Fact 8 : Music

Haydee Ramirez

27 February 2020

English Comp 1 Sec 11

Professor Harris

                                                                         Critical Analysis 

"Stand by Me” was originally from Ben E. King roughly in 1960. Since then, the song has blown up in almost every part in the world. Even after fifty-five years this song was written... the song still wields the kind of emotion heft that can reduce people to tears. The famous songs’ gives the message that as any problem shall erupt and that special someone stands by you; you will be okay. In the video “Playing for a Change: Stand by Me”, we see that the song is being played and sung all around the world. There are many diverse cultures performing the same catchy loving tone that is Stand by Me. In my opinion , I believe the person and or people who put together this meaningful video attempted to show their audience that no matter who you are or where you are , we all need someone to stand by us . This indicates that although we are all different, we feel the same way. As humans, we endure emotions.

 The video beautifully used the Written Element in their video by providing the location points in every clip that the performers were located. This helped the audience understand that any culture from any part of the world can relate to the song. The Oral element found in this video showed the singers vocals as well as any and all the instruments used to produce noise that we hear. Rhythms were blended from different vocals and different instruments, although they sound different they were put together and sounded well, complimenting the message of the video. The visual elements can be seen in the diverse backgrounds of each of the part of the world. From the beautiful clay floors in Africa to the busy happy streets of Louisiana. The video also provided a father and his daughter dancing as they were amused by the street performer. This helped us connect emotionally to Stand by Me , as we sympathize .Also, the visual cue of an airplane , lets the audience understand the song has left common ground aka : The United States of America and off to another part of the world like Russia , The Congo, Brazil, etc.Because, the video was found on YouTube … we can conclude that the Electronic element was met. This lets anyone from any part of the world to view and retain the message the video intends to give. We also see the use of electronic equipment like headphones and speakers. Some nonverbal elements include: eye contact, body movements, facial expressions and gestures that mimicked the rhythm.. These were seen from the performers as they sang and danced with passion and feeling, so the audience could engage more due to the emotion they gave off.

 The article, “What are the benefits of Music Therapy “helps readers understand how music plays apart in our emotions. The article says Music can affect a client’s attention, emotion, cognition, behavior, and communication. I believe this video compliments the previous fact very well. As the elements of WOVEN helped the audience connect their emotions to the message. The article Also states, “Functional neuroimaging studies have shown that listening to music can have effects on the core structures of emotional processing (the limbic and paralimbic structures) in both musicians and ‘non-musicians ‘Listening”. Which we may say, that whether you are listening to this video presentation or the singer. We still manage to hear and feel the message in the same exact way. This Stand by Me performance helps develop social skills and interaction by just being aware of other cultures there are in parts of the world we may not know of . It helped us perceive that all of us on earth are one big happy diverse community. Even with different backgrounds and history , together we can make something beautiful. Reading the article helps connect these interesting facts to the Play For Change video.

 Overall, the artists and people behind Play for Change presented their message beautifully by using the Standby Me song. It was a clear and happy message to the world. I Would certainly recommend the video by Play for a Change to everyone! I am positive that any human will expression emotion and hear the message out loud!

“What Are the Benefits of Music Therapy?” PositivePsychology.Com, 20 Mar. 2019, https://positivepsychology.com/music-therapy-benefits/.

Fact 7 : HEALTH

   Bones give us the structure we have in our bodies. They are accountable for our daily activities, growth, storing calcium, protecting vital organs and much more. Research has come a very long way, at least about 15 years or so. However, there are two controversial sides on how often our bones replenish themselves. One side believes, because our bones are different since birth, we have much less bones now and adult skeletons replace themselves about every 10 years. The alternate side believes the entire human body replaces itself about every 7 years.


One online explanation, I found discussing the differences between children bones and adult bones was on a medical site. (Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta). They explained that, adults have 206 bones in their body, while a newborn baby has roughly 300 bones in theirs. As well as: continuous growth of children's bones, children's ability to heal and reshape them unlike adults. Why? Because babies contain heavy loads of flexible cartilage. As they mature, the cartilage hardens and becomes bone, or the fusing of smaller bones into one whole one. The writer here used their medical platform to engage readers that their statements were true and information that is important to understand for the sake of the audience’s health. This visual was targeted to a curious and help wanting audience. The article presents itself with no oral form of communication since it’s an article with text, They provided a list of specialists and even a URL to look for help. It is clear the writer wanted the reader to be informed of children's bone development and how crucial it can be. Overall, this article was informative and helpful to understand why bones differ as the human body evolves.



