Sorrow songs also known as Negro Folk songs carry magnificent stories of black people. Every song has a message that explains to us how to black people lived, what kind of challenges they had faced throughout history. They added their happiness, sadness and tears into their music. Therefore, these songs had a great impact on American people in 1830’s. However, unfortunately, these beautiful songs were half forgotten. Consequently, of black people’s social status, their uncouth appearances and their slang language gave them a bad reputation and made their songs unlikable. George L. White helped jubilee songs to stay alive and pass into other’s souls. People listened to their songs with bias until Fisk Jubilee singers sang the slave songs into the world’s heart. Seven years of singing across the world, they brought fame and recognition to their music. Now, there is a hope that these beautiful historic songs will last forever and keep passing onto new generations.
Author Archives: Korhan Tukaci
- According to Du Bois, what is the significance of what he calls the “sorrow songs” to African-American history and culture?
Sorrow songs tell us how hard African American people lived back in eighties. All suffering and death are hidden in words of sorrow songs. And yet, they still find a way to write these songs, make themselves happy and careless about their situation. I believe it makes sorrow songs very significant.
2. Which of the songs featured in this chapter us the most significant, in your opinion, and why? (Check out the Spotify playlist if you are not familiar with them.)
I think that the most significant song in this chapter is “You may bury me in the east”. The reason that I choice this song is the lyrics. Lyrics sound to me like no matter what you do to me, I am not afraid of death. I am going to heaven in that morning.
In the ways of hearing “MONEY” episode, Damon Krukowski illustrates revolution of music industry and their power on us. According one of his guests Jimmy Johnson, finding musicians without internet and categorizing them was a hunt back in 80’s. Not only they kept every record that released in stock, but also, he and his staff listened and wrote about them. He also mentioned that sometimes finding a musician who wrote a good song takes days, months and even years. All those challenges help companies to develop a method that give them ultimate power on their customers or followers. Thanks to internet and music apps, we don’t need to spend hours to find the right music or go through the challenges they have been through. In early 20’s with development of internet, finding songs with their writers and the right radio that we love to listen got a lot easier. However, music apps had to go through some challenges about recommendation songs to their followers. In 2005, they came up with some algorithm that finds out what type of music their followers like and let them to listen the radio that includes only their type of music. Popular apps, such as Spotify, Pandora and SoundCloud used the same method in order to give better service to their followers. It didn’t take too much time for them to find out it wasn’t a quite success. Acoustic similarities can find in two totally different type of songs. For instance, if you like to listen Michael Jackson, next singer could be Sting which is completely different type of singer or if you like heavy metal song, next song could be classical music. After that, they invented a cultural recommendation method which is used by not only music companies, but also, other websites such as google, amazon and eBay. With this method, as a follower it is hard to escape from their influence. They provide us exactly what we need, nothing else. It takes having all the new experiences we could possibly have from finding a music or writer. Giving us what we only ask, makes blind not see what we are missing. This method makes me ask myself “how can we be sure of listening our favorite radio is actually our favorite radio?”. Giving us only one option makes us lose the ability of compare with other types.
- Damon Krukowski argues in the “Love” episode of Ways of Seeing that digital sound impedes our perception of those sonic qualities that help us experience intimacy. A primary example he gives is the way analog microphones provide a rich, full presentation of the human voice; whereas digital microphones–such as can be found in cellphones–take the character out of the voice in order to create a smaller data package that can travel more efficiently around the world. At the same time, the advent of digital sound DOES enable us to communicate with people around the world, which includes far-away friends and family members and is, in this distance learning environment, even necessary for us to participate in higher learning at LaGuardia. What do you think about the ideas Krukowski lays out in this episode? Does he adequately describe the intimacies afforded by sound and the tradeoff digital sound presents? In your answer, please incorporate at least one quotation from the episode.
- Damon Krukowski lays out in the “love” episode of ways of hearing that digital microphone doesn’t provide a high quality of sound as an analog microphone does. According to him, “The sound of our voices on the phone has gotten worse with the switch to digital… cell phones don’t transmit the full range of sound picked up by their mics.” I remembered that we used to use an analog phone when I was kid. I would agree that analog was better before 20th century. However, with new technology in smart phones or Apple, I don’t think there is a big difference between them. Moreover, I believe that the new generation phones have a better sound quality than analog phones. For instance, journalists use their phone when they are interviewing someone. The reason they are using a phone instead of a microphone is because a phone can isolate other sounds and focus on the main one. In other words, while a microphone picks up every sound in the room and mixes them all up, a phone’s microphone picks the main sound, enhances it and most importantly it reduces other sounds in order to get the best sound from the main source.
- The New York Times article “How A.S.M.R. Became a Sensation” presents something like the opposite situation by providing an example of how digital tools are being used to circulate the intimate experience certain everyday and passing sounds induce. What do you see as the most interesting or important point about sound in this short history of A.S.M.R.?
