Analytical Essay:

Everyone is inspired by something and what they do with their inspiration makes them happy. Tim O’Brien, the author of The Things They Carried loves writing and he is passionate about his experiences in the war, so his book is about the war. He wants people to experience the same emotions he felt by reading his book and to see what it feels like to be in the war, and how scary it is. Writers express themselves by making the reader feel their emotions in the story in a way where readers know what happened in order, but also show how it changed their life and how readers are affected by it.

People look back at their experience to not make mistakes and make their future better. The past is important because people remember to go back to it and rethink what they did wrong, and want to try to do better in the present. In the book The Things They Carried Tim O’Brien says, “And sometimes remember it will lead to a story, which makes it forever. That's what stories are for. Stories are for joining the past to the future. Stories are for those late hours in the night when you can't remember how you got from where you were to where you are. Stories are for eternity, when memory is erased, when there is nothing to remember except that story” (pg. 38). Being in the war for Tim was not easy. Those kind of memories people do not forget because it’s a fear they face. This shows that events that happen to people in the past are connected to the future because there is something new in each situation where people learn something new. It gives a new perspective on things people do not think of, but also shows what life has for people, and that a lot of different stories stay in people’s mind and they remember it. They remember what happened and how it could affect them.

There are things people want to remember from their stories or from stories they’ve heard. It is hard for writers to not have an obsession about one topic because that topic is  something that inspires them, and it is something they look forward to share with the world to let  people know what is happening and how people are affected by things like wars. In the book Tim O’Brien says, “I feel guilty sometimes. Forty-three years old and I'm still writing war stories. My daughter Kathleen tells me it's an obsession...I guess, she's right: I should forget it. But the thing about remembering is that you don't forget. You take your material where you find it, which is your life, at the intersection of past and present… As a writer, all you can do is pick a street and go for the ride, putting things down as they come. That's the real obsession” (pg. 34). Here this quote talks about how no matter what people say people follow their conscience. That strong inner voice shows them what they can achieve and that it is something they want to do. A person’s inner voice can help them express themselves and what’s on their mind. Tim O’Brien listened to what his daughter had to say, but he still thought of being a writer as something that not only writing inspires him, but wars as well. He thinks about writing as his future because that’s what he likes to do even though some of the things are not true, for example in his book he had a daughter, but in the real world he does not have one.

As a person Tim O’Brien wants people to know what it means to go through something that stays with him his whole life. War is something people do not forget because these are feelings and emotions that will stay with a person even though they will move on. Tim says that even if the story is made up he wants people to know what he felt and show what it was like to go through something really hard and frightening. He did not think of what others thought about him writing and said, “But listen. Even that story is made up. I want you to feel what I felt. I want you to know why story-truth is truer sometimes than happening truth.” (pg. 179). Sometimes there are stories where when they are said and made up a little they come out as a better story, than a real story that happened. Tim O’Brien wanted to show how factual stories are not always the best way to explain an emotion one feels in a certain moment or situation.

From the interview “In the Name of Love” with Tim O’Brien, he expresses and answers the questions that are important for readers to know about because they can see what Tim meant and thought about writing his book. He wanted to let people know how it feels to be in the war even though it was not all the factual. In the article An Interview with Tim O'Brien Tim says, "Events, especially those that carry elements of trauma, tend to get scrambled in terms of chronology. And I try to present them that way as much as I can in my writing. I don't clearly sort out for the reader what happened first, second, third, and fourth in a causal chain. I take this approach because I think it's the way our memories often work.” When writers want to tell the story they want the reader know the order of what happened, but they also want the reader to feel what they went through. It is easy to just write a story and say what happened, but writing it in a way that the reader understands the feelings that are happening in the story is very important in literature. It means the writer achieves the goal in writing something that makes people feel everything they went through or even when a story was made up. Stories that are made up can be well written just like real stories, but it is in writer’s hands to see if it connects to a person and their feelings.

When it comes to feelings and emotions it is hard for people to feel what the writer is trying to portray with their writing. In order to feel their emotions the book needs to show situations where readers can imagine the place. It is not easy to do that, but Tim O’Brien did a good job by giving a lot of details so people connect to his story. He also showed people how it feels to be in the war so others can imagine it and realize how they work hard to be there.

Works Cited for Analytical Essay:

1. O'Brien, Tim. The Things They Carried. New York: Broadway, 1998. Print.

2. Sawyer, Scott. "An Interview with Tim O'Brien." In the Name of Love. Mars Hill Review 4, n.d. Web. 8 Jan. 2015. <http://www.leaderu.com/marshill/mhr04/tim1.html>

Narrative Essay:

“Oh no. I don’t know what to write about. What should I do?”

“Write about something that you usually don’t tell people because it’s hard to talk about it, ” said my friend Hannah.

Hannah and I became best friends during freshman year. The first time we met was asking each other “What class do you have?” and looking at our schedules, and realizing we have the same classes. Going to our first class was weird and we had that silent/awkward walk to the classroom because we had no idea what to say. I remember having Bio-chem as our first class.

