Blog for luy5

Considering how jazz is transcribed in Chinese (jueshi), you may be misledsintosassuming that it is an aristocratic cultural form. Nothing could be further from the truth. It originated among black Americans at the end of the 19th century, at a time when they occupied the very bottom of the American social heap.
So how has something that was created by a once downtrodden and despised minority acquired a central place in today's American culture? Mr Darrell A Jenks, director of the American Center for Educational Exchange, analyses the phenomenon for us here. Jazz: the soul of America
Perhaps the essence of America is that you could never get two Americans to agree on just what that might be. Certainly things like individualism, success ,innovation and tolerance stand out. But these things come together because of the ability to work with one another and find common purpose no matter how diverse they might be.
Some, like African-American writer Ralph Ellison, believe that jazz captures the essence of America. For good reason,for in jazz all of the characteristics I mentioned above come together. The solos are a celebration of individual brilliance that can't take place without thesgroupsefforts of the rhythm section. Beyond that, though, jazz has a connection to the essence of America in a much more fundamental way. It is an expression of the African roots of American culture, a musical medium that exemplifies the culture of the Africans whose culture came to dominate much of what is American.
Jazz brought together elements from Africa and Europe, fusing themsintosa new culture, an expression unique to the Americas.
Out of this fusion came an idea that Americans believe central to their identity:tolerance.Americans acknowledge that in diversity is their strength.Jazz music is the embodiment of this ideal, combining elements from African and European culturesintosa distinctly American music.
Jazz reflects two contradictory facets of American life. On the one hand it is a team effort,swheresevery musician is completely immersed in what thesgroupsdoes together, lis-tening to each of the other players and building on their contributions to create a musical whole. On the other hand, the band features a soloist who is an individual at the extreme, a genius like Charlie Parker who explores musical territoryswheresno one has ever gone before. In the same sense, American life is also a combination of teamwork and individualism, a combination of individual brilliance with the ability to work with others.

My summer school program in VCU will soon come to an end. The day after tomorrow I will depart VCU for New York . How excited I am now and I cannot wait any longer to fly to the big apple. New York---the biggest city in USA ,also one of the biggest cities in the world ---is the economic ,culture , finance center of USA and even of the world . Various cultures and religious come together in this place sparking vigor and glamour of this city. What attracts me most is the diversity of this city. The people there come from different continents and different countries .They speak different languages and have different living style. But no matter how different they are, one point is the same ,that is to seek the dreams of themselves. And this city offers equal opportunities for different people only if they work hard. New York is similar to Shanghai. Both of them are the economic and finance center of respective countries . Of course , New York has a lot of advantages that Shanghai can learn from. I think mutual learning is benefit to both cities and countries . I love Shanghai and the live style there ,so I think I will also fall in love with New York.

How surprised I am when I find that I am in the newspaper. Actually , I have never been reported in the newspaper in China. But in America---the first time I have gone to America ---I go so far as to the newspaper. What a wonderful experience to me . And I am sure my parents and relatives will feel happy and surprised too . To be frankly, during this one mouth time, America , VCU and all the inters give me pleasantly surprised one after another . The clean environment of the city, comfortable living condition , friendly American people and hard working inters all give me a great impression and change my original opinion about USA. And I finally know why USA is the most powerful country in the world . The reason is highly developed education producing high quality people. If China wants to catch up , we should pay more attention to our education. Only the quality of people is improved , the country will flourish. Finally , I want to say I appreciate all the receptions here, thank you for all inters’ help. They are so nice .