Commentary-Third Trimester: Aaron Copland's How We listen

            I absolutely love music and I always have.  However, I’ve never been one to really explore the different aspects of it.  I try out new genres, I appreciate the artistic input that goes into creating it, but even though I’ve tried, music has never been something that I understand as well as I would like to.  My friends compose music and play it beautifully, I’m lucky to comprehend a piece that we’re learning in band class.  I am often informed that performers who I considered to be quite good are apparently singing in the wrong key or slightly out of tune.  I’ve never really understood different keys.  I mean, I know the concept, but identifying it has always been seemingly out of my reach. 

            I suppose I listen to music on predominately the “sensual plane of listening.”  That is, I listen to music for the sound of music.  It is an escape, or an enjoyable way to pass time.  Supposedly, music lovers who use only this plane of listening are a problem.  As if not comprehending all the scientific and mathematical components of music somehow detracts from its value.  Now, I certainly wish I could listen on multiple planes of music.  I am always impressed by those who do and I am envious of the ability to speak intelligently on the subject of composition and presentation, but there is nothing wrong with being a single-plane listener. 

            Music is something that engrosses many people from the very beginning.  We grow up playing with toys that make noises and we adventure by parading around with pots and pans as we try to create something that we enjoy hearing.  Music stimulates different parts of the brain and different genres of music have different effects.  Those who learn instruments, particularly from young ages, statistically have higher IQs and better grades on average.  These people don’t have to comprehend the nuances of the creation of music; it can take place on entirely subconscious levels and still have positive outcomes. 

            The single plane listeners can still have their lives changed by music.  We can still appreciate almost everything that music has to offer.  As wonderful as a deeper knowledge of music is, it is not entirely necessary to be a listener.  After all, we don’t need to be cinematography experts to watch television, nor do we need to study the culinary arts in order to enjoy a plate of cookies, so why must we feel too inferior to listen to music just because we don’t always know the full process behind it?  Music is a simple pleasure of life as well as a complex form of art and expression.  What is the point of having only one form of appreciation, only one level of commitment, to something that has so many levels of its own?  With all the depth and potential in music, it only makes sense to leave just as much variation among the listeners as well.

Commentary-Third Trimester: Barbara Holland's In Defense of Naps

                Nowadays it seems as though people are almost in denial of their need for sleep.  Almost every high-schooler spikes their day with some sort of coffee or energy drink.  Homework stretches late at night and pushes hours of sleep farther and farther away.  Between-class discussions are often a comparison as to who is living on the least amount of sleep and who was lucky enough to be in bed before midnight.  Despite the jokes that surround the problem, such as “who needs sleep anyway? Sleep is just a myth,” students really do need better ways to efficiently and productively work through their days without being deprived of sleep.

            In Japan, sleeping on the job is admirable.  It is seen as a sign of working very hard, enough so that one is just too exhausted to stay awake.  In fact, some employees even fake being asleep on the job in order to appear more dedicated.  However, school doesn’t allow for even a chance to rest throughout the course of the day. Even while listening, students are told to pick their heads up from the desk or to look at whoever is speaking.  Even though both of those are courteous things to do, sometimes a students’ eyes need some rest, or if they put any more focus into holding their head up then they won’t have the focus to concentrate on the subject. 

            Once we are at home, the allure of sleep is even stronger.  We attempt to do our homework somewhere more comfortable than the desks that we’ve been at all day, and a new dilemma of focus reveals itself.  Sleep becomes either a reward that we must look forward to after working for a few more hours, or a forbidden fruit that tempts us every few minutes.  Drifting off for a few moments feels almost shameful, productivity slips away and procrastination attacks.  With all the pressure that is put on students to get good grades, anything that may drag them away from that expectation will eat away at us.  Stress builds up and sleep is the first thing to go since it is something that is moderately within our control.  What students need is to find a way to recognize that sleep doesn’t need to be avoided, however that’s far easier said than done when homework continues to pile on as well as tasks from home, jobs, and extra-curriculars.

            Perhaps a small nap upon arrival at one’s house wouldn’t be the worst idea.  If one can collapse on the couch or a bed after getting home and forget all their troubles for a fraction of an hour, then they might be more motivated to work upon awakening and they wouldn’t spend every other minute of work wishing that they didn’t have to be working.  The perception of time and the way that it moves when one is tired is confusing and often stressful.  Hours move by without warning when deadlines are approaching, minutes move far too slowly when one is near desperate to get somewhere else.  Perhaps if we just took a few minutes to slow down in this hectic world and appreciate sleep, then perhaps sleep itself, or lack of it, wouldn’t be such an issue.  

