Dead Poet Society Essay Example for Free

Dead Poet Society Essay Is living a crime? Is choice unacceptable? Is suicide typical? Reading this is so simple but going through it is much harder than we think. Forgetting your best friend who suicided, having your close relative killed and been alone was Charlie’s life. â€Å"The perk of being a wallflower† directed by Stephen Chbosky is an astonishing film which involves youngster entering the world of adulthood. Beginning a new year of high school here Charlie finally befriends Sam and Patrick and through this we explore the themes of self-realisation and loneliness. Self-realisation and loneliness is conveyed in both films; Directed by Peter Weir Dead Poet society is a story of a teacher called Mr Keating who makes his students releases the ability they have in them. The film â€Å"Perk of being a wallflower† definitely reinforces the themes in â€Å"Dead poet Society†. Loneliness is deeply attached and expressed early in Charlie’s life. It is shown by him not participating in any class activities. The camera angel that supports this statement is an eye-level shot where Charlie is sitting in class backed down on his chair. This symbolises that he is too afraid to speak out. The body language is dull with a lower self-esteem. Similarly, in Dead Poet Society Todd a shy and insecure guy who is too afraid to come out of his shell. The camera shot used is close-up where Todd’s facial expression is conveyed by tension and fear. So, therefore both films definitely share a similar theme. â€Å"Things change. And friends leave. Life doesnt stop for anybody. † Being intensely devoted to his past Charlie stopped realising who he really is. Every step he took he remembered the past, and that past has stopped his life in one motion; stress and alone. Fortunately, with help from his friend Sam he realises that life is full of happiness and freedom. The Camera Angle used is Medium shot where Charlie is standing on the truck bed, with his hands open, he learns that he can go on with life without being scared, because he is more than a wallflower. Furthermore, Self-realisation in Dead Poet Society is shown by Todd at the end of the film where he is confident and fearless. He seizes the day by standing on his desk as a symbol of his respect to Mr Keating. The camera Angle used is low angle shot of Todd which makes him look powerful and full of dignity. Confident, happiness and self-realisation taught both Todd and Charlie that life keeps going so. So, therefore, again the perk of being a wallflower has expressed similar themes as Dead poet society. To conclude, both films had similarities and differences but overall the same themes; Themes of self-realisation and loneliness. The perk of being a wallflower and Dead poet society show us lives of teenagers that are sometimes unseen and the way they overcome each obstacle. So, what would you do if you were in this situation? Because in life people like Mr Keating or Sam aren’t always there. So my friends seize the day your own way.

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​Throughout history there have been several radical events which have ultimately affected large groups of the human population, if not the world in its entirety. The events of World War II are without question a part of that list of radical events. Lasting approximately six years, this global war went from unprovoked acts of military invasion, to acts of mass genocide, to utilization of suicide bombers, and even the first appearance and use of atomic weapons. While it’s not hard to understand why the events in this war, or really any war or large scale battle, can be considered radical in nature, it is also not uncommon to also question whether certain actions were or were not ethical [1]. For instance, it has often been questioned whether the United States’ decision to drop two nuclear bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki was ethical or not. While many people may struggle with the realization of the aftermath of these events, to me the answer i s quite clear. The United States' utilization of nuclear weapons against Japan during WWII was neither necessary nor ethical. ​Before any rational discussion or analysis on the topic can be formally begun, I believe it is of relative importance to clarify exactly what is meant by the word â€Å"ethical.† Ethics can roughly be defined as the moral principles and standards that govern people’s, or groups of people’s, behavior, thoughts and general way of thinking. This means that when one deems an event or action as ethical or unethical one is not simply deciding if said event was right or wrong [1]. Ethical labeling implies that one has taken the general mindset of the society in which they consider themselves a part of as well as their own personal feelings, thoughts and opini... ...us that while the U.S. did not intend to formally enter the conflicts of the time, it was the actions taken by the Japanese that caused us to declare war. History also tells us that the Japanese didn't stand a chance against the U.S. and it's coordinated efforts with allies. The fact still remains that the Second World War was ended with the utilization of nuclear weapons against two Japanese cities. Asking if the attacks were necessary, majority of what is now known says no. Asking if the attacks were right or wrong, the simple fact is I believe it was wrong for the U.S. to implement that kind of attack on populations that were primarily composed of noncombatant civilians. Between one, let alone two, atomic weapons not being necessary and it being obvious how inhumane and wrong the attacks were, there is no question in my mind that the events simply weren't ethical!

