Jazz concert report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Jazz concert report - Essay Example Susan is a pianist while Michael Zilber is a saxophonist. They were joined by other CJC members Jeff Chambers and Jason Lewis both played bass and drums consecutively. The concert lasted for an hour and forty minutes. Zilberella mainly played contemporary jazz pieces but they also interpreted standards of jazz. The jazz pieces they showcased include: - ‘UN POCO LOCO’ which is a style of jazz called Bright Latin. Medium –up swing jazz style had songs which included ‘bud Powell’ and ‘blues on the corner’. Another style of jazz included the bright swing which they sung to ‘Voyage’ together with a ballad ‘THE MEANING OF BLUES’. Interpretation of standards was showcased by the song ‘You leave me breathless’. Zilberella had no featured soloists as they each played a part to the songs. Furthermore, they covered everything but their areas of interest were in the showcasing of contemporary jazz music and standards of jazz. The performance of the group was amazing because Zilberella could actually read the audience’s mood and switch tempo and rhythm to suit the moods. They also effectively utilized the use of blue note in their performance. The key signature changes were the most amazing in the whole performances the audience was well catered for in terms of music. In my opinion I think Susan was the most talented. She played the piano but was also reading the crowd mood and organizing the group to make the necessary changes. Her ability to know how to switch the rhythm and tempos and changing keys was magnificent since it went smoothly and perfectly. Michael was also good at the saxophone since he played his heart out mixing his emotions and feelings in his facial expression. It was like he was acting out the song to the audience which made the audience and the group to connect. I must say that that Michaels way of silently talking to the audience through facial expressions and Susan’s ability to

Neo-Classical Art and Romanticism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Neo-Classical Art and Romanticism - Essay Example It was also an era of revival of early Christian art. . Many Baroque artists painted biblical scenes that to give the stories a touch of realism (Maureen, n.p.). Neoclassicism Neoclassicism is a very famous and powerful western movement in literature, architecture, painting, and music, decorative and other visual arts. It started in 1760s and ended in 1850s. Its inspiration and idea emerged from the classical art and culture of ancient Rome and ancient Greece. It is also known as the renewal of artistic norms and principles of Classical ancient times. Neoclassical Art was considered mainly plain, ordinary and unemotional form of art as compared to former periods. One of the main and major reasons for the start of neoclassicism is the discovery of ancient art works at the exploration and excavation of Herculaneum and Pompeii ruins. Neoclassical art highlights tradition, courage, nationalism and sacrifice. Neoclassicism spread all over Europe. The countries in which neoclassical art wa s mostly used were France and England. Oath of the Horatii   Oath of the Horatii  was painted by Jacques Louis David in 1784 before the French Revolution. Oil paint was used. Its dimensions were 10' 8" x 13' 9" (3.3 m x 4.2 m). The picture depicts the scene of three brothers before departing for battle. They are willing to die because of their patriotic duty to their government. Story behind the painting is that a war going on between Rome and Alba for many years. A decision is made that the final battle would be in the battle field (Roberts et al, 231). The painting is an expression of a new style that is Neo Classism Art. The men are wearing robes which are of roman style therefore we can classify this painting as â€Å"neoclassical†. It is mainly about loyalty to the king and the established rule .Oath of the Horatii represents the people's sacrificial loyalty and commitment to the Roman Republic. The topic of the painting has an extreme patriotic and neoclassical view . The picture depicts the scene of three brothers before departing for battle. They are willing to die because of their patriotic duty to their government. Story behind the painting is that a war going on between Rome and Alba for many years. A decision is made that the final battle would be in the battle field. In the painting there are three men, who seem to be warriors, stand facing a vital figure. The painting spotlights