The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe A Personal Reflection Essay Example

The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe: A Personal Reflection Paper The poem The Raven is one of the classics of the American literary canon. Its author Edgar Allan Poe, the quintessential American poet and short story writer, brings rhythm, style and high metaphor to bear on this work. Published in the era preceding the American Civil War, the poem captures sentiments common during the time. But in terms of its central theme – one of longing and loss – is universal in its appeal and relevance. The rest of this essay will lay out my personal interpretation and evaluation of this piece of literature. The narrator of the poem – who is young and whose name is not given – starts on a verse soliloquy on a cold December night. As the young male narrator languishes in a mood of melancholy, a surprise visitor calls upon his abode. It is not a friend or a relative, but a Raven that has the magical power to speak! Carrying a serious disposition, the young narrator uses the services of the Raven to alleviate his forlornness. The opening lies of the poem showcase Poe at his lyrical best. The musicality of these lines is maintained throughout the long narrative: â€Å"Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary, Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore – While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping, As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.† It is thus the young man acquaints himself to the arrival of the mysterious visitor. Gifted though the bird is, its articulation is quite limited, with ‘Nevermore’ being a standard response to most the narrator’s queries. Piqued by curiosity and also to distract himself briefly from the loss of his lover Lenore, the young man engages the Raven into more questions. But the deadpan answer of â€Å"nevermore† for his questions about his lover, their future, etc, only aggravates his grief. Within a short while, the neurotic repetition of â€Å"nevermore† from the bird wrecks the nerves of the young man, leading him to admit that his soul that is trapped in the Raven’s shadow shall â€Å"Nevermore† be released: We will write a custom essay sample on The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe: A Personal Reflection specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe: A Personal Reflection specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe: A Personal Reflection specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer â€Å"On the pallid bust of Pallas just above my chamber door; And his eyes have all the seeming of a demon that is dreaming, And the lamp-light o’er him streaming throws his shadow on the floor; And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor Shall be lifted – nevermore!† The poem is fascinating at several levels. The imposed anthropomorphic characteristic on the Raven, whereby it serves the role of a counsellor to the aggrieved youth, is conceptually brilliant on part of the author. The author does not make it clear if the Raven can make sense of what it is uttering or that if it is contextually responding to the question posed by the young man. Hence the repeated uttering of ‘Nevermore’ can be interpreted as the self-defeating neurosis transpiring within the narrator’s mind or as factual assessment of reality objectively seen from the outside. It is this ambiguity to the authorial intent that gives so much scope for reading between the lines. This aspect of the poem lends it intellectual beauty too. Although the poem resonates with tragic verse forms in ancient Greek and Roman literature, the device of a predatory bird as fortune teller is original and brilliant. An equally impressive quality of the poem is its cool and pragmatic acceptance of separation, longing and loss, without resort to tragic melodramatic overtures. There is virtue and strength even in the gradual descent into madness, Poe seems to suggest. Moreover, the relative lack of didacticism in the poem is a merit. The references to Greek and Roman mythology, as well as to several classical texts, lend color and richness to the poem. For example, the device of the bust of Pallas (upon which the Raven sits), the reading of books by the narrator (â€Å"reading many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore†), and the reference to the Greek goddess of wisdom Athena add layers of interpretation and historical context. The extension of the gloomy state of the narrator’s mind is suitably reflected in the choice of the bird and the climatic setting. For example, the predatory bird Raven as well as the harsh winter associated with the month of December, both represent the state of gloom and conflict engulfing the young man’s psyche. It is for all these poetic merits that The Raven will continue to remain central to not just American literature but to Western intellectual tradition. Reference: Edgar Allan Poe, â€Å"The Raven [Text-02], American Review, February 1845, 1:143:145, retrieved from

How to Treat Geological and Astronomical Terms

