American Idiot Essay Example for Free

American Idiot Essay The song that I chose to write about is titled American Idiot by Green Day. This song was on Green Day’s album titled American Idiot. This album was originally released in 2004. American Idiot, the song, peaked at number 61 on the Billboard Hot 100. My reason for choosing this song is that it talks about how the media runs society and how people shouldn’t let the media run their lives. The main social issue that is talked about in this song is how the media runs our lives and society. One of the lines in the song is â€Å"Don’t wanna be an American idiot, one nation controlled by the media. † This line refers to how people in America rely heavily on the media for everything. They trust every word that is printed in a newspaper or magazine or said on television without question. People hang on every word that is pumped through the media. I don’t consider this to be a personal problem because it refers to all people being controlled by the media. It is not as if the singer in the song is the only one that the media affects. Media is worldwide ways of letting people know what is going on around them. What Billy Joe Armstrong is saying throughout this song is that people need to realize is that not everything that a person hears is necessarily true and people should not panic just because of what the news says. Green Day is an American rock band that was formed in 1987. the group consists of three members: Billy Joe Armstrong(vocals), Tre` Cool(drums), and Mike Dirnt(bass). In 1988, they signed to Lookout Records and then in 1989 they released their first EP titled 1,000 Hours. However, the band didn’t have much success until it released the album Kerplunk in 1993. After Kerplunk’s success, Green Day proceeded to leave Lookout Records and sign with Reprise Records. In 1994, they released their first major label debut, Dookie. Over the next few years, Green Day would have much success but then decided to take a break in 1996. They returned in 1997. When they returned, they began to work on a new full-length album. This album was entitled Nimrod and was released in October of 1997. This album deviated from their normally pop-punk style of music and gave listeners a variety of music. They didn’t release another album until 2000 when they released Warning which further continued their new sound that they started with Nimrod. After releasing Warning, they were nominated for 8 awards in the California Music Awards. They won all eight awards. The band then continued their success over the next few years. In 2004 the band released American Idiot. And then in 2006 they won the Grammy for record of the year because of the track Boulevard of Broken Dreams which spent 16 weeks at the top of the charts. The lyrics to American Idiot are as follows: â€Å"Dont wanna be an American idiot. Dont want a nation under the new mania. And can you hear the sound of hysteria? The subliminal mindfuck America. Welcome to a new kind of tension. All across the alienation. Everything isnt meant to be okay. Television dreams of tomorrow. Were not the ones whore meant to follow. For thats enough to argue. Well maybe Im the faggot America. Im not a part of a redneck agenda. Now everybody do the propaganda. And sing along in the age of paranoia. Welcome to a new kind of tension. All across the alienation. Everything isnt meant to be okay. Television dreams of tomorrow. Were not the ones whore meant to follow. For thats enough to argue. Dont wanna be an American idiot. One nation controlled by the media. Information age of hysteria. Its calling out to idiot America. Welcome to a new kind of tension. All across the alienation. Everything isnt meant to be okay. Television dreams of tomorrow. Were not the ones whore meant to follow. For thats enough to argue. †

