Unit 7 Bruno Mars

Compared to California’s education demographics, San Leandro has a higher percentage of high school graduate, but a lower percentage of higher educational attainment compared to the entire nation (bachelor’s degree or higher). Using Thompson and Hickey’s model for social class in the United States (2005), my family would be considered working class. This is defined as “clerical, pink and blue collar workers with often low job security; common household incomes range from $16,000 to $30,000 [and] high school education” (Thompson et al., 2005). My mother currently works as a part-time waitress and is going to community college to receive an associate’s degree in accounting. My father has been working as a full-time cook at a Chinese restaurant in Oakland Chinatown for about 25 years. His highest level of educational attainment is high school. These racial and social class demographics are important in understanding my social location.

Music defines our culture. As Americans, we listen to music while we drive our cars, are at work, doing housework, studying, etc. We have songs for special occasions: Christmas, Hanukah, birthdays, weddings, parties, etc. We have taken songs from the various cultures that make us diverse: Arabic, German, Mexican, Native American, etc. We have many genres: country, hip-hop, rap, pop, blues, jazz, rock, heavy metal, etc. And although we may think of music as simple and easy, looking at all this makes one realize how diverse and complex our music truly is. Two things that contribute to this diversity are theme and symbolism.

Music is a creative art form that allows the artist to construct something that expresses a purpose. It evolves over time and changes as the world changes, taking on many different motivations behind the melody and lyrics. In today’s society, anger, oppression, racism, and negative opinions rule the media and popular culture. I believe that African Americans need to show their self worth and not let white people hold them back. With the music in white culture often mocking African American culture and portraying negative stereotypes, African Americans have to find ways to gain respect. In acknowledgement of the negative portrayal of their culture, African Americans respond by creating songs and videos that express their pride in their culture and heritage, react to white oppression, and communicate their independence.

Quite similarly, the five levels of social class in the United States from highest to lowest are Top Fifth, Upper Middle, Lower Middle, and Bottom Fifth (“Class Matters”). Four commonly used factors to determine a person’s position in society are education, income, occupation, and wealth (“Class Matters”). Programs are implemented by the government

1.1 explain the evolving and interdependent nature of the relationship between parents and their children

The film I selected to observe that displays a disability in the media is Pumpkin. The film Pumpkin is based on a young college girl name Carolyn that volunteers in yearly Challenged Games. In the Challenged Games Carolyn is partner up with a boy name Jesse that goes by the nickname Pumpkin, which has an intellectual disability and is handicapped. Despites everyone disapproval and differences in the film both Carolyn and Pumpkin end up falling in love in the film. The character in the film is portrayed as a young boy that is not “normal” enough to be around all the other students or even to have friends or a girlfriend. He is rather seen as an individual that has a disability that makes him different from everyone else and because of that disability

Physical abuse is defined as the use of physical force that may result in bodily injury, physical pain, or impairment. Physical abuse may include hitting, beating, pushing, shoving, shaking, slapping, kicking, pinching, and burning. Also, inappropriate use of drugs and physical restraints, force-feeding, and physical punishment of any kind also are examples of physical abuse.

Questions |Unemployed and Homeless |Working Class |Middle Class |Upper Middle Class |Upper Class | |Who is most likely to be a part of this socioeconomic class?

Many people have been surrounded by so many different cultures and ethnicities; one tends to lean on the culture that feels familiar and comfortable to them. The type of comfort that makes people reflect on their time with their loved ones is the very culture that they would relate to. There are so many different nationalities, in this melting pot called society; it’s interesting to get a feel of different backgrounds, history, food and the music that these different cultures experience on a day to day basis.

Since urban areas, and subsequently urban high schools, have a high population of low-income residents, it is important to explore how this aspect of their social status has affected these individuals historically. According to Mantsios (2006) a majority of the United States (60 percent) hold less than 6 percent of the wealth. What is more, one in eight people live below the federal poverty level Mantsios (2006). This is important, because class level is strongly correlated with educational outcomes and success, which can be explained by class domination Mantsios (2006). Essentially, people who are born into wealthy families versus poor families have more opportunities provided to them on the basis of their class status or familial connections Mantsios (2006). Take for instance the example Schmidt (2007) given of white students with mediocre grades getting into Ivy League

Music Copyright is a very important aspect of the music industry. The Copyright law was established to preserve the creativity and rights of authors, composers, performers of expression. Copyright is the law that protects the property rights of the creator of an original work in a fixed tangible medium. (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/copyright) A fixed tangible medium is something substantial like copying lyrics on paper or putting a song on tape or CD. Copyright can be seen every where in the music industry. Many music artist of our culture today have been involved in copyright issues. Recently, on MTV news it was stated that, "As the music industry becomes increasingly concerned about protecting the

Music allows an artist to give those whose voice may not be loud enough to be heard. Their music can cover any issue of poverty, discrimination, segregation, people of color, oppression, and etc. The lyrics are the key part to get any point across but also any footage that accompanies gives the viewer more of an insight into these issues. Many artist/bands like Bob Dylan, Fort Minor, Joyner Lucas, Hurray for the Riff Raff, and Michael Jackson address many issues the class talked about and the point of view of those who are viewed as minorities. The music these artists and bands produce gives the listener an idea of what exactly is happening in the world and what has happened. Each song individually covers the importance that we, as humans, must change the way we think and act and listen to the problems others have and even if it does not affect us.

That a student’s social class origin impacts on their learning outcomes is self-evident across much of the developed world, with entrenched disparities in academic achievement that are inversely correlated with family income (Snook, 2009:3, Argy, 2007:para 3, Reay, 2006:289, Nash, 2003:179-180).

Are you aware of the meaning of true love when the money and the power are sitting comfortably in your hands? In the song “When I was your Man” by Bruno Mars, he expresses his regret of putting aside a loyal woman. Serving him as a lesson learned, he found the true meaning of appreciation of a good woman. Bruno Mars expresses the consequences of his decisions. Unfortunately, his choices threw away an opportunity that was standing at his door step. This song conveys situations in which Bruno Mars could have done more than he did. Throughout “When I was your Man,” he is continually stating things he once took for granted. Therefore forcing him to love and live

With the variety of life throughout the world, there are different expectations for musical literacy. For instance, the style of Japanese music is very different from that of Cajun music, or Hispanic from West African. These variances give each culture a particular style of expression. Music literacy isn't even confined within cultures; it also produces a way for different cultures to learn from each other. For example, western rock musicians often incorporated traditional Indian music into their style during the 1960's, which broke boundaries between different approaches to literacy.