis.  

  Campbell, Don. The Mozart Effect. New York: Avon Books, 1997.

 The Mozart Effect by Don Campbell is an overview of music therapy.  It focuses more on the healing effects of sound and music.  It explains how music is used medicinally through music therapy and for rehabilitation purposes.  It consistently refers the Mozart Effect and how it refers to music therapy.  It delves into music therapy unlike any other book I’ve read concerning music therapy, it approaches music therapy as a holistic therapy which is exactly what I need for my research paper.  

I plan on using this book to help me unpack the connection between music and healing.  To help me connect music therapy to holistic approach of medicine.  This source will also help me to elaborate on the concept of music therapy and help me form the base of my explanation of what music therapy is.  I also plan to use a direct quote from the book because eit does a great job explaining concepts.  

  Li, Yin-Ming. Huang, Chiung-Yu. Lai, Hui-Ling. Hsieh, Yuan-Mei. "A Nationwide Survey of Nurses' Attitudes Toward Music Therapy and their Need for Education in its Application." The Journal of Continuing Education in Nursing 44.12 (2013): 544-52. ProQuest. Web. 8 Nov. 2017.

 In the academic journal “A Nationwide Survey of Nurses' Attitudes Toward Music Therapy and their Need for Education in its Application” by multiple authors in a study following the responses of 1,197 nurses on how they felt about music therapy. Participants of the survey expressed positive attitudes about music therapy and many were willing to learn more about it.  This journal provides proof that a group of nurses really do find value in music therapy being a part of the medical field.  

I plan on using this academic journal to further my argument that music therapy is a valid type of therapy and needs to be integrated more into hospitals.  I also plan on using it when I am defining what music therapy and setting the basis for my research paper.  I hope this journal will help the credibility of my research paper by including a nurses opinion rather than a researchers or a doctors opinion.

   Nocker-Ribaupierre, Monika, editor. Music Therapy for Premature and Newborn Infants. Gilsum: Barcelona Publishers, 2004.

 Music Therapy for Premature and Newborn Infants by Monika Nocker-Ribaupierre is a book broken into two parts, the basic concepts and the supportive research.  The first part, the basics covers more the medical issues in premature and newborn infants and how music therapy methods could help.  While the second part, the research supports the theories and ideas of music therapy expressed earlier in the book.  The second part is more similar to a case study and presents the research in a formal way.  

I plan to use this book to help support my thesis and my give my research paper credibility.  I plan to use pieces from the actual research studies performed in the NICU.  I want to reference these studies without overgeneralizing the study, I want to summarize it fully and respectfully.  I plan to use a direct quote from at least one of the studies, so I can convey the message exactly as it was meant to be read.  I am excited about using this source, but I am fearful that I will miss relevant information to my topic.  

   Rosenfeld Keidar, H.  Mandel, D.  Mimouni, FB. Lubetzky, R. "Bach Music in Preterm Infants: No 'Mozart Effect' on Resting Energy Expenditure." Journal of Perinatology 34.2 (2014): 153-5. ProQuest. Web. 8 Nov. 2017.

 The academic journal “Bach Music in Preterm Infants” by multiple authors is a study concerning the Mozart Effect and if Bach music has the same affects as Mozart music.  The study used 12 preterm infants and they were subject to 30 minutes sessions of either Mozart or Bach music.  Then researchers measured the resting energy expenditure (REE) every minute by method of indirect calorimetry, to see if Bach music had the same lowering effect of REE as Mozart music did.  

I plan to use this academic journal to reference during my research paper in the same region as when I reference the book The Mozart Effect.  The two pieces correlate so well together, and I want to make the proper connections between them.  I think this academic journal will help be to build credibility in my research paper and so my audience thinks I am a credible writer.  I plan to pull most of my information from the result of the study and the conclusion.  

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Past Research Paper

I have only done one research in my entire education.  To say it nicely my high school did not prepare me at all for college level writing, they barely had us write at all and never pushed us to do better in our writing.  I actually did my one research paper through my dual enrollment creative writing class at Jackson College.  I had to write about Greek mythology, and I choose to write about Aphrodite.  I cover mostly historical aspects of Greek mythology and the tales told about Aphrodite.  

