The Louisiana Blues

When life gets to be too much for you, what do you do? You turn on music that speaks to your emotions. There is a specific genre of music created for these kinds of moments in life and it is known as The Blues. The blues is so much more than just music. Let’s say your dog just died, you now have the blues. Your husband just left you for your best friend, you now have the blues. That is what blues artist do in order to create such music. They take an unfortunate situation in their lives and turn it into something beautiful.

   There are many types of blues songs but the blues that I am going to focus on is The Louisiana Blues. I believe that this is the type of blues that parallels to The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison. I chose this type of blues because it clearly depicts sadness, sorrow, and despair. There are various instruments played in the Louisiana blues such as the trumpet, clarinet, trombone, and piano. Each of these instruments can represent certain characters in the book.

     Pecola Breedlove has lived in the blues her entire life, so it would only make sense that she represents the strongest instrument in the song, the trumpet. Her sorrow is so high that it over powers everyone else’s sorrow just like the trumpet over powers all the other instruments within the song. With her shyness, ugliness, and constant misfortunes, Pecola silently screams her depression at the world while a trumpet screams her voice in the background.

   Claudia and Frieda are represented by the piano. The piano is the first instrument you hear in this particular piece of music. It comes in soft with a nice melody right before the trumpet makes its bold entrance. Claudia and Frieda are the first characters we are introduced to in this book and they also become friends with Pecola. It is safe to say that they compliment Pecola’s character just like the piano compliments the trumpet’s sounds.

The Trombone is heard just a few seconds before the trumpet comes in but still very noticeable. Cholly and Pauline can take on this role due to the fact that they are a slightly lighter sorrow than Pecola but still very sad. The trombone is very deep in tone and hard to miss although overpowered by the trumpet. Cholly and Pauline are hardly unnoticeable even though their daughter, Pecola, has a worse life than they do.

The clarinet is supposed to be the instrument that contradicts the other instruments in the piece. While the trumpet, piano, and trombone flow together in harmony, you constantly hear the clarinet making its statement against the flow. That is why the town is represented by this instrument. They talk so badly about the Breedloves and judge them; it’s just like the clarinet judging the rest of the instruments.

 Pecola, Pauline, Cholly, Frieda, Claudia, and the town are all apart of the blues. With their sorrow, despair, and questionable luck, the sounds of the blues spills out of them all with harmony.

World No Tobacco Day 2013

  If you take a glance at this Ad your first reaction would be to feel sorry for the little boy crying in the picture. Most people would just go through that motion for less than five seconds and then move on with their lives, not even worrying about the intended message of the Ad. They will notice the bag on the child's head but not at the fact that it is cigarette smoke.
   This Ad was sponsored by Conac, a Chilean Corporation. It was presented on May 31st which is observed as World No Tobacco Day. The day is aimed to encourage smokers to quit smoking or just stop for that day.This Ad and many others Conac clearly depict Conac's feelings about smoking and how it really damages people and others around that person.
     As I observe the picture more I start to notice the color scheme that is in use. There is a very dark background that makes the little boy stand out more. The little boy is also wearing a dull colored shirt that corresponds to the gloomy background. Now Conac may have good intentions for their message but they still want people to know who was responsible for displaying this Ad which is why they have their logo in the center at the bottom, in white, so that people will be able to see it clearly.
   If you look even closer than the logo you will see the message intended for the audience. It says "Smoking isn't just suicide, it's murder". This is a very powerful line because it gets its readers thinking about what they are doing to themselves and also the people around them, especially their children. This one line inflicts a lot of pathos in its audience. It provokes fear, sadness, maybe even depression.
   In my opinion I believe the intended audience for this Ad is more toward woman because when you think of woman and their children, there is that special connection, that bond that shouldn't be broken. This Ad is saying that, as a smoking mother, you are breaking that bond and harming your child. Yes, men are involved with their children too and smoking is just as bad for them but it's not like a mothers attachment to her child. Also as you look at the child's face, more towards the eye brows, you see a slight expression of disappointment and anger. It's as if the child is saying "Look what you are doing to me or How dare you?" It's enough to break a woman's heart.
    The smoke shaped bag is very important in this entire Ad. It's what your eye is drawn to first. Its white in front of a black background so it is a clear attention grabber. The smoke bag being placed over the child's head is also very gruesome especially around the mouth and nose area of the face. There is an indent on the mouth and two nostrils to signify that the child is breathing in the smoke as he cries.
   I feel that this Ad is very effective because Conac took a sure route by using a child. When you see a child crying in a magazine, Ad, newspaper, etc, you automatically stop and look to see what is going on or what happened to that child. Using a small font to display the message is also an effective tool because it forces the audience to really pay attention and read about the Ad. After the reader is finished, they then have to make the decision on their own whether to take heed to the message or ignore it.