The Blues and Jazz Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

The Blues and Jazz - Research Paper Example The epilogue and the first chapter of the book ‘invisible man’ serve as the basis for this research. Foundation of Jazz Music Jazz music emerged from African Americans in New Orleans As most music scholars would put it, jazz music was among the first American genres that influenced global music. In essence, many share the ideas that this form of music developed after the civil war especially in America (Clark 56). On the other hand, jazz musicians also used this music genre as a platform for advocating for civil rights and equality for the African American minority group. It was a subtle way of dealing with social injustices for which others considered as stereotyping since it mainly targeted those of white color. In essence, music serves as an avenue for communicating across one’s ignorance’s and hatreds hence connecting people for the betterment of the society. With this attribute in mind, many jazz musicians played their music for a purpose that was grea ter than entertainment but as a way of bringing unity for the oppressed. Ellison’s use of Jazz and Blues in the book ‘Invisible Man’ serves as a way of self-expression. ... This explains why the narrator chooses to listen to such music in his underground hole as he strived to peer deeper into the invisible man that he received little attention from the whites. Although many jazz artists were from New Orleans, this does not limit the themes to this location only. On the contrary, many African Americans formed the audience of those jazz artists because the themes expressed reflected the feelings and experience of all of them. Famous jazz artists included Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, John Carter, Wyntons Marsalis, and Wadada Leo Smith. All these artists expressed the feelings of African Americans. They made use of a variety of symphonies that defined their style of the mainstream African music (Clark 80). Jazz emerged at a time when the civil rights movement in America was operating under a compelling impetus. The popularity of jazz music was to contribute greatly to anti-racial themes. This is evident because the song ‘What did I do to be soâ₠¬â„¢ that the narrator in ‘Invisible man’ listened to in the underground hole is a reflection of the sentiments harbored by many of the Black people against racism. Louis Armstrong had remixed the song to address the racism theme that was affecting the Africans Americans. It is worth noting that the emergence of jazz was a motivation of black people to extend their outcry against the institutionalization that slavery had caused. Jazz music formed one of the avenues through which African American could convey their quest for equal treatment. In addition, this was the period shortly after the world war and Africans demanded inclusion in all systems as

Lebanon Annotated Bibliography Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Lebanon - Annotated Bibliography Example Within the context of the stated, allegiance to Lebanon is subsumed by family and blood and this is the real source of the country's division and problems. Cerulo examines the phenomenon of identity in this article. As he explains, each and every individual has multiple identities. Amongst these are primordial identity, optionalist identity and collectivist identities. A person is identified in terms of his family, his social class, his educational status, his religion, his ethnicities and his nationality, to name but a handful. None of these identities cross out or negate the other but, instead, supposedly co-exist. The real question is which of these identities dominates as the dominant identity is usually that which directs behaviour and actions. Cerulo believes that the dominant identity is a negotiated identity, one that has been constructed on the based of all the identities particular to the individual. Farour, a political sociologist, argues that Lebanon's youth are confronting an identity crisis. Not only do they have to contend with the multiple identities which are thrust upon them by the very fact that they happened to be born in a country in which familial and ethnic identities dominate over others but with the East versus West tension. They are expected to be Easterners, Arabs whose identity is defined in traditional Arab-centric cultural terms. Yet, due to their unprecedented exposure to the outside world and to Western culture, they are unable to unquestioningly accept the traditional Arab/Eastern identity. They are trapped between Eastern and Western identities and are a product of the interaction between the two. Faour believes that the country's youth is engaged in the negotiation of an identity which would draw the East and the West together. Salibi, K. (1988) A house of many mansions: The history of Lebanon reconsidered. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press. Salibi engages in a historical investigation of the roots of Lebanon's identity problem. As he presents it, over the past centuries Lebanon was exposed to numerous cultures, each and every one of which attempted to impose itself on the country. The Arabs tried to Arabize Lebanon, the Ottomans tried to Ottomize and the French to Frenchify it to name but a few examples. Throughout its history, Lebanon has moved from one identity to the other. The ultimate outcome was that the country was not given the opportunity to develop its own national identity, culminating in division between multiple identities. This, according to Salibi, is Lebanon's