How to Treat Geological and Astronomical Terms How to Treat Geological and Astronomical Terms How to Treat Geological and Astronomical Terms By Mark Nichol Determining whether to refer to geological and astronomical terms with initial uppercase or lowercase letters can be a challenge, because various publications and publishers differ on capitalization style. The following guidelines, however, appear to predominate: Names of geological time spans are capitalized, but the terms for the magnitude of duration (eons, eras, periods, epochs, and stages, in descending order of length), are not; in scientific and nonscientific prose alike, these terms can be omitted: â€Å"The Mesozoic is also known as the Age of Dinosaurs.† â€Å"Mrs. Wattle has been teaching Freshman Composition since the Mesozoic.† Whether modifying terms such as early, middle, and late are capitalized depends on whether they are themselves modified: â€Å"Tyrannosaurus rex lived during the Late Cretaceous.† â€Å"The Deccan Traps erupted in the very late Cretaceous.† â€Å"Ice age† is considered a generic term because multiple such events have occurred. In astronomy, general terms in proper names of celestial bodies are generally capitalized (â€Å"Orion’s Belt,† â€Å"Barnard’s Star,† â€Å"Comet Halley†). Note, however, that comet is lowercased in lay references to â€Å"Halley’s comet.† In nontechnical contexts, sun and moon are often lowercased: â€Å"She shielded her eyes from the bright light of the sun.† â€Å"Beware when the moon is full.† In works about astronomy, or those in which other celestial bodies are referenced, uppercase them: â€Å"The Sun is merely one of countless stars.† â€Å"The Moon orbits our planet roughly every twenty-eight days.† The same rule applies to the name of our planet. In idioms such as â€Å"where on earth,† â€Å"down to earth,† and â€Å"move heaven and earth,† the name requires no emphasis, and references to our world from a surface perspective and to its soil are likewise lowercased: â€Å"I traveled to the four corners of the earth to find it.† â€Å"The earth here is rich and loamy.† But the word as the name of the planet should be emphasized like any other: â€Å"The first four planets, Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars, consisting mostly of rock and metals, are called the terrestrial planets.† (Note that Earth, in such contexts, need not be, and rarely is, preceded by the.) General terms like â€Å"solar system,† galaxy, and universe are usually not capitalized; some publications and books uppercase them (especially in references to our own solar system and the Milky Way galaxy). Names of celestial phenomena and objects such as the aurora borealis and the rings orbiting Jupiter and Saturn are lowercased. Remember, too, when discussing the planets orbiting the Sun, that Pluto was in 2006 demoted to a dwarf planet one of four in the solar system’s distant Kuiper belt (a fifth dwarf planet lies in the asteroid belt, between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter), and may not even be the largest one. (The scientific jury is still out on whether the similarly sized Eris is larger). And why is belt capitalized in â€Å"Orion’s Belt† and not in â€Å"the Kuiper belt†? In the former term, it’s a reference to part of the personification of the Orion constellation, but in the latter, it’s merely a description, just as in â€Å"the asteroid belt.† Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Style category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:45 Synonyms for â€Å"Food†Select vs. SelectedSit vs. Set

Systems Analysis and Design Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 2

Systems Analysis and Design - Essay Example e key benefits of MS Project lies in its complimentary nature with other Office package software as well as the user-controlled scheduling feature that increases the usability of Projects as a project management tool. The software also has an Excel-like interface that is user friendly and fluent that enhances its usability and at the same time creates a sense of familiarity to newer users. Its timeline view enhances the aesthetics value that helps users be able to analyze problems and possibilities at a glance (Shelly & Rosenblatt 113). Group meetings may be considered as an effective way of collecting data. Among the benefits of group meetings as a data collection method incudes a better collaborative option, reduced bias, newer perspectives and enhanced communication since proposed ideas and information are subject to critique from all the members present, ensuring that quality is prioritized. Furthermore, group meetings are a time-efficient means of gathering data since several subjects are questioned simultaneously. However, group meetings may not necessarily be time conscious especially where social challenges and a lack of privacy delay the data collection process due to arguments and a reluctance of members to divulge information. In essence, the use of group meetings may depend on various factors such as the setting, sensitivity of the subject matter and expected outcomes of the data collection process (Shelly & Rosenblatt

