Welsh childhood Essay Example for Free

Welsh childhood Essay Dylan Marlais Thomas was born in the Welsh seaport of Swansea, Carmarthenshire, Wales, on October 27, 1914. His father, David John, was an English teacher and a would-be poet from whom Dylan inherited his intellectual and literary abilities. From his mother, Florence, a simple and religious woman, Dylan inherited his mood, temperament, and respect for his Celtic heritage. He had one older sister, Nancy. He attended the Swansea Grammar School, where he received all of his formal education. As a student he made contributions to the school magazine and was keenly interested in local folklore (stories passed down within a culture). He said that as a boy he was small, thin, indecisively active, quick to get dirty, curly. During these early school years, Thomas befriended Daniel Jones, another local schoolboy. The two would write hundreds of poems together, and as adults Jones would edit a collection of Thomass poetry. After leaving school, Thomas supported himself as an actor, reporter, reviewer, scriptwriter, and with various odd jobs. When he was twenty-two years old, he married Caitlin Macnamara, by whom he had two sons, Llewelyn and Colm, and a daughter, Aeron. After his marriage, Thomas moved to the fishing village of Laugharne, Carmarthenshire. Begins writing career To support his growing family, Thomas was forced to write radio scripts for the Ministry of Information (Great Britains information services) and documentaries for the British government. He also served as an aircraft gunner during World War II (1939–45; a war fought between Germany, Japan, and Italy, the Axis powers; and England, France, the Soviet Union, and the United States, the Allies). After the war he became a commentator on poetry for the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). In 1950 Thomas made the first of three lecture tours through the Reproduced by permission of AP/Wide World Photos . United States—the others were in 1952 and 1953—in which he gave more than one hundred poetry readings. In these appearances he half recited, half sang the lines in his Welsh singing voice. Thomass poetic output was not large. He wrote only six poems in the last six years of his life. A grueling lecture schedule greatly slowed his literary output in these years. His belief that he would die young led him to create instant Dylan—the persona of the wild young Welsh bard, damned by drink and women, that he believed his public wanted. When he was thirty-five years old, he described himself as old, small, dark, intelligent, and darting-doting-dotting eyed †¦ balding and toothlessing. During Thomass visit to the United States in 1953, he was scheduled to read his own and other poetry in some forty university towns throughout the country. He also intended to work on the libretto (text) of an opera for Igor Stravinsky (1882–1971) in the latters California home. Thomas celebrated his thirty-ninth birthday in New York City in a mood of gay exhilaration, following the extraordinary success of his just-published Collected Poems. The festivities ended in his collapse and illness. On November 9, 1953, he died in St. Vincents Hospital in New York City. Some reports attribute his death to pneumonia brought on by alcoholism, others to encephalopathy, a brain disease. His body was returned to Laugharne, Wales, for burial. Literary works Thomas published his first book of poetry, Eighteen Poems (1934), when he was not yet twenty years old. The reeling excitement of a poetry-intoxicated schoolboy smote the Philistine as hard a blow with one small book as Swinburne had with Poems and Ballads, wrote Kenneth Rexroth. Thomass second and third volumes were Twenty-five Poems (1936) and The Map of Love (1939). The poems of his first three volumes were collected in The World I Breathe (1939). By this time Thomas was being hailed as the most spectacular of the surrealist poets, or poets who used fantastic imagery of the subconscious in their verse. He acknowledged his debt to James Joyce (1882–1941) and dotted his pages with invented words and puns (the use of two or more words that sound the same, usually for humorous purposes). Thomas also acknowledged his debt to Sigmund Freud (1856–1939), stating: Poetry is the rhythmic, inevitably narrative, movement from an over clothed blindness to a naked vision.†¦ Poetry must drag further into the clear nakedness of light more even of the hidden causes than Freud could realize. A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Dog (1940) is a collection of humorous autobiographical (having to do with writing about oneself) sketches. Thomas loved the wild landscape of Wales, and he put much of his childhood and youth into these stories. He published two more new collections of poetry, both of which contained some of his finest work: Deaths and Entrances (1946) and In Country Sleep (1951). Collected Poems, 1934–1953 (1953) contains all of his poetry that he wished to preserve. Themes and style Thomas claimed that his poetry was the record of my individual struggle from darkness toward some measure of light.†¦ To be stripped of darkness is to be clean, to strip of darkness is to make clean. He also wrote that his poems with all their crudities, doubts, and confusions, are written for the love of man and in praise of God, and Id be a damned fool if they werent. Passionate and intense, vivid and violent, Thomas wrote that he became a poet because I had fallen in love with words. His sense of the richness and variety and flexibility of the English language shines through all of his work. The theme of all of Thomass poetry is the celebration of the divine (godly) purpose he saw in all human and natural processes. The cycle of birth and flowering and death, of love and death, are also found throughout his poems. He celebrated life in the seas and fields and hills and towns of his native Wales. In some of his shorter poems he sought to recapture a childs innocent vision of the world. Thomas was passionately dedicated to his sullen art, and he was a competent, finished, and occasionally complex craftsman. He made, for example, more than two hundred versions of Fern Hill before he was satisfied with it. His early poems are relatively mysterious and complex in sense but simple and obvious in pattern. His later poems, on the other hand, are simple in sense but complex in sounds. Under Milk Wood, a radio play commissioned by the BBC (published 1954), was Thomass last completed work. This poem-play is not a drama but a parade of strange, outrageous, and charming Welsh villagers. During the twenty-four hours presented in the play, the characters remember and ponder the casual and crucial moments of their lives. Adventures in the Skin Trade and Other Stories (1955) contains all the uncollected stories and shows the wit and humor that made Thomas an enchanting companion.