Yes, I am proud of this research paper because it was the first one I had ever written and I also got an A on it! I am proud that I accomplished something I thought I couldn’t tackle and that I was expecting to epically fail at.  Also because it was covering a topic I wasn’t very comfortable writing about, that made me proud of myself for coming out of my comfort zone a little 

There was definitely somethings I would like to change for my upcoming research paper.  I want to use more credible sources and work on my citations more in depth.  I also would like to feel more confident when writing and turning in research papers, I realize that this comes from experience and I have a lot of catching up to do!  I am also concerned about the length of this upcoming research paper, my research paper on Aphrodite was only five pages and I’m frankly scared for this ten page monstrosity I have to write.  

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How’s My Research Going?

For my definition research presentation regarding the guitar, Rachel and I are doing quite well.  We have almost the entire presentation done, just a few minor touches and preparations.  Research is going smoothly thus far, if anything I’ve found too much research about the history of the guitar.  I need to narrow down my options so I’m not all over the place come presentation time.  We couldn’t find as much information on ProGuest or JSTOR, but I did find an excellent book in the reference section of the library.  I also found very useful information on the Metropolitan Museum of Arts website.  

For the argumentative research paper I haven’t made as much progress.  I started with the idea to write about the correlation between drug abuse and overdoses in musicians.  After some struggling, I switched my research topic to music therapy and how effective it is, because I wasn’t finding relative information on my initial topic.  But I wanted to stay within the realm of health and music so I decided on music therapy.  I have found some valid sources mainly from ProQuest because it’s easier to narrow my options down in ProQuest.  In JSTOR I haven’t found any sources because their articles are harder to read and to understand.  I have also found a couple books from the library that I plan to reference during my paper, and I want to incorporate a magazine article regarding music therapy because their written at a lower reading level and I don’t want to incorporate just one type of reading level.  Overall I’m doing okay, but I am still extremely nervous about how this research paper is going to turn out.   

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Capstone 2: Rhetorical Analysis From Hell

"25 Songs That Tell Us Where Music Is Going" is an article edited by Nitsuh Abebe.  This article is a long and complicated collage of abstract essays written by 25 different authors.  This article is more like an art exhibit showcasing 25 pieces of work with multiple different outlooks, but Abebe is the curator taking the initiative to display these pieces of work in this journal exhibit of sorts.  These 25 essays concern the musical artists, their public images and their backgrounds, rather than the music itself like the title implies.  Not only is Abebe's title misleading, but his thesis lacks clarity to what his main point of the article is.  After reading this article in its entirety, it's still not clear to me as a reader where music is going.  Abebe's attempt at editing this multimodal article is overall unsuccessful because he lacks organization and structure in the piece.  As a curator of written and visual works, Abebe lacks a clear thesis and connectivity of his main point to his supporting evidence.  

There is hardly any cohesion or connectiveness throughout the article, from its weak thesis all the way to the voice and style of all the different authors.  The biggest problem regarding cohesion was the lack of a strong and clear thesis. Even after reading this multiple times, I'm not sure what Abebe's main point really is.  He implies that it's about identity, but whose identity?  Is it the music’s cultural identity, the artists identity and their background, or the identity of the audience? This is the only clue Abebe provides his readers in the introduction to what the main point really is:

“This is what we talk about now, the music-makers and the music-listeners both. Not the fine details of genre and style — everyone, allegedly, listens to everything now — but the networks of identity that float within them.”

Even though the thesis is not clear enough for formulate an opinion, one thing I am positive of is that this article has nothing to do with where music is going.   Not having a clear thesis brings the credibility of his article down a notch and confuses the reader.  I'm not implying that because Abebe has a weak thesis that his article is altogether awful; there is still some strong evidence present. However, the good parts get lost in the shuffle because he doesn't make the proper connections to clarify his main point whatever it may be. 