Multiple choice Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Multiple choice - Coursework Example Jesse Jackson, on the other hand, is a politician known for his active participation in the civil rights movement. Both claimed to be disciples of the Martin Luther King’s brand of Civil Rights activism yet, a closer look on their respective views on Affirmative Action revealed their conflicting outlook. Pendleton vehemently criticized affirmative action because he felt that it took away the honor and the glory from deserving and talented African-Americans and referred to its supporters as new racists who wanted assured outcomes sans the competition. The underpinning of Pendleton’s argument was that he wanted the African-Americans to rise above the rest on the strength of their own talent, hard work and perseverance competing with the rest of the country. He wanted them to stand toe to toe with everybody and not be isolated – a part of mainstream America. Jesse Jackson, on the other hand, who defended and supported the extension of affirmative action during the height of the US Supreme Court Affirmative Action case saw it as an assurance of African-Americans in achieving the American Dream. He saw it as a means of equal opportunity. To Jackson, Affirmative Action was still relevant because the issue at stake was not only racial but also economic justice and social equa lity. He believed that society must enter into a compromise to ensure that peace and harmony prevail. The conflicting views of these two civil rights activists were a mere reflection of their personalities: Pendleton was a conservative, a pacifist and a proud man while Jackson is a go-getter and a realist who will leave no stone unturned to get what he wants. Their respective views may have different relevance then but today, with an African-American at the helm of the most powerful country in the world there is no doubt that the African-Americans have no need to be treated as a race with inferior surviving wits. It is time that they be

Hydrosphere And The Hydrologic Cycle Environmental Sciences Essay

Hydrosphere And The Hydrologic Cycle Environmental Sciences Essay The purpose of this report is to describe the most important features of Earth from a scientific point of view. After investigating the Earth system, four components are identified. They are namely atmosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere and geosphere. Different components are interconnected so that no single part of the system can work without any other. This report will focus on the composition, operation and evolution of different components as well as an Earth system as a whole. The report will begin by describing the four spheres one by one, followed by a conclusive overview of how the four spheres work together. Hydrosphere and the hydrologic cycle Earth is a blue planet with a wide surface coverage of water. It is approximated that 75% of the Earth surface, which equivalents to about 361 million m2, is covered by ocean. The hydrosphere is important as lives cannot exist without water. Composition of hydrosphere The hydrosphere is composed of all of the water on or near the earth. The total stock of it is approximately 1400 million km3 (Bronstert et al. 2005). This includes all forms of water in the oceans, rivers, lakes, and even the moisture in the air. Ninety-seven percent of the earths water is in the oceans while the remaining three percent is fresh water for which three-quarters of the fresh water is solid and exists in ice sheets. The major reservoirs in the hydrologic cycle are surface water, groundwater and glacier (Bronstert et al. 2005). Water cycle The water cycle, also known as the hydrological cycle, describes the continuous movement of water on, above and below the surface of the Earth. It includes the processes of evaporation, condensation, precipitation, infiltration, runoff, and subsurface flow. The Sun is the main energy to drive the whole hydrological cycle. Water takes up heat and evaporates as water vapor into the air. Water can be released out from plants through evapotranspiration. Ice and snow can change to gaseous form by sublimation. Water vapor is transferred by air to different lattitudes. They condense and fall as precipitation in the form of rain, snow, hail and sleet. The water can be stored in solid form as ice caps and glaciers for thousands of years. Most water falls back into the oceans or onto land as rain. The water flows over the ground is known as surface runoff and part of it flows into rivers. Much of it soaks into the ground as infiltration. Runoff and groundwater are stored as freshwater in lakes. Over time, the water returns to the ocean, where our water cycle started. Hydrological cycle also involves the exchange of heat and contributes to temperature changes. For example, water takes up energy as latent heat when evaporates and thus lower the surrounding temperature. When it condenses, latent heat is released and warms the environment. By transferring water from one reservoir to another, the hydrological cycle purifies water through infiltration, replenishes the land with freshwater, and transports minerals to different parts of the globe. Erosion and sedimentation reshape the geological features of the Earth. Moreover, the hydrological cycle helps in maintain life and ecosystems on Earth. Evolution through history The hydrosphere has been changed and evolved over the geological time. The amount and distribution pattern of precipitation, salinity of water, glacial pattern and the quality of freshwater have all been changed. Some are natural evolution but some are altered by human. Precipitation Salinity Glacial retreat Glacial retreat is also an example of a changing water cycle, where the supply of water to glaciers from precipitation cannot keep up with the loss of water from melting and sublimation. Glacial retreat since 1850 has been extensive. Pollution and scarcity