The Role of Music During and After Puerto Rican Migration to the United

The Role of Music During and After Puerto Rican Migration to the United States For Puerto Ricans, music served infinite purposes. It allowed for the formation and reformation of cultural views and opinions, through the lyrics in the songs. These views were constantly changing, which in turn fed into the ever evolving identity of the Puerto Rican people. As a vehicle of expression it stimulated thought and provided a method of communication for the community. In The Puerto Rican community of New York City the increasing popularity of music indicated a desire for Puerto Rican based and oriented entertainment but more importantly for national unity. For the musicians themselves music served as an outlet for creativity while doubling as a secondary source of economic growth. In Puerto Rico music became the major avenue for social acceleration. Musicians on both the island and the mainland looked to music as a career choice that would eventually lead to amassed wealth. This opinion, however, was not universal as the upper classes saw music as simply a hobby. â€Å"The white and more affluent populations... did not see music as a step up the social or economic ladder† (Glasser 32). Many musicians migrated to the mainland in search of a musical career that would reap fame and fortune. â€Å"For blacks and mulattos from an impoverished background, music could be a means of upward mobility† (31). Within the confines of their economical situation there was a dire necessity for improvement that was readily available in the music industry or so they thought. Unfortunately the will and desire of the people did not suffice in a society where the mere color of the skin automatically closed many doors. This aspect of American soc... ...an era. For the Puerto Rican community music created an outlet for their pain and sorrow as seen in Lamento Borincano. Also it established a much needed nationally recognized identity based on a common culture as opposed to the pigmentation of the skin. Glasser’s loose interpretation of race channeled the readers attention more onto the issue of race and what it should mean. For Glasser race is equated with color. Although I disagree with the statement, it is a viable one. The ambiguity of the word creates the problem. Her inconsistency with her terms shows a lack of preparation. This problem could have been easily remedied with a brief explanation of the terms used and her stance on the issue. Bibliography Glasser, Ruth. My Music is my Flag: Puerto Rican Musicians and their New York Communities 1917-1940. (University of California Press: Berkeley, 1995).

Critical analysis of Bob Dylan’s song “Hurricane” Essay

Bob Dylan’s iconic songwriting, unique and distinctive singing voice, as well as his controversial and thought-provoking lyrics has undoubtedly placed Dylan among the elites of modern, American musical history. This is not to say there are those who dislike and generally do not care for his songwriting, but almost everyone has come in contact with his expansive body of work. Born Robert Allen Zimmerman in 1941 in Duluth, Minnesota, he moved to New York City in 1961 and legally changed his name to Bob Dylan in 1962. In the onset of his career Dylan focused on politically charged themes and acoustic/folk type guitar playing. Protest songs written in the 1960’s established a reputation as a free-thinking songwriter engrossed in the trials and tribulations of the times. After a break from this style, his 1976 album Desire contained the eight and a half minute mega-track â€Å"Hurricane,† which saw a return to the societal-minded songwriting that had helped him make h is name. â€Å"Hurricane,† is a narrative that describes Dylan’s own account of the events in New Jersey bar in June of 1966, which lead to the arrest and imprisonment of Rubin â€Å"Hurricane† Carter, an American middle-weight boxer. Although this is one of his most popular songs, Dylan no longer incorporates it in his live sets. Also, despite its popularity, â€Å"Hurricane,† is truly a masterpiece and a wonderful lens with which to examine this great artist’s literary style and influence. Through the exploration of several critics’ analysis coupled with a detailed examination of the actual song lyrics, it is clear that the song â€Å"Hurricane† by Bob Dylan intertwines modern social elements of race and equity, the literary aspects of genre, language and metaphor, and his own unique and individualistic songwriting that has established him on a plateau of excellence rivaled by no other modern artist. The racial aspects of the song ring out louder than any other theme. Upon listening to the song, Dylan’s emotionally charged singing and sharp lyrics clearly display that fact that Rubin Carter’s skin color had a major influence in his arrest and conviction. This, of course, is just Bob Dylan’s interpretation however. Evan Schlansky, a critic from American Songwriter.com, explores the issue of race and social equity in his analysis. ‘†Hurricane† functions like a real live detective story. It’s a song that peppers the listener with rich details and impolite truths, many  of which are enough to make the hairs at the back of your neck stand up’ (Schlansky, 1). Paterson, New Jersey in the 1960’s