Freshman year we wrote more analytical essays, than personal essays. That’s when we learned to write thesis and how to put all information together to form an essay. The first English class during sophomore year was different comparing to my classes in middle school and freshman year. When we went to the classroom Ms. Pahomov explained to us that we will focus on writing workshop. I had no idea what it was, but in my head I just thought, “Oh no I hate writing.” When we started writing our first essay I started with a personal essay because I thought it will be easy, but that was not true exactly. I did not know what to write about and I did not like writing in general. I started my personal essay with writing about me coming to the U.S. and my first years here. Then I wrote about my grandpa, which was something I did not tell people because it’s a really personal topic to me.

Writing personal essays showed me a way where I can tell people my stories, but also express my feelings. I am a shy person and do not share all my stories with everyone. I take my time to start trusting people because I had situations where people would talk and tell my personal things even though they said they wouldn’t. It is hard for me to start trusting from the beginning. Hannah’s thought about my essays made her emotional after she read them.

“When reading Malwina’s writing I was supposed to just edit it, but once I read the whole story I actually got very into it. I ended up learning more about her through her personal essays. It’s been a while since I read one, but there are still two stories that she wrote last year that I can recall. Her pieces were memorable allowing me to remember the ones she wrote last school year. They were about her grandfather and one about her dad. Malwina did a great job with details in her personal essay about grandpa that I felt emotional. I could imagine what happened and the story brought tears to my eyes.” said Hannah when I talked to her recently.

Usually when I talk to my family about things that happened most of them are emotional and do not like to share these stories. It is hard for them to say things like that because it is something they would want to keep between people in our family. Writing something and sharing how my grandpa was fighting with cancer was something completely different. I did not really tell my family that I wrote that essay because of the fact them not feeling comfortable to talk to people they do not know about personal emotions. From writing these essays I feel like there is another way to express my feelings to others. It is easier to write it and let people read it because if I were to talk to them in person I do not think I would be able because I would get really emotional.

Expressing my feelings through essays feels better because I do not have to face some of the situations that I would not feel comfortable to talk about. I was really surprised that Hannah after reading my personal essays was emotional because I would not think my writing would make someone feel what I felt at the same time. Expressing feelings is something challenging  because it is something you share with readers that you are not sure you can trust, but it is a way to show and make readers feel what you felt.

Analytical Essay:

Many people believe that change is something that you can avoid. They believe that if they try hard enough they can go their whole lives and not make any significant changes to the way that they deal with life. However, there are some situations where this is not the case. The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien is a perfect example of this. O’Brien’s book is about war and includes himself as a character going through changes in that type of an environment. It teaches a lot about what war is like and how there is no way to avoid it. People tend to avoid change when they can, however, there are some environments that people cannot escape in life, it is in these environments that these people cannot help but change. The change could be physical, but it could also be mental.

The beginning of Tim O’Brien’s story in The Things They Carried starts when he is alerted through the mail that he has to join the army and go to war. The feeling O’Brien describes is one of the least desirable most painstaking feelings one can have. The feeling of shock, surprise, and hopelessness combined. O’Brien knew that his life was about to change is a monumental way, he was scared for his life. He even thought about fleeing the country to get away from this change. At one point he even says, “I felt something break open in my chest. I don’t know what it was. I’ll never know. But it was real, I know that much, it was a physical rupture-a cracking-leaking-popping feeling…..I remember packing a suitcase and carrying it out to the kitchen, standing very still for a few minutes, looking carefully at the familiar objects all around me” (Page 46). At this point, O’Brien’s shock and fear has turned to determination, he says that if his life is going to change it is going to be on his own terms and he flees to Canada. However, the fear of disappointment and shame from his parents and all those that know him is enough to overpower this fear of change and war that he is hiding from. He is eventually willing to come back to the United States and fight in the war. O’Brien was trying to get away from a change that could ruin his life. A war is an inescapable environment in which change is not only common, but even expected.

Later in O’Brien’s story he starts to reflect on how his life had changed from the war. At this point O’Brien had been in the war for quite some time and was starting to notice some changes in himself. Upon discovering these changes O’Brien was disappointed that he let the war change him this way. He explains, “I’d come to this war a quiet, thoughtful sort of person, a college grad….all the credentials, but after seven months in the bush I realized that those high, civilized trappings had somehow been crushed under the weight of the simple daily realities. I’d turned mean inside” (Page 200). At this point of the book the character Tim O’Brien was trying to get revenge against another character named Bobby Jorgenson. After a while he realizes that he acting rashly and not quite like himself. He concedes that the war is changing him, and he does not like what he is becoming. Change is scary for O’Brien along with most people, but sometimes you can’t help but change. The change that O’Brien is describing undergoing is a completely mental change. His body isn’t just changing, and neither is just is situation. The war changed the way O’Brien thought and felt and made him into a person he didn’t want to be. This is why people are scared of change, especially in such drastic situations like war, they do not want to become something that they are not. It is hard to overcome a situation like this, because first you would have to leave the environment you are in. If the environment is not escapable, like war, than you might have to embrace the changes.

