Sunny Youth Journal

I think that “The lady and the tiger” might be historical fiction because the “arena” in the story kind of relates to the Colosseum in Rome and buildings like this in like, Greece and other similar civilizations.

Some things that this arena in the story has in common with the Colosseum is that they both have doors, and seats for spectators. Things that they don’t have in common include, battling beasts and other people, and an elevator where tigers and lions are transported to a doorway where they can enter the arena.

Also at the end of the book, the author gave us a choice to choose if you think that the tiger came out the door that the man chose or the girl? I personally think that it’s the tiger because in the book it said that she thought “Would it not be better for him to die at once, and go to wait for her in the blessed regions of semi-barbaric futurity?” and I thought that she couldn’t bear to see her lover marry another woman, it also said that “Her decision had been indicated in an instant, but it had been made after days and nights of anguished deliberation. She had known she would be asked, she had decided what she would answer, and, without the slightest hesitation, she had moved her hand to the right.”

In the book it also said that the girl that was inside one of the doors was a person that she hated. So I came to two conclusions : 1. She doesn’t want the person she loved to marry a person she hated. 2. She probably thought that killing him maybe was the best solution to this problem because even if he did choose the right door, he would probably live the rest of his days with a bad reputation.

Therefore, I think that the princess chose the tiger.

Ludwig van Beethoven is one of the most important people in all of classical music. His influence made an impression on nearly every composer who lived after him. He should be one of the greatest of all time.

He was born in 1770 in Germany. His grandpa and dad were professional singers, so his whole family was musicians. He started learning the piano when he was around 4 years old, who was taught by his dad. It was one of his hobbies, and got good quickly. Later on he became an organist, and also played the viola for an . He loved playing it, and thrived in the musical environment. Because of his piano playing skills, Beethoven was surrounded by people and interested Viennese social elite from early on in his career, which included most of the famous musicians of that time.

However, in his late 20s, he started to lose his hearing, and experienced a loud ringing in his ears. Since Beethoven lived for music, his deafness devastated him a lot. He even thought a lot about suicide. After a lot of internal struggle, he decided it was worth it to keep going. When he was 30, he premiered Septet, one of his most popular pieces in his lifetime. He was now starting to become well known as a composer, not just a pianist.

Beethoven became more grumpy and irritable and started dressing untidily. He also became ruder towards other people and would start to care less and less about his appearance. In 1809 Beethoven a lifetime annuity, but it was only only if he stayed in Vienna, so he agreed and settled there for the rest of his life. But payments made his income not stable. He became very sick during the last few years of his life, and began to sketch out a Tenth Symphony while on his deathbed, but he never got to complete it.

Beethoven was a person who specialized in music. He loved playing piano and started at four. During his lifetime, he started to have hearing problems and it was getting worse.

Beethoven’s life started out great. His father was a great man and musician. The love of music ran through the family. He was naturally gifted at the skill at the piano and learned much quicker than other people.

Beethoven thought a person named Haydn was the greatest composer alive, so he then moved to Vienna at the age of 22. Beethoven was being crowded by famous musicians, curious, and interested people because of his incredible ability of his piano playing. Aristocrats were very impressed by his skills and he established himself as one of the many famous musicians.

Around in Beethoven’s 20s, his hearing was being damaged while experiencing loud rings in his ears. Being deaf made critical damage in his life because of being a musician, almost everything is about hearing. He thought very solemnly about killing himself because of his hearing loss. his final decision was no.

Although Beethoven did not suicide, he wanted to keep living for the art of music. He was no longer a pianist, but a composer. Beethoven created many pieces and his most famous one was septet when he was in his 30s.

He started to care less about his appearance and his feelings towards others. Beethoven became gruff and moody. He did not care about his manners and only did about his music.

He became even ruder and appearance much less as his hearing began to be much worse. He became very ill and after four operations, his stomach injury got infected and he eventually died. Twenty-thousand people lined to go to his funeral for he was very popular and famous.

Beethoven was a good and bad man. He was a good man for his music and when he was younger. Beethoven was a bad man because of his behavior and appearance although that probably does not matter because he is mostly remembered as a famous musician, pianist, and composer.

No matter whether or not you’re into classical music or not, you’ve probably heard about Beethoven, then Mozart. These were the pioneers of classical music. However, there were differences, and it was pretty obvious.