Freshwater resources have been severely polluted by human especially since the industrial revolution. Human activities like agriculture and industry discharge enormous untreated contaminants into freshwater system through rivers and ground water. This leads to scarcity of freshwater to human in some regions. Geosphere The outer layers of the Earth are composed of lithosphere and asthenosphere. The lithosphere is the rigid outermost part consists of the crust and the portion of the upper mantle. The asthenosphere is the weaker and deeper part of the upper mantle which flows more easily. The lithosphere is underlain by the asthenosphere. The boundary between them is defined by a difference in response to stress: the lithosphere remains rigid for very long periods of geologic time in which it deforms elastically and through brittle failure, while the asthenosphere deforms viscously and accommodates strain through plastic deformation. Plate Tectonics The key principle of plate tectonics is that the lithosphere exists as separate and distinct tectonic plates, which ride on the fluid-like asthenosphere. Tectonic plates contain both oceanic lithosphere and continental lithosphere with its own kind of crust on top. There are seven, some say eight, major plates and many minor plates on Earth. There are three kinds of plate boundaries namely convergent, divergent and transform. Convergent boundary is where two plates collide; Divergent plate boundary is where plates move apart with each other; Transform boundary is where plates slide past each other. Earthquakes, volcanic activity, mountain-building, and oceanic trench formation occur along these plate boundaries. Lithosphereà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢s properties of bigger strength and lower density allow tectonic plates to float and move on asthenosphere. Lateral density variations in the mantle result in convection. The relative motion between the plates is accommodated by seafloor spreading and the creation of new plates at oceanic ridges, subduction of the surface plates at ocean trenches, and strike-slip motion at transform faults which allows plate motion without creating or removing surface plates. (Landuyt, William 2009) Evolution It is believed that the present continents once formed a single land mass Pangea. This supercontinent existed during the late Paleozoic and early Mesozoic eras, forming about 300 million years ago and beginning to rift around 200 million years ago. In the Early Jurassic at 175 Ma, Pangea was begun to separate and form two supercontinents, which were Gondwana and Laurasia. Gondwana included most of the landmasses in todays Southern Hemisphere, including Antarctica, South America, Africa, Madagascar and the Australian continent, as well as the Arabian Peninsula and the Indian subcontinent, which have now moved entirely into the Northern Hemisphere. The plates move slowly, leading to the positions of continents and oceans today by collision and separation. The break-up of Pangea still continues today. Therefore, the distribution of continents and ocean on Earth is very likely to be changed gradually in the future. Atmosphere The atmosphere of Earth is a layer of gases retained by Earths gravity surrounding the planet. It can absorb ultraviolet solar radiation, warm the surface through greenhouse effect, and reducing temperature extremes between day and night. The importance of atmosphere is to sustain life on Earth. Structure The atmosphere can be divided it into several layers with different rate of change in temperature with height and composition. The Earths atmosphere consists, from the ground up, of the troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere, thermosphere, exosphere and also the magnetosphere. Variation of properties through the layers of the atmosphere Figure 1 cr: http://www.aerospaceweb.org/question/atmosphere/q0090.shtml Composition nowadays The atmospheric composition on Earth is largely governed by the by-products of the very life that it sustains. Earths atmosphere contains roughly (by molar content/volume) 78.08% nitrogen, 20.95% oxygen, a variable amount (average around 1.247%) water vapor, 0.93% argon, 0.038% carbon dioxide, and traces of hydrogen, helium, and other noble gases. Additionally, among all layers of Earth atmosphere, only the troposphere is found to be suitable for terrestrial plants and terrestrial animals. Evolution The earliest atmosphere was mainly consisted of hydrogen. Moreover, it was likely that there were simple hydrides, especially methane, ammonia and water vapor. The atmosphere then evolved after some time, containing lots of nitrogen and carbon dioxide as well as inert gases. Outgassing from volcanoes contributed to the evolution of atmosphere at this stage. Besides, large asteroids bombarded the Earth, also producing gases took part in the evolution. Furthermore, much carbon dioxide exhalations were dissolved in ocean made up heavy rainfall. Nitrogen was the major component of the atmosphere 3.4 billion years ago. An influence of life has to be taken into account rather soon in the history of the atmosphere, since hints of early life forms are to be found as early as 3.5 billion years ago. Oxygen began to develop in atmosphere in the late Archaean eon about 2.7 billion years ago. Photosynthesizing algae as stromatolite is believed to contribute to it. Free oxygen