Stravinsky's Firebird

A theme is the prime element of literature, which contains the central idea of the story. It helps reflect on the characteristics that a story might have and reflects on observations interpreted from our view of the author. The theme, a main idea or underlying meaning of literary work may be stated directly or indirectly, but it is ultimately our job to figure it out. Throughout any story, short story or poem you can see the constant change of imagery that will play a big part in the development of the characters ability’s to demonstrate the theme. In “The Storm” by Kate Chopin, the theme illustrates many sexual desires, adultery, and happiness as well as shows a theme of conflict. Chopin uses a storm to represent sexual passionate tension that builds throughout the story between the two main characters Alcee and Calixta.

Imagine living in a civilization that practiced human sacrifice and ritual dances, and then one day that civilization no longer exists because another culture decided to conquer them. These people are known to modern society as the Aztecs. In Graciela Limon's novel, Song of the Hummingbird, she illustrated how a culture like the Aztecs or Mexica, can quickly diminish when there are people such as the Spanish that have very limited understanding about certain subjects. Some people may say that the Aztecs were slaughtered because the Darwinian principle of natural selection even applies to mankind. This concept was perceptible when the Spaniards marched with horses, advanced technology, and armor. But through this novel,

The negative point of view that Stravinsky has for the conductors is also revealed through the use of language, literal and figurative language. Stravinsky uses both literal and figurative language because they have the power to portray reality. In this piece, the word "great" is used sarcastically to show the contrast between what the conductors think of themselves and what he thinks of them. They both are reality, but reality to two different people, so using "great" in a sarcastic manner allows for both Stravinsky's and the conductors' interpretations of reality. In this case, the denotation and the connotation are different, making them important. Here the denotation of the word "great" is wonderful, majestic, and important, while the connotation is the exact opposite, ignoble, insignificant, and inferior. Literal language tells the apparent truth, while figurative language tells the apparent truth it also tells the indirect truth, making language important in this piece.

In addition to asymmetrical rhythms the use of polytonality is vibrant throughout the piece especially in the introduction which begins with different clarinets playing polytonal. Stravinsky structured The Rite very differently, melody was not the only dominant feature of the piece, other features such as the fore mentioned polytonality and asymmetrical rhythms were also at the dominant features of the piece. By breaking from many common practices of his own and of the time, Stravinsky created a piece slated in modernism's history.

The first of Igor Stravinsky's three famous early ballets, The Firebird is the most traditional and derivative. While The Firebird, similar to Petrushka and The Rite Of Spring, is unquestionably one of Stravinsky's masterpieces, if considered strictly historically it can be, with some justice, viewed as warmed-over Rimsky-Korsakov (the device of contrasting a folkloristic, diatonic style representing human characters, with a highly chromatic style reserved for depicting the supernatural had its most conspicuous use in Rimsky's

During the timeframe of both Barbara Kingsolver’s The Bean Trees and Maya Angelou’s I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, society held largely different expectations that limited men and women more than they do today. The Bean Trees is about a woman named Taylor who leaves her hometown, and is eventually left with a child, leaving her to learn how to raise it as a single mother. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is about the life of Maya Angelou as she grows up in America. In both of these novels, these women were not seen as the norm. Because of society’s expectations placed upon them, they were seen as odd, and both Taylor and Maya handled these expectations differently. One went against society’s expectations because she did not want to be stereotyped,

Birds are a common sight in most places people tend to be. These winged creatures are seen in bustling places like the pigeons that are in urban and suburban areas, the woodpeckers in rural regions, the crows on farms, and even in cages within buildings. In fact, these elegant creatures are so common a sight in society that they are often overlooked and underappreciated. This is similar to how women were and sometimes still are treated within society; they are given little appreciation when they are present and doing as they are told, but when they do not do as they are told they become a problem. This parallel that can be drawn between women and birds is used throughout Kate Chopin’s novel, The Awakening, in which its main character Edna Pontellier is often likened to and symbolized by a bird. Throughout the novel, the bird acts as a theme and symbol of both Edna and women in general.

portray the early life of Ernesto Galarza, it also does a tremendous job of capturing the essence of

In Travis Hogue-Smith’s concert, there was one piece called Three Pieces for clarinet solo (1919), and was composed by Igor Stravinsky. There are 3 movements in this piece. In the first movement, the clarinet is played mainly in its lower register. In the second movement, Stravinsky intended it to be more improvised, as he had just experienced attending his first jazz performance. Finally, in the third movement, the piece is characterized by rapid syncopation. The time signature also changes frequently, which makes the piece more complicated. What I find interesting about these three movements is that they are each piece is very unique, however, they’re very cohesive when put together.

ceased to exist.” (pg. 181) At this point all hope for order and civilization was gone. The

"Hope is being able to see that there is light despite all of the darkness." -Desmond Tutu. The Lord Of The Flies is about young boys from a range of 6-12 on a plane during WW2 and the plane gets shot done and they get stuck on an island by themselves. With the boys being so young they are afraid of "The Beast". Some boys try to assemble to try to survive on this island. In The Lord Of The Flies By: William Golding. There are a great amount of symbols he uses to try to show an object or something is more than just what it actually is. In the novel he uses the fire as a reoccurring symbol in the book he also uses the conch shell in the book. The last symbol he uses in the book is the glasses. Although there are a bunch symbols in the book the first one is the fire.

Imperative: urgently necessary. In Jack London’s “To Build a Fire” building a fire is imperative for the man’s survival. While he was in the harsh Yukon environment, he falls into an ice trap, and his foot is frozen solid. Him not building a lasting fire ultimately led to his death, among him not listening to the old man’s advice to bring a partner, and him building a fire under a tree.

In 1965, Jerzy Kosinski wrote his controversial novel “The Painted Bird”, which tells the story of a young six year old unnamed boy’s journey to survive during the violence and horrors of World War II. Kosinski shows readers how war can change people, as well as how barbaric human beings can act during wartime. During this time the Nazi sentiment was spreading like wildfire throughout central Europe. Hitler took great measures to ensure that Nazi’s remained in control by using cruelty and violence in creating fear and terror. Those living in Europe were far too scared to go against the Nazis’. The Jewish were not the only enemies of the Germans “Gypsies followed close behind... having no place in Adolf Hitler’s ideal of a racially pure

The eighteenth century marked a period of renewal within Italy. This transition saw the acceptance of new philosophies that were rampant throughout most of Europe (Yawney 2). The Age of Enlightenment, as it has come to be known, brought upon changes within the realms of economic, social, and religious affairs. However, amidst any form of radical change come those who do not attest to it. In his fable, The Green Bird, Venetian dramatist Carlo Gozzi incorporates subject matter that attacks not only the realism seen in Carlo Goldoni’s theatre but also the thought of modern Enlightenment ideology.

'It seems to me, my dear friend, that the music of this ballet will be one of my best creations. The subject is so poetic, so grateful for music, that 1 have worked on it with enthusiasm and written it with the warmth and enthusiasm upon which the worth of a composition always depends." - Tchaikovsky, to Nadia von Meck.