Certain changes can come about when an environment takes a mental or physical toll on a person. War is a perfect example of such an environment because one is not able to escape war, and it takes a heavy mental and physical toll on those involved. Tim O’Brien the author recalls such times when war was a hard place. “’Well, yes, I dedicated the book to my characters,’ Mr. O'Brien said. ‘After all, I lived with them for five years while I was writing. In Vietnam people were being rotated constantly, so men you served with you would know six or eight months. These characters are the people I know best’”. O’Brien dedicating his book to the characters within it, or the people he knew is heart warming, but also understandable. The reason that this quote is so important is that it shows another element of change in war. The people that you are with and have your back at all times continuously are changed. This had to be tough on a soldier and even depressing at times. These soldiers do not want this change, most likely if it were up to them they would get to stay with the same soldiers throughout the war so that they know who they are working with and who they can trust. However, it is not their decision war brings on changes that are unavoidable and can be challenging to overcome.

Change can be one of the hardest most emotionally tolling things a person can go through, and while many people attempt to avoid change in their lives there are some environments that people cannot escape and some changes that they cannot avoid. There are various reasons for not being able to escape. Sometimes there is a pressure on a person that is too great that they can’t help but break. Sometimes, as in The Things They Carried there are certain expectations placed on a person that they want to live up to. Some changes affect one in a physical manner, while others can affect them in a mental way. War is one of the rare and scary example of place that can change both your mental and physical state which is why it is so undesirable.

Works Cited:

Bruckner, D.J.R. "A Storyteller For the War That Won't End." The New York Times. N.p., 3 Apr. 1990. Web. 7 Jan. 2014. <http://www.nytimes.com/books/98/09/20/specials/obrien-storyteller.html>.

O'Brien, Tim. The Things They Carried: A Work of Fiction. New York: Broadway, 1998. Print.

Narrative Essay:

Change is one of the hardest things in life. That being said there are many hard things that can occur in one’s life, the thing that makes change so unique is how unavoidable it is. I personally have dealt with change many times in my life, and while there are times that enjoy the adversity and the benefits that can come with change, there are others where the change is just completely undesirable. Sometimes I find that the change can be hard, but the result can be great. Many times change is unavoidable due to the situation that you are in, but you just have roll with the punches.

There was a time in my life when I was much younger that I liked to keep to myself. Even in elementary school my focus was to get good grades. Because of this, I was left out of much of the social experiences that come with being a fun loving, outgoing child. I was always happy with my life and my small core group of friends, but never truly satisfied. I didn’t expect my personality to change as I got older, I even feared the possibility of a change because of the effect it might have on my accomplishments in the classroom. However, that didn’t stop me.

By middle school the time came where I started to notice how much of the world I was missing by keeping to myself. I tried to put myself out there, but it was hard when your knowledge of what is “cool” is limited, and I faced a large amount of rejection early. I started playing team sports which helped a lot, not so much because I wanted to, but almost because I felt as though I needed to. It wasn’t until later that I felt something break in my head. Not in a negative way, it was almost as if my confidence was trapped in a cage, only pouring out slowly and then all of sudden it rushed out. My inhibitions were gone, I became a much more outgoing person. I still felt that same type of fear that I had know all of my earlier life, but I was able to ignore it and do what I please. I was scared of change, but it happened anyway and I couldn’t be more thankful.

Another example of a change happened to my friend Rob. Rob and I were best friends and we would hang out on quite a frequent basis when we were very young. However, Rob had a very unique situation when it came to the careers of his parents. Rob’s mother worked for the mayor and she was continuously changing locations of the office she was working at. On top of this there were some other unforeseen circumstances that made Rob’s life hard. When Rob and I first met we lived ten minutes away from each other. Out of nowhere, disaster struck for Rob and his family when his house burned down for an unknown reason. Rob lost all of his possessions, clothes, and memories.

“Mom, what happened to my toys?” Rob would inquire.

“They are gone honey, a fire came and ate them up, but don’t worry we will get you new ones”, his mother would often reply.

The change was very hard for Rob, he had to leave his home and move in with his grandmother. He couldn’t help the change, it just came out of nowhere and his life took a hit.

Later his parents found a new place to live, it was an apartment in the city. Rob’s mom needed to be closer to a different office, so she moved to the city and again Rob’s life changed. City life was very different for him, we now lived at least forty five minutes away from each other and began to see each other less and less. On top of that he went to a whole new school and had a much smaller place to live than he was used to. Rob eventually got used to his new life, but it wasn’t long before change struck again.

Rob’s mother was offered a higher paying job for the mayor, the catch is that she had to move again. This time it was way out to Oxford, PA. Now Rob lived two hours away, and we were lucky if we got to hang out two or three times a year.

“Where are we going mom, we’ve been driving forever all I see is trees!” Rob exclaimed on his journey.

“We are almost there, our new house is a little bit out of the way, but trust me it’s worth the drive”. His mom would answer.

