Response to Jill's Final Presentation

Music is something very important to me because it’s able to change my mood so instantly and there is so much passion involved, but I had never thought of it in terms of how it came to be or how it evolved. The song that Jill used towards the beginning of the PowerPoint (Buckshot Lefonque) describes the way jazz and other types of music evolved and it got me thinking that all variety of music I listen to originated from different times people and places. I loved the videos that Jill used about Haiti and the Tribute to Michael Jackson because they were visual and emotional examples of how all different types of people can come together to celebrate a talented and music changing artist. Jill did a good job showing rather than telling how important music, or the arts, is to freedom of expression in America, and how they have changed America in many different ways. They lyrics she uses are very powerful and meaningful and they back up the points she is trying to make. Especially with rap, she did a good job trying to see both ends of the spectrum and how different people like different music but over all it can unite or separate us for our tastes. Jill did a great job telling the story of music and how it’s related to America and she made it interesting by using great examples of videos, lyrics, and quotes, all of which backed her points. “Why am I fighting to live, if I'm just living to fight Why am I trying to see, when there aint nothing in sight Why am I trying to give, when no one gives me a try Why am I dying to live, if I'm just living to die? Someone tell me why”-- Tupac Shakur. This is one of the many examples of this and how she relates what it means to be an American to music, she shows an American trying to express his struggles and passion through music.