Miles Davis and the Evolution of Jazz Essay -- The Jazz Revolution

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Who was Miles Davis and why was he such an important element in the music of Jazz? Miles Davis, as we would know him, was born Miles Dewey Davis in Alton, Illinois on the 25th of May 1926 to a middle-class black family.. A couple of years later, Miles went on to St. Louis where he grew up. Since he was a youngster, Miles' hobby was to collect records and play them over without getting tired of them. Since his family knew Miles was so interested in the music of his time, primarily Jazz, for his thirteenth birthday Miles received his first trumpet, although he had been playing since the age of nine. With this Miles began to practice and play his trumpet along with his records. Who would have known that just three years later, at the age of 16, Miles was offered his first job with Billy Eckstine's band to replace their ill horn player. In this band that Miles was recruited into were two of Jazz's most famous players: Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie "Bird" Parker. Nobody would have guessed that this would be the start of it all. This small inexperienced child, who was picked up by chance, would re-invent Jazz like no one could imagine!   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  After successfully completing high school and playing for his high school band, Miles went on to New York to Julliard to study music. Although Miles was very involved and interested in his schoolwork, it turns out that he spent more time on 52nd street than in college. 52nd street was the Jazz filled street in New York that included all the hip night clubs of the time. Meant for both white and black people, 52nd street was all about Jazz and alcohol and it was the happenin' place to be, especially if you wanted to be discovered as a Jazz musician. This all led to Miles' dropping out of school and playing with the big guys on 52nd street to be discovered. In no time Davis was playing regularly with Coleman Hawkins and Charlie Parker. At this time Miles, 19, moved up in the history of Jazz by recording his first album in New York along side of Hawkins, "Rubberlegs" Williams, and of course Parker.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  A few months after Parker and Gillespie went to California, Miles got together with Benny Carter's Orchestra and traveled all the way to California as well. Again, while in California, Parker asked Miles to record another album and as a result 'Bird' decided to form a quintet with Miles as a key member. All of this without d... ...ongside Miles.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  This last tune Called Oleo, had a quick beat and the trumpet sounds were amazing, but towards the middle-end of the song I began to wander off. This was probably because I still stick to the first two song which I enjoyed greatly. One thing about this particular song though, was the end. What an end!   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In conclusion to this whole research paper, I can say that I have learned a lot and heard a lot, most of which I have enjoyed. Miles was definitely a milestone in the evolution of Jazz and although he is no longer with us, he left an untouchable mark in music and music lovers of all sorts of music, this mainly due to the taste of all the sounds he invented, reinvented, and mixed throughout his days in the business. Miles Davis will truly be remembered and missed. Works Cited http://www.nettally.com/dbird/MDBio.htm http://www.cdnow.com/cgi-bin/mserver/SID=1525020349/pagename=/R.../select=biograph http://downbeatjazz.tunes.com/sections/artists/text/bio.asp?from=fans&id1=2357 http://www.aramagic.com/lounge/music/miles_davis/mdbio.html Grolier Encyclopedia (CD ROM), 1993 Miles Davis The 70"s Jazz Revival The Jazz Revolution: Cool

