Sam Quinones’ Dreamland is a commentary about the opioid problem in America. Quinones draws attention to how in the twentieth century opioids were seen as addictive: “[D]octers treating the terminally ill faced attitudes that seemed medieval when it came to opiates” (184). In the 1970s, Purdue Pharma stated that opioids such as morphine were not addictive substances. After this study was released, many doctors began to view opioids as a viable option for pain relief. Throughout the rest of the book, Quinones explains the shift from doctors never prescribing opiates to prescription opiates being used to treat any sort of pain: chronic back pain, arthritis, severe headaches, etc.
“The Undercurrent” by Kellie Young is a story of a mother and daughter’s relationship that takes place in Hawaii throughout Young’s childhood. It describes to readers how her mother has influenced her life by becoming an admonitory voice inside her head. The impact Young’s mother has on her is widely due to the amount of admiration Young has for her. A crucial element to “The Undercurrent” is the short stories found throughout her narrative that exemplifies the greater concept of how her mother has shaped her life.
Journalist Danyel Smith, in her article, “When Whitney Hit the High Note,” examines the topic of Whitney Houston’s iconic 1991 Super Bowl performance of “The Star Spangled Banner,” making the point that because Houston’s rendition took place in a different world, her bold alterations to the structure and style of the national anthem were exceedingly influential for people of color. Smith supports this claim by comparison, followed by description, and finally causal analysis. Using an evocative tone, the author’s purpose is to illuminate the manner in which Houston’s performance influenced black America, in order to induce society into unashamedly fighting injustices head-on, just as Whitney Houston did. Smith begins her evaluation of Houston’s performance by using comparison to highlight the differences between society today and society in 1991, and how these differences altered the way she influenced America.
In the poem, “Becoming and Going: An Oldsmobile Story” by Gerald Hill the speaker is traveling down a road in the Fort Qu’appelle Valley. He notices his father and his son are also driving down this road. The speaker then begins to list the two men’s characteristics. As he lists them we see that the father and the son have both similarities and differences in their personalities.
Jon Meacham’s, Keeping the Dream Alive(2012), claims that at the time America was not that appreciated and was trying to improve and spread what they call the American Dream. The author develops his theory by introducing John Updike’s book called Rabbit Redux and how Rabbit tries to clamps the freedom of this country, explaining how back then in the 19th and 20th century they would almost never talk about Chinese, Russian or the French dream and now the subject is much more open and how many people believe that the american Dream is to be able to have a good job. Meacham’s point in this section is that times have changed and in order to acomplish this more people had too mention other sorts of “American Dreams” which does signify how most people
In the memoir, Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson, a theme is dreams are achievable= despite obstacles. In the book, Jackie speaks about growing up with a dream to become a writer, but she has dyslexia and her family and friends try to gently steer her away from her dream because they don't want her to be heartbroken if she ever fails because of her condition. In Woodsons poem, “when I tell my family”, her mother states, “It’s a good hobby, we see how quiet it keeps you. They say,/But maybe you should be a teacher,/a lawyer,/do hair . . .” (Woodson 229)
Sigmund's Freud's theory is composed of four sexual stages that are necessary for the development of any individual. The stages include oral, anal, phallic, and genital. Freud believed through his highly controversial theory, that if one indeed fails to complete or skips over a sexual stage entirely it will reflect on the individual's adult personality and mental health/illness development. While both studying freud's theory and closely reading the novel She’s come undone by Wally Lamb the reader begins to notice that the protagonist Dolores's fractured persona and slight mental illness is a result of failing to complete a sexual stage, in her case it was stage one, the oral stage. In Wally Lambs’ novel “She's Come Undone”, the protagonist, Dolores Price, is stripped of her innocence from an adolescent age.
Cooke’s signature song was given a sense of urgency through hard rock instrumentals. Greta Van Fleet’s interpretation fills “A Change Is Gonna Come” with feelings of reverie and nostalgia mixed with anger and loss. Thus, creating a larger gap between Cooke’s original and their own
During the early nineteenth century the idea of nationalism was born. Nationalism is a strong feeling of pride in your country. It is the idea of one country being better than all others. Before the idea of nationalism took shape, cultures living in Europe were spread throughout large multi-cultural empires. These cultures didn't feel any ties to other people of the same culture, they only felt loyalty to the king or queen.
The author Michael Mason wrote about many memories of his life before the war. He wrote about his family, his father’s businesses, and their Shabbat traditions. He also mentions his friends and some troublesome adventures led by a boy named Joska. As a young child, he was happy and life was peaceful, but Mason recognized the antisemitism in his hometown.
The way you appear to people is how you will be judged, but relationships or dreams can help those in need persevere. In brown girl dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson, a young girl named Jackie lived through change by using creativity as a writer to bind her ideas, thoughts, and facts about the world she has read as a way to express her emotions that happen throughout the moving between the North and South, racial discrimination, and social comparison to her sister who was gifted, unlike Jackie. Since she wasn’t a part of the average family, her friends and companions lifted her joy of writing to a different extent. Jackie likes to express her love for her family through her personal record and literature.
“Singers such as Otis Redding, Sam and Dave, and Isaac Hayes screamed, shouted, begged, stomped, and cried, harkening back to the blues shouters of the Deep South.” (Ritz, 2013) More so than the techniques or musical prowesses, the emotions and feelings an artist omits are what the audience receive, which are the main factors of Southern Soul music. Redding’s earlier compositions had a “self-pitying”(Guralnick, 2002, p.143) underly to them, but as he became more confident with his own identity as a performer, his vocals became more assertive and took on a uniqueness of its own, which contributed to the spread of Southern
Change is something many people are afraid of but must endure at some point in their lifetime. In the short story “Recitatif” by Toni Morrison, the change that occurs in the main characters happens spatially throughout their lives. The story begins in an orphanage where the two girls, Roberta and Twyla, meet. As the characters grow up and journey through life, racial tensions begin to get in the way. It’s these tensions that change the characters over the course of the story, making them more aware of the world around them.
In 1964 world famous Motown singer Sam Cooke released a “A change is going to come.” This song included rhythmic melodies and soulful sounding lyrics, but this song contained and obviously deeper undertone of race relations in America. It sounds as a description of Cooke’s life up until this time and how he believes with the tide of civil rights activist a change was evidently going to eventually come. In this song Cooke chooses his lyrics in an ambiguous way to leave it to interpretation. These questions of the lyrical choice center on the American identity and who Cooke was referring to.
Over the course of human history, music has been an integral part of life. Music’s impact can be seen in every facet of the world today and it is a way to express feelings, tell a story, or prove a point. It can bring people together and can transcend communities, cultures, and ideologies. Although many do not realize it, music has had a profound impact on all human lives, and the lives of all others that have since died. Sam Cooke’s “A Change is Gonna Come’ is a song that defined a generation while bringing the oppression and injustice that African Americans experienced, on a daily basis, to the forefront of society.