Music Therapy for Health and Wellness

Lilia Grabenstein Professor Lambert Hartman GWRTC 103 11 October 2012 How Does Music Therapy Affect Patient’s Psychological and Physiological Well-being? Many countries that you can travel to, have their own style of music that makes up their culture, which is incorporated into their lifestyles. Music was not only created around the world for enjoyment, but has been used as a form of comfort, a stress reliever, and a healer (â€Å"What Is Music Therapy? †).According to the American Cancer Society, in their Find and Support Treatment section, music therapy was developed in during World War II where it was used in US Veteran Administration hospitals to treat soldiers from suffering from shell shock (â€Å"Music Therapy†). From a personal experience, I feel that music eases my tension, helps me focus, and relates to how I am feeling. In addition to my personal experience and connection with music, I was curious to see how music can be even more therapeutic. I am int erested about the profession of music therapy as well as the effects that it has on patients and people with disabilities.For my research, I decided to choose the question, â€Å"What effect does music therapy have on various patients’ physical and mental wellbeing? † I wanted to examine this question more intently, because I believe that music therapy can provide evidence for a new method of healing for people that suffer from illnesses including cancer, disease, and depression as well as mental disabilities like autism. As I started my research, I first wanted to find out what music therapy was and what type of audience it was aimed toward.The first resource that I found to steer me in the right direction was the Music Therapy Association website where I read, â€Å"What is Music Therapy? † This provided me with the basic definition of music therapy and how it aimed to help their patients. Music Therapy is defined as, â€Å"the clinical and evidence-based use of music interventions to accomplish individualized goals within a therapeutic relationship by a credentialed professional who has completed an approved music therapy program (â€Å"What is Music Therapy? †). Here, I learned that the entire website is geared toward people who find it difficult to express themselves and feel strengthened by the music that the program is creating for them. For many years music therapy has been developing and helping to ease the pain of many patients ranging from various ages with illnesses and disorders. Specialized in this area, music therapists are â€Å"trained professionals who assess the well being of the physical health, communications, and functions of client needs† (â€Å"What Is Music Therapy? ). Some of their main goals are to â€Å"promote wellness, alleviate pain enhance memory, and promote physical rehabilitation† (â€Å"What Is Music Therapy? †). The website gives you the opportunity to sign up as a Music Th erapist, attend conferences for the program, and provides many stories and quotes about personal experiences with musical therapy. Although this website was beneficial to the start of my search, I knew I needed more to do more in depth research about my topic.I decided to expand on my previous topic so I searched the LEO Library Website on the JMU page for further research. Here, I found a book called Interactive Music Therapy, where Amelia Oldfield shares her experience from traveling to a Child Development Center where she conducted a study the developmental relationship on children with Autism Spectrum Disorder and their parents. Since Oldfield specializes in studying children with ASD, I knew she would provide quality information for me to include.For eighteen to twenty-six weeks Oldfield studied ten children and their parents by video analysis, semi-structured parent interviews, music therapy reports, and Parenting Stress Index questionnaires. After hours of recording data at t he end of the study, nine out of ten parents felt the sessions proved to have a positive impact after participating in the program. The children resulted in increased levels of engagement, communication levels, playfulness, and interaction with their parents.Parents PSI levels all lowered, but it was proven that two pairs of parents PSI levels decreased dramatically. The video analysis data was not as positive as the music report, which proved to be more helpful in the study (Oldfield 157-169). After reading this excerpt, I gained more insight into understanding how interactions, communication, and even relaxation levels can increase based on music therapy treatments. At this point in my study, I knew that I had made progress in researching he topic of music therapy and how it increased interaction of children with ASD. I knew that I had to dig even deeper if I wanted to support my question. Oldfield’s study seemed like children with ASD were increasing their connection with their parents. I wanted to learn even more about how music therapy could potentially improve autistic children’s learning methods. In my next source, Hayoung A. Lim shares a perspective of children with ASD in the classroom. In addition to my last research source, I decided to go to the library to further my research.I took about six books off the shelf, and one that stood out to me was Developmental Speech-Language Training Through Music for Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders, by Hayoung A. Lim, which provided me with another variation of a test on children with Autism Spectrum Disorders. In a study Lim shares, Carla Hoskins