did not exist until about 1.7 billion years ago. The evidence of it is the existence of the red beds and the end of the banded iron formations. Iron was oxidized by oxygen and the oxygen content did not get high until the huge amount of iron had been oxidized. This marks a change from a reducing atmosphere to an oxidizing atmosphere. The accretion of continents about 3.5 billion years ago added plate tectonics, constantly rearranging the continents and also shaping long-term climate evolution by allowing the transfer of carbon dioxide to large land-based carbonate stores. There was a peak 280 million years ago, when the amount of oxygen was about 30%, much higher than today. The process of plants emitting oxygen and the volcanoes effect on sulphur affect the amount of oxygen. The break down of pyrite rocks cause sulphur to be added to the oceans. Volcanos cause this sulphur to be oxidized, reducing the amount of oxygen in the atmosphere. Nevertheless, volcanos also emit carbon dioxide which can be converted into oxygen by plants. Recent: Air pollution and increasing greenhouse gases Air pollution is the introduction of chemicals, particulate matter, or biological materials that cause harm or discomfort to organisms into the atmosphere. Human activities emitted huge amount of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxides and methane into the atmosphere. It is believed that the anthropogenic alteration of the atmospheric gases causes global warming on Earth. In addition, the increase in CFCs usage by human is also believed ozone to be the reason for ozone depletion in the stratosphere. Biosphere It is estimated that the biosphere have begun to evolve 3.5 billion years ago. The biosphere is the global sum of all ecosystems. It can also be called the zone of life on Earth, a closed and self-regulating system. The biosphere is the global ecological system integrating all living beings and their relationships, including their interaction with the elements of the lithosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere. The biosphere is divided into a number of biomes, inhabited by broadly similar flora and fauna. On land, biomes are separated primarily by latitude. Terrestrial biomes lying within the Arctic and Antarctic Circles are relatively barren of plant and animal life, while most of the more populous biomes lie near the equator. Terrestrial organisms in temperate and Arctic biomes have relatively small amounts of total biomass, smaller energy budgets, and display prominent adaptations to cold, including world-spanning migrations, social adaptations, homeothermy, estivation and multiple layers of insulation. Evolution Origins of life There is a lot of research on the origin of life. One of the idea is that the beginning of life may have included self-replicating molecules such as RNA and the assembly of simple cells. Evolution of life Prokaryotes inhabited the Earth from approximately 3à ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬4 billion years ago.[255][256] No obvious changes in morphology or cellular organisation occurred in these organisms over the next few billion years.[257] The eukaryotic cells emerged between 1.6  Ãƒ ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬ 2.7 billion years ago. The next major change in cell structure came when bacteria were engulfed by eukaryotic cells, in a cooperative association called endosymbiosis.[258][259] The engulfed bacteria and the host cell then underwent co-evolution, with the bacteria evolving into either mitochondria or hydrogenosomes.[260] Another engulfment of cyanobacterial-like organisms led to the formation of chloroplasts in algae and plants.[261] The history of life was that of the unicellular eukaryotes, prokaryotes and archaea until about 610 million years ago when multicellular organisms began to appear in the oceans in the Ediacaran period.[255][262] The evolution of multicellularity occurred in multiple independent events, in organisms as diverse as sponges, brown algae, cyanobacteria, slime moulds and myxobacteria.[263] Soon after the emergence of these first multicellular organisms, a remarkable amount of biological diversity appeared over approximately 10 million years, in an event called the Cambrian explosion. Here, the majority of types of modern animals appeared in the fossil record, as well as unique lineages that subsequently became extinct.[264] Various triggers for the Cambrian explosion have been proposed, including the accumulation of oxygen in the atmosphere from photosynthesis.[265] About 500 million years ago, plants and fungi colonised the land and were soon followed by arthropods and other animals.[266] Insects were particularly successful and even today make up the majority of animal species.[267] Amphibians first appeared around 364 million years ago, followed by early amniotes and birds around 155 million years ago (both from reptile-like lineages), mammals around 129 million years ago, homininae around 10 million years ago and modern humans around 250,000 years ago.[268][269][270] However, despite the evolution of these large animals, smaller organisms similar to the types that evolved early in this process continue to be highly successful and dominate the Earth, with the majority of both biomass and species being prokaryotes.