- I think the most interesting part about sound in the history of A.S.M.R is it can be used to reduce anxiety and insomnia. I have been struggling with my anxiety and insomnia problem for the last 3 months. I have even been taking xanax if I feel like I cannot handle my anxiety. Personally, I hate taking it, especially because this medicine has side effects. Furthermore, taking a prescription medicine might damage your liver. Because of that I often try not to take it and fight it on my own. Since I discovered a new method of curing my anxiety and insomnia, I cannot wait to give it a try. After I read and search more about this, I believe it might help me with my problems.
Living in a big, noisy city is a challenge for anyone who decides to live there. Walking on crowded streets, hearing tons of different sounds or noise and adjusting to a fast-paced lifestyle might cause some anxiety and panic attacks. On the podcast “Ways Of Hearing”, Krukkowsi says: “In Tokyo’s subway, people pretend sleeping in order to avoid eye contact. Here, people use earbuds to avoid ear contact with others.” Creating your own personal, invisible bubble by using earbuds make us feel like we are in a different habitat until we take them off. It gives us a temporary privilege to feel that we are in a different room or place without physically leaving the environment. Although I never have had a problem with noise, I believe that some people need to use earbuds or similar kinds of devices to be in their comfort zone and in order to feel safe. I was born in Istanbul. After college, I moved to London and then 3 years after I decided to live in the Big Apple. Living a big city for my entire life taught me how to ignore the noise. I can even say I enjoy hearing them. On the other hand, my ex-wife had anxiety and panic attacks. Because of environmental reasons, one day she blew up and had to leave to city to live back in her hometown in Pittsburgh. This personal anecdote illustrates how some technological devices have a good, useful impact on people who need to use it for their own peace.
The Awakening of Women
The Awakening of Women
Objectification is an issue that women have been facing for centuries. It has occurred as we see in Renaissance oil paintings during the 14th-17th centuries. Women have been candy for men’s eyes and have been used in paintings and photographs for only men’s pleasure. The faces of the women in the Renaissance paintings and the photo of Donna Gottschalk from 1970 show two different emotions. The women in the Renaissance paintings are shy. The photograph taken at an LGBTQ rights parade in 1970 demonstrates a determination and confidence that women began to show in the 20th century. To this day, women are fighting a battle to hold a place in the world without being seen as just a sexual object. I believe that even though women have been represented and understood better in the 20th century, people still have a long way to go in order to end this unequal mindset. Donna Gotschalk’s photo demonstrates that the fight for women’s equality has come a long way since the paintings we saw of women from the Renaissance, but the message she was conveying still rings true fifty years later, proving that we still have work to do to achieve true equality.
In John Berger’s 1972 BBC video “Ways of Seeing”, Berger discusses the conflict between nudity and nakedness. According to him, to be naked is for oneself only and to be nude is to be seen by spectators for their pleasure. He also addressed the appearance of women and how they are identified in pictures and photographs. In the Renaissance oil paintings, the way women were positioned in the pictures, the elements and people surrounding them, and even the way they gaze at spectators or viewers leads us to the observation that women are the main focus of paintings. Therefore, it is their curse to be seen as an object. I believe the main reason was that most of the spectators or viewers were male. Men enjoy seeing naked women in paintings. Many men believe that this is the only value a woman possesses.
For the majority of human existence, we have lived in a world controlled and ruled by men. A woman’s power and talent has always limited by men. Not because they don’t have the skill level and talent to do men’s work, but because for centuries men have believed that they are superior to women. For example, a female does not get paid the same as a male. They don’t get promoted to certain positions. The photograph of Donna Gottschalk demonstrates that women are not the same as they were in the past. Women don’t want to be treated like weak, sexual objects—they want to be on an equal playing field with men. This sense of pride has gradually been awakening over time, through the women’s right’s movement, the fight for women’s suffrage, and so on. When I look at this picture, I see more than a woman holding a sign. I see a woman that has power. I see a woman who is tired of being seen or treated as an object. The confidence in her eyes is not hidden. It is a completely different appearance than of the women we saw in the “Ways of Seeing” episode. Donna doesn’t have a shy look on her face. Instead, she has a look that is fearless and determined.
I am inspired by Gottschalk’s photo. Not only for how she seems strong and what she stands for, but because the words on Donna Gottschalk’s poster hold a lot of meaning. “I am your worst fear” implies that a strong and confident woman standing up for her rights was a fear for most men during this time period. Men do not respect women enough for them to want women to hold positions of power in the world. Many men falsely believe that women are not as intelligent as men and often ignorantly say that women are too emotional to be making important decisions. Gottschalk acknowledges this prejudice by stating that her confidence regarding her equality is fearful to men, but the statement “I am your best fantasy” implies that a beautiful and confident woman fills a man’s sexual fantasy. Therefore, men want to see women in their beds, not see them as equals in the work force. Strong women are a huge threat to a man who is sexist, especially in a work environment. The smug and bold look on Gotschalk’s face would make a prejudiced man feel threatened.