The good news for Rob is that his home was enormous. It had four floors including a basement that was all completely Rob’s room. The bad news for Rob is that he lived in the middle of nowhere, he had to commute an hour to get to school, and he didn’t get to see his friends as much. It was hard for Rob to adjust to this new lifestyle, especially after finally getting used to being in the city, but after a while he finally did, but then things changed again, and it was the biggest change yet.

Rob’s mom got a call that a high paying job was available and she was first on the list for possible candidates. She was very excited, but there was a catch, and not a small one at that. The job was all the way in Memphis, Tennessee. After ironing out a lot of details, fighting with her family and watching her son shed many tears, she convinced her family that this was for the best and that they wouldn’t have to move anymore once she took the job. So, Rob moved all the way to Memphis. This was four years ago and I have seen him twice since then. I have kept in touch and I was there for him throughout the process of his move. He had a hard time with such a drastic change in his life, and I’m sure if it were up to him he never would have left Philadelphia. That being said he couldn’t stop this change from happening, he was simply in an environment where changes like this were unavoidable.

Analytical Essay:

People fall into many situations that they never imagined they would. The world is constantly changing and each situation affects how a person thinks or acts. Sometimes there is no control over how someone behaves. The only way to cope with these situations is to react and let it go. In the book, The Things They Carried,when burdened with an emotion or experience, people stop thinking clearly and do things in the heat of the moment.

O’Brien uses the story of Curt Lemon who had a fear of the dentist, to show an example of how soldiers react to their environment. All the soldiers were getting dental checkups and when it was Curt’s turn he fainted. Soldiers are always supposed to be strong and cannot show any form of weakness. So when Curt Lemon’s fear of the dentist got to him, he felt cowardly and weak.  Not wanting to live with the embarrassment that he was scared, Curt took it upon himself to get his tooth removed. “The embarrassment must’ve turned a screw in his head...The dentist couldn’t find any problem, but Lemon kept insisting, so the man finally shrugged and...yanked out a perfectly good tooth.” ( 88) People feel the need to be able to do everything that everyone else does.  Even though he was perfectly fine, Curt made an impulse decision to prove to himself that he was not a coward. He could now live with the fact that he was able to do what every other soldier did. It was not to show off to others but for his self satisfaction and to feel equal to everyone else. He made this decision in the heat of the moment because he felt embarrassed about the way he reacted to the dentist and he wanted to resolve it.

The loss of someone beloved is also a reason people lose control over their emotions and behavior. Rat Kiley was best friends with Curt Lemon. The death of Curt was too sudden and shocking for Rat. The only way he could express what he was feeling was by shooting at a water buffalo they had found. Curt’s death was a surprise to everyone, but it affected Rat the most.

“He shot randomly,almost casually, quick little spurts in the belly and butt… Rat Kiley was crying.” (79) He needed a way to let go of the pain he felt by inflicting pain upon the water buffalo.  Often times people who feel overwhelmed with an emotion or experience do not think but just react. This helps the person to cope with the change that has happened to them and will stay with them forever. By causing pain upon something else or destroying something it makes the person feel better. All the emotions are then channeled on that one object.

Throughout the book, O’Brien shows that soldiers have to always maintain a brave front and anything less than that means they are cowardly. Rat Kiley never showed any moments of fear or lack of courage. He was always someone who did his job the way it should be. Being in war can have a emotional or physical effect on soldiers. Feeling burdened with his experiences in war and the emotions that came with it, he decided he needed a way out. ”He took off his boots and socks, laid out his medical kit,doped himself up, and put a round through his foot.” ( 223) He unable to handle the emotional stress of being in war and with the loss of Curt’s death added to it. Rat knew that the only way of getting himself away from the war was to inflict harm to himself and give himself peace. After a person has too many traumatic experiences bottled up they can’t deal with them anymore.

O’brien in an interview answers how these experiences affects humans. It is not just a story, but how the events affect how a person behaves. He says “It is not the politics of Vietnam. It too is about the human heart and the pressures put on it.” (Interview #3) In his book he describes the pressure that is put on soldiers to be fearless and strong. They fall into many predicaments that they have to face and then move on. They are not given a chance to relax or able to express how they feel. They are always pressured to keep everything inside them which can later cause them to make irrational decisions.

The world is always changing, putting people into circumstances that they are not able to tolerate. People have to find ways to vent their emotions or to get away from things. There are certain decisions that are made that can be harmful in the long run. Instead of pressuring soldiers to put on a constant emotionless and brave front, people should also see that they too are human.

Works Cited for Analytical Essay:

O'Brien, Tim. The Things They Carried. New York: Broadway, 1998. Print.

Bourne, Daniel, and Shostak, Debra. "A Conversation with Tim O'Brien." The College of Wooster. October 2, 1991. Web. October 20, 2009.

Narrative Essay:

“Maybe if I close my eyes tight enough, it’ll all go away. Maybe if I take a few deep breaths, I can stay calm. Maybe if I just ignore everything I’ll stop thinking so much. Deep breaths. Smile. Everything will be alright.” These are the things I used to tell myself, locked up in the bathroom when I wanted to get away from everything.