Another confusing aspect of this article is how scattered the voices and styles are; this is to be expected when you use so many different authors as examples but it doesn't make it less confusing. This is yet another reason why Abebe needs to provide more of his own voice and style in the piece.  He can achieve this through transition paragraphs and a conclusion, so the reader can have some consistency in the voice and style.

One main structural issue is the lack of transitions between essays. The article jumps from one piece of evidence to the next offering absolutely no flow.  This makes the piece quite confusing and choppy.  By providing transition paragraphs Abebe could connect his evidence together and clarify his main point, which would clear up some of the readers’ confusion.  For example, the ending of the 7th song “One Night” by Lil Yachty and the beginning of the 8th song “Rewind” by Kelela have no transition between them to ease this shift in evidence that the different authors provide.  The last paragraph of the 7th essay written by Jamie Lauren Keiles states:

“It might all be a gimmick, but it doesn’t feel random. If rap music is founded on a process of layering — autobiography with references and samples — then Yachty does the same for the rap career itself, mixing what’s trending with the right group of friends and tying it together with the loose thread of a sound. If it isn’t good rap, then it’s the perfect kind of music for those of us barely treading water in the zeitgeist, who can’t understand new music by ear. Yachty had to do his research, just like the rest of us.”

This paragraph focuses on how Yachty constructs his music through research and meticulous planning, then Abebe completely switches gears to Kelela’s musical aesthetic and public image in the beginning of the 8th essay written by Jenna Wortham:

“The 33-year-old musician Kelela favors the kind of fashion aesthetic that science-fiction films sometimes use to signify characters from the future: gravity-defying materials in iridescent or metallic colors...She raised her hands and gave a hard stare to the crowd. ‘My mission tonight,’ she said, ‘is to show the breadth of R.&B. music. It has influenced every genre, pretty much, so anyone who thinks it is basic or rudimentary has another thing coming.’”

Abebe could improve his article immensely if he just provided his readers transition paragraphs between the essays, connecting the beginning of one essay to the ending of the previous one.  This would not only help him to tie his evidence back to his original thesis and strengthen his argument, but also to shift more smoothly to his next piece of evidence which would help to reduce the overall choppiness and clear up some of the confusion.  To make this clear, Abebe is simply the editor or the curator of this article not the actual author.  So therefore he needs to provide some guidance to his audience in the form of transition paragraphs, like how art exhibits provide the viewers with descriptive plaques explaining what each piece is and the relationship to exhibits theme.    

Another structural problem is how long the article is, and since there are no transitions to connect the pieces together, the main point is completely lost by the end.  Abebe make a big mistake when he provided absolutely no conclusion to finalize and wrap up his ideas.  Instead the piece just abruptly ends leaving the reader quite confused to what just happened.  He could also improve his article by changing the title because the current one is misleading.  Abebe probably used this title to draw readers in but the introduction might have made them stop reading altogether when they realized his main point is actually concerning identity rather than the songs themselves.

Lastly, the multimodality of the article was enjoyable yet still had its problems. One aspect that was thoroughly enjoyable was the accessibility of the music playlist on the side of the page.  It provided all the songs at the tips of the readers fingers, so the reader didn’t have to scroll for hours trying to find a particular song to refer back to.  Abebe also provided the same access at the beginning of each essay.  The song, artist, and the ability to play the song were all displayed, along with the title of the essay and the authors name.

However, even with these few easily accessible parts, the rest of the article was harder to navigate.  For instance, the pictures used are far too big, some even take up the whole screen and you still have to scroll to see the whole picture. The picture of Kelela in the 8th song is a perfect example of this issue.  Another issue is the consistency of the song introductions at the beginning of each essay, some are small and minimal while others color blocked the whole page. The difference can be seen very clearly between the 18th  song “Fade” by Kanye West and the 19th song “Trolley Song” by Cecile McLorin Salvant. One last aspect that is unenjoyable is how the music plays out of nowhere when you scroll through the article, there should be some type of warning for the readers so they don’t receive such a shock.