In addition to the protest for women’s rights, Donna Gotschalk is also addressing the rights of the LGBTQ community. This famous photograph was taken at the Christopher Street Gay Liberation Parade. Christopher Street is the location of the Stonewall Inn, where only a year prior the Stonewall riots occurred and the gay pride movement was born. Here we began to see a fight for equality in another group of people that have suffered discrimination. As a lesbian, Donna Gotschalk faced even more discrimination than if she was simply a straight woman. The words on her sign could also be taken to mean that a gay person with equal rights is a fear to those that are homophobic. However, many men have sexual fantasies about women who like women. This simple message is acknowledging the huge hypocrisy of these people that fantasize about gay women but refuse the believe they should have equal rights. They want them to live only in their fantasies as they see them, not as free individuals in reality.
Women have been facing injustices simply because of their gender since the beginning of humanity. They are not asking for privilege. They are asking for an end to this discrimination. It doesn’t matter what country you are born, your social status, or your wealth—if you are born a woman, you immediately have less of an influence than a man. Women spend most of their lives proving that they are worthy of the same opportunities as men, while men are handed many things in life because of their gender. While women’s equality has progressed a lot in the past 50 years since Donna Gottschalk’s photo was taken, there is still work to be done to change the way that women are the seen and treated.
In the book of “Seeing through Race” Martin A. Berger lays out a reinterpretation of Civil rights photography related to the U.S Civil Rights era (1950s & 1960s). According to Berger, white press had full control of hiring the photographers, reporters and editors. This situation caused a big conflict on reflection of the true story. I strongly agree that whites are in charge of hiding the true story of brutalism and violence from the Civil Rights march.
Media has always had a powerful influence on readers. Readers beliefs are highly dependent on how media presents the story. Even though, some of pictures show how white mobs acted aggressively towards black activists, those pictures were ignored by white media. Therefore, the truth wasn’t reached to all readers. Unfortunately, we are still facing the fact that blacks are being discriminated and treated like second class citizens now. Recently we had issues similar to these in 1965. The killing of George Floyd shows we didn’t make much progress on the equalization of human rights as the struggles of black Americans still remain. Furthermore, media publishes only black violence, not how white officers use their weapons or their authority on innocent black people. I believe that Black Lives Matter is a instrumental movement in order to open people’s eyes. I hope it will change control of the media to not only show a specific narrative but give everyone a fair chance to find the truth.
1- According to Berger, how do “publicity”–what we would call advertising–images influence consumers and why is this significant?
According to Berger, publicity influences consumers to buy something more in order to achieve their dreams than to have glamorous lives like people can have in pictures. He claims that publicity is producing glamour. Glamour is for everybody who believes that they can be glamorous. Even though, there are only a few people that achieve this life style, it doesn’t stop people from fantasizing and being envious of the glamorous lifestyles displayed in pictures. Therefore, publicity encourages consumers to buy more things that are not necessarily essential but rather are needed to make consumers feel like they are glamorous.
2- As he compares oil painting to publicity (advertising) photography, Berger argues that oil painting “showed what the owner was already enjoying among his possessions and way of life;” “it enhanced his view of himself as he already was.” Whereas publicity pictures, “appeal to a way of life that we aspire to or think we aspire to.” Why are these differences important? What do they reveal to us about the production of images for publicity?
Berger emphasizes that there are fundamental differences between publicity and oil paintings. He doesn’t deny that publicity and oil paintings are used by many of the same references such as concept, gesture and pose. They celebrate the same qualities in things. On one hand, publicity works on glamour that people want to have by making them spend their money. On the other hand, for owners of oil paintings, glamour doesn’t exist. They don’t need to spend money. They already have wealthy, elegant lives, as most of time painting represents exactly what kind of life an owner of an oil painting has. It reveals to us that production of images is not only an art, but also are tools for publicity in order to make money from consumers.
3- Choose one of the “dreams” he offers or think of your own. How does this dream offered by advertising use imagery to manipulate consumers?
Berger mentions three dreams in episode four. The dream of a far away place advertises consumers to travel and having an adventure. As can be seen in pictures, main characters wear their own clothes without matching other characters or concepts in pictures. It helps us to put ourselves in the shoes of main characters and imagine that we could also be there and have our own adventures.
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1 – According to Gerald Graff and Cathy Birkenstein, using the model of “entering the conversation” helps writers to understand other views and also let you to use their voices in writers’ ideas. This model keeps reader attention high on the text without agreeing or disagreeing with other opinions. For instance, using the templates, the format of “They say I say” provides writer to jump in debate or conversation by identifying issue in a respectful way. Some people think it is better to stay safe and not causing any controversial topic. What I believe is It improves creativity and writing skills that u need in college level writing.
2- Smarthistory videos show us that Art helps us understand better and analyze the situation in a different perspective. Doctors, Police Officers and other people work in different industries can use this tool at their work. For instance , when Police officer interrogate a suspect ,they don’t listen only suspect and take notes. They also use this tool to analyze the situation. Sometimes physical appearance tells a story more than words. I totally agree that analyzing an art work and the power to look at art not only has an therapeutic affect, enhancing our senses, but also are great tools to improve our skills.
