The Birthday Present free essay sample

After a year of waiting, it was finally my birthday! I was so excited that morning that I woke up at 7am, cleaned the house, and waited for my mom to wake up, so we could begin decorating. But little did I know my uncle would later ruin my party. This experience taught me how to laugh at myself. As soon as my mom woke up we began to decorate the house with Toy Story party supplies and started to cook the food. My brother’s friend rented jumpers so he let us borrow 2 for free! My dad arrived with the pinatas and cake! While the guests began to arrive I remembered my uncle Hector, who had recently come from Mexico who we had not seen in a very long time, so I decided to invite him. I called him and told him I was having a birthday party and would like him to come. We will write a custom essay sample on The Birthday Present or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page He said he’d be at my house at 5:30pm. Did I mention he has a bit of a hearing problem? Everybody was having a great time. We started to serve the food; carne asada, beans, and rice. After eating we broke the pinatas and gave out the candy bags. My uncle finally arrived. He had a confused look on his face. After some party games we cut the cake! Which, incase your wondering, was an ice cream cake. Then it was time for the best part of the party, at least for me, First I opened the biggest box that had Toy Story wrapping paper that said, â€Å"From your uncle Pablo†; it was a Play Station 2! I now invite him to all my birthday parties! Then I opened a blue gift bag with balloon pictures on the side that was from my aunt Martha, it was a Chivas t-shirt! I love my aunt Martha! As I kept on opening presents, I began to get curious about a pink birthday bag that said,†From your uncle Hector. † I thought to myself,†The bag doesn’t matter,† because I know that us Mexicans tend to reuse old gift bags. My cousins, neighbors, and friends watched as I pulled out a Hannah Montana DVD/CD out of that pink bag†¦ I lost it. I grabbed that thing threw it to the floor and stomped on that thing like a mad man! I eventually stopped, saw everybody laughing, thought about what I did, and I laughed so hard, that people started to get worried. Later that night my uncle explained to us that the voice on the phone sounded like a girl’s voice. So he thought it was my sister’s birthday party. I’m not inviting him to my parties no more. So now every time I want to have a good laugh, I watch the video of me destroying Hannah Montana!!! Now laughing at myself and what I do is always easy! I also do a little research on who I invite to my birthday parties!!!

Music For Children Essays - Musical Forms, Russian Ballet

Music For Children Essays - Musical Forms, Russian Ballet Music For Children Music For Children Music is an important component for all people to posses in their lives. A child should be introduced to music at a very young age. The introduction of every type of music from classical all the way to modern rock is important. This gives a child the ability to form their own opinion to what they might like the best. Classical music can teach a child every aspect of music including, harmony, themes, dynamics, polymeters, and polyrhythms. These are the components that are scarce in modern music today. The three major components of variation are melody, rhythm, and meter. Variation is an important key to teach a child so that they understand the there are many different ways to approach music and life. The composer Lucien Caillet wrote many variations on the theme Pop Goes the Weasel. Most children have heard this tune in cartoons or songs at school not realizing the classical context. This is a wonderful piece for children because of the dramatic and calm instrumentals followed by the variations of the theme. The music has a whimsical cheerful feel to it and is a perfect example for an introduction, theme, five variations of the theme followed by a coda. These are all important parts of a piece for a child to recognize. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is a remarkable composer that all children should study. The piece, Ah, Vous Dirai-je, Maman is perfect for a child in that it resembles a well known nursery rhyme, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. This piece is also an example of variations of theme. This begins as a simple melody transforming into a complex variation containing a difference in meter throughout the variations with in an increase in tempo. The composition has a very light and cheerful familiar sound to it and could easily attract the attention of a child. The use of sensory imagery in music, impressionism, is another form helpful to increase interest and make music enjoyable. Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky composed a piece, Promenade, from pictures of an exhibition solely around an art exhibition. This is a dark and gloomy symphony that represents a marching soldier and paints a vivid picture of an army. Another composer using imagery was Aram Khachaturian, he composed a work called Sabre Dance. This is an extremely energetic powerful piece that paints a definite picture of a chase and catch situation. This can be found in many cartoons today which allows a child to relate the classical music to a humorous situation. The piece is filled with energy and caused my seven year old brother to dance and run around the room. He enjoyed this piece the most and said it reminded him of a Tom and Jerry cartoon.. A modern classical composer, Steve Reich wrote Different Trains, this is a classic example of sensory imagery. The composer uses many coun ts of ostinato, tempo, and meter changes to portray the sounds of different trains in different cities. The sampled sounds paint a colorful picture and make the piece very interesting and unique. The originality yet classical makeup attracts children and adults to imagine moving trains. Dynamics, softness and loudness in music, is another important part of musical composition. Franz Joseph Haydn wrote The Surprise Symphony that developed a variation in the dynamic level. This piece was written for a special after dinner concert. Haydyn knew that many people used this time for an afterdinner nap so he used calm string music to relax and secure his audience. He gave them just enough time to begin to doze and then CRASH! The whole orchestra would play a chord as loud as possible (Bond 59). This humorous story and musical piece brings a sense of laughter and a delightful mood to the music. Children seem to respond the most to the light and humorous feel to music. This sets a good example of a soft dynamic level followed by a dramatically loud one. This gives a sense a possible dynamic variety in one work. A rondo, musical form in which the first section is repeated several times with a different section between each of the repeats (Staton 179), is a significant form a child should be taught. The