Commentary-Third Trimester: Virginia Woolf's A Room of One's Own

            “A lock on the door means the power to think for oneself.”  Solitude is not always a key component in writing, but I would agree that the best writing usually does come from a room of one’s own.  Currently, there is a lawn mower going past the door every couple of minutes as well as clinking dishes and running water in the next room over.  The couch in my living room is certainly not a locked room that would be so ideal for writing.  However, a school assignment is also not always the sort of soul-searching writing that one may be expected to do on their own.  Of course, there is still the (hopeful) chance that something intelligent will be said anyway.  So, as of this point forward, I will be working from my own room with the door closed.

            Writing is an incredibly thoughtful endeavor.  Original words come from deep within thought, a sometimes dangerous venture.  Ideas exist within the mind but also develop from surroundings.  As Woolf ponders in her essay, plenty of great poets and novelists were probably out there before the conveniences that we have today, but were simply uneducated or not listened to, and their brilliance was therefor never shared with the world.  One certainly has to wonder how many overlooked Jane Austen’s and “Shakespeare’s sisters” we’ve given up in history.

            Today, of course, there are plenty of voices that don’t always reach the well-known circles.  Sometimes that’s the beauty of having your own room for thought.  A locked door may be locked for a reason.  Thoughts that go on to paper don’t always have to go there to be read by others.  Some people write for themselves, or for small groups. Sometimes genius spills out poetically but is never intended to be published because the owner of the thoughts becomes possessive and decides to treasure them and ponder them rather than posing the potential to the rest of the world.  The ownership of one’s own words can be all the satisfaction that is needed.  Other times, however, one may give up ownership for the sake of getting their works out into the world.  With various “anonymous” authors and pseudonyms that have been fashioned so that the author is more likely to be taken seriously, sometimes the writers care about the thriving of the writing more than they care about the connection to it.

            The power of the connection between thought and writing is probably one of the most complex and intimate that there is.  Writing is formulated, yet it is unique.  It is edited, yet it is genuine.  When thoughts are expressed, new ideas form around them and grow.  The lock on the door grants the power to think, and thinking allows for expression.  A person alone with their thoughts is a world of opportunities and possibilities.  A writer alone is even more.

            Hopefully, the writers of today will have all the abilities to share the things that they want to share as well as the opportunity to write all that they want for themselves.  Hopefully each writer can find the room of their choosing and will be able to think.  Fishing for their ideas in a sea of patience may take a while, but patience comes more easily in solitude.  Hopefully writings will be able to flourish as much or as little as their creator decides.

Commentary-Third Trimester: Joan Didion's On Self-Respect

The definition of self-respect is widely varied and is interpreted differently by many people.  However, who truly has the right to define self-respect?  Some label it as a trait of people who dress modestly, or of those who are courageous enough to accept their mistakes.  Some would say that it is solely up to the individual to determine whether or not they have self-respect.  Others still try to place people into whatever they may personally define as being a self-respecting position, without genuine regard to circumstance or the individual’s thought.

            The world that we live in provides many contradictions.  People are constantly being harassed by the media to change themselves one way or another.  While many of these things are targeted towards profit, and often lower an individual’s respect for oneself, the media also attempts to use respect as a ploy for in similar situation as well.  People are encouraged to respect themselves, and yet told that however they’re doing it, they’re doing it wrong.  Perfectly content people are still told that they must not truly respect themselves because they have chosen one lifestyle over another.  As if somehow a person’s physical appearance or their preferences in music, literature, or film could determine whether or not they respect themselves.

            Through my eyes, self-respect means comfort in one’s own skin.  A self-respecting person may still hide behind books and hoodies, or they may be extroverted and care free.  If a person is content with themselves and aware of their own well-being, then no one else should be able to label whether or not that individual can call themselves self-respecting.  That’s the whole point of the use of the word “self.”  It’s an individual determination.  No one else’s opinions should be able to tarnish a sense of worth.  That is the strength of self-respect.

            One way of enhancing self-respect, not always, but in some cases, is to reach out of a defined comfort zone.  Of course, some people may be too uncomfortable or may not respect themselves if they are forcing themselves into one thing or another, but I have personally found that breaking the walls of a comfort zone is a step towards self-respect.  I was never really content with who I was until I finally managed to get on stage in theatre, despite some rather awful stage fright.  Conquering fears grants a real sense of self-importance, as well as the fact that it opened doors for something that I genuinely want to do with the rest of my life. 