was a hotbed of racism and racial issues, and the lyrics explain the direness of the situation. Dylan sings, â€Å"In Paterson that’s just the way things go/If you’re black you might as well not show up on the street, ‘less you wanna draw the heat† (Metrolyrics.com, 1). Dylan is obviously critiquing the law enforcement and judiciary system, as well as striking a chord with racial and political activists everywhere. As mentioned before, Bob Dylan’s songwriting as always been poignant and controversial and although this song was released ten years after the incident, its themes are just as true. He lays blame on society’s elite with the lines, â€Å"And though they could not produce the gun, the D.A. said he was the one who did the deed, and the all-white jury agreed† (Metrolyrics.com, 1). These lines have been regarded as some of Dylan’s most controversial and along with his use of the â€Å"N-word,† he created an extremely moving and thought-provoking example of how racism is still present in society. The first element of Dylan’s genre in â€Å"Hurricane,† relate to his writing the song as a narrative. This means he is singing the song as a story being told of the actual accounts as if Dylan himself was in the bar that night. Gerard Steen, in his essay â€Å"Metaphor in Bob Dylan’s ‘Hurricane'† writes, â€Å"†¦such story format options are also part and parcel of well-conventionalized cognitive genre schemes, such as narrative songs† (Steen, 190). Another important genre aspect of â€Å"Hurricane,† is his utilization of a protest song. â€Å"†¦the accusation of false conviction is clear enough to make the song a serious protest song from the beginning† (Steen, 189). Protest songs were elemental in establishing Dylan’s reputation as a singer/songwriter. â€Å"Hurricane,† marked a return to this style of songwriting. Dylan also uses language to convey his message. Usage of extreme language and powerful metaphors enhance the drama and suspense that builds throughout the song. The metaphors used by Dylan are key to his message. However these metaphors are not always clearly displayed throughout the verses, and the reader (or listener) usually has to make up his/her mind (Steen, 196). These important elements of literary style add to the significance and complexity of this monumental work. Aside from his singing voice, Dylan’s unique songwriting as placed him in a class of his own even among his peers. â€Å"Hurricane,† is a delightful piece to examine based on his return to the in-the-moment style songwriting that had made him famous in the 1960’s. Previous staples of Dylan’s first albums like â€Å"The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll,† and â€Å"Who Killed Davey Moore?,† had plots seemingly taken right from the papers and words beautifully woven into songs in a way completely peculiar to his own style. In fact many critics argue that the song may have fit more unto one of his earlier albums such as Masters of War or The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan (Schlansky, 1). The fact that this song was not released until 1976 also leads to the element of surprise that Dylan (ever the individual) would ever back-track to his previous writing styles. â€Å"Harking back to the days when he used to rip his song ideas from the headlines of newspapers, Dylan masterfully sums up and dramatizes Carter’s story, and also manages to embarrass the system by coming off smarter than every lawyer, cop, and jury on the case. To live outside the law, you must be honest† (Schlansky, 1). Through the exploration of several critics’ analysis coupled with a detailed examination of the actual song lyrics, it is clear that the song â€Å"Hurricane† by Bob Dylan intertwines modern social elements of race and equity, the literary aspects of genre, language and metaphor, and his own unique and individualistic songwriting that has established him on a plateau of excellence rivaled by no other modern artist. Although there are those who do not enjoy Dylan’s music, one would be hard-pressed to find someone who had never heard of him. He is undoubtedly one of the most famous and influential American musicians of all-time. â€Å"Hurricane,† stands as one of Dylan’s true masterpieces and incorporates the best aspects of his literary style and songwriting capabilities. The song was so influential many believe it even helped to get Rubin Carter released from jail and acquitted of all charges. â€Å"†¦but only ‘Hurricane’ actually helped get someone out of jail, even if it did take 12 years (Schlansky, 1). In conclusion, â€Å"Hurricane,† is a song that will stand the test of time, and shines as a beacon of accomplishment in an immense and critically acclaimed body of work. Works Cited Levy, J., Dylan, B., â€Å"Hurricane.† 15 May 2009. < http://www.metrolyrics.com/hurricane- lyrics-bob-dylan.html>. Schlansky, Evan. â€Å"The 30 Greatest Bob Dylan Songs: #21 ‘Hurricane’.† 2009. American Songwriter.com. 15 May 2009. . Steen, Gerard. â€Å"Metaphor in Bob Dylan’s ‘Hurricane’: genre, style and language.† 15May 2009. < http://books.google.com/books?id=O1R79- TsVKoC&pg=PA183&lpg=PA183&dq=literary+criticism+%22hurricane%22&s ource=bl&ots=Ioa4GCmjjQ&sig=MYMBoFGCnh0yV3ihRZ9gRLmnRXQ&hl=e n&ei=jqgNSopHYzCMdmhpbYG&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4 #PPA183,M1>.