[151] 3.6 billion years of simple cells (prokaryotes), 3.4 billion years of stromatolites demonstrating photosynthesis, 2 billion years of complex cells (eukaryotes), 1 billion years of multicellular life, 600 million years of simple animals, 570 million years of arthropods (ancestors of insects, arachnids and crustaceans), 550 million years of complex animals, 500 million years of fish and proto-amphibians, 475 million years of land plants, 400 million years of insects and seeds, 360 million years of amphibians, 300 million years of reptiles, 200 million years of mammals, 150 million years of birds, 130 million years of flowers, 65 million years since the dinosaurs died out, 2.5 million years since the appearance of the genus Homo, 200,000 years of anatomically modern humans, 25,000 years since the disappearance of Neanderthal traits from the fossil record. 13,000 years since the disappearance of Homo floresiensis from the fossil record. Conclusion The characteristics of the four components (atmosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere and geosphere) of the Earth system have been summarized by discussing each of their composition and evolution history. The four spheres are linked to and interact with each other to sustain the Earth. The planet Earth has a history of 4.6 billion years. Lots of things have been changed and evolved since its formation. The evolution is going to continue. Landuyt,William, I.,II. (2009). The generation of plate tectonics on a planet. Yale University). ProQuest Dissertations and Theses, , 195. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/305041644?accountid=14548. (305041644)) Axel Bronstert, Jesus Carrera, Pavel Kabat, Sabine Lutkemeier.(2005).Coupled Models for the Hydrological: CycleIntegrating Atmosphere, Biosphere, and Pedosphere. Springer Berlin Heidelberg

Leonard Bernstein Essay -- essays research papers

Leonard Bernstein   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Leonard Bernstein was born in Lawrenceville, Massachusettes on August 25, 1918. He was the first born child of Samuel and Jennie Bernstein, who lived in Boston, but had gone to Lawrenceville to visit some relatives.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Bernstein's parents had little knowledge of, or interest in classical music. The only records Leonard remembers hearing on his family phonograph when he was a child were the popular hit songs of the day, such as â€Å" Barney Google† and â€Å"Oh by Jingo.† For the most part, Leonard Bernstein was an unhappy child. He said, â€Å" I was a miserable, terrified little child† (Musicians p.64). His family moved from town to town, during Bernstein's school days, not giving him a chance to make close friends or feel at home. Sadly, Bernstein's peers would make fun of and tease Bernstein. He was a very sickly child as he suffered from chronic asthma, rose fever, and hay fever. This pathetic child grew to be a very shy person.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Leonard always had a heart for music, even as a young boy. As an eight year old, one morning, when he was sitting in the synagogue, the religious music of the choir and organ overwhelmed him by it's beauty and caused him to burst into tears. When Leonard and his family would visit their friends, Leonard would sneak over to the piano and experiment. When he was eleven, his aunt sent her piano to his house for his family to keep for storage. â€Å"I made love to it right away† he recalled (Musicians p. 65). He could escape from all his frustrations and sadness by playing the piano. His parents didn't like the fact that he was always at the piano, they wanted him to concentrate on his school work. They thought of piano playing as a waste of time because it stood in the way of Leonard's learning his father's business, which they planned for him to eventually take over.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  At the age of ten, Leonard found a piano teacher who would give him lessons for a dollar a lesson. But that teacher soon moved away and Leonard found himself paying another piano teacher three dollars a lesson out of his allowance. After more than a year of piano lessons that just weren't teaching him much, Leonard found a new, and th... ...  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Bernstein has received such awards as the Albert Einstein Commemorative Award in the Arts from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine; the John H. Finley Medal for service to New York City; the Golden European trophy, an annual award given to an outstanding figure in popular music; the Datsun Award for â€Å"outstanding service to American music†; the Institute of International Education Award presented by President Nixon; and the George Foster Peabody Awards for his television programs.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Bernstein provided the music for four famous Broadway musicals with a superior amount of sophistication and technique. Often times, he would produce music with great humour and sentiment. Bernstein's great talents led him to author a few books in the 1960's. One of his most recent, famous collections of his music is used in the ever popular film West Side Story.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Leonard Bernstein was the â€Å"Renaissance man of twentieth century music.† Over the decades, Bernstein has been called one of the most charismatic and gifted personalities in the music of our times.