            In some cases, respect may hinge on other’s views.  A person may only respect themselves if they feel respected by others.  Personally, I consider this a rather dangerous way to value oneself, but as I have said before, self-respect is up to the individual.  I do not have the right to tell someone how to feel about themselves, especially if they are content in their own ways.  Overall, the importance is mainly on the comfort that one feels about oneself.  Meaning that the whole act of defining self-respect is rather pointless.  An individual interpretation also, most likely, means individual definition. 

            My best advice is simply to enjoy life.  Respect yourself and don’t bother to think too much about labels and definitions.  If you respect yourself, you’ll know that you do.  No one else will be able to, nor should they be able to, tell you whether you are self-respecting or not.  Take risks if you want, live calmly and modestly if you want.  Enjoy life.  Try to enjoy yourself.  At the end of the day, you are in your own head.  Your interpretation of the world is up to you and you alone.

Commentary: The Misery of SIlence-Maxine Hong Kingston

Silence can be portrayed as so many different things.  Silence can be protest, fear, expression, choice, forced, shyness or anxiety, and so many more topics.  A moment of silence symbolizes mourning for a person or group of people.  A day of silence is nationally observed to bring awareness to bullying, specifically to the LGBT community.  The book Speak portrays a character with selective mutism who uses it as a coping device after a traumatizing incident; the television show The Big Bang Theory portrays a character with selective mutism and uses it as a comedic device to poke fun at how inept the main characters are at speaking to women.  Silence can be inwardly reflective, or it can be an outward display of character.  It can call attention to someone, or cause someone to be overlooked.  With all the degrees of silence and all the directions it can go, it is not surprising that Kingston defines so much of her childhood by her constant silence. 

                While I cannot specifically relate to the silence of an immigrant family in a foreign school, I have observed many forms of silence which have many parallels to what Kingston describes.  In unfamiliar or nerve-racking environments, even the words of one’s own language can feel foreign due to uncomfortable surroundings.  The more that one worries about how they are perceived, the more likely they are to trip over their own words, and realizing this, they are more likely to simply stay silent.  This anxiety is what causes students to not ask questions in classes that trouble them.  A similar fear in other contexts is what may cause victims of verbal bullying to oftentimes not stand up to their attackers.  Even simpler situations, such as wanting to reply to a statement that was made but being unable to simply because the lesson or conversation is moving along, can put a strain on the struggle of silence versus speaking.

            I have found that the Day of Silence is actually quite effective in bringing awareness to the struggles of feeling trapped in one’s mind.  Consciously staying silent, even though it was my own choice, caused me to feel a little disheartened.  It gives the impression that maybe what I had to say wasn’t worth saying in the first place.  It made me realize how many unnecessary comments I make in a day, yet I wanted to make those comments anyway.  Before communicating with someone (I carried around a whiteboard,) I had to think through what I wanted to say and make it concise; they had to stick around while I wrote it if they wanted to see what I had to say.  Words seemed to knock behind my teeth and my mouth seemed to dry out.  Any noise from my throat, such as a laugh, was jarring.  It seemed both forbidden and freeing at the same time.  The interesting thing about the Day of Silence is that it both exaggerates the circumstances and at the same time doesn’t even come close to showing us what it’s truly like to be figuratively (or sometimes literally) silenced by the world.  Many of us don’t know what it’s like to be a victim.  Many of us, unfortunately, do.   

From my experience, I have found that I understand things best through metaphors.  The Day of Silence is very effective in communicating its message.  Silence is difficult to endure, and while part of it is a choice, it still takes someone to listen.  Silence can define someone, or can cause someone to force definitions upon themselves.  Silence is dangerous, but in some cases silence is wonderful.  Silence is so many different things because it is the absence of words; and without anything to go off of, people have to truly think for themselves.

Commentary: Beauty:When the Other Dancer is the Self-Alice Walker

            In her essay, Beauty: When the Other Dancer is the Self, Walker tells about how she lost her eye and how it affected her confidence growing up.  Before the accident, she placed a lot of pride in being beautiful and afterwards she felt as though she had lost it all and that she was constantly being judged.  She worries about the scar tissue on her eye.  After having it removed, she worries about the way her blind eye wanders.  She constantly places her appearance as her first concern, even after years and years of success, and years and years of her worries never being proven correct. 

            A focus on beauty is everywhere in society.  It has always been a concern of almost everyone’s.  It’s rather unfortunate that people constantly center on appearance over personality, and even if they look to personalities they never truly disregard appearance.  It isn’t necessarily a shallow attribute, not in all situations, it has just become so generally accepted that no one questions how attractiveness factors into people’s perceptions of each other. 

