Spring Awakening

Spring Awakening is a rock musical set in late 19th century Germany. It follows the lives of young teenagers (from fourteen to sixteen) as they navigate through the turmoil of their teenage sexuality. The musical contains some explicitly mature content and themes, such as sex, conception, erotic dreams, expressed desire for physical intimacy, physical and sexual abuse, hitting, ambiguously consensual sex, suicide, inappropriate language such as cursing, teenage pregnancy, masturbation, and death caused by an incorrectly executed abortion.

Also in Bryant Simon essay “Global Brands Contend with Appreciation for the Local” Simon argues that “global brands will erode national, regional and neighborhood distinctiveness.”(368) Ariela Garvett talks about internet democracy and social media and its potential. She focuses on the potential of worldwide social media and the amount of group power it can give.In Garvett essay “Tweets and Transitions: How the Arab Spring Reaffirms the Internet’s Democratizing Potential” she writes, “The Internet demonstrates the possibilities of change

To build his argument, he ties in similar examples from history that involve either social or political activism. Not only does he connect these examples to the “weak ties” that the platforms of social media are built upon, but he also offers insight to his readers, the general public, and social-networking gurus (Gladwell 551). In his essay, “Small Change: Why the Revolution Will Not Be Tweeted”, Gladwell creates a rhetorically effective argument that illustrates why social networking is not an adequate way to conduct social or political activism.

Technology, the advancement of knowledge and productivity through the application of tools, information, and techniques to create an effortless process, has ultimately lead to the declination of our society and our future. In “A Thing Like Me,” Nicholas Carr addresses the development of technology from the day it was created and how it initiated an immediate impact within the lives of humans leading to an unhealthy dependency. Carr establishes how technology, what was intended to be a tool, has become the “pacifier” of our generation. This “pacifier” causes a loss of freedom, not through the laws of the government, but rather with the values of freedom one holds within themselves. This freedom is the individuality that distinguishes each person from the next, and forms a desire for the development of oneself through the experiences of life and the wisdom that is acquired along the way. Technology has blinded man from this pursuit of self-enhancement and with the advancement of technology occurring daily, there is no resolution. Each day people are confined within themselves and the pieces of technology that will continually limit them in their lives. Freedom is more than just a concept of laws instilled by the government, it is the thought process found within each individual person and their “hunger” to become more. With technology, social media was created and immediately immersed within our lives. The society of today has

In his article “Small Change: Why the Revolution Will Not Be Tweeted”, published in the New York Times on October 2010, Malcolm Gladwell looks closely into the notion of social change and the different means to achieve it. He makes a clear distinction between traditional activism, which implies sacrifices and physical devotion, and current activism, based on social networks. The writer considers that “social media can’t provide what social change has always required” (Gladwell, paragraph 1).

Broadway is no longer for the hearing after introducing deaf actors in the revival of “Spring Awakening.” The show is now looked at from a new angle since both hearing and deaf actors share the stage. Usually, the roles are divided with one person signing and another singing. NYT Critics describe the show as “thrilling” and “inventive” and in “Review: ‘Spring Awakening’ by Deaf West Theater Brings a New Sensation to Broadway” they agree that deaf actors in a musical may sound bizarre; however, the viewer will become “immersed...in a first-rate production of a transporting musical.”

The rock-musical, Spring Awakening, tells the story of several angst-filled teenagers and their journey of self-discovery during a time of turmoil.

Dean’s main focus in the article is that ICTs, our globally networked communication structures, aren’t exactly helping in bringing radical change to neo-liberal capitalism. Actually, they’re hindering. “The proliferation, distribution, acceleration, and intensification of communicative access and opportunity,” Dean writes, “far from enhancing democratic governance or resistance, results in precisely the opposite, the post political formation of communicative capitalism” (53).

In our modern world, the spread of violence has increased substantially amongst the years. Terrorism and lack of civility have become a way of life and is radically growing at an alarming rate. Many concerning civilians often ask themselves “ What is causing the rate violence in the world to increase.” Thomas L. Friedman a New York Times Journalist, author of Social Media: Destroyer or Creator? answers this question using the story of “Wael Ghonim, the Egyptian Google employee whose anonymous Facebook page helped launch the Tahrir Square revolution in early 2011.” In the article, Mr.Friedman claims that due to the speed and brevity of social media, rumors that confirm people’s biases are believed and spread among millions allowing for online discussions to quickly descend into a rage of confusion and disorder.

On September 30, 2016, I attended the musical Spring Awakening, by Steven Sater. The musical production was performed by the West Georgia Theater Company and directed by Shelly Elman. The production was definitely something to remember, but after it was over I felt slightly relieved. Personally I wouldn't recommend anyone to go see this Spring Awakening performance. Each scene brought different emotions about such as confusion, disbelief, astonishment, humor, and shock. When arriving to the musical I was a bit excited, because I was hearing about the content that was supposedly being displayed on stage and I thought this musical was definitely going to be interesting. Towards the end of the musical the title went from Spring Awakening to Falling

I find it incredibly fascinating thinking about this musical as a creation from the early 1900’s. The controversial subjects of sexuality, sexual deviation, sex, religion, education, abuse are still akin to the current times and societal norms and expectations today. That I could visualize this musical in real world in current times made this a very impactful and significantly alluring musical.

He starts off by telling a story that begins with Wael Ghonim reading a Facebook page that included a photo-graph of a boy that had been beaten to death by Egyptian police officers. He says that the photo angered Ghonim so much he created a separate Facebook page and used his experience as a Google marketing executive to help promote it. He continues with saying that Ghonim was an online activist, that inspired other frustrated young Egyptians. He says that with social media they were able to organize protests with the result of the resignation of the President of Egypt. He continues with Ghonim was arrested during a rally, and later goes to be one of the foremost speaker of the rebellion. He goes on to write about the revolution and that Ghonim laments the loss young Egyptians that were killed. Vargas states that “Through blogs, Twitter and Facebook, the Web has become a haven for a young, educated class yearning to express its worries and anxieties” (433). He observes that social media is not perfect and that for Egypt it was an outlet for the anger of years of oppression. He conveys that Ghonim decided to create a Facebook page instead of a group because he thought it was better way to spread the word. Ghonim than used the page to gather ideas about to the best place and time for a rally. Vargas finishes with “What Ghonim’s book makes clear, however, is that revolution begins with the self: with what one is willing to stand for online and offline, and what one citizen is willing to risk in the service of his country” (434). And the even after the resignation of the Egyptian President it is still unclear if Egypt will shift to better

My inspiration for this spontaneous prose was activated by two destructive observations; the education that I received at my previous public high school and my own observation of unwilling dominance that technology, specifically social media, has successfully overtaken us. This (troubled) generation has proved to be inviting itself into a society where it is completely fueled by technology, and unlike the Beat Generation, we cannot escape our own reality by going on road trips with our friends, getting high off of our asses or skipping school for our own pleasure. Due to a much more constructive society, we liberate ourselves and try to escape reality with the power or, in the perspective of others, self destruction of technology.

Technology is conceived as an actor that results in certain phenomena that have societal characteristics. In this sense, in one well-known study, Paolo Gerbaudo (2012) challenges theoretical and empirical grounds the assumption of Castells’ and others that the internet brings about leaderless movements (Fuchs, 2015: 783).

The following quote "The sedge is withr'd from the lake, And no birds sing," (Keats)