After the Revolutionary War Essay

After the Revolutionary War, many Americans realized that the government established by the Articles of Confederation was not working. America needed a new form of government. It had to be strong enough to maintain national unity over a large geographic area, but not so strong as to become a tyranny. Unable to find an exact model in history to fit America’s unique situation, delegates met at Philadelphia in 1787 to create their own solution to the problem. Their creation was the United States Constitution. Before the Constitution could become â€Å"the supreme law of the land,† it had to be ratified or approved by at least nine of the thirteen states. When the delegates to the Philadelphia Convention signed the Constitution on September 17, 1787, they knew ratification would not be easy. Many people were bitterly opposed to the proposed new system of government. A public debate soon erupted in each of the states over whether the new Constitution should be accepted. More important, it was a crucial debate on the future of the United States. The Federalist Papers Nowhere was the furor over the proposed Constitution more intense than in New York. Within days after it was signed, the Constitution became the subject of widespread criticism in the New York newspapers. Many commentators charged that the Constitution diminished the rights Americans had won in the Revolution. Fearful that the cause for the Constitution might be lost in his home state, Alexander Hamilton devised a plan to write a series of letters or essays rebutting the critics. It is not surprising that Hamilton, a brilliant lawyer, came forward at this moment to defend the new Constitution. At Philadelphia, he was the only New Yorker to have signed the Constitution. The other New York delegates had angrily left the Convention convinced that the rights of the people were being abandoned. Hamilton himself was very much in favor of strengthening the central government. Hamilton’s Constitution would have called for a president elected for life with the power to appoint state governors. Hamilton soon backed away from these ideas, and decided that the Constitution, as written, was the best one possible. Hamilton published his first essay in the New York Independent Journal on October 27, 1787. He signed the articles with the Roman name â€Å"Publius.† (The use of pseudonyms by writers on public affairs was a common practice.) Hamilton soon recruited two others, James Madison and John Jay, to contribute essays to the series. They also used the pseudonym â€Å"Publius.† James Madison, sometimes called the Father of the Constitution, had played a major role during the Philadelphia Convention. As a delegate from Virginia, he participated actively in the debates. He also kept detailed notes of the proceedings and drafted much of the Constitution. Unlike Hamilton and Madison, John Jay of New York had not been a delegate to the Constitutional Convention. A judge and diplomat, he was serving as secretary of foreign affairs in the national government. Between October 1787 and August 1788, â€Å"Publius† wrote 85 essays in several New York newspapers. Hamilton wrote over 60 percent of these essays and helped with the writing of others. Madison probably wrote about a third of them with Jay composing the rest. The essays had an immediate impact on the ratification debate in New York and in the other states. The demand for reprints was so great that one New York newspaper publisher printed the essays together in two volumes entitled The Federalist, A Collection of Essays, written in favor of the New Constitution, By a Citizen of New York. By this time the identity of â€Å"Publius,† never a well-kept secret, was pretty well known. The Federalist, also called The Federalist Papers, has served two very different purposes in American history. The 85 essays succeeded by helping to persuade doubtful New Yorkers to ratify the Constitution. Today, The Federalist Papers helps us to more clearly understand what the writers of the Constitution had in mind when they drafted that amazing document 200 years ago.