            A pressure to be beautiful surrounds so much that we do in society.  This pressure is especially hard on women, though I refuse to entirely discount men from the pressures of society because it certainly falls on them as well.  However, since I have only experienced the burdens of beauty for a woman, that’s all that I can personally speak for.  One part of the media focuses on rejecting shallow standards, but then the rest of it, unfortunately the majority, focuses on every possible way to sell change.  The front page of almost any magazine advertises weight loss tips.  Commercials bombard us with hair care, skin care, make up, and other cosmetic products.  Teeth get whitened, legs get shaved, hair get colored, eyes get painted, nails get manicured, and even after doing everything possible to conform to a standard of beauty, models still get photoshopped.  With this kind of representation being forced daily over everyone, it makes sense for Walker to be concerned about her appearance, though I find it rather sad that even through success she lets a minor difference define her. 

            After becoming a successful author, she is about to be featured in a magazine.  The night before, she has this thought: “Suddenly all I can think of is whether I will get enough sleep the night before the photography session: If I don't, my eye will be tired and wander, as blind eyes will.”  She then debates even going through with the photography, solely because she fears that her eye won’t be straight enough.  After looking up pictures of Walker, I found it difficult to even tell which one of her eyes was the real one and which one was the fake.  We all tend to exaggerate our faults.  We dwell on them quite often to an unhealthy extent.   

            In the end, she discusses a time at which she feels beautiful.  She is comfortable with her slight deformity and she is content with herself.  Though through her realization, I feel that she still is focusing on her appearance.  She never mentions the idea that she is a brilliant, successful, or worthy person.  All she comes to peace with is her appearance despite a fake eye.  Even with a “happy ending,” the pressures of beauty have obviously take hold, even on a subconscious level.  Despite the attempted shift to a more uplifting message of the essay, I found it to still be rather disappointing, or even shallow.  

Commentary: The Courage of Turtles-Edward Hoagland

            It seems that most often when people choose an animal to admire, it is because that animal has a trait that we wish we could achieve.  Common phrases may include the heart of a lion or the gracefulness of a swan.  People admire the speed of jungle cats or the clever camouflage of deep sea creatures.  Edward Hoagland admires turtles for their incredibly human-like traits.  Despite how different a turtle may seem from ourselves, Hoagland shows how wonderfully human even a reptile can be.

            By setting up so many parallels between humanity and turtles to begin with, we feel much more sympathetic towards them later on; they see the same colors that we do, they can work their way logically through a maze, and they share some similar body language.  Knowing this, it’s disappointing to see how Hoagland has witnessed turtles being treated.  In one section, he describes small turtles that are being kept as prizes at arcades.  They are painted on and are out of any habitat that is even remotely natural.  He purchases an older turtle from the back, but still doesn't have the proper means of taking care of it.  The story from then on is presented as rather tragic. 

            The main part of Hoagland’s characterization that interests me is the fact that his essay is title “The Courage of Turtles.”  Courage.  What about a turtle is necessarily courageous?  He proves intelligence in his essay.  Compassion and even humanity are shown.  Throughout the paper, there is not a situation in which it seems the turtle has to literally call on courage to solve an issue.  So, with literal courage being most likely out of the question, what’s left is to figure out is; what is the main trait that Hoagland is seeking to praise here? 

            Courage, in my opinion, seems to be most applicable to perseverance and strength through misunderstanding.   The turtles, while being seen as remarkably human, can therefore easily represent people and what we have to call on courage for.  Sometimes being brave is not a significant event and a major contribution.  Sometimes it takes bravery to get through rather simple situations.  The strength that it can take to make it through an average day is often overlooked.  The perseverance that people have to rely on in order to simply keep moving is constantly underrated and struggles are disregarded. 

            Look at how a turtle begins its life.  After hatching, usually rather close to the water, it seems simple enough to meander across some clear sand and start swimming off to begin a life.  However, young turtles are in extreme danger from the beginning.  Even with a short distance to cross and few obstacles in the way, there are many predators and harsh elements to endure.  A very small percentage of sea turtles make it past infancy.  A seemingly simple task has so much more behind it.  Courage isn't always needed to go into something.  Sometimes it is needed to make it through something that you don’t have a choice in.  It takes courage simply to be a turtle.  It takes courage simply to get through day-to-day tasks.  Life itself requires bravery no matter what the circumstances. 

            Hoagland, I think, means for us to learn from our animal counterparts.  For us to appreciate life and to not discount the small things.  For us to be courageous enough to allow ourselves to be seen as people may see turtles and to work through personal hardships because being different doesn't mean that two things can’t relate, and being similar doesn't mean that two will always see eye-to-eye.