around the three men on the left and one old man in the center. It depicts that they are one. The oath is taken by three brothers with the support of their father. The two groups were of three brothers from Horatii family in Rome and three brothers from Curiatii family in Alba.One of the Horatii sisters is married to one of the men on the other side the Curiatii and one of the Curiatii sister is married to one of the Horatii brother. In the painting two women are crying on each other’s shoulders on the right. They seem to be in sorrow. They seem to be wiv es of Horatii brothers. A woman is shown crying with two children. She is the sister of Horatii brothers. The father of the Horatii family is shown in the picture taking his sons oath to fight till the death. When the battle ended only one of the six men survived. He was a Horatii. Father is the hero of the story. He sacrificed his sons for the greater good of the people. The idea here is that one must be ready to sacrifice for the country. The colors in the painting are soft and gentle. The only color that is bright and prominent is red which

The Shavian Theatre of Ideas (Modern Drama) Essay Example for Free

The Shavian Theatre of Ideas (Modern Drama) Essay The predominating influence in determining Shaw to turn to the drama was the example of Ibsen and equally prominent was his love of debating, in which he had shown how irresistible it was for him to counter his arguments himself if no one else would. These influential strains compelled him to choose the kind of play in which the characters undertake this dual task of proposer and opposer. In 1892, he made it into Widower’s Houses, and thereafter, for nearly sixty years with unflagging energy he made drama peculiarly his own province. It was not till after Saint Joan that he became the revered elder playwright, a highly respectable figure whom, however, the dramatic critics did not cease to condemn as sharply as before. By then, the old world having been transformed by the war, a new generation had grown up to accept him. Supreme though he had been in his own publicizing of ideas, the parallel preaching of H.G Wells and others had further helped to make his Socialism and his general attitude to ideas and society part of the mind of the age. But socialists as well as others could still be amazed as the old man, with the energy and the unpredictable originality of his genius, produced such plays as The Apple Cart, Too True to be Good, Geneva and In Good King Charles’s Golden Days. In this long period of dramatic writing, Shaw displayed the range of his genius in a great variety of plays. It is hard, however, to discern any clear â€Å"periods† or trends in his development. At most, there is on the whole a change of theme from the particular to the general, from the contemporary scene to the future and of attitude from the satiric and destructive to the philosophic and constructive, from the materialistic to the mystic. If there is any real division to be made in Shaw’s dramatic development it is the First War that marks it. Unable to produce any new work in those four years, when he resumed with Heartbreak House, he was on the whole as a dramatist more philosophic than before, and more concerned with the future. In his own account, Shaw refers to Man and Superman as marking the emergence of what he himself aimed to be as a dramatist, one of â€Å"the artist-prophets† in the succession of men like Goethe and Ibsen. In his summary of his first years as a playwright, he remarks that in the early nineties, he found the existing state of English Theatre ‘intolerable’. The fashionable theatre prescribed one serious subject: clandestine adultery: the dullest of all subjects for a serious author. The exuberant high spirits which characterized his plays before 1914, often bringing into his comedy a lively element of farce, did not appear so much afterwards. Instead, something of grandeur and poetry found expression in famous passages of Saint Joan and Back to Methuselah, though hiss comic vision still played freely and variously, fully exemplifying the Shavian wit and humour. Heartbreak House was the first play that had been written with such deep underlying seriousness. He called it ‘a fantasia on English themes in the Russian manner’, by which he alluded to his being partly inspired by Chekhov, and symbolically through its characters it presents a world which has lost its direction, a world of futilities and insincerities struggling to find reality, a world which to one of the characters