Debussys Petit Suite Essay Example for Free

Debussys Petit Suite Essay Claude Debussy (1862-1918) was one of the most important composers of his time and is considered the founder of the impressionist movement, essentially a one-person revolution. Born in Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Debussy was the eldest of five children of a crockery shop owner and a seamstress. Despite early dreams of becoming a virtuoso pianist, Debussy found greater success working as a composer, producing his first works as a teenager. His first piano work was written at age 18, and within a few years, he was composing symphonies, cantatas and operas. The origin of the his impressionistic music stemmed from the Impressionistic art of compatriots- Monet, Renoir, Manet, and others, with the tendency to hint at an idea rather than state boldly, to feature color and atmosphere over Germanic clarity. The piano remained his main instrument and he ultimately became best known for his mature works for the instrument. His piano music is distinctive for its luminous tonal colors and often evoke an other-wordly and ethereal sense. This is a result of his skillful use of parallel chords, treatments of layers of refined sound, unresolved harmonies, unusual pedal effects, free modulatory procedures, and full exploitation of the piano’s resources. Debussy was only 24 years old when he began working on the 4-hand Petite Suite. The charming 4-movement suite was written about the same time as his two Arabesques for piano, conjuring a similar sense of lightness and delicacy, as well as conveying the same immediate charm. The work was originally conceived for piano, but was later re-scored for full orchestras. The reworking of Petite Suite for orchestra was accomplished not by Debussy himself, but by Henri Boesser, a slightly younger French composer who was noted for his orchestration skills. In its original form for piano, Petite Suite was first performed on February 2, 1889 by Debussy in collaboration with the pianist-publisher Jacques Durand. Transcriptions for string quartet, flute solo, saxophone solos, and other instrumentations have been written and performed. This works has a simple lyricism that contrasts with much of the composers music from the late 1880s Like the paintings of the Impressionists, most of Debussy’s music including the Petite Suite is inspired by the outdoors, suggesting moods and giving glimpses of nature. For Debussy, music always began where words and sight left off. The first movements of Debussy’s Petite Suite of 1889 are drawn from two poems of Verlaine’s 1869 volume Fà ªtes galantes. The poems evoke the era of 18th-century aristocrats on country outings, the world depicted in the fanciful paintings of Fragonard and Watteau. En Bateau is one of the composer’s â€Å"water pieces’ presenting a delicate theme reminiscent of Faure rippling accompaniment. It suggests revelers in a boat have their minds on romantic trysts as they sail at dusk on a dark lake. Debussy’s music captures perfectly a mood of water-borne serenity and languor, opening with a kind of musical sigh that made the Petite Suite immediately popular with a wide audience. The next movement, entitled Cortge, Procession conveys the idea that boat revelers are playfully making their way along a promenade to retire from the boat ride. The third movement Menuet, triple metered dance, and fourth, Ballet although not set to a particular poem articulate broadly the nostalgia and the sparkle held in balance throughout the poems of Fà ªtes galantes. The final movement is an energetic, festive dance movement with the title Ballet.

Bush and the Patriot Act: Declaring War on Our Rights? Essay -- Septem

Bush and the Patriot Act: Declaring War on Our Rights?      Ã‚     When I decided to write this essay, I knew without hesitation that I would write about Washington's response to the terrorist attacks that struck New York and Washington. I did not realize how difficult such an undertaking would be, as I find myself in a somewhat an uncomfortable position. Forcing myself to confront the issues at hand means deciding which freedoms are acceptable casualties in this war and for whom.   To allow Attorney General Ashcroft to lead us into a new era of American justice that resembles McCarthyism or the internment of Japanese-Americans a half-century ago would be regrettable.      I do not mean to imply that the US response should be weak; to the contrary, I support an expansion of this effort into Iraq. I've always had a passion for government, ours in particular. The difficulty comes from choosing how to defend that government, as it is our secular and modern way of life that is under attack. And though quoting ancient Greek is clichà ©, I find the rule of law to be reassuringly passion-free and just. My support for the ACLU stretches back ten years, which is considerable as I am only twenty years old. I also strongly support strengthening our law enforcement and intelligence agencies. The inability of the FBI, CIA, Justice Department, INS or NSC to detect the terrorist attacks before they were executed was grossly delinquent; to borrow a phrase from The New York Times' Maureen Dowd. This breach in intelligence is even more shocking when the amount of money poured into national security annually is considered. That we need added protections in this time of national crisis is indisputable. However, the manner in which we defend our wa... ...et military tribunals] at my finger tips.viii" The White House's justification has been a mere declaration that the principles of law on rules of evidence are impracticable. This sort of explanation is hardly adequate. The Bushies' policies seem to be reverting to their "trust us" mantra. Congress needs to get the government back in check. Few congressmen have yet to challenge any legislation tied to terrorism for fear of political consequences. I predict, however, that the political consequences suffered will be far greater for those who remain too afraid to speak out against the President, than for those who defend the Constitution.    Sources    i (Segev, NYTimes) ii (ACLU report) iii (NYTimes 10/26, B1). iv (Levy, WSJ, 11/27). v   (NYTimes). vi (NYTimes 11/18. A1). vii (NYTimes 12/1, A1). viii (NYTimes 11/28, A25).     