Mozart

Mozart was born in 1756 in Salzburg. He started playing the piano when he was 4 years old. Mozart was a child prodigy, and when his father realized that, they went to multiple countries, and Mozart was a leading figure in most countries. Mozarts’ music is known for its smoothness. Everything just seems to go the right way and in the right order.

Beethoven

Beethoven was born in 1770 in Bonn. He also started playing the piano at 4. Beethoven was also a child prodigy. Beethoven’s pieces were mostly based on Mozarts, but there were surprises where you wouldn’t expect it. For example, just when you think you’re about to get some relaxing music, you get a sudden surprise.

Summary

I believe that both composers had complicated lives, composing many different pieces. However, I like Beethoven more than Mozart because his music is like an adventure. There will always be surprises, which I think is perfectly timed in Beethovens’ pieces. On the other hand, Mozart’s pieces are enchanting, but after hearing multiple pieces, it gets pretty dull. There just aren’t enough different patterns. Beethoven’s pieces always have some surprises, and they can vary.

In the short story “the Lady, or the Tiger”, the kingdom has a tradition. If one is needed to be on trial, they would have to go into arena, where there are two doors. One with a beautiful lady, the other with a ferocious tiger in the midst of the room. If the person in the arena has chosen the room with the tiger in it, they are considered guilty and a felon. This tradition is considered an entertainment in the kingdom and many find it very enjoyable to watch just as one would watch a T.V. show.

One day, the King’s daughter, the princess, is found being intimate with a very wealthy prince. Since the King is so fond of her daughter, he sentences him to the lady or tiger trial. Even though his daughter loves him so much, she is almost necessitated to watch because she is so entertained by it. Behind the door of the lady, is a lady who is a fangirl of the handsome prince. While, the other door contains the tiger. However, the princess knows which is behind the door and is uncertain which door to direct the prince to. She is envious because she think the prince secretly loves the other girl, but is also afraid to see her lover ripped apart into shreds by the merciless tiger. The intrepid prince is so trustworthy in the princess that when she gives him a laconic point to the right door, he immediately, without hesitation steps towards the door.

This brings me to the theme of the story. This theme also proves that themes can repeat in different stories since I’m going to steal the theme from the short story “the Lottery” .”Don’t blindly follow traditions just because they are traditions.” Even when the princess’s lover is sentenced to the fate of either being married or being eaten alive, she follows the tradition. Even when knowing that it’s wrong. She follows the tradition for the sake of her entertainment and just because it’s a tradition. Just like in “the Lottery”, the tradition could be cause very grievous consequences, as severe as killing your lover.

In The Lady or the Tiger, the king has a way of determining if an accused person was guilty or innocent. The guilty person would go into the king’s arena and face two gates. One gate would have a tiger and the other would have a beautiful maiden. If the person chooses the gate with the tiger, that would mean that he was guilty and deserved a punishment, which would be getting killed by the tiger. If the person chose the gate with the maiden, that would mean that he was innocent and deserved a reward, which would be getting married to the maiden. All of the people believed that this was fair because the person won’t know which door is which. It is also exciting for them to watch because they do not know which door the person will choose.

I don’t think the king’s ways are fair. Even though nobody knows what will happen to the person and it will therefore not be biased, but it is still not completely fair. The fate of whichever person is accused depends on chance. The door the person chooses does not necessarily mean that he is innocent or guilty, it is just random. Also, the person might be innocent, but gets killed because he chooses the wrong door, or vise versa. Overall, I don’t think that the king’s ways are fair.

This short story is a fate themed, in which a young princess of a barbaric king falls in love with a young prince. Obviously, the king didn’t like this, come on, which barbaric king would? He was a fate believer and also believed in justice, so fate would decide, but would it?

After all, this is just probability in modern days, fifty fifty chance. Yet, back then, it was fate, (because people were dumb dumb). His plan accommodated of a beautiful, young maiden, and a hungry, vicious tiger. He would summon the prince in front of two doors, one was the maiden, and the other the tiger.

If the prince were to get lucky and chose the maiden, he was forced to marry her. If you got the tiger, it would rip you apart and eat you alive. My sentiment towards this would be, get lucky and suffer, or die.

You might not understand, but this means, you pick the tiger and die a painful, bloody death, or you pick the maiden and get your girlfriend or wife to come after your head. Basically, it sucks both ways. Also, you might not like the maiden, she may be beautiful and all, but her personality is what you look at.