Database And Spreadsheets Of Metropolitan Geniuses (MG) Company - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 5 Words: 1373 Downloads: 4 Date added: 2018/12/14 Category Information Systems Essay Type Research paper Level High school Did you like this example? Introduction The following essay is a summary about the development of a secure and organized database and spreadsheets of Metropolitan Geniuses (MG) Company to be used in the Information System department. The essay will contain development of a sustainable database technology to run the spreadsheets used to list down contractors needed by their clients as MG is a SME company. The essay will give description on how the company prefers to make the database which should have eight named contractors files which are, database specialist, programmers, website specialists, network engineers, data security officers, designers, analysts, system testers and other. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Database And Spreadsheets Of Metropolitan Geniuses (MG) Company" essay for you Create order The essay will give a description for the development of a two filed table spreadsheets that contains clients and contractors information which are then linked to the access portal. The essay will outline the use of Access database in developing the spreadsheets for the clients and contractors explaining the advantage of Microsoft Access over other form data web servers to share reports with end-users. Spreadsheets and databases share some common characters but databases have a higher technical processing. They are used to store and manage different types of data, although database is the best used method of storing data as it stores data values in tables which make them appear organized because they are arranged in columns and rows. A single row in a table is known as a record and a single record contains a value for each column in a table. The use of database Microsoft Access is the best as it is accessed over the web because they run on servers. Running of a secure and well acc essed database one has to use a well established SQL platform and the database created with a good programming language. Access database offer a good manipulation of data, therefore developing such a database for MG is best suited using this form of database as they require various data in their system and can be able to be accessed by various clients on their access web. Access is a simple database solution for small and medium businesses and works best for even beginners starting to use the application. MG requested for a table of clients and contractors information, description, fields and even fees incurred. This kind of information to be able to be displayed and be organized well one requires Access application as it has good formats and calculates data smoothly. Use of VBA (Visual Basic for Applications) language is the best choice for such process as it will make the instructions needed to be executed easily using this language. Because Access allows importing of informati on from other Microsoft applications then the previous clients information and the contractors information needed can be copy pasted from the spreadsheets information acquired from the contractors like ID, name, and fees incurred are calculated. VBA will be the best language used to validate the data and even detect error. MG as a SME business will need to save on a cost that is why use of Access will provide the best solution as it doesnt need regular monitoring like using the client-server databases. Therefore as a small business like MG will need to invest just ones for an expert to develop a good database using VBA that can even be turned later to an application and not require a complex database at first as it requires only clients information matched with the contractors information to be displayed on their access web server. The data are placed in tables with the company which is the client. The company will contain the fields needed which are almost 15 and a Meta data for each individual field. Then we should have the contractors that are available to hire.The contractors to be listed are Database specialist, programmers, website specialists, network engineers, data security officers, designers, analysts, system testers and a place for others. The contractors field should also contain the required Meta data assigned for each individual field. Microsoft Access supports well such requirements for a database and even input of a refresh button for the clients part in the web access after the tables in the database are being linked as the clients wages incurred may vary with different contracts given out to contractors. Access application will allow various users to access the portal even the clients not listed on the database therefore help in marketing the company services. Developing of a simple database is the best start for the company because with time Access allows for a room of development as the business grows. The end users might not even noti ce major changes when such development is done. Using the SQL server is to manage the scalability as many users will be accessing the portal. Keeping the data in tables will make them flexible and sustainable thus introducing one contractor for each client to have a scalable data. The calculated fields that contain the contractors hours worked, rate per hours and gross pay can be exported to excel spreadsheets for analysis. Access however allows this kind of exportation to be stored for future reference thereby avoiding loss of data or mismanagement. After joining the tables in Microsoft Access portal an Access Relational Database Management System (RDBMS) provides the task of a flexible reporting and functionality within the application and makes the users task simple and easy. The best template to use on a share point server and the best stipulated is web-based template. This template will allow all the clients to view and decide on the best appropriate contractor it require s for a specific job. Therefore designing a web database for MG Company is the best process as the blank page can be filled with the tables created in the excel spreadsheets for the clients to access. Access has various features that make it easier for the end user to access the data in a neat and organized way, the ribbon being one of the features that contains five tabs that help in organizing and managing the content in Microsoft Access at the open window. The ribbon contains tabs, groups and commands. The tabs group can be customized to suite user requirements, thereby avoiding circumstances where everything fills up the screen at ones and makes it unorganized for users to access information. Microsoft Access also allows data to be created in electronic image files through the EXTERNAL DATA tab on the ribbon. These reports can be access externally by people who dont have Access installed like PDF being opened by Adobe reader and also can be shared on emails. Microsoft also ha s various features that make the way the reports are viewed with Report view being a very supportive view way. Report view allows users to view part of the report they prefer to view, therefore they can choose which fields they want to view on their reports. Like a specific contractor with their charges per hour. Summary It is obvious for humans not to embrace change as it is their nature. Access application though when absorbed in an organization especially in a small growing one is the best solution for a fast and sustainable report keeping and sharing technology that replace use of excel or other web data bases. Microsoft Access is the best step to take from use of excels with the growing digital world. Access offers various features as discussed and it does not require a major skill to develop a database for a business. It comes with the Microsoft software so cost of purchasing another application is reduced. Access is the way to go with the latest version for 2016 having better features to use like tell me feature that guides a user especially a new user planning to start using Microsoft Access. It has a high processing power for even complicated data that need additional outside analysis with the offer of joining SQL server to your Acess software. The use of RDMS assures of exact values being posted for viewers and reduction of error which is a major problem with companies using a normal spread sheet like excel. Reference list ? · 10 Powerful Features Of Microsoft Access | Edu CBA. eduCBA. N.p., 2017. Web. 14 Nov. 2017. ? · Microsoft Access Business Benefits: The Perfect Match -. Access Database Tutorial. N.p., 2017. Web. 14 Nov. 2017.