appears ‘this cruel,damnable world’. In his 1923 cycle, Shaw felt himself to be co-operating with the Life Force, for through his drama he was declaring that, if only mankind had the will to control its evolution, it could in time achieve perfection, and his ‘metabiological pentateuch’ therefore become part of this purposive process. When he had thus fulfilled his great wish to express his fundamental religious faith as a Creative Evolutionist, Shaw returned in Saint Joan to a drama of his normal scope and manner. Its heroine, portrayed as a sane and shrewd country girl of extraordinary strength of min and hardihood of body†¦a thorough daughter of the soil in her peasantlike matter-of-factness and doggedness†, she was however, in her creator’s mind an instrument like himself of the Life force. In The Apple Cart, he turned again to the future and to the dismay of those who had regarded him as an advanced advocate of democracy showed that the highest ability could be found as well in a king as in a peasant.His brilliance was undiminished and to the end his extraordinary vitality of mind animated all he wrote. Shaw’s ideas can never cease to form an important part of his dramatic legacy, any more than we can appreciate Shakespeare without reference to the view of life which lies behind his work. Nevertheless, it is as dramatist upon the stage that Shaw demands primary consideration. In his own day, Shaw’s command over audiences which by no means consisted only of those who shared his ideas was an obvious fact. His wit was always subservient to the total working of the genius of the comic playwright. His dramatic instinct, indeed, was altogether transcendent and so willfully fashioned its own play that the audience almost forgot in its delight the seriousness of the lesson it had been offered. Those who saw Man and Superman at a performance in which in the Third Act of Juan in Hell was omitted were quite justified in not realizing how much lay behind the farcical comedy of John Tanner trying to flee from the pursuing Ann. Hence, the Prefaces which not only took advantage of the success of a play to make a more comprehensive and detailed attack but which had often to make the public fully conscious of matters which the inspired comic Muse had transmuted into laughter. Shaw once spoke of the lightness of heart without which nothing can succeed in the theatre, and in his own paradoxical union of the prophet and the jester lies the assurance of his dramatic survival. Shaw’s plays give the impression of his creative powers working in a spontaneous unity. His success lies partly in the command of stagecraft which instinctively he knows how to turn stage situation to profit. His characterization, however, sometimes lacks the power of fully convincing us, because it does not always arise from such immediate creative insight as does the general idea of the play, but is to some extend dependent on that idea for the nature and variety of its figures. Of outstanding individual characters many surely have the individuality which lives in its own right, a Bluntschli or a Father Keagan, or a Shotover or Saint Joan. Women, above all, he read and presented with a cunning unromantic realism which suggests, like the novelist Richardson, he understood women even better than men: to Saint Joan may be added among his many acutely and vividly realised women Raina, Cleopatra, Candida, Ann Whitefield, Major Barbara Jennifer Dubedat, and Eliza Doolittle, to name only a few. In two directions his characterization possessed special power- in evoking our sympathetic interest in unattractive people like Mrs. Warren and Louis Dubedat, and in creating beings of broad comedy of a Dickensian vitality like Candida’s father, Straker and Alfred Doolittle. Other gifts affecting characterization included his ability to allow for the existence in a character of the intuitive, that ‘sort of sixth sense’ which when it is possessed, gives an extra dimension to personality, and his understanding of good simple souls, as pre-eminenetly in the Saint. â€Å"Effectiveness of Assertion is the Alpha and omega of style. He who has nothing to assert has no style and can have none; he who has something to assert will go as far I n power of style as its momentousness and his conviction will caryr him. Disprove his assertion after it is made, yet his style remains.† With his union of assertion and provocation, his style is never dull. There is the further animation given by the dramatic clash of dialogue which shares the general effect of spontaneity.