One video explanation, (The Skeleton Book) discussed why children's bones differ from adult bones. This video provided a physical doctor orally presenting his explanation to the audience. A nonverbal element used was the hand gestures and body language the professor gives while going over the explanation. They also provided a skeleton in the background to help explain. Although, this video was very informative, it was very short. The web articles were more helpful since they provided more details and URLs, if anyone wanted to investigate further into the topic.



 All the sources used media to present their messages using logos, as we the audience were given logical information. The articles were accessed via the web, presented written information and images. The video sources presented their media electronically, orally, & visually. I would recommend a viewer to have the video as a source for a quick fact reminder or a friendly discussion. I would recommend the articles for someone who is writing a paper and needs furthermore precise details.

• Arias, Clemente F., et al. “Bone Remodeling: A Tissue-Level Process Emerging from Cell-Level Molecular Algorithms.” PLOS ONE, vol. 13, no. 9, Sept. 2018, p. e0204171, doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0204171.
• 
  “7 Ways Kid Bones Are Different From Adult Bones.” Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, https://www.choa.org/medical-services/wellness-and-preventive-care/parent-resources/all/7-ways-kid-bones-are-different-from-adult-bones. Accessed 17 Feb. 2020.
• 
  The Skeleton Book: Why Does a Baby Have More Bones than an Adult? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DMghmH302C8. Accessed 17 Feb. 2020.
  

Fact 6 : Valentine's day

 When you think of Valentines day... you may think of chocolates , flowers , and thousands of super markets covered in red, white and pink aisles. But have you ever wondered where Valentine's day originated ? or, Who was this holiday named after? Well, there are tons of versions that theorists argue to this day !

 One theory is that Valentine's day  originated as the pagan festival "Lupercalia". Lupercalia was a fertility festival dedicated to Faunus, the Roman god of agriculture. This festival involved a sacrifice of a goat , for fetility and a dog , for purification. The goat's hide was used for strips that were dipped into the dog's blood . These were then used to slap women due to their belief that it would make them more fertile in the coming year. Later in that day , the young women's names were taken down in a urn and the city's men would choose a name and be paired with their chosen woman , which often led to marriage. However, this festival was deemed " un-Christian" . Thus, the theory that the Christian church may have decided to place St. Valentine's day in the middle of February in effort to " Christianize " the celebration of Lupercalia.

Another theory is that Valentine's day originated as a liturgical feast to celebrate the decapitation of a third-century Christian martyr , or multiple martyrs. There were several Christian martyrs named Valentine. One specifically, was imprisoned and sent the first "valentine" greeting after falling in love with his supposed jailer's daughter. Another story goes on to say that St. Valentine defied the emperor's orders and secretly married couples to spare the husbands from war. For this reason, this feast day is associated with love. There are many murky legends of these Valentines , however they all share a sympathetic , heroic , and romantic feel.

Who knew such a sweet and innocent holiday had its gory and sad legends behind it? Which fact has more credibility to it though...  In my opinion , I believe Valentine's day originates from the legends of the martyrs. Mostly because , of the amount of evidence there is laid out in ancient lives of these saints .Many ancient sources reveal there were many St.Valentines who died on Feburary 14th , roughly around the the reign of Roman emperor Claudis Gothicus in 269-270 A.D."How do we know this? Because, an order of Belgian monks spent three centuries collecting evidence for the lives of saints from manuscript archives around the known world."(The Gory Origins of Valentine's Day).That same article also says..."The Brothers dug up every scrap of information about every saint on the liturgical calendar and printed the texts arranged according to the  saint’s feast day.Many may argue that , "Valentine's Day derives from a Christianized version of a pagan holiday. Just as the Christians stole Christmas and Easter, from the pagans, they took this celebration from the Roman pagans.(The Dark Orgins of Valentine's Day) so in a gist ,  If one doesn't not adhere to Christology, then why would one want to celebrate to the name of a Catholic Saint who had nothing to do with the original festival?

“The Gory Origins of Valentine's Day.” Smithsonian.com, Smithsonian Institution, 14 Feb. 2018, www.smithsonianmag.com/history/gory-origins-valentines-day-180968156/.

Seipel, Arnie. “The Dark Origins Of Valentine's Day.” NPR, NPR, 13 Feb. 2011, www.npr.org/2011/02/14/133693152/the-dark-origins-of-valentines-day.