Growing up, my father was not able to be a part of my life because he was unable to live in the United States for legality reasons. My mother was the one who raised me and took care of everything. My mom worked long hours on a minimum wage job to support us. As I grew older, I understood how the absence of my father really affected us. During this time period, I gradually taught myself to just hold everything in. I didn’t let anyone see how depressed I felt, I always kept up a front of being normal. When things got too much to handle, I let out all the pent up emotions, let the tears flow and felt the heavy weight of the pain go away in that moment. I never let anyone see me this way, I always thought they would think I was stupid or weak.

“It’ll be okay soon, just keep praying, just keep your patience, things will get better,” I’d tell myself every time I felt like crying or felt myself starting to crumble. I remember I’d always put on a strong face while my mom cried or just looked depressed. I couldn’t bear to see her this way constantly. I felt like I was a burden to her, and that it was all my fault she was struggling so much with working, paying bills, and etc. It all felt too suffocating so I never asked for much other than what I needed.

In school I focused on my grades more than anything. Unlike other kids, I didn’t hang out with friends, have sleepovers, or chit chat with each other. There wasn’t any way I could help my mom, so I thought by doing well in school and just trying to stay out of trouble, that would be one less thing she would have to worry about. Forgetting that anything else existed, I put all my energy into my academics. However, in the process I lost close friends and I became separated from everyone. I became a person that existed among people. I just wanted to make things better, but nothing felt right.

I struggled like this until I reached high school, where I was in a new environment. I thought to myself that I could start new. However, my mom got sick and I had to take care of her while managing school at the same time. Things would always seem to get better and then something would come along the way and it would go back to the same depressing situation. Everything inside me was just slowly building up and I kept praying that maybe one day soon my dad would be able to return to us, so that we could be together and not away from another.

During the middle of my freshman year of highschool, my mom had to get surgery done again for piles which caused her a lot of pain. She was unable to work for some time. I took care of her, from waking up to giving her medication every couple hours to making sure what she was eating. I felt broken and exhausted from everything. People may think that crying doesn’t help. For me it was the best way to just release everything I was feeling. Other times, I just hated when people talked to me, I just wanted to be left alone. I didn’t want any sympathy or pity, it made me feel weak and pathetic.

Now, I’ve learned that keeping things to myself and just letting everything pile on top of one another was not the best idea. It changed who I was, how I felt, and the world around me. This experience has made me stronger and has helped me understand the value of what relationships are. As of 2013, my dad was finally able to be here with us and things have gotten much better for us.

Fashion In Music

The way people are is a reflection of someone else or a collection of things deriving from other people. The way hip hop affects violence it also influences many of its sub-cultures. In the 80’s when hip-hop began to take on the face of hardcore rap with groups such as NWA is when rap was born and it completely took over the minds of people. Rap gains more negative attention than it does positive. The way rap artists carry themselves in most cases is considered ‘ghetto’ though they influence more  than just black people that is often the misconception. When the consumer sees something in a magazine naturally someone might want it. Rap music videos have this same affect on the minds of people which helps formulate the minds of them at a young age. Fashion can influence the minds of people Fashion can also make them feel obligated to be a consumer because of popularity of the project.

Artists have casual fans, but also dedicated fanatics who support them despite the ongoing evolution of them. For example, Kanye West is one of the most influential artists of all time; his following of both kinds of fans is huge. Kanye has a large catalogue of not just music but clothing and footwear as well. Kanye arguably has the largest sneaker of all time; the Nike Air Yeezy series has made itself one of Nike’s largest releases besides competitors under Nike such as Jordan, Kobe, and Lebron’s sneakers.  

Recently, the Air Yeezy 2 ‘Red October,’ which retail for $245, caused a lot of excitement to Kanye fans and the sneaker world. There has been much speculation as to whose sneakers are more popular between Kanye and Michael Jordan until Kanye in his song “New God Flow”  silenced all critics when he said “Hold up I ain’t tryin to stunt man but the Yeezy’s jumped over the jumpman, went from the most hated to the champion god flow guess thats a feeling only me and LeBron know.” Here he clearly states that his sneaker has reached  a standard as the “God” of shoes; he quotes his Air Yeezy’s jumped over the jumpman.

In these very instances the consumer does not realize that Kanye is marketing himself and his brand the consumer only hears what he is saying and they feel inclined to have that shoe in addition to the fact Kanye is comparing himself to GOD! He later makes his longing for Godly status more apparent in his most recent 2013 album titled “Yeezus”.  The relevance of Kanye makes him one of the most powerful entertainers on the planet. After the discontinuation of Air Yeezys the Red Octobers released making the value of them extremely high.