Causes of African American Immigration

Causes of African American Immigration Great Migration Slavery, captives these are the terms which are not separable from the history of the United States since the 15th century until today. Mallaika Adero, in a piece called, Up South Stories, studies and letters of African American Migrations mainly focus on the immigration of African Americans to north of the America. Adero was the former member of the class of the Howard university and she focused here studies on social sciences and perused her career as a senior editor. This article highlights the main reasons for immigration of blacks to the north such as better job opportunities, undesirable effects of natural disasters in south, and higher respect for women and children. Moreover, the article explains the political and cultural consequences of the great migration. The first and foremost important reason that clearly explains the blacks immigration is the job opportunities and higher wages that were offered up in the North. According to the author, up until 20th century, years after the slavery trade was ended, the vast majority of the black people still lived in the south and were considered to be the essential part of the agriculture economy. This trend seemed to continue until the first African American generation who were born free. Amiri Baraka stated that a psychological shift à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ made blacks go north (Baraka). Therefore, the new black generation on their path seeking for more freedom, higher wages, and in general better lifestyle began their way to the north. Besides the black peoples motivation to move to other parts of the nation, the north region merchants were interested in absorbing the black laborer due to preventing European immigration to the states during the world war I. This situation eventually led the demand for black workers to boost dramatically in the north. According to Adero, Negroes were allowed to work in factories that they were prohibited before. For instance, the industry of railroads, mechanics, and other manufacturing businesses were in need of black laborers. In addition to the better job opportunities, the second most important reason that was pushing the African Americans to the north was the natural disasters that were happening frequently in the south. The destructive floods and boll weevil insects were the two most important threats to the south businesses. The damage has been to the extent of a loss of 50 percent of the crop, estimated at 400,000 bales of cotton annually, about 4,500,000 bales since the invasion or $250,000,000 worth of cotton. (Adero 3). Based on the stated statistics, the industry of the south was negatively influenced by the insects attacking the cotton plants which consequently prevented the suppliers from improve their business. This situation lead more black citizens to lose their jobs and to distribute to the other regions. As the north areas were becoming a better place to live for the African American people, the black population was gradually decreasing in the south. In early 19th century, the black population in the north reached the limit that could enable them to strengthen their political and economic status by electing a leader from their race who could contributor to the congress. This could potentially be considered as one of the solutions to improve the black peoples power nationwide. However, the author describes this decision as an unwise move. She correlates the consequents of such a decision to the black people during reconstruction days. On the other hand, the author believes the black people should take an alternative path to the liberty when she says The Negroes should support representative men of any color or party, if they stand for a square deal and equal rights for all (Adero 9). The blacks community was developing as their men were getting more involved in the industry. Nearly, n inety percent of the jobs that required skilled labors were occupied by the black workers. This situation led the black community in the north to become more powerful and eventually establish themselves in the congress. One of the factors that played an essential role during the huge migration was the relation between minority and majority groups and how these two could become a complementary of each other. Alain Locke, American writer and philosopher, explains despite the definition of this two status, it has been proven through the history that there is a very narrow difference between them. Therefore, depending on the time and the situation, one could be considered the minority or the dominant majority. The author uses these attitudes to describe the environment existed in the north nations during the great migration.   According to the author, the great migration significantly affected the blacks community to lose their tradition and culture. However, the study of the history demonstrates that they were able to overcome all the cultural disorganization while gradually following the majority group in the society. Generally speaking, These two articles describe the black peoples immigration to the north after the civil war. The author attempts to clearly describe the main problems that African American were confronting through their immigration. Also, the effect of the migration on the black peoples culture and family life were studied by introducing the close relation between minority and majority groups in different societies. Works Cited Malaika Adero, Ed. Up South: Stories, Studies, and Letters of this Centurys African-American Migrations (New York: The New Press, 1993), pp. xvii-32. Alain Locke,   The New Negro (1925), pp. 442-451.