Perhaps Abebe could clarify the main point of this article by changing the title but also by being more deliberate in his introduction, since that is the only place where his voice is truly heard. Overall Abebe needs to actively include his voice more into this piece, through the use of integrating a conclusion and transition paragraphs.  This is important so the article isn’t seen as just a collage of essays, but rather a methodically planned assortment of essays concerning the identity of music.  The changes that need to happen on the multimodal aspect of the article are minor problems compared to the far superior complications of structure and cohesion.  These multimodal issues can be tweaked after the structural ones are dealt with, like rearranging the spotlights after the art is set in proper place at this hypothetical journal exhibit curated by Abebe.  

[throughbrookeseyes-blog]

Is Rock 'n' Roll Dead? Apparently, No One Knows

"Rock 'N' Roll Is Dead. No, Really This Time." by Danny Ross and "Is Rock 'n' Roll Dead, or Just Old?" by Bill Flanagan are two articles that delve into the possibility that rock 'n' roll is dead, but neither one gives you a confident answer.  Between the two articles presented, Bill Flanagan comes out on top, because he makes a stronger and overall more thoughtful case, while Danny Ross' version is much more careless and unrefined.  Flanagan tells the tales of rock 'n' roll and takes advantage of the opportune moment as rock legends fade away, exceeding Ross' inefficient attempt at proving rock 'n' roll is dead.

Bill Flanagan's article is cohesive and precisely structured in a direct attempt to inform the audience of what rock was and what it is now.  Stylistically, his writing is original and not biased like Ross' article is.  Flanagan is methodical in his approach to his audience but also in his appeals to the current times.  Seeing the perfect opportunity, he uses it to his advantage when he opens his article with reference to the recent passing of iconic music legends.   Flanagan gives a background of music but also the evolution of rock from 1950's to now.  This gives credibility to Flanagan's argument because he took the time and put in the effort to inform his readers, giving his readers the tools to make their own decisions.  He painted a better picture of what rock really was through the ages, therefore giving himself another dose of credibility.  

His entire article is thorough and connective, he gives valid topic-related information and doesn't stray too far from his main thesis.  For example, "At the Desert Trip festival in Indio, Calif., last month, about 150,000 tickets were sold for two weekends of shows featuring six legends of 1960s rock."  Here Flanagan informs you that rock is in fact not dead and still sought out by many.   Even though Flanagan stays on topic throughout the article, he never truly answered the main question, is rock 'n' roll dead?   Although he does not give a clear answer, he definitively hinted that rock is just old.  He provides enough proof in the evidence he presents for the reader to connect the dots themselves.  Rock is clearly not dead, it is still well and alive for those who seek it out.  

On the other hand, Danny Ross takes a much different approach to the topic.  He isn't as thoughtful as Flanagan, and the result makes his writing sound careless.  In the beginning, Ross appeals to the readers emotions as he mentions the passing of Chuck Berry.  However, his tone of voice it exaggerated and hyperbolic, desperately trying to evoke a sense of nostalgia in his audience while still being genuinely sincere.  Although Ross is confident in his statistics, he gives no tangible proof that people aren't listening to rock.  First Ross helped his credibility by using Billboard Hot 100 and Spotify Global charts to give supporting evidence to his argument. Then he immediately throws his credibility out the window when he contracts himself in the last sentence of the sixth paragraph: "Rock still does well in digital sales, but digital sales are declining." He gave proof in this one sentence that rock is in fact not dead.  

Another fatal flaw Ross makes is not finalizing his main thesis and moving on to another completely different topic, jolting you from where rock is today to the production of music.  He tries to compare Max Martin to Lennon McCartney, but he fails to give a proper background on Max Martin, which takes his credibility down yet another notch.  Ross' conclusion was altogether terrible and disorganized compared to Flanagan's.  Ross didn't even wrap up his main topic, but instead he made another comment on Max Martin.  

Even though both articles possessed positives and negatives, Flanagan's made a much stronger argument than Ross.  Flanagan's article excelled in structure, evidence and overall cohesiveness.   Ross' however wasn’t as organized and thought out, making his argument appear choppy and careless.  The main differences between the two articles is how the authors used evidence to gain credibility and who made the better case analytically.  After analyzing both these articles, there is no doubt that Bill Flanagan gained the most credibility and made the better case.