The Red October released back in February on nike.com selling out worldwide in only 11 minutes. Nike released these shoes in the midst of a feud between they and Kanye; Ye’ later went to multiple radio stations to remind the world of how displeased he was with the release that no one saw coming. Nike’s website along with footlocker were crashed due to sneakerheads and Kanye fans combined itching to be the first with the Red October priced at $245 retail. In consignment stores such as Flight Club NY & LA they carry the Air Yeezy series these sneakers are priced from anywhere to 2,500-1,000,000. The consumer spends their last to afford this shoe just to be like Kanye he projects himself as a godly figure people follow him like he is Jesus which is why he calls himself Jesus.

After the excitement of the Red Octobers went down fans always wanted to know what was next from Kanye. The biggest Kanye fans buy all of his highly expensive clothing whether it be the Yeezys, his A.P.C. line or his collaborations with Givenchy, Louis Vuitton, and other big named designers. People feel that the way he projects himself as an artist makes fans feel as though they need his product, his Air Yeezys are so rare that he cannot sell them in stores at that retail price, which is why they were released online. Jordan release lines are often around the corner and down the block but never do they crash twitter and the nike website.

Hip-Hop as a whole has major influence on what its followers feel like they must have in their closets, yet again fashion combined with music influences the minds of people and makes them feel obligated to be a consumer.

If an art has a huge effect on a large group of people it is important that it promotes positive things. In addition to the fact that people will spend their last to look like who they look up to it is important that the consumer understands that the artists specifically are promoting other brands to generate revenue and not to overspend.

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• Article Title: Nike Air Yeezy 2 - KicksOnFire.com

• Date Accessed: October 23, 2014

• http://www.kicksonfire.com/tag/nike-air-yeezy-2/

• Website Title: AskMen

• Article Title: The Most Influential Man In Music

• Date Accessed: October 23, 2014

• http://www.askmen.com/entertainment/special_feature_3700/3760_the-most-influential-man-in-music.html

With the current day and age technology is continuously evolving, making everything easier to come by and find. Going on google can lead to information, apps, games, and programs that help with over efficiency and productivity. These search engines can also be very helpful for finding Bit Torrents and bittorrent compatible files. These Torrents are most commonly used for illegally downloading music files like albums and songs from different bands/composers, getting all the tunage with minimal work and no pocket money. File sharing and illegal downloads are not killing the music industry, because what keeps music alive is the mutual love for it fans share.

It is becoming a common trend to illegally download things like music, books, games and apps Focusing on music, many people (mostly with jobs in the music industry/community) have been continuously saying that torrenting music is killing the industry. That supporting the band(s) or artist(s) would be putting money towards the music to allow more to be made. Although other people have been countering with the argument that the love of music kept it alive this long and will continue to do so with or without the music being top purchased on iTunes.

Dee Snider, a rock and roll legend and member of the band Twisted Sister was interviewed by LoudWire.com on the death of rock and roll. His opinion was,

“Rock ‘n’ roll is alive and well and thriving on social media, in the streets, and in clubs and concert halls all over the world. And the bands playing it are more genuine and heartfelt than ever because they are in it for one reason: the love of rock ‘n’ roll.”

This comment can be transferred to any genre of music. Most bands and artists have Facebook pages, Twitter accounts, and Instagram profiles, they leak previews of their new albums and give out free merchandise bundles. Which is according to the logic that ‘torrenting music is stealing from bands’

Recently there was a case study done by Time Magazine titled, “Illegal Music Downloads Not Hurting Industry.” This study concluded a lot of interesting data. Including:

• Men are more likely to download music.

• People with higher education stream more music.

• Average income doesn’t affect the amount of music streaming.

• Based on cultural differences/economic structure in different countries downloads vary across the globe.

The study proved that, “Specifically, the study found that legal purchases would be about 2 percent lower without illegal downloading available—meaning, yes, illegal downloads boost legal downloads. Their conclusion: people who download pirated music mostly do so for tunes they wouldn’t have ever spent money on. The positive effect of streaming was even larger.”

The article also made the point, “Clicking on a legal download website does not equal buying music, past studies have found that “some people buy and steal a lot of music because they love music”.”

The final outcome/result of the study is that the people that illegally download their music wouldn’t buy it if they didn’t torrent it. Meaning that there was no initial ravine for the music industry to be making for them to really lose any money.

Works Cited:

Kreps, Daniel. "Gene Simmons: 'Rock Is Finally Dead. It Was Murdered'"Rolling Stone. N.p., 7 Sept. 2014. Web. 03 Oct. 2014.

Hartmann, Graham. "Twisted Sister’s Dee Snider Responds to Gene Simmons’ ‘Rock Is Dead’ Claim Read More: Dee Snider Responds to Gene Simmons' 'Rock Is Dead' Claim | Http://loudwire.com/twisted-sister-dee-snider-gene-simmons-rock-is-dead-claim/?trackback=tsmclip." 

Loudwire.com. Loudwire Network, 11 Sept. 2014. Web. 3 Oct. 2014. Rothman, Lily. "Your Illegal Music Downloads Not Hurting Industry, Study Claims." 

Entertainment Illegal Music Downloads Not Hurting Industry Study Claims Comments. N.p., 21 Mar. 2013. Web. 06 Oct. 2014.