Government and Politics - The Original Constitution Did Not Have Many D

Government and Politics - The Original Constitution Did Not Have Many Democratic Traits In two world wars, Korea, Vietnam, and the Persian Gulf, Americans fought and died so that democracy would prevail around the world. In the minds of many Americans, America is the bastion of democracy. But how democratic is America? Today’s America was â€Å"born† with the signing of the constitution in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. There, it was determined how democratic America would be. And every American should ask himself how democratic America was made at that constitutional convention in Philadelphia. Before pondering the extent of democracy one must determine what the term â€Å"democracy† means. Democracy is a â€Å"means of selecting policymakers and of organizing government so that policy represents and responds to citizens’ preferences.†i[i] The traditional democratic theory further explains the ideas behind democracy. The five aspects of this theory are that one man equals one vote, there is good voter-turnout, citizens can obtain knowledge through free speech and press, the general public controls government agenda, and an extension of all rights to all citizens.ii[ii] From this, one could say a true democracy would submit every bill to the public for a popular vote, like the traditional town meetings of old New England where all eligible voters met to have their say in governmental agenda.iii[iii] One could also say that democracy implies protection of rights and equal rights for all. Or, as Abraham Lincoln said, a democracy is â€Å"gover nment of the people, by the people, and for the people.†iv[iv] The people make the government, they have a say in the agenda, and the government governs by the people’s consent. This ... ...rm Caucus in Action,† American Politics: Classic and Contemporary Readings (Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1999), 18. xv[xv] Roche, John P., â€Å"The Founding Fathers: A Reform Caucus in Action,† American Politics: Classic and Contemporary Readings (Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1999), 10 & 12. xvi[xvi] Roche, John P., â€Å"The Founding Fathers: A Reform Caucus in Action,† American Politics: Classic and Contemporary Readings (Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1999), 14. xvii[xvii] â€Å"The Constitution of the United States of America† from American Politics: Classic and Contemporary Readings (Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1999) pgs 566-572. Article I, Section 2, Clause 1. xviii[xviii] Rakove, Jack, â€Å"A Tradition Born of Strife,† American Politics: Classic and Contemporary Readings (Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1999), 6.

Book Review Wild Swans Essay

1. Main Thesis In Wild Swans, Jung Chang describes the life of three generations of woman in her family. Beginning in the year 1909 and ending in present time, it gives an insight into almost eighty years of the cultural history of China. Jung Chang has said in a interview that her intention in writing Wild Swans was to show how the Chinese people, and in particular the women in her family, â€Å"fought tenaciously and courageously against impossible odds.† The book is a testimony to the strength and determination of her grandmother, her mother, and herself and their resourcefulness in recreating themselves during suffering, humiliation and disillusionment. She interweaves personal and historical stories fluently and the stories of these women and their families act as a lens through which you gain insight into the turbulent history of twentieth century China. The most important themes in this book are: love of family, loyalty and self-sacrifice 2. Chapter Summaries The book starts by relating the biography of Chang’s grandmother, Yu-fang. After the birth of Chang’s mother, De-hong, the book moves to her story. After the birth of the Jung Chang, the focus of the book now shifts again to cover Jung’s own autobiography. Chapter 1: The father of Yu-fang, was Yang Ru-shan, born in 1894 as the only son. It was his duty to produce heirs to continue the family name. One a year after he married he got a daughter, Yu-fang. Political unrest caused problems for many in China over the next years. He arranges that a powerful warlord general, Xue Zhi-heng takes Yu-Fang as his concubine at age fifteen. The general stays only a few days after the traditional marriage and then leaves, not returning for six years. During his next brief visit, Yu-Fang becomes pregnant. The general’s household is run by his legal wife and the head concubines. The wife immediately lays claim to Yu-Fang’s daughter, who the general named Bao Qin. Yu-Fang kidnaps her daughter and escapes from the household. She lies, saying that the child died during their trip. When the general dies, Yu-Fang discovers that one of his final actions was to release her from her duties as his