Essay about Rhapsody in Blue

Discuss place and how James Baldwin uses elements of setting to convey Sonny’s Blues’ larger message or theme.

The film “The Sapphires” directed by Wayne Blair, is based around and set in the era of the Vietnam war. Belonging whether it’s race or love is a big part of this film and constantly appears in different ways. One of the main characters, Dave Lovelace throughout the film is constantly rejected as he tries to belong and be a part of the group.

Have you ever wanted a bad memory erased? Is love erasable? These questions are attacked head on in the wonderfully complex drama Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind. After working together on the film Human Nature, director Michael Gondry and screenwriter Charlie Kaufman discussed the possibility whether or not they would have their memory erased of a bad relationship should the opportunity present itself (dvdtalk). Out of that discussion a movie idea was formulated, pitched to a studio, and a film was created showing the potential impact of doing so. Through Kaufman’s brilliant and strange storytelling, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind takes its audience on a journey challenging us to ask: what would we do

The story “Sonny’s Blues” By James Baldwin is about a jazz musician and his brother in 1950’s Harlem. The story centers on Sonny who uses jazz music as an escape from his depression. James Baldwin captures the art of jazz during this time period. The themes in this short story are perhaps varied, but all of them revolve around some form of suffering. One theme shows how music can promote change and understanding within relationships. A second theme reveals suffering caused by guilt. Yet another theme references the results of suffering brought about by searching for ones’ identity and how that leads to misunderstanding. There are also subthemes concerning racism and poverty.

Different from other forms of music, blues was only recorded by memory and passed down through generations through live performances. The blues began in the North Mississippi Delta post Civil War times. It was heavily influenced by African roots, field hollers, ballads, church music and rhythmic dance tunes called jump-ups. This eventually developed into music that was set up in a call-and- response way so that the singer would sing a line and he would then respond with his guitar.

George Gershwin is one of the greatest influences to American music in the 20th century. His compositions can be found throughout the entertainment world, ranging from Broadway to motion pictures. Though he had a short career, George Gershwin's music continues to bring inspiration and delight almost sixty years later.

There are many racial components in this novel that are easy to point out. These take place in the American South and also in Africa. It starts with the way that all the black men and women are treated at the start of the book. The main character’s real father was a successful store owner who was black. This man was hanged for a reason that is known only as him being a successful black man. All the characters that we are introduced to in this book by Celie are exploited by the fact that they are black. Sophia is beat up and jailed for her refusal to want to work for a white women. Of course she stood up for herself and the white element tried to tell her where her place was. There is also an intra racial theme that starts at the beginning

people. During the Cotton Club years, the Duke Ellington Orchestra began to win distinction for its thorough musicians and homogeneity. Ellington was fighting to be

Oklahoma! The first collaboration of Rodgers and Hammerstein was entitled Oklahoma! The idea of the musical came from a play called Green Grow the Lilacs, written by Lynn Riggs in 1931. This story is about the state of Oklahoma at the turn of the century, when the Indian Territory joined the United States. It is the story of a girl named Laurey Williams and her (sort of) love triangle with two boys by the names of Curley McClain and Jud Fry. Laurey is in love with Curley, but she attends a dance with Jud instead. At the dance, Curley surprised Laurey by bidding an enormous amount on the basket of food she has prepared. They soon marry, and after the wedding, Jud starts a fight with Curley, but he

Joel Barish and Clementine Kruczynski were a couple in love. Everything changed when Clementine woke up one day and just decided to have Joel erased from her memory. He was “boring” and she wasn’t happy and wanted to move on. Joel then decided he wanted to also remove Clementine from his memory. This was all possible due to Lacuna Inc. who asked those wishing to remove a particular person from their memories to remove anything from their homes that could possibly be associated with that person. They sit the patient down, map out where memories are located that are associated with each object. Then, the company sends a couple of their scientists/psychologists to the home at night after they’ve fallen asleep. They then track down any remaining memories as they appear while asleep

Color of Purple is a Novel by Alice Walker, published in 1982. It won a Pulitzer Prize in 1983. A feminist novel about an abused and uneducated black woman's struggle for empowerment, the novel was praised for the depth of its female characters and for its eloquent use of black English vernacular.

Most of Gershwin's early childhood was spent playing sports, which he was good at, and it interested him. It wasn't until Gershwin was 12

In the “Great Gatsby” movie soundtrack, Jay-Z, the soundtrack’s executive producer, compiled an excellent variety of modern day songs in this movie reflecting the 1920’s era. The songs chosen for this film would be most characterized as songs of love, romance, extravagance, grandeur, high society, mystery and many other qualities. These traits of song themes were chosen for this soundtrack as well as modern day songs twisted into a 1920’s melody. Jay-Z did an excellent job of doing so. Although all the songs were excellent and connected very well to the movie, there were two songs in the soundtrack that really caught my eye for various reasons. “Young and Beautiful” by Lana Del Rey, a modern day song, was best chosen for the love scenes and can be a song that tells about Daisy’s perspective. Another piece of music which was composed in the time period of when this story is told is “Rhapsody in Blue” by George Gershwin. Its power, grandeur, as well as elements of surprise fit very well in several scenes in the movie.

Frederic Chopin, the Polish composer and pianist, was born on March 1,1810, according to the statements of the artist himself and his family, but according to his baptismal certificate, which was written several weeks after his birth, the date was 22 February. His birthplace was the village of Zelazowa Wola, part of the Duchy of Warsaw.

Ludwig van Beethoven was, and remains today, an influential figure in the history of classical music. Perhaps no other composer in history wrote music of such inspiring power and expressiveness. His influence on the last 150 years of music is unequalled.