Abstract
This paper examines the history of Latin American music and the influence it has had on American culture, looking at the particular forms that have had the most influence as well as some of the particular personalities that have been the most influential in bringing Latin American music to the United States.

From the Paper
"It would be hard to find any area of 20th-century American pop music " and now 21st century " that has not been affected by Latin American music, including Tin Pan Alley, stage and film music, jazz, rhythm and blues, country music, and rock (Roberts, 1998, p. 14). The musical voices of Brazil, Cuba, and Mexico have made their way into each of these American forms, which have been influenced not only by Latin American rhythms and musical forms but also by individual musicians and bandleaders who came to play an important role in shaping American culture (Roberts, 1998, p. 19)."

Tags:street, American, city, sounds, music, Latin, American, roots, tango, mamba, bossa, nova, Puerto, Rico, Argentina, samba, Brazil, jazz, structures, European, harmonies

Abstract
In the late 1950s groups of young people decided to "drop out" of society and questioned the right of authority to determine what morality was. This paper examines the writers who represented this time in U.S. history, later know as the Beat Generation. The paper looks specifically at the works of Jack Kerouac and William Burroughs, but also mentions Allen Ginsburg and Gregory Corso.

From the Paper
"The Beat movement was especially valid on college campuses, which may seem strange (as it did at the time) to parents whose hard work had scraped up tuition money so their kids could get a better education. The fact that these kids were now reading "Naked Lunch" by William Burroughs, and reading whatever Ken Kesey wrote (including "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest) and were flocking to "road" movies like "Easy Rider" was something the older generation simply could not understand. Why would these kids, brought up in nice homes, with doting parents, want to rebel against the system that got them to college in the first place?"

Tags:On, the, Road, The, Town, and, the, City, Sal, Paradise

Abstract
This paper explains how the Beat Generation came about, tells how this generation got its name, explains why and in what way it was a counterculture movement that challenged the mechanical existence of the majority and talks about how it effects American society even to this day.

From the Paper
"According to modern mythology, it has been said that the birth of the Beat Generation can be traced back to the year 1944. World War II raged throughout Europe. This was the year of the D-Day landing, and this was the year that the United Nations first came to power, and this was the year that "Lady Chatterly's Lover" by D. H. Lawrence was found to be obscene in the United States, and this was the year in which New York City was flooded by European Surrealists gathering together with American artists and writers, influencing the thoughts and works and direction of the art movements nationwide. This was also the year that Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, William S. Burroughs, and Herbert Hunckle met in New York City among the artists gathered there, and this meeting around Columbia University and Times Square would lead to the writing of one of the great Beat Generation novels."

Tags:hippos, boiled, tanks, go, john, clellon, holmes, bohemian, libertines, america, artists

Abstract
The paper examines five of Walt Whitman's poems that deal with war, including "Beat! Beat! Drums!", "An Army Corps on the March," "Bivouac on a Mountain Side," "Come Up From the Fields, Father," and "Oh Captain! My Captain." The paper highlights how Whitman's initial optimism about war soon turned into a more tragic realism once he became aware of the inherently destructive nature of war. The paper also shows how, by reading Whitman's war time poetry, we get a deeper, more intimate sense of the impact of the Civil War on an entire nation.

From the Paper
"The full tragedy of war is expressed in the longer narrative poem "Come Up From the Fields, Father." This poem tells the story about a family who receives a letter from their son, Pete, who is fighting in the war. It soon becomes clear, however, that the letter is not from Pete at all. Whitman brilliantly draws this out by pointing out, from the perspective of one of the family members, that this does not seem to be Pete's handwriting. Eventually, the family comes to learn that Pete has been seriously injured in battle. By the end of the poem, it becomes clear that the family will never see their Pete again. Much of the emotional impact of the poem stems from Whitman's description of the Mother's tragic reaction to the news."

Tags:optimism, realism, battle, Civil, War, soldiers, tragedy

From the Paper
"The production of music begins with notes written on paper which become sound through the use of an instrument and are translated into meaning by the human hearing mechanism. There are many different combinations of notes just as there are many different instruments from which to choose. A personal favorite is the drum. How this instrument creates sound and how it is heard will be explored in this analysis.
There are four classes of musical instruments: strings, winds, percussion, and electrical. Drums fall into the percussion category. The instruments classified within this group create music when struck, and include bells, triangles, tambourines, xylophones, and drums. Drums are built in varying sizes and with varying materials but share some basic ... "

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Abstract
This paper is an in-depth examination of the emergence of Buddhism on the American cultural scene in the 1950s. It discusses Beat literature, the origins and aspects of the Beat Generation, and their effect on American culture. The author illustrates the works of Jack Kerouac's "On the Road" and Allen Ginsberg's "Howl". It analyzes the friendship between the close-knit group of friends and their rise to literary fame, both individually and as a group. It demonstrates how personality and drug addiction is seen in their writing style. This paper also describes the permanent place of Buddhism in American society as a result of the culture of the Beat artists

From the Paper
"Historical events are usually much more complex than the annals of the past can easily demonstrate. The average person has only a cursory knowledge of most historical episodes, leaving intellectual movements like scientific advancements, philosophical developments, and social reforms largely incomplete and misunderstood from a "public relations" standpoint. For example, a common definition for Buddhism might read something like this: A philosophy dedicated to the realization of the essence of life, leading to true selfless enlightenment and the reconciliation of suffering. Now of course that definition leaves an enormous amount of leeway for the real body of experiences and thoughts that are Buddhism. Likewise, the average person might reflect upon the Beat Generation as a social and literary movement motivated by personal escape from the monotony of 1950's American society. But as much as I know about these two subjects (which admittedly I am no expert at but am a learned student of), I cannot develop a brief definition that can come close to adequately representing these topics."