concubine. Chapter 2: Soon after, Dr. Xia, a matured doctor of Manchurian ancestry, falls in love with Jung’s grandmother and the feelings could be felt the same from Jung Chang’s grandmother as well. The doctor proposes and grandmother says yes. Although not thrilled with the marriage, Jung Chang’s grandmother’s father agrees to the marriage and sends her daughter off with a traditional wedding. When Dr. Xia’s three sons, their wives, and grandchildren hear about the marriage, they’re extremely angry. The grandmother receives quite a bit of harassment from the family and the eldest son even commits suicide, nevertheless the wedding still continues. He accepts Yu-Fang’s daughter, who he renames â€Å"De-hong†, meaning â€Å"virtue† and â€Å"wild swan†. Chapter 3: China is living under Japanese rule. After moving to a new province of Manchuria, Jung Chang’s grandmother, now living with Dr. Xia, begins to realize how terrible life is under the Japanese. The Japanese rulers are very cruel. The people are only allowed to eat acorn meal and sorghum, as the Second World War drags on, fewer rations and supplies are given to the people in Manchuria as Japan is losing the war. Finally, an American B-52 bomber flies overhead and she realizes that Japan had indeed lost the war. As Japan’s last officers commit suicide or run away, the town is in chaos just like the rest of Manchuria. Chapter 4: The Japanese are replaced by Soviets who were almost as bad. They pillaged and raped, taking what they wanted and dismantling entire factories. However, they soon leave and the Kuomintang arrives in shining uniforms and rifles. The Kuomintang turns out to be oppressive and ineffective at keeping justice and peace. The remaining Japanese are systematically murdered by the Russians and the Kuomintang. After a while the country is in a civil war between the Kuomintang and the Communists. De-hong sees communism becoming increasingly important to many people but has yet to make up her own mind about the situation. She continues to watch those in power, including those over the teaching school where she now resides. When she learns that a favorite teacher and then her best friend, Cousin Hu, had been Communists and had been either chased from the city or executed for their political beliefs, she makes up her mind that she, too, will become a Communist. Chapter 5: De-hong asks to be a part of the communist movement but she’s found too young. A short time later, she begins distributing Communist literature. The economic situation is so bad that the family has no savings and Dr. Xia, now nearly eighty, is worried about what will happen when he dies. Extortion is rampant, food is scarce, and the money that does exist has almost no value. De-hong becomes friendly with a Kuomintang general. Using his military freedom, they travel outside the walled city occasionally and De-hong leaves messages for her Communist counterparts.. The Communists then start regular bombardment of the city, including one dud shell that crashes into the home of De-hong’s family. Chapter 6: De-Hong helps clean up the carnage cause by all the civil war. When the communists take over the town, they do not pillage, rape, or extort as all the other groups of people had done before them. Many are courteous and kind and seem to be the fit kind of soldiers who destroyed the Kuomintang. When De-Hong reports to receive her first assignment for the communists, she instantly falls in love with a dreamy man, named Wang Yu, who was a high ranking communist official. He had been on many dangerous missions with the communists and rose through the ranks by being extremely loyal to the party and its ideals of sever equality. The two and several other teachers and students travel by train to another communist held town for fear that the town may be retaken by the Kuomintang and there, the two fall in love. Wang Yu eventually submits a request to â€Å"talk about marriage† to the party leaders and the two are engaged and finally married. Chapter 7: Chang’s parents join a group of people traveling south. The trip is dangerous as civil war is still raging. The walk is long and hard, walking forty days to reach their destination, Nanjing. Her mother is forced to walk but her father is allowed to ride in a jeep, a privilege he accepts. De-hong is soon pregnant though she doesn’t realize it until she’s in the process of miscarrying because of the ordeal. She’s very heartbroken and angry at her husband. After the miscarriage, her parents are separated because of his transfer to Yibin. It takes her four months to recover and then make the trip to him. During that time, her anger has cooled and they are happy to see each other. Chapter 8: When Chang’s parents arrive in Yibin, her father is appointed leader and returns to a form of his former name, Chang Shou-yu. He and her mother live together in a mansion confiscated by the Communists. Chang’s grandmother, Fang-Yu, despite her bound feet and