Some people conceive creativity to be something that is achieved by being solo or in a group and that competitiveness detests gaining inspiration from rivals. Many people have a mentality that in order to be successful they have to have inspiration that does not come from someone else. There have been many examples to the contrary of that in different fields from literature to science. In the music industry an example would be The Beach Boys and The Beatles. Rather than despising each others' songs and success, The Beach Boys and The Beatles openly used each other for inspiration and creativity.

One of the biggest examples of this reciprocal relationship would be The Beach Boys’ album “Pet Sounds” which was composed soon after The Beatles’ album “Rubber Soul”. The albums both have very slow,peaceful, and innovative music and at their time, were considered to be the greatest albums of all time.  “The album “Pet Sounds (1966) was the Beach Boys‟ response to the Beatles, ‟Rubber Soul”. With the help of the Wrecking Crew and the rest of the Beach Boys members, Brian Wilson produced this album to top the seamless fluidity of songs he heard on Rubber Soul.” (Hui) This shows how The Beach Boys directly took inspiration from The Beatles and incorporated it into their own work. If it weren’t for The Beatles the Beach Boys would not be as successful because they wouldn't have “Rubber Soul” to inspire the production of “Pet Sounds” and bring in the creativity they needed.  When The Beach Boys listened to “Rubber Soul” and were amazed at the fact that the album was innovative in the sense that it did not only have a few hit songs with a couple of b-sides to put it all together. They used The Beatles’ example to make “Pet Sounds”. “Pet Sounds” was voted to be the second best album of all time by Rolling Stone and it topped “Rubber Soul” which was voted as the fifth.

The Beatles were looking for inspiration for their next album which they found in “Pet Sounds”. They used this inspiration to produce their next album, “Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band”. “To me the greatest influence on “Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” was The Beach Boys’  record “Pet Sounds”, and I think Brian Wilson was a great genius.” (Paul McCartney) This shows how willing The Beatles were to take inspiration and how creativity and inspiration can come from competition. Without having used The Beach Boys’ for inspiration Sergeant Pepper's would not have been. It was voted as the number one album of all time by Rolling Stone, right over “Pet Sounds”. The Beatles’ ability to not only be able to accept the fact that “Pet Sounds” topped “Rubber Soul”, but also be able to use inspiration from it to make Sergeant Pepper was crucial to their success.

Aside from taking inspiration from albums,The Beatles and The Beach Boys also gave direct feedback towards each other. The lead vocalist of The Beach Boys, Mike Love, was on a trip to India with Paul McCartney. “I was sitting at the breakfast table and McCartney came down with his acoustic guitar and he was playing Back In The USSR, and I told him that what you ought to do is talk about the girls all around Russia, the Ukraine and Georgia.” (Love) McCartney did end up incorporating the advice of Love into the song. The Beatles were very willing to take advice from The Beach Boys on their songs. If McCartney had chosen not to take Love’s advice, then “Back in the USSR” would not nearly be the same. The healthy relationship between the two bands enabled them to be able to take advice from each other in order to become successful.

Dr. Seuss is one of the most well known children’s books writers of all time. His unrealistic but imaginative drawings can be noticed anywhere and his rhymes can even stick with people through adulthood. Children ask for these books over and over again, until they can “read” the book by themselves. They memorize the rhymes and stare at the pictures until they are ingrained into their minds. Dr. Seuss books are a good way for children to open up their imagination and learn through their imagination.

According to Dr. Howard Gardner, there are multiple ways for children to learn, or anybody for that matter. There are eight different intelligences in the brain and one or two of them are the most prominent while people are working or learning. For example, if someone absent-mindedly taps on the table while listening to a lecture, they most likely have a prominent Musical Intelligence. Or if someone would rather look at charts than reading directions to learn something, they would most likely have a prominent Spatial Intelligence. A child might need a teacher to tell them exactly what to do rather than watch how to do it. This child would most likely have a Linguistic intelligence. Dr. Seuss books can play up to Spatial, Musical and Linguistic Intelligences which would all help the child learn better in a classroom when the teacher lets their imaginations run wild. These intelligences focus in on the rhymes and the illustrations that are in Dr. Seuss books. Overall these three intelligences are in everybody and so when they are more prominent, Dr. Seuss’ books will help the children’s imaginations loose and they can learn better using their intelligences.

Dr. Seuss’ books help children’s imaginations open up with his rhymes because he makes new words that kids haven’t heard before to make rhymes work. Rhymes also help a child learn phonics and reading skills. (https://suite.io/karen-whiting/3wc22bm) With Dr. Seuss, books children are learning how to form sounds in their mouths and they are learning when to use these sounds in a sentence. For example, when someone asks a question, the end of the sentence usually gets a little bit higher than the rest of the sentence. Without this subtle lift, questions would sound so different. Children learn by saying rhymes or listening to rhymes that when someone asks a question, their voice goes up. All of this is important to children, especially when someone reads out loud to them from a Dr. Seuss book, their little brains will have so much new information and so much to copy and learn from. They will learn how to imagine different places and things with the words that Dr. Seuss gives them and with these hard words, they can also learn how different letters make different sounds.