Tags:1950s, 1960s, allen, art, ginsberg, jack, kerouac, whalen, 1950, 1960, 60s, 50s

Abstract
This paper describes and explores the ceremony and ritual surrounding drum dances among Inuit tribes living in Alaska's far north. As a result of the extremely limited resources available in their environment, all parts of Inuit culture must serve a purpose, including the medium of dance. Dances, and the ceremonial drums used as accompaniment for them, are important parts of Inuit society. Drum dances are used to create and sustain important social bonds, ensure successful hunting, and as a means to "control" the often hostile realities of life in the Arctic. This paper explores the role of drum dances in Inuit social structures, ceremonies, kinship and festivals.

From the Paper
"The ceremonial drum is the traditional musical instrument of Inuit dance. (Hall 1987) Both men and women play drums during song and dance rituals. (Arctic Studies Center Website 1998) An Inuit drum consists of a large, circular frame made from the ribs of a seal or walrus or, since the nineteenth century, wood. (Hall, 1987) Drumheads are made of halibut, dog or caribou stomach, the throat of a walrus or the bladder of a seal, stretched tightly across the hoop-like frame. (Kremers 1996) Drums can be decorated with stark, painted figures representing animal spirits; others have carved ivory handles and feather or fur ornamentation around the rim, and some have no ornamentation at all."

Tags:Anthropology, drums, dance, Inuit, Native Alaskan

Abstract
This paper defines Reggae is a heavy four-beat rhythm, which is driven in different measures, depending on the artist concerned, by two percussion instruments,drums and a corrugated stick rubbed against a plain stick called the scraper, and two string instruments, the bass guitar and the electric guitar. The author points out that reggae is influenced by the traditions of African music, and its link to life before the African diaspora, and so before slavery, runs through the music as one of its defining revolutionary elements. The paper examines Jamaican music by using a reader-response model to understand the importance of the changes in the music over the years.

Table of Contents
Introduction
The History of Jamaican Music
Reggae Reader Response
Is Reggae Still Radical?

From the Paper
"Although it might seem from our current vantage point that there has always been a connection between reggae and Rastafarianism, this connection actually came about through the work of a number of groups such as Big Youth and Black Uhuru. They pushed the messages of both reggae and the Rastafarian movement, a pan-Africanist movement, which urged the children of the African diaspora to return to the continent of their forebears and created a divinity of the Ethiopian emperor Haile Selassie I (whose birth name was Ras Tafari). The fact that Rastafarianism promotes the use of ganja (marijuana) as a sacrament did much to endear the movement to many reggae fans."

Tags:hiphop, rastafarian, psychoanalytic, afrocentrism, response

Abstract
This paper explains that the author's visit to the New Orleans Mardi Gras surpassed her most outrageous expectations, an experience that she will never forget and will recount to her children and grandchildren. The author points out that all of the music, pouring from the bands playing in City Park, from the portable radios and stereos up and down the street, from the open doors of local bars and restaurants, and from the young boys dotted throughout the crowds playing steel drums, seemed to meld into one sound, one beat, a distinctive carnival drumbeat. The paper relates that the author and her cousins ended their day by stopping at Caf' du Monde for coffee and beignets where they rested their feet and admired their collection of "throws", which draped their necks and bulged from their plastic bags.

From the Paper
"Saturday afternoon we took a taxi down Orleans Avenue to City Park, the beginning of the Endymion parade route. Both sides of the street were literally packed with thousands of people, at least eight to ten deep, while mounted police patrolled up and down. The meridian was lined with sofas, stuffed chairs, rocking chairs, lawn furniture, barbecue grills, large ice chests, six-pack coolers and the like. Many people had spent the night on the street to ensure a good spot to watch the parade. One look around and I began to understand why this was known as the people's parade."

Tags:krewes, music, people, floats, cafe

Abstract
This paper provides a discussion of three children's books that aim to help children cope with loss and/or the death of a loved one or friend in their lives. The lessons of each book, its intended target audience, and the concerns of its author are addressed. The works are: Howard Kaplan's "Waiting to Sing", Constance C. Greene's "Beat the Turtle Drum" and Alvin R. Tresselt's "The Dead Tree".

From the Paper
"Part of child development or growing up includes the gradual awareness and acceptance of the fact of death. Children's literature that deals with themes of death or loss is typically known as realistic literature, though different works are geared toward developmentally-appropriate age groups and their understanding of death. This analysis will explore the treatment of death in three books written for children that provide a different perspective on the concept, appropriate for different ages. Alvin R. Tresselt's "The Dead Tree', Howard Kaplan's "Waiting to Sing"..."

Tags:child development, grief, mourning, family, siblings, guilt, fear, circle of life, nature, anger