Interview with an Asian American Woman

Interview with an Asian American Woman The Long Journey Towards The American Dream The Vietnam War ended in 1975, which caused many Vietnamese people to be driven out of their homes and immigrate to America, seeking a safe life away from the affects of war and political turmoil (Ojeda-Kimbrough Lecture June 7, 2012). My family was a part of these refugees searching for a way out. I interviewed my mother, Huong Carter who was born and raised in Vietnam and came to the U. S. with the second wave of immigrants after the war had ended.The second wave of immigrants, including my family, could not speak English very well and traveled by boat, which was one of the most dangerous ways of travel during this time (Ojeda-Kimbrough Lecture June 7, 2012). With the threat of pirates, theft, illness, and drowning, my family faced these dangers in order to gain their freedom. Analysis of interview My mother felt frustrated throughout the interview, trying to get her point across but maybe couldnâ₠¬â„¢t find the right words.She wanted to make sure that I knew everything that happened was because of how brave my grandfather had been to leave absolutely everything he had worked his whole life for behind just to keep my mother and her siblings safe and provide a brighter and safer future for them. I was trying to focus on how she felt during these times, and how she felt about being Asian in a predominantly White culture in America. The issues that we had learned in lectures did come up, but she didn’t want to focus on that.She wanted to focus on how hard her father had worked, and how hard each of them had to work, in school and in their jobs so that they could succeed in America where they had freedom and were safe from war. They saw coming to America as a great escape from the dangers of the political turmoil in Vietnam and worked hard every single day to obtain better jobs, more money, and a decent and safe future for their children. The interview gave me a better ins ight of how the â€Å"boat people† traveled and what kinds of dangers they faced, as well as the challenges faced absorbing life in America without fully understanding the language and culture.Early Life For some people, life was easy and comfortable in Vietnam. Huong was brought up in a wealthy family with four other siblings and had a maid and a chauffeur. As kids they didn’t have to do too much to help around the house and usually got what they wanted. Her father was a business man, and owned his own business. They lived in a big house an hour outside of Saigon in South Vietnam. Huong and her four siblings went to a nice public school in the area, and attended private lessons in Math and English. However the war brought on hardships for everyone.The effects of the war and the bombings happening all around where Huong’s family lived made her father decide it was time to leave. With it being much safer to live in the city, Saigon was their first choice, and the whole family made the move into Saigon. The Long Journey to America After the war, the communists took over Vietnam. In my mother’s words they â€Å"brain washed† children into believing in their way of communist life. The government started recruiting children to test out the mine fields from the war for any remaining mines.Huong’s oldest sibling ended up on this list, and it was at this time when their father decided it was time to leave Vietnam. He did not believe in the communist theory and wanted his children to grow up in a safe, free environment. Of course he knew that this meant he would have to give up everything he had worked for in Vietnam, and he knew the difficulties involved in moving to America, but after the communists won the war, their normal way of living was over. Huong’s family started their travels to America with the second wave of immigrants or the â€Å"boat people† (Ojeda-Kimbrough Lecture June 7, 2012).Her father had dec ided to give up everything they had in Vietnam to move to a safer place for his family, and most of all he wanted freedom. The proper legal papers were signed and their cousins in Georgia, USA who had immigrated earlier were their sponsors. They gave all of their money to guarantee space on the boat that would take them to America, and they had to pay with gold bars. The money used was just passage out of Vietnam; they had no idea where they were headed to. They were also told that it was a passenger ship, but it was in fact a freight ship.The government had lied and misled them, took all of their money in gold bars to only send them as far as Hong Kong. The boat ride was long and treacherous. Luckily my mother’s family had paid to get onto one of the bigger boats, meaning it was less likely that they would be attacked by pirates on their journey. What they did endure was extremely cramped conditions and rough seas. For freight ship that could have held maybe 1000 people, 300 0 people were squeezed onto this ship. Their journey to Hong Kong took about one month. During this time, people would commit suicide, die from sickness, or starve.The captain of the ship ordered people to toss over their only possessions and the food they had brought in fear of capsizing the boat during storms. After this, some people would try and steal food from their neighbors. When the boat reached Hong Kong, the government there wanted to send them back to Vietnam. They were not supposed to be there, and they surely didn’t want to take them in. After a month of consideration and more waiting on the boat for the passengers, a camp was set up by the harbor for these thousands of passengers after their long travel on the sea.In this camp, my mother and her family would stay in Hong Kong for an additional 8 months before going to America. For her family of seven, they were given one bunk bed to share. Conditions at the camp were as cramped as on the ship, and very dirty. Th e refugees would be given rice and water every day for food, which they had to line up for. However, they were allowed to get small jobs outside of the camp, so my mother, all of her siblings and her parents would get these jobs so that their family could save enough money to buy a little extra food. After doing even more legal work and consulting with their relatives and sponsors in the U.S. , my mother and the rest of her family all finally got to leave Hong Kong, straight for America. The American Dream My mother arrived in Georgia, USA in 1979, at age 17. She left all her friends and family in Vietnam and the comforts of their old home. She was always so excited to go to America because everyone would talk about this rich land and when they finally got here, it was very overwhelming. At first she was confused. What my mother found in America was not what she expected. There was a lot more poverty and not at all like she had dreamed.Here they were immediately put into high school . Her father