Groovy Song

It feels upbeat, smooth, and gives a happy feeling.

The guitar is pleasant sounding and the base is funky.

They chose to include the guitar and bass and a mellow tempo to give the song a cool, happy feel to it.

Diego Rivera Painting

He wanted to make the audience think about how hard farm labor is.

He chose earth colors for the whole painting except for the farmer's white shirt which I think symbolizes his spirit. Also the farmers face is hidden from view which could mean how unimportant he is.

Wilco Band Response

They use all of the band members' ideas to make songs, but then deconstruct them in order to improve them.

I usually just think and write as I go and then look back over and edit my papers.

I establish what I'm going to write about, write most of it, and when I'm done I'll go back over and edit it.

Song from American Graffiti

Nostalgia is when people vividly remember things from their past and long for them.

I imagine a myself in my sixth grade play singing the songs of grease.

I think of the sounds of trains, owls, and other birds, and I also think of Winnie the Pooh because that was a good part of my childhood right there. I feel pretty happy and contented when I think of my childhood.

The Pinch of Poverty

1) Lack of sufficient food, clothing, shelter, a steady job, family size, and social cast I believe are the main contributers to poverty.

2) The artist paints poverty in a depressing light because of the dreariness of the town in the background and also by the way the mother and two of her children are sitting. The third child however in a way gives a sense of preserverence because she is standing away from her gloomier mother and siblings and holding bright yellow flowers, which I take as a sign of hope.

3) It is cruel and depressing to witness.

4) The colors I believe play a big role, but also the position of the whole family I think make a difference in the painting.

Poverty

In "Live Free or Starve", Divakaruni explains that although the United States may have good intentions to help those in need, sometimes we don't fully consider all of the factors involved. Specifically the author details how Congress passed a bill to eliminate business with Asian companies that use child labor. While one living comfortably here in the United States could assume that child labor is cruel and unusual (which it often is), we don't especially think as to what would happen if the children working were kicked back on the streets. Without pay, most kids will starve to death; it happens all too often. The author I believe made her best point when she stated, "...and when many of these children turn to the streets, to survival through theivery and violence and begging and prostitution... are we ready to shoulder that burden?" Unless we can back up our bill with guarenteed aid to these children, I don't think we are in a postition to affect their lives. I think I was biased in some ways towards the children because I think starvation is one of the worst things that can happen to humans, so in that way I looked upo this bill more harshly.

In Peter Singer's arguement of how people always have a direct choice to help kids who are starving, I wasn't so convinced. Singer argues in his "Bugatti" example that Bob, who doesn't save the life of a child to protect his car, that we are all faced with basically the same challenge but in a different format. He argues that we all have Bob's choice, but we just can't see the actual child we could save. We should send money to help some kids, that is plain and true, but it doesn't compare on a level to condemming a child to death like Bob. In the example, Bob basically gives the child the death sentence. We in America are helping children who desperately need it and not instead deciding through our generocity who dies and who doesn't. That is mainly why I disagreed with the author. The biased I found in this for me was the fact that he described us all as being in Bob's situation and I found this just wrong. We all do not have the option to let a kid live or not. Our donations could help the kid and even if we donate it could be too late, so I don't think the example applies to the situation at all.

Round and Round Song response

I enjoyed this song because I liked the style and upbeat nature of the synthesizer instruments. The song had several changes of pace, one sped it up and one slowed it down considerably, and several refrains back to the chorus. I like variety in my songs so I was intrigued by this. The main thing that I enjoyed with this song was the harmony. Especially in the chorus the harmony was amplified by the use of synthesizers and several volcalists, which I thouroughly enjoyed. I believe I do have a biast sort of view to songs with extraordinary harmony and upbeat tempo simply because I think they make my day just a little brighter. And if an artist is trying to make a cheery sounding song, I'm usually all for it.