difficulty walking, makes the long trek from Jinzhou to Yibin to see De-hong. De-hong gives birth to her first daughter, Xiao-hong. Chapter 9: This chapter tells of her mom’s life as being in the Public Affairs Department in Yibin. She tells of living with a denouncing of her grandmother, the birth of herself and the strictness of her father. Being part of the Communist was hard and had many of its hardships. Having a husband was harder for her mother than anything else. Chapter 10: Chang’s mother goes under suspicion during the course of this chapter. Being that she had some relations with Kuomintang participants she went under suspicion. But, after all that she had to go through, she was able to be free of any charges. Chapter 11: During this chapter, Mao decides to purge the Communist party again. This time devises that most people are â€Å"rightists† and need to leave the party, which ruin their lives forever. However, he got help this time and made all of his officials get rid of 5 % of their total participants. In the end, Chang’s mother was able to get to this quota after many different approaches of convicting people of being a â€Å"rightist.† Chapter 12: A famine strikes the land of China during this chapter. Many people die and starve from this famine all because Mao decides to make this situation look like their wasn’t a famine at all. Mao wanted to produce steel which led to a drop in production of food which leads to the famine. But, the famine gets cleared after Mao lets others to take charge of the situation. Chapter 13: Chang describes life in a compound during this chapter. Moving into a compound was for Chang and her siblings to go to a very nice and prestigious school. Living in a compound was very contained with its many entertainment locations. There was no need to go outside the compound for any reason. She also tells of how nice her life was as a child, living in a home where she was a good kid and her family noticed that. Chapter 14: This chapter describes the event that occurred with the cult of Mao. Many youths were forced into living like Lei Fang, a man who had a huge fondness for â€Å"Chairman Mao† and living his entire life revolving around him. Education included studying the words of Lei Fang and viewing the beatings of â€Å"class-enemies.† Chapter 15: After hearing about the collapse of Stalin’s Russia, Mao realized that he represented a Stalin figure waiting to be overthrown by his own people. In order to stop this from happening, Mao endorse’s books called â€Å"The Quotations of Chairman Mao†. This book contained his quotes and would be used to strengthen his popularity with the Chinese. In short, Mao’s control over China tightened throughout this chapter. Chapter 16: Not until, chapter 16 did Mao’s rule become apparent. Mao issued the use of Red Guard’s who he said protected and fought for Mao (in other words his own police force). Most of these Red Guards came from the families of high officials and came as teenagers. These Red Guards reinforced Mao’s word and rule and when someone was â€Å"betraying† Mao, he or she would be beaten, raided, tortured, or executed. Chapter 17: Jung Chang’s father starts to question Mao’s actions and asks whether if the actions of the Chinese are justified. Eventually Jung Chang’s father writes a letter to Mao explaining the wrongs of Mao’s actions (which in the words of Mao, was considered â€Å"against Mao† and could face charges such as death). He soon serves time in detention. Also he starts to oppose Mao’s thoughts and expresses them out loud which can lead to very harsh outcomes. Chapter 18: To summarize this chapter, Jung Chang and her friends make a pilgrimage to Peking. The goal of this pilgrimage: to see the Great Chairman Mao. Chapter 19: The control of Mao switches into high gear. Because her parent’s become branded as â€Å"capitalist-roaders† they suffer from many brutal denunciation meetings, beatings, harassment, and embarrassment. They are hurt for their crime of being â€Å"capitalist roaders† and bitterness starts to arise because they were only ever loyal to Mao. Chapter 20: Jung Chang’s father soon serves time in detention (due to sending another letter to Mao) and his wife makes a trip to Peking in order to speak to Premier Zhou Enlai, who she believes could help in their situation. On her way to Peking she meets two lovers Yan and Yong who join her. Finally with the help of Premier Zhou Enlai, Jung Chang’s father no longer served in detention. However, this does not end well. While in detention the guard watching over Jung Chan’s father plays mind games with him and convinces him that his wife created a conspiracy against him. Things got out of hand causing them to sleep in seperate areas and forces Jung Chang’s father’s mental and physical health to deteriorate (which later, his health imporved). Next more denunciation meetings hold misery for the parents. Chapter 21: Chapter 21 discusses some of the events that occured within