Collaboration Essay

†¢ What are the advantages of having diversity in a collaborative learning environment? There are several advantages to having diversity in collaborative learning environment and it enriches all of us. We, as students, learn to work with all types of people. We learn from each other, which, adds to our perspective based on our cultural differences. The outcome is positive by building respect, appreciation, achievement of common goals and commitment to equality. Because I work in retail, I have become more culturally aware. I realize the importance of everyone traditions and religious views. Learning from different cultures has helped me create new traditions for me and my family. In some ways, it has changed my whole outlook on life as well. †¢ How might factors such as diversity, attitude, learning, and work styles affect collaboration? Diversity enables students to learn how to work with different types of people and understand other points of view. A positive or negative attitude will affect one’s performance while learning will improve competition while work styles will determine which one is more effective. This can open windows for many of us in the career field such a travel, opportunities, and education. The disadvantages would be the individuals who do not see the good in cultural experiences and act prejudice. With that, people respond negative making the rest of us look bad. All of us have unique characteristics, looking for the same thing, â€Å"respect:† †¢ How does personal responsibility influence the work and success of a group? Personal responsibility in a group helps in the effective fulfillment of the goal set by the group. Assignment of roles according to an individual’s capacity in the group ensures that a task is completed as a result of teamwork. Personal responsibility also greatly builds trust amongst the group members. All of us have unique characteristics, looking for the same thing, â€Å"respect.†

The Conflict Resolution Peace - 1927 Words

What is peace ? To some it is freedom of disturbance and to others it is the presence of tranquility. To those that study the field of conflict resolution, peace is seen as a concept that can be viewed as either negative or positive. Negative peace is the absence of war while positive peace is the integration of human society (Galtung). Though positive peace is the ideal standard that most would like to hold the world to, it is negative peace that is most present in society. Negative peace though having the benefit of lacking violence can still be detrimental to a society because of lasting effects a conflict could posses. An example that shows how negative peace does not automatically solve inherent problems in a society is the Central†¦show more content†¦To fully understand the reason why El Salvador is currently so dangerous one must look a the history of the country that lead to this point. After the country gained its independence in 1821, many different elements began to arise which left the people of the state worried. Components such as social class inequality, repressive military rule, and poverty played big roles in what soon became the factors that lead to civil war. Since 1931 El Salvador s government had been under military control, which in a economic sphere did not prove to be successful. The state was also plagued with fraudulent elections which always granted the military victory. The military regime was also closely allied with the elite of the country who were the ones that had the real power considering they controlled the state s economy. The elite needed the military in order to control the poor who were on the verge of revolting due to the inequality and lack of economic participation by their part. The elite controlled the country by keeping 41% of the population to no land because they wanted it in the hands of those that can produce significant profit. The majority of people who lived in the countryside were also not allowed to vote which furthered the narrative of a corrupt and untrustworthy government. The years leading up to the civil war were afflicted with repressive government rule which in the year 1980 became enough to tip the citizens of the country over the edge to a full