investigated sung and spoken versions of three standardized speech tests, which included a verbal test, verbal with pictures, and a sung version with guitar. This was used to see if it would produce better short-term memory.Through multiple tests with regular verbal talk, music, and music with words, there was a significant difference in learning ex perience of the children in each group. It appeared to be evident that the tests with the verbal music with pictures improved short-term memory, increased communication, created more focus in the classroom. The results of this research was the cause of enjoyment in accordance to the method using music and pictures, which took away from the boring learning atmosphere compared to other methods (Lim 73-77).After reading this excerpt, I came to the conclusion that these tests and studies on children with ASD and delayed speech development started to clarify the first part of my question about the improvement of the psychological well-being of people. This information gave me a clearer perspective of how music and learning combined makes it more exciting, especially for children to gain knowledge about certain subjects. Besides children, I wanted to understand how music could also affect adults and teens.Another great article that I found on the LexisNexis Academic database was about how music therapy can be an â€Å"effective tool in enhancing the quality of life among cancer survivors and people suffering from chronic illnesses† (Wee). May Wong Mei-lin found the Hong Breast Cancer Foundation after she experienced breast cancer herself, where the Hong Kong Music Therapy program had professionals perform for patients. A breast cancer survivor that attended Hong Kong Breast Cancer Foundation, Pollina Ip Lai-chun, joined a program called Melody-in-Mind after experiencing depression after chemotherapy.She stated that singing lifted her spirits and she feels that she has become â€Å"more cheerful† (Wee). In Wee’s article, she included the four types of intervention in a music therapy session: performing including singing or playing instruments, composing, improvising, and listening. In addition, Wee included some studies in her article like one that was conducted in 2009 by the University of Maryland Medical center that found that, â€Å"Alzheime r’s patients who received music therapy experienced lower levels of anxiety and depression†.She also discovered a study from Drexel University by Joke Bradt provided that, â€Å"music can reduce anxiety in cancer patients, and may also have positive effects on mood, pain, and quality of life†. Lastly, another study included from Nature Neuroscience showed that listening to preferred music could cause the brain to release a dopamine chemical that improves our moods. This information created answers to my questions and even expanded on the side effects music therapy can have on the brain. This positive feedback made my research process look even more promising.After numerous amounts of research, I kept finding articles that discussed the improvement in psychological areas, but I was very adamant about learning if music therapy truly could help the physiological state of being for patients that had were in worse conditions of illness. If I could find more informatio n about physical improvement, I could answer my initial question confidently. In some cases, I have heard that music can be a factor in curing sicknesses and diseases, so I was also curious to see if this information was factual.In my final day of research, a study that I read from the American Cancer Society called â€Å"Music Therapy†, included that in a clinical trial, musical therapy provided for cancer patients was proven to reduce symptoms like high blood pressure, heart rate, insomnia, and breathing rate. This information provides evidence that music therapy can help our physiological state. While reading this article, I found the author included that music did help short-term pain after surgeries, but a key factor that I noticed was that he stated, â€Å"there were no difference in survival rates† (â€Å"Music Therapy†).Soon after I read this, I realized that the method of musical therapy might help emotional well-being and decrease in levels like stress , but it would not actually cure a patient of a medical illness. After I searched through different data bases on the LEO Library, my eye caught various titles like â€Å"Music Therapy Cures Stroke Patients† and â€Å"Music Therapy Cures Cancer Patients†. However, the articles and excerpts I read were very short and did not have factual evidence to support the claims. With that, I have concluded that Music Therapy does not help our physiological wellbeing as much as it helps our psychological wellbeing.Although I could not find too much supporting evidence about the physical aid that music therapy provides patients besides reducing things like heart rate, the last article I stumbled upon provided a new angle of vision toward my topic. Although I found many article about curing illnesses, this story provided a unique twist to my research about the use of music therapy in a hospice setting. The article â€Å"Music Therapy Taken To Hospice Patients†, Sarah Pitts, a trained musical therapist, worked in a four-year musical therapy program at the Hospice of West Alabama in Tuscaloosa.Pitts brought instruments like drums, which helped release tension in children that had cerebral palsy or muscular dystrophy. Pitts saw improvement in patients who had overcome strokes and had other similar impairments. She even