Illustrations in other picture books are usually meant to provide setting and characters to the story. Dr. Seuss’ books do that as well but these illustrations let the child think of something out of this world because the illustrations are so unrealistic and nothing like the world that the child knows. For example, in The Lorax, the setting is similar to the real world but there are trees with tufts of hair on the tops and the Lorax looks like a naked toe with a large mustache. Children have such great imagination that they don’t see a naked toe but a trustworthy man and a great place to live. Illustrations can also relate all of their imagination back to words in the book. According to RIF (Reading is Fundamental), which is a literacy non-profit based in America that gives children the chance to read and learn, children use illustrations to help them understand the meaning of a word when they don’t know. For example if the book says that a Lorax is sitting in a tree and the child doesn’t know what a Lorax is, they immediately look over at the picture to find the creature that sits in the tree. Pictures are often dismissed from books as the reader matures but they are still important in every book, for every reader to imagine a new world.

Dr. Seuss’ books were popular when they came out because of the wild illustrations and because of the crazy names he gave his characters. Children today still read his books as a way for their imagination to run free but also to learn about phonetics and important reading skills. Adults still remember rhymes from his books and illustrations, picking out “Dr. Seuss trees” in different landscapes. Dr. Seuss can now be named a teacher because every child who reads or looks at his books, is learning from the best.

Works Cited:

https://www.earlymoments.com/Promoting-Literacy-and-a-Love-of-Reading/Why-Reading-to-Children-is-Important/

"10 Reasons Why You Should Read to Your Kids." Early Moments. Sandivk Publishing, n.d. Web. 19 Sept. 2014

http://school.familyeducation.com/multiple-intelligences/learning-style/linguistics/66376.html?detoured=1

"Learning Style: Linguistic." Linguistic Gifts and Talents. Pearson Education, n.d. Web. 19 Sept. 2014.

http://www.nea.org/grants/facts-about-childrens-literacy.html

"Facts about Children's Literacy." Rss. National Education Association, n.d. Web. 19 Sept. 2014.

http://www.rif.org/us/literacy-resources/articles/getting-the-most-out-of-picture-books.htm

"Getting the Most Out of Picture Books." Reading Is Fundamental. Reading Is Fundamental, n.d. Web. 19 Sept. 2014.

https://suite.io/karen-whiting/3wc22bm

Whiting, Karen. "How Rhymes Help Children Learn." Suite. N.p., 10 July 2010. Web. 22 Sept. 2014.

As more and more children come into the world screens and keyboards are thrust into their hands. It is familiar to them because they see their friends or their parents using them. Something else to consider is social media and the effect it has on teenagers lives, as they open their laptops and close their doors.  Today's young people are growing up disconnected from nature by spending so much time in front of a screen, therefore in the future they will value the natural world less than any prior generation.

There are multiple opinions on this topic, some supporting the idea of active technology in childrens lives, others saying it is time to limit the time we spend glued to the glowing screens. It is not hard to find a child on the couch watching a movie instead of running outside and enjoying the fresh air. The neglection of nature will follow them into their adults lives, and impact how they will see the world compared to their parents or grandparents. They will value nature less in their adult lives, and these are our future politicians, business owners, teachers.

A study done by a New York University found that 55% of 12 year olds were registered on Facebook , while a survey of children in Britain concluded at 34%. Another study was done by The Kaiser Foundation, a US welfare institute, the study found that children as young as eight spend an average of 7 hours and 38 minutes on the screen every day.  The distraction implicated by social media and television are majorly involved in the disconnection from nature, for everyone, not just children.

Adults are using their screens for everyday activities mainly their jobs, however it is not just children who are becoming disconnected. In fact it is not right to blame children for the large presence of technology in their lives, children see their parents texting during dinner or spending nights in front of the television they’re going to do the same.

Some schools are to give out laptops, others give out iPads, and smartboards replace chalkboards. This is not a bad thing, in fact it could make the lives of teachers easier, but if students are spending so much of their free time and their school or work time what happens when the screen is taken away? The Pali institute, an outdoor education camp for public school children and Children's Digital Media Center @LA at UCLA found a group of approximately 100 6th graders over a period of five days. They all had absolutely no access to screens of any kind. The study found that children's skills in reading the emotion in other childrens faces got dramatically better. The time they spent interacting in groups, with their peers and counselors, made an important difference. The kids at the camp improved their understanding of emotion, they were able to spend five days without technology.

Although children might not think that conserving nature matters much, their influence goes beyond watching the nature channel on TV to leading a litter pick up in their neighborhood.  Since they are young they need to be pushed by their parents to get off the couch and spend more time outside, ultimately going on to helping their neighborhood become more appreciative of nature. It is much easier to sit on the couch and spend two hours catching up on shows than it is to spend two hours picking up apple cores, however everyone, of all ages should try to spend at least two hours outside. Not necessarily picking up trash, but reading a book, drawing, or just sitting and appreciating the view.