FACT 5 : Wrestling vs. Running

Tailteann games in Ireland

 If running is the only form of exercise you like doing, and someone asks you what your sport was , the reasonable answer you would give is " running " right ? But is it really? The argument whether running is considered a sport is a heavy topic. According to definition.com a sport : should involve physical exertion , involve a degree of skill , should be done competively for entertainment, should have a certain amount of people participating , and a fixed set of rules. Does running fall into all of these examples? Well, to a certain extent , yes. It depends, if one simply runs from time to time at a near by park or at home on a treadmill then technically this does not go in favor of the definition of a sport . However , if one is on a school track team...then the definition of sport applies to running well. According to "8 Oldest Sports In the World" , human running evolved sometime around four and a half million years ago. According to the Ancient History Encyclopedia , One early depiction was found in the Lascaux caves in France roughly about  15,300 years ago! However , in a competitive view , the earliest cited was in Ireland , 1829 B.C , as a running competition.

                                                In contrast , Wrestling is also cited for being the first sport in the world.

Egyptian Mural around 2400 B.C

 In the old days , wrestling was a way of saying " I am stronger than you." Now , some say its just fake entertainment you see on television and others join teams and do state competitions. Is wrestling really considered a sport? Just like running , wrestling complies to the definition of sport , only in context to being involved as a competition. There are historical pictorial representations of early wrestling  , cave paintings in the Bayankhongor Province of Mongolia dating back to Neolithic age of 7000 B.C. But , Wrestling cited as a competitive sport was introduced into the ancient Olympics in 708 B.C.

Now , the fact I am concentrated on in this blog,  Is whether or not wrestling is the oldest sport or running is. After comparing and researching so many sources ... I conclude that in a Competitive state , Wrestling is the oldest sport. We cannot take cave drawings as reliable evidence .Mainly because, we cannot fully understand what was happening or what it was meant to represent . One may never know how our ancestors viewed their physical exertions as just a game or a way to show dominance. But , we do know when humans started to treat these activities as a competetion.

“Wrestling Freestyle: Equipment and History - Olympic Sport History.” International Olympic Committee, 15 May 2018, www.olympic.org/wrestling-freestyle-equipment-and-history?tab=history.

“8 Oldest Sports in the World.” Oldest.Org, 30 Oct. 2017, http://www.oldest.org/sports/sports/.

4, Matthew May, and Name *. “Oldest Sports in the World.” Pledge Sports, 4 Sept. 2019, www.pledgesports.org/2018/02/oldest-sports-in-the-world/.

Groeneveld, Emma. “Lascaux Cave.” Ancient History Encyclopedia, Ancient History Encyclopedia, 9 Feb. 2020, www.ancient.eu/Lascaux_Cave/.

 In most sources today , we are made to believe that Thomas Edison invented the incandescent lightbulb. What the articles and textbooks we read fail to mention, is the backstory of how the idea was even sparked. In , The Age of Edison: Electric Light and the Invention of Modern America ,  The author explains that the lightbulb had many inventors rather than Thomas Edison. This invention was a very complex social situation. Who did invent the lightbulb after all?
 The story of the lightbulb goes back farther than when Edison successfully commercialized the lightbulb in 1879. The " Voltaic Pile" which consisted of discs made from zinc and copper. This was a first example of conducting electricity , all thanks to Alessandro Volta. Soon , using this idea Humphry Davy made the first electric lamp. This sparked numerous developments to different sorts of electric lamps and bulbs.

From my research, Warren de la Rue was the first scientist to develop the first lightbulb made of platinum. However, due to a high cost of platinum caused the invention to be successful. In my opinion, Warren de la Rue was truly entitled to receive all the credit to inventing the lightbulb. Next, inventor’s henry Woodward and Matthew created the very first electric lamp! But, just like warren, lack of funds costed the development. Infamous Edison was riding high on fame and profits from his gadgets for telegraph printing, multiplex telegraphy, telephone improvements and the brand-new phonograph. He knew he could pull off a well working incandescent bulb with his 40 researchers sand impressive lab.  Due to many hours of research, Carbon was the answer instead of platinum. This varied from $40,000 ($85,000 todays money) and 1,200n experiments before its big debut.

There was a growing reputation around the world for being able to take other people’s breakthroughs, figuring out how to make them practical devices, & finally marketing them across the world. It took a lot of people  to invent all the ways to adapt electric light and make it more efficient .In Argument , many may say Because Edison deserves his full credit because his version dominated earlier versions due to : an effective incandescent material , higher vacuum, and a high resistance. However, remove all previous inventors, the electric light we know disappears.