held back his children in school to allow them to catch up and make up for the year they had missed. He did this, so that his children would also have a chance to catch up on their English language skills, and do well in school. Their education was a priority and he wanted them to do their best. The language was the hardest part of coming to America, everything was new and unfamiliar. They only stayed in Georgia for two months before my grandfather contacted some of his old neighbors from Vietnam who were now living in California.He didn’t like the weather in Georgia and felt California would probably be a better fit for him. So after only a few months, my mother finally got to California. The children were put back into high school immediately; however times were tough for my mother and her siblings. Their high school consisted of mostly white American, Hispanic and African American children. Her English was not very good at this point, so it was hard communicat ing with other kids, and socializing. Everywhere she went, she had a dictionary with her. She took beginners English class, where it consisted mostly of Hispanics.This class she felt was the nicest because she was with other kids who, like herself, could not speak the main language very well, and had difficulties expressing themselves. Luckily my grandfather’s old neighbor had a daughter, Phuong, attending the same high school, who became friends with my mother and her siblings. Phuong helped make them to make friends and understand American society and culture a little easier. Phuong had been in California much longer than my mother, having come over with the first wave of immigrants. Her English was much better, and she already had a small close group of friends.Huong didn’t have a long high school career, and she often felt isolated, and alienated from other kids. She would be ignored because they knew that she didn’t speak English very well and didn’t want to bother. She was the only Asian besides her siblings and always felt different from everyone else. Going into stores, the clerks would follow her around because they thought she would steal something. Huong felt cheated from having a real high school experience. She never got to go to prom or buy a year book because their family didn’t have enough money.She also felt she didn’t accomplish as much as she could have with her grades due to the language barrier, even when she would spend most of her time studying instead of making friends. However, she still obtained A’s and B’s through her hard work and perseverance, but was disappointed as she always had straight A’s in Vietnam. So she never felt like she was achieving as much as she potentially could. She was too busy trying to understand what everything was. College Getting into college was Huong’s and her sibling’s first priority.Most of the children actually got scholarships , and financial aid to help finance their college funds. Even though, Huong was actually embarrassed to ask for financial aid and have welfare and food stamps, it was the only way to attend college, and further her education. By this point in their lives, college was much easier because they understood the English language a lot better and there were more Asians in college than there were in high school. My mother got a job in the Financial Aid office at her college to help support her family.Her family was still struggling to make ends meet, so everyone had to work. Huong felt frustrated sometimes with her life, she wanted to accomplish as much as she could, but also had to help pay the bills for her family and work. Life was easy in Vietnam with their maids and chauffeurs, and here they had to work hard for everything they had. They lived in a small apartment and took the bus to school because they couldn’t afford a car. Everyone in the family had part time jobs, and would work and study hard every day to help better their careers and education.My mother felt she would study even harder than everyone else because of the language barrier. She had no time to party or date, or to buy nice things, because their lives only consisted of work and studying. Towards the end of her college life, my mother was hired as a data entry clerk with a local Real Estate company. She always felt like she was being treated nice, but maybe not necessarily equally. Management would yell at Huong for mistakes that were not her fault. She was never trained for the job, and was expected to do things that she needed training for.She felt that she wasn’t given any respect what so ever, and had to try her hardest to learn from her mistakes when they were yelling at her. Despite the disrespect and the yelling, she managed to earn a promotion to Assistant Controller with a raise from all her hard work. Huong didn’t have a lot of friends in the work place, but was alwa ys nice to everyone and tried to get to know each colleague. When my mother met my father Jeff in college, things became easier for her. Jeff was from England, and also immigrated to California. He came from a poor family, and also had to work hard to provide for his family and help pay the bills.With all of the things they had in common, Huong felt like she could relate to someone else, and he helped her understand more about American society. He would help her with her homework and her English. With this, life became much easier for Huong, because she understood a lot more about the American way of life. With the extra help, she had more time to go out, have fun and do things that Americans do, like going to the movies, dancing, and eating out. Life Now After being here for 33 years my mother is comfortable with life in America. She never got to go back and visit Vietnam yet, but she wants to when life isn’t so busy.She still misses the food, the culture, and her family in Vietnam, but not only is she living easily, her parents and all of her siblings are also living comfortably in California now. Her parents have a small house in Garden Grove, the center of the Vietnamese community, where they have retired next to other Vietnamese people. She realizes now just how much her father had given up when bringing his family to America, but she knows it had to be done, for their safety and their freedom. She is more than grateful of her father’s decisions, because she got to live in a free country and become a citizen.The main thing is they got to come to a country where there is no war. Her entire family still keeps close to each other by calling one another often, even the relatives still in Vietnam, and they have many family gatherings throughout the year for holidays, birthdays, and also to celebrate Vietnamese traditions. They keep up with their culture, and how they prepare their food, and when they are all together they still primarily speak th e Vietnamese language. Their old customs and traditions are important to everyone in the family.