played music for a family that requested here while the patient died peacefully. As Pitts simply played on her guitar and sang for patients, she was able help reduce anxiety in her patients and even a few patients became well enough to leave hospice (â€Å"Music Therapy Taken To Hospice Patients†).This article did provide evidence of physical improvement in relation to patients with physical impairments, however, not enough information was provided that signified dramatic physical improvement. After hours of research spent in the library and online, I found that the art of music therapy provides a healing power for people everywhere. Whether we are elderly, youth, or teenagers, we all can find a comfort while listening to music. The goal of music therapists is to provide an interactive atmosphere where patients can socialize and physically watch a performance wherever they may reside.In response to my initial research question, I have concluded that music therapy is beneficial in augmenting the intellect of children with disabilities, lowering anxiety levels, easing tension, and lowering heart rate, to name few. In addition, my research provided that music therapy alone doesn’t cure cancer and illnesses. There is a possibility that it has cured patients, but many studies that I read concluded that the music only eased short-term pain. Overall, I have found that music therapy has been proven to increase our psychological well being more than our physical wellbeing.I would have to conduct more research about music therapy and its capability of physically curing patients fully in order to answer my research question more accurately. Annotated Bibiographies Lim, Hayoung A. Lim. Developmental Speech-Language Training Through Music for Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders. London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 2012. 73-77. Print. This book provides copious amounts of information for parents that are curious in learning about how they can help their child become more at ease by using music therapy.In the chapter I read, there was a test that was made for children that tested the short term memory of children with ASD which improved after testing with musical therapy. This article is important because it informs us about different ways autistic children can enhance their development of intelligence with this unique approach. â€Å"Music Therapy†. Find Support and Treatment. American Cancer Society. 1 Nov. 2011. Web 10 Oct. 2012. The article from the American Cancer society website about music therapy is geared toward readers curious about alternative methods of relieving the pain o f cancer patients.It talks about the benefits of attaining an overall sense of well-being that patients receive from music therapy at the bedside in hospitals. This article is helpful in providing information about the many physical reliefs that music can help to treat various cancer patients. â€Å"Music Therapy Taken to Hospice Patients†. Hospice Management Advisor (2010): LexisNexis Academic. Web. 10 Oct. 2012. Written for readers who are interested in methods of healing during hospice, this journal article provides how a music therapist improved spirits of patients in critical conditions.This article shares how being part of interactive musical therapy can help patients in hospice to ease their anxiety and maintain their peace by listening to therapists like Sarah Pitts. This information is valuable because it promotes the development of both psychological and physiological wellbeing that can improve attitudes of people that are suffering from illness. Oldfield, Amelia. I nteractive Music Therapy: A Positive Approach. Philadelphia: Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 2006. 157-169. Print. In this interactive online book, Oldfield creates her focus toward parents of children with disabilities.Specifically, in one of her studies, she observed interactions of parents and their children who took many music therapy tests and structured interviews. This chapter in the book provided that music therapy does have an impact on how children with autism interact with their surroundings, providing that they were more open to self-expression, learning, and interaction while listening to music during the tests. Wee, Margaret. â€Å"Music Therapy is Proving to be an Effective Tool in Enhancing the Quality of Life Among Cancer Survivors and People Suffering From Chronic Illnesses†.South China Morning Post (2011): LexisNexis Academic. Web. 10 Oct. 2012. This is a journalistic article that features a story written for readers who are curious about cures for breast canc er. While music therapy is not exactly a cure for breast cancer, this article provides information about how it acts as a temporary healer for patients suffering from depression and anxiety during chemotherapy. This is an important article because it provides valuable information that can help researchers gain more insight about the healing music therapy promotes. What Is Music Therapy? † Music Therapy Association. 2011. Web. 7 Oct. 2012. This website provides stories about various patient’s who experienced the healing of music therapy. The website provides an opportunity for music therapists to sign up online and join for a good cause. The website provides basic definitions and information about what the association is geared toward. From this there are many beneficial links about AMTA and how it is utilized in places like schools, nursing homes, and hospitals.

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