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Rohan Baishya Due 2/13/14 Block 5 Poem Commentary The Schoolboy by William Blake The Schoolboy is a poem which at first, William Blake, the author of the poem, put in his original version of Songs of Innocence but eventually moved it to the other half of his complete work, Songs of Innocence and Experience. His change of mind of the suitable position for The School Boy shows indecision by Blake regarding whether he should divide the works into two divergent sections or keep them together to resemble the crucial eminence of this particular poem. An elucidation of the poem is that Blake knew beforehand and was planning out the larger work when Songs of Innocence was first published, and that he intentionally decided to have dissimilar poems like The Schoolboy to institute at least some tension through the concurrence of them centered on other carefully planned out works. This understanding is further supported because Blake already completed plenty of the poems earlier, and these later became the Songs of Experience when the former work had been published. Therefor e, it is straightforward to envisage that Blake was experimenting, which led to a couple divergent poems added momentarily to Songs of Innocence. But beside the point, these distinctive characteristics of the background of The Schoolboy are incorporated to emphasize the poem as something worth evaluating more closely, for there is far more to it than meets the eye. Another rationale for concentrating on The Schoolboy is its subject matter. The poem is in relation to the results of official schooling on a child’s life. What happens to kids when they are brought into an atmosphere of strict, textbook style of learning? Is anything lost in exchange for the chance to learn in ... ...ful experiences in school can adversely shape the lives of kids and students. In the second half of The Schoolboy, William Blake gives a passionate call for the insightful handling of juvenile minds. In the fourth stanza, an additional element from the first stanza is used figuratively to exemplify the negative results of an authoritarian way of learning. The tenor of this allegory is an anxious kid required to go to school and disregard his or her way of thinking. The comparison is to an incarcerated bird that droops its young wings and is forced to forget its joyful urge to fly free. The similarity, which institutes the metaphor, is the incarcerating makeup of both the school and the bird’s cage; the purpose of both are to control and transform the being within at the cost of their innate, free self-expression, oppressing the delicate, youthful tunes within them.

Existentialist Curriculum on the Humanities

â€Å"I should seek not the way, but my way. † Rather than follow a strict set of rules about what school should or should not be like, the existentialist chooses his or her own vision of education. There is truly no one right way for students to learn or one method of teaching that is universally applicable. Existentialism classrooms therefore offer freedom for both educator and student. The existentialist model also encourages growth and creativity through limitless freedom. As Blaise Pascal said, â€Å"Live today as if you were to die tomorrow. According to this philosophy, the students and teachers would do whatever they felt inspired to do at that moment, and curriculum would be loose. The existentialist teacher eschews structure. The existentialist does not attempt to become a specialist because to do so is too restricting. I agree with the quote, â€Å"Specialization diminishes a man-He is a creature of knowledge, not the master of it. † I also appreciate the existentialist vision of education as a â€Å"conversation between persons in which each person remains a subject for the other, a conversation. With this viewpoint, the teacher is not authoritarian, and does not stand up in front of the class and lecture all day. Finally, the existentialist teacher helps students achieve self-realization. I agree that the purpose of education is more than just to memorize multiplication tables or vocabulary words. There is a reason why students don't like school, and if more teachers incorporated the fundamental philosophies of existentialism in their classrooms, more students would enjoy school. Learning would be more fun. I had an existentialist teacher in high school. The class was social studies, but we did not have a textbook. Rather, the teacher taught to us from Buddhist teachings and encouraged each student in the class to discuss the meaning of life. Instead of memorizing historical data, we learned how to think creatively about our world and about our own selves. The existentialist classroom can focus on any subject. In fact, the true existentialist classroom focuses on as many subjects as possible, and is not restricted to math, English, science, or history. However, when teaching restrictive subjects like math, the teacher uses highly creative methods rather than rote learning. The existentialist teacher brings in various multimedia materials, and welcomes technology as a tool for teaching. The teacher teaches whatever the students appear interested in on that day rather than force them to focus on one specific thing. The students and teacher might sit together in a circle, rather than in typical classroom format. Students are encouraged to tell stories and share jokes. They might perform some creative projects with art or music. Games are also encouraged. The existentialist class is frequently held outside on the lawn on sunny days, or alternatively, goes on a field trip to a park or wherever seems fun that day. If it's raining, the teacher might bring in a movie to teach a unit on cinematography or on a specific theme. The existentialist classroom also incorporates current events as a means to expand the students' awareness of their universe. Furthermore, the teacher imparts knowledge regarding psychological and social coping skills; the existentialist class is not about rote memorization of specific materials but rather on the big picture: the meaning of life and the life purpose behind education. The existentialist views humanity as integral in the perception of reality. Rather than see a physical universe â€Å"out there† that exists independently of the person as a realist would, the existentialist knows that human consciousness alters reality. Human beings are therefore active creators and participants in the universe. In order to better understand the metaphysical underpinnings of the universe we first need to better understand ourselves. The quote â€Å"Man is nothing other than what he makes himself† refers to the power of human consciousness in shaping personal as well as collective reality: we are what we think. Human beings are born with free will; free will is neither good nor an ideal; often free will is a source of our pain and suffering, for when we make mistakes we suffer the consequences. Therefore, free will enables human beings to make painful mistakes in order that we may learn and grow. Because of the absolute nature of free will, each person is ultimately responsible for his or her own actions. Knowledge is highly variable, and not as absolute as some may believe. An individual's knowledge depends on his or her interpretation of the world, and is also highly dependent on his or her personal value systems. Beliefs inform reality. While some knowledge has been codified, the codification of knowledge is not absolute. Human beings are continuously shifting our view of the universe, as our understanding expands and grows. Moreover, people in different cultures and from different backgrounds have different worldviews and therefore have different knowledge. No one form of knowledge is any more or less valuable than another, just different. Specialization is an attempt to own knowledge, to master something completely. However, specialization â€Å"diminishes the man† because specialization is by definition limiting. The existentialist teacher seeks as many different opinions as possible to enrich the conversation. Teaching is a process of conversation and collaboration, a back-and-forth sharing of ideas. All teachers must be aware of their limitations and not attempt to falsely represent themselves as â€Å"experts. † An existentialist curriculum will focus on the humanities because of the openness and creativity inherent in the humanities. Students actively participate; they don't simply sit back and try to absorb material from the teacher.