Womens Suffrage What You Need to Know

The womens suffrage movement was one of the defining social movements in the modern world. A forerunner to contemporary feminist movements, the suffrage movement focused on obtaining the right to vote for women. Ultimately, the movement succeeded in 1920 with the ratification of the 19th Amendment, but this accomplishment, while groundbreaking on paper, still faced many barriers and inequalities in practice. Whos Who in Womens Suffrage Who were the people involved in working to win the vote for women? Here are some handy resources to learn more about these suffrage workers: A list of those who were key in working for the vote for women: Womens Suffrage Biographies and Top 10 Womens Suffrage Activists When: Timelines of Womens Suffrage Key events in the struggle for womens suffrage in America: Timeline of Woman Suffrage When did women get the vote? Prior to the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment, which gave women the constitutional right to vote, some states had already passed laws granting women the vote. Wyoming was the first, passing a law in 1869. The amendment itself was passed in Congress in 1919 and reached ratification in 1920. However, this wasnt the end of the road: even after ratification, there were legal challenges, and many women across the country were still kept from the ballot box by other measures and legal loopholes. American State-by-State Suffrage TimelineInternational Suffrage TimelineWho Was the First Woman to Vote? How: How Womens Suffrage Was Fought for and Won Overviews: Long Road to Womens SuffrageWomens Rights and the Fourteenth AmendmentThe Progress of Fifty Years (1893)August 26, 1920: The Day the Suffrage Battle Was Won Seneca Falls, 1848: First Womans Rights Convention In 1848, the Seneca Falls Convention brought together women to discuss the social, civil, and religious condition and rights of women. Many historians consider this the formal beginning of the womens rights movement. The convention most famously discussed the suffrage movement, but also included discussions of other issues of interest to women. Seneca Falls ConventionDeclaration of SentimentsWe Now Demand Our Right to VoteSeneca Falls Resolutions Later 19th Century United States v. Susan B. Anthony (1872-73)Minor v. Happersett (1872-74)Fourteenth AmendmentWomans Journal 20th Century Womens Suffrage Turning Points 1913 - 1917Brutal Treatment of Women Suffragists at Occoquan WorkhouseAugust 26, 1920: The Day the Suffrage Battle Was Won Womens Suffrage - Basic Terminology Womens suffrage refers to the right of women to vote and to hold public office. The womens suffrage movement (or woman suffrage movement) includes all the organized activities of reformers to change laws that kept women from voting or to add laws and constitutional amendments to guarantee women the right to vote. Their efforts culminated in 1920 with the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment, which states, The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex. Womens suffrage movements occurred in other countries around the same time, albeit often with property qualifications, age restrictions, or other loopholes. Youll often read about woman suffrage and suffragettes -- here are some clarifications on those terms: Suffrage: where does this word come from?Suffragette  - is this the correct term to use for those who worked to win the vote for women?Woman or Women?  - which term, womens suffrage or woman suffrage is the correct one for the movement and its goal? What: Suffrage Events, Organizations, Laws, Court Cases, Concepts, Publications Major womens suffrage organizations: American Equal Rights AssociationAmerican Woman Suffrage AssociationNational Woman Suffrage AssociationNational American Woman Suffrage Association Original Sources: Documents of Womens Suffrage Seneca Falls Declaration of Sentiments (1848)Woman and Her Wishes (1853)The Progress of Fifty Years (1893)Suffering Suffragettes (1912)Two Suffrage Movements (1912)Why Women Should Vote (about 1917) Test Your Knowledge Check out how much you know about the womens suffrage movement with this online quiz: Womens Suffrage Quiz And learn some fun facts:  13 Surprising Facts About Susan B. Anthony