There is an advantage to getting killed by the tiger, it will be a quick, but painful death, whereas your wife could torture with Chinese water torture ( developed by the Chinese, it sucks). Although there is a slight chance you can get away with out getting hunted by your wife.

Also, you haven’t considered the fact that, even if you die from the tiger, you die with loyalty your wife and her family. That is a happy thought.

In the short story “Hearts an Hands” by O. Henry,

In ”Hearts and Hands,” a woman, Miss Fairchild, spots an old friend named Mr. Easton on a train handcuffed to another man. That man calls her friend Mr. Marshal when she sees the cuffs. Turns out, the man is actually the marshal, and Mr. Easton is the prisoner. But the marshal is a kind man, and lies to her that he is the prisoner. He helps save Mr. Easton from the embarrassment of being a prisoner to a friend. He sees the horror on Miss Fairchild’s face when she first sees the handcuffs on Mr. Easton and speaks up. He calls Easton ”Marshal” to detour her thoughts. Later, after he sees that she seems interested in Mr. Easton, he cuts the conversation short without revealing the truth to save her from embarrassment. After that, he helps Mr. Easton get out of the conversation by asking to go and smoke, leaving Miss Fairchild oblivious to the fact that he was the prisoner, although people who were listening knew that Mr. Easton wasn’t the real marshal.

The theme of the story is kindness. He sees that Mr. Easton doesn’t want to be embarrassed in front of his old friend, and decides to play along with the fact that he was the prisoner, although he doesn’t gain anything from it, and is just being helpful and kind. This is an important lesson, and a pretty interesting story to go with it.

In “Hearts and Hands” by O. Henry, the author demonstrates how subconscious bias can blur the view of reality. Mr. Easton, a well groomed man, is chained to a messy looking marshal who is escorting him to prison for counterfeiting. They get into a coach with Miss Fairchild, who automatically assumes that Mr. Eaton is the marshal because he looks elegant. At the end, all the other passengers who don’t hold prejudice notice what is wrong, but Miss Fairchild still is oblivious.

First, she fails to notice that Mr. Eaton has the chain around his right hand. Something as clear as this should have been noticed, but Fairchild was too focused on his handsome face and wealthy appearance. Next, all the people around her noticed that Eaton was not the marshal. They do not have a bias point of view regarding social class and appearances, so they were able to see the obvious.

All in all, making assumptions based on appearances can alter what one sees. Even when everybody else saw the clear truth, the one who was holding prejudices could only see their narrow point of view.

Curtis Zhang

6/17/20

Mozart

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was a famous composer born in 1756. His dad was a relatively successful musician, but Mozart was going to be way more famous than his dad. Mozart was a child prodigy and showed off his musical abilities when he taught himself the violin and composed little pieces when he was still a child. His father decided to send him on a tour to show off his abilities(which I think is stupid) and they had lots of troubles along the way.

Mozart got his first job when he was 17 as a court musician for the “Prince Archbishop of Salzburg”, and at first he composed lots of concertos and symphonies, but later, he got bored of his life as court musician, so he left as court musician to go to Paris, but paris had no jobs for musicians, so he went back and this time his dad got him a position as “court organist.” This time his employer treated him as a servant, and after a long time of trying to quit and not being allowed to, he was relieved of duty but humiliated. 

After he was relieved of duty, he decided to be a freelance musician and started publishing his music alone and also got married. He made a wide variety of music and even a few operas. At this point, Mozart’s financial situation was at his best, and he started living in an luxurious apartment. At one point, he was even called “the greatest composer known to me in person and in name” by a famous composer during the time. 

In 1786 musicians were finding a hard time to stay alive during this time because they were losing their main source of money which were the rich people of their country. Mozart started to lose his fame, so he made tours all over europe to try to restart his fame. In 1790, things started to look better, as his financial situation was starting to get better. He made tons of new pieces during this time, but in 1791, he got sick and he frantically wrote his latest piece which he thought was going to be his “funeral piece.” Ultimately, he failed to complete it on time, and he died on December 5, 1791 at age 35 with his funeral piece still unfinished. 

Though Mozart died without being able to live his life through, his short life produced many of the best concertos of all time. He may have had a short life, but he will always be considered by some as the greatest composer of all time.