Mount Kilimanjaro - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 1 Words: 385 Downloads: 1 Date added: 2017/09/24 Category Advertising Essay Type Argumentative essay Did you like this example? Mount Kilimanjaro [pic] Location Description Mount Kilimanjaro is situated entirely within the borders of Tanzania, although is situated close to the border of Kenya. It is situated 3 degrees, or about 340 km, south of the Equator. To the west lies the Great Rift Valley created by the tremendous tectonic forces which also created a string of other volcanoes. Climatic conditions Mt. Kilimanjaro is the highest mountain in Africa and fourth highest of the Seven Summits. It is among the tallest freestanding mountains in the world, with Uhuru Peak rising to an altitude of 15,100 feet (4,600 m) from base to summit. Kilimanjaro is a giant stratovolcano that began forming a million years ago when lava spilled from the Rift Valley zone. Mount Kilimanjaro is composed of 3 distinct volcanic cones: Kibo (5895 metres), Mawenzi (5149 metres) Shira (3962 metres). Volcanic conditions Although it’s dormant, Kilimanjaro has fumarole (an opening in the earths crust) that emits gasse s in the crater on the main summit of Kibo. Molten magma is just 400 metres below the summit crater. A number of landslides have occurred in the past creating an area called the Western Breech. The last known eruption was approximately 360 000 years ago, but the most recent volcanic activity took place approximately 200 years ago. Interesting facts about Mount Kilimanjaro 1. The oldest person ever to summit Mt. Kilimanjaro was 87-year-old Frenchman Valtee Daniel. 2. Almost every kind of ecological system is found on the mountain: cultivated land, rain forest, heath, mooreland, alpine desert and an arctic summit. . Because of Global warming the mountain’s snow caps are diminishing, having lost more than 80 percent of their mass since 1912. In fact, they may be completely ice free within the next 20 years. 4. The fasted verified ascent of Mt. Kilimanjaro occurred in 2001 when Italian Bruno Brunod summitted Uhuru Peak in 5 hours 38 minutes 40 seconds. The fastest roundtrip wa s accomplished in 2004, when local guide Simon Mtuy went up and down the mountain in 8:27. 5. Approximately 25,000 people attempt to summit Mt. Kilimanjaro annually. Approximately two-thirds are successful. Altitude-related problems is the most common reason climbers turn back. 6. South African Bernard Goosen twice scaled Mt. Kilimanjaro in a wheelchair. His first summit, in 2003, took nine days; his second, four years later, took only six. Born with cerebral palsy, Goosen used a modified wheelchair, mostly without assistance, to climb the mountain. [pic] Mount Kilimanjaro from Amboseli. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Mount Kilimanjaro" essay for you Create order