her family. (her siblings) For example, Xiao-hei’s becomes a member of a gang and Jin-ming’s â€Å"black market† book experience. Along with these events being told, she tells of people drawing lines between their enemies and friends, sometimes causing friends to betray each other. Luckily her friends did not tell on Jung Chang which relates back to the title of the chapter, â€Å"Giving Charcoal in the Snow†, that refers to helping out others when needed. Also in this chapter, Jung Chang experiences her first time in a university. Chapter 22: Within this chapter, Mao institutes the idea of â€Å"thought reform through labor†. The intentions of this quote made Communists all around China to go to the countryside and work alongside the peasants (Jung Chang was sent to Ningnan). Mao said that it would make the Communists closer to China. Sadly, at the end of the chapter, the friend’s of Jung Chang pronounced her grandmother dead. Chapter 23: To summarize this chapter, Jung Chang pursues her career as a â€Å"barefoot doctor†. Mao defined barefoot doctor’s as doctors that could be turned out en masse. However, before she became a barefoot doctor she was relocated to another peasant village, Deyang, where she learns of what happened to China before the Cultural Revolution. Chapter 24: With her entire family on the mission of completing â€Å"thought reform through labor†, Jung Chang decides to visit her parents who can be found in separate locations. Her mother in Buffalo Boy Flatland and her father in a labor camp. While visiting her father, she tries to cheer him up by keeping him company. Eventually other family members come visit which allowed her father to not suffer from suicidal thoughts and whatnot. In the end, Jung Chang’s father apologizes to Jin-ming, her brother, about their current situation and past events. Chapter 25: In this chapter, Jung Chang takes her career in being an electrician. In her factory, she meets Day and eventually they both fall in love. However, it becomes shortlived because of their different social status’. In the end, Jung Chang’s father dies and she enrolls into an english university. Chapter 26: Education in China becomes less stressed, however those who had connections with officials became legible to enter universities, through the process which later became known as using the †back door†. Teachings elements became based on Mao as well as military tactics and defending the country. Chapter 27: This chapter gives rise to the death of Jung Chang’s father. Her father died due to a heart attack which a doctor refused to see immediately. In his honor, an elaborate funeral was held for Jung Chang’s father. After the funeral, Jung Chang’s school decides to go on a field trip to the Chinese port, Zhanjiang, where the students could practice their English with the incoming and outgoing sailors. At the end of the chapter, Jung Chang’s Party secretary announces the death of Chairman Mao. Chapter 28: After the death of Mao, the Chinese become a bit confused on what they should do. The idea of studying in the West became very prominent, as the government handed out scholarships for those wanting to go to the West. The story ends as Jung Chang traveled to the West in search of broadening her horizons and experiencing more freedom.

Gordon Bennett Artist Essay

Gordon Bennett was born on 8 October 1955 in Monto, Queensland of Aboriginal and English/Scottish heritage. Bennett enrolled as a mature–age student at Queensland College of Art in 1986 and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (Fine Arts) degree in 1988. Gordon Bennett is a contemporary artist and says his earlier art work where influenced by his personal experiences. Bennett’s work is defining Australian Culture and Aboriginal History, he wanted to change the way Australia and the world saw Indigenous Australians. Bennett includes a focus on the role and power of language, including visual representations, in shaping identity, culture, social issues and history. Bennett’s work alludes to visual and verbal violence of history of black and white relations, his scenes from outside Australia, deconstructing history and exposing the ideologies and structures that shape history. Bennett works both in traditional easel paintings and in multi-media, Photography, printmaking, video, performance and installation. The critical and aesthetic strategies of postmodernism have had significant impact on the development of his art practice. His work is layered and complex and often incorporates images, styles or references drawn from sources such as social history text books, western art history and Indigenous art. The emphasis on making ‘art about art’ which is the focus of his non-representational abstract paintings, contrasts clearly with the focus on social critique that was integral to Bennett’s earlier work, and is intended to provoke viewers thinking and opens up new possibilities for understanding the subjects he explores.