[throughbrookeseyes-blog]

“ENG 101 Playlist” Review

Rating : 6/10

Austin Hoeskstra’s new playlist “ENG 101 Playlist” is a collection of high energy songs crowded with deep emotional meaning.  The playlist consists of mostly punk rock, alternative rock, and some Christian pop tracks.  This playlist is perfect for anyone in the mood for some serious head banging, but is also ready and willing to get emotional. 

Even with all the high energy songs, Austin provides a few calmer paced songs to cut the intensity.  Although I thoroughly enjoyed Austin’s songs individually, the layout of the overall playlist doesn’t have the flow that it desperately needs.

Austin’s playlist starts off with a seemingly simple song “Fireflies” by Owl City, but the playful melody distracts from the deeper meaning of the song.  Adam Young’s lyrics clearly suggests he is wanting reality to be different than it is. “Please take me away from here,” Young sings, desperately wishing he could escape back to the simpler, more innocent time of childhood. Austin’s next song “It’s Time” by Imagine Dragons, isn’t the typical sad mopey breakup song.  Its empowering, bold and utterly freeing.  The song resonates with the motivational message to simply be yourself, be proud of who you are, and never give anyone the power to change you.   

The disorienting playlist continues with “King” by Lauren Aquilina and “Iris” by the Goo Goo Dolls which contrast with the previous upbeat, cheery songs.  Both songs are dramatically different than the rest of the album, and their placement within the album isn’t ideal.  “King” is arguably the fight song for the self-doubting over-thinkers of the world: “Rid of the monsters inside your head, put all your faults to bed.”  Aquilina is pleading with herself to not make life so hard. Stop worrying, stop complaining and just be grateful.  “Iris” was actually a written track for the movie City of Angels.

The movie is essentially about an angel falling so hopelessly in love with a mortal that he is willing to give up absolutely everything just to be with her: “And I’d give up forever to touch you.” Because it was specifically designed for the movie, “Iris” isn’t as mysterious in its overall meaning as the other songs on the playlist, but it’s still a touching song none the less.  

The middle of the playlist jolts you into a heavier rock dominated section with songs form Rise Against and Thousand Foot Krutch, but the star of this entire section is “Satellite” by Rise Against.  This song is a true battle cry of the generation. In the lyrics, there is evidence of a rebellion, “But at night we’re conspiring by candlelight.”  However, this isn’t your typical rebellion, this is an escape plan full of secrets and careful plotting.  Most rebellions end in fighting to the death, but in this song the rebellious few escapes through the back door.  But instead of continuing with this string of rock ballads, Austin throws you for another loop.  I’m starting to get dizzy and it’s not from the head banging.

The ending of the playlist is where there is absolutely no cohesion present on Austin’s part.  The conclusion of the album begins with “Galaxies” by Owl City. This song ties in the vast universe with religion, evoking a feeling of being lost in life but never truly being alone because God is always there, guiding you along your way. Then Austin immediately turns around and plays yet another Owl City song, “Dreams Don’t Turn to Dust.”  This song has a simple beat to match a fairly simple meaning, to never let go of your dreams.  There’s not much more to this song than a repetitive message, to go along with the repetitive artists.

The second to last song, “Little Talks” by Of Monsters and Men is a conversation between two lovers, he has died leaving his lover missing him terribly.  The conversation endures throughout the song, with his ghost rationalizing with her: “Some days I don't know if I am wrong or right. Your mind is playing tricks on you, my dear.”  The playlist abruptly changes moods once again right before the ending with “Desperate” by Fireflight. This song is a call for help, begging for God to see them and hear their cries for salvation.  This last section of Austin’s playlist leaves me more confused than Jackie Chan.

From the beginning to the end, there is no question that this playlist has good quality songs from rock to Christian.  But there is undeniably an issue with the layout and the flow of the entire collection. I feel slightly car sick after listening to this album; it should come with a warning to take Dramamine thirty minutes before hand.  However, this is still some solid songs that are enjoyable but maybe in a different order.