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Character Analysis of Willy Loman

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Introduction

The plot of the play “Death of a Salesman” centers around the last two days of the life of Willy Loman, an average man. Willy was losing his mind since the start of the play, but his suicide at the conclusion takes him by surprise. Within these two days, Miller allows his character’s failing memory to impact the tone of the play as he travels between remembrance and reality, allowing the audience to understand Willy’s viewpoints on his relationships.

Analysis

“Willy Loman is not your typical tragic hero; he is lower-middle-class and not particularly bright.” He lives in an amoral, capitalistic huge business environment, rather than one with strong moral values”. Because of the confusion generated by the disparity between Willy’s perception of the world and the actual world, he is unable to build any type of meaningful relationship with his family members, and they are unable to assist him during this time of difficulty. A close examination of Willy’s use of symbolism, sarcasm, and imagery reveals his very confused, desperate, and sensitive character.

As the play begins, Willy tells his wife that his mind can not seem to focus on what’s essential anymore, forcing him to rely more and more on the symbols he’s developed as indicators of success. Willy sees a solid bond between father and son as a sign of domestic success. However, because his perspective is almost exclusively focused on business operations, he appears to feel that this connection should evolve spontaneously as Biff acknowledges and respects Willy’s final sacrifice for him, rather than as a consequence of any effort Willy has put into it.

Business success is a significant indicator of Willy’s successful life, possibly even more vital than success as a father. Willy’s inability to provide his wife with a safe house, insurance, and to pay off the refrigerator creates a situation in which there is only one potential winning solution. Willy believes that the only way to ‘buy’ his boys’ affection and guarantee he has supplied for his wife is through money achievement. As previously stated, Willy considers these qualities of the family to be the genuine indicators of success and are entirely dependent on money. Willy can relax into his role as family patriarch only once he has gained the mother’s comfortable backing and the sons’ admiration. Anything less is unacceptably inadequate. Willy’s desperation is initially demonstrated by his poor income, which is revealed to be nearly nothing because he works on commission and has not sold anything in a long time. However, he gets sacked from his employment during the first business meeting of the play and subsequently declines a position offered to him by Charley. Charley illustrates at this moment that not all worth can be assessed in terms of financial well-being. Even though he may give Willy a job with the casual comment “You want a job?”, he can not figure out how Willy found a way to put up the roof in the living room. Willy’s ability to use tools is valued by Charley, and it is a talent that Willy appreciates as well since Willy is ready to dismiss Charley because he cannot. Willy, on the other hand, is ready to disregard this expertise in the face of monetary achievement, as illustrated by his brother Ben.

Willy finds himself groping for a foundation in his family based on facts but with no clue how to get there when he is eventually brought to the conclusion that his deteriorating memory means he can no longer work. Willy wants nothing more than to escape the imagined world he is constructed, and he rejects every attempt Biff makes to entice him out by pressing the reality (Yasinski, 2001). Willy’s frantic maneuvering of the before-stated conversation with Biff over Biff’s meeting with Oliver is one example of how he avoids the truth in the present. This type of incident occurs towards the end of the scene as well, with Biff refusing to back down to keep the family peace. He dismisses Happy’s assertions that he is ‘practically’ the assistant buyer at work, even though he is merely the second assistant to assistant to the buyer.

The majority of what the rest of the world knows about Willy is based on a picture he holds of himself. Willy continues to project an image to his family and business partners that are aimed to make him appear more important and respected, even though he knows better. As previously said, even though Willy is shown to have had a very strong connection with his boys, seeing them clean the vehicle, chatting about football, and being able to bring home a present for them that is totally in keeping with what they desire, he feels insecure in their appreciation of him. Willy embellishes his position at work to make himself appear more important than he is, rather than simply accepting that he is a traveling salesman and loving the various places he gets to explore. He gets carried away by his visions, like when he begins planting seeds in his yard after the play, even though the buildings now block off too much sunlight for anything to grow: “The grass does not grow anymore, you can not raise a carrot in the back yard” (Yasinski, 2001).

Conclusion

Willy had no choice but to do what he did within the constraints of his personality and understanding throughout the play. His unwavering confidence in the American ideal, in which a parent lived by particular ideals to provide for his family’s fundamental necessities, was intimately linked to his perceptions of his position within the family unit itself. An analysis of the collection of symbols by which Willy assesses his life reveals this point of view. According to this viewpoint, the only way to achieve familial prosperity was to first achieve corporate success. Willy was forced to admit he had not attained familial success after finding he had not earned commercial success.

The irony of his nature is that he could have achieved familial success if he would only give up his symbols and looked at the truth. The fact was that he was not a financial success, but that just added to his familial success since it did not matter to the people who loved him. Willy was finally able to see that his son loved him the entire time, regardless of whether he had attained some magical tangible quantity of dollars, by removing the obstacle of commercial success through his gift of insurance money. Willy can die in peace if he realizes this simple reality.

References

Yasinski, N. A. (2001). Arthur Miller’s Death of a salesman. Research & Education Association.

Film Analysis I

Music 107 Summer 2018

The performance artists Guillermo Gomez and Coco Fusco for two years have traveled through the world, performing the couple in the cage tour. They presented themselves as the unexposed Amerindians from an island in the Gulf of Mexico that had for five centuries been unnoticed by the rest of the world. The two voyaged through numerous western cities, calling their homeland Guatinau and themselves the Guatinauis. From watching the television to the sewing of the voodoo dolls, the couple performed traditional tasks while being displayed in the cage. They even made a spectacle out of it, placing a box outside the cage and offering to do various performances for little charge. The female Guatanaui would perform a “traditional” dance, and the male would tell conventional stories in a made up language. The two would also pose with visitors. Security guards stood next to the cage, and their primary job was to answer the questions asked by the visitors and as well as feeding the couple and taking them to the bathroom on leashes. Everything that the couple did was too palpably theatrical. The couple had their skulls measured, they were fed on bananas and were deemed as being a specimen. The reason behind is that all these were a characteristic specimen of the monkeys at a zoo being enclosed in a cage. The documentary served to scrutinize the audiences’ responses to the particular display that was exhibited by the couple. What was so surprising was that a considerable portion of the audience believed in the authenticity of the couple. The intent was to create a commentary to which exaggerates the western perceptions of a primitive and a primordial other for a satirical and comedic edge, but it led to the realization of how prominent racist beliefs are in our postcolonial society. The documentary serves as an indirect proof that the colonial ideas, that compromise the notions of the non-westerns, still have penetration to the world to which we lived today. It is in fact that the ideas tie back to those of N’gugi, of how orature is consistently underplayed today because its origin and development took place in the colonized, or more primitive lands.

Another intriguing aspect was the incorporation of the discussion of morality, and the human beings were quite merely treating the other human people as exotic curiosities. There seemed to be a complete disregard for the notion on that they too were human beings, being of the same species, a similar body as well as a similar brain. It quite plainly serves to illuminate the underlying arrogance to which seemed to paralyze the people’s ability to question, analyze and to evaluate.

The documentary also helps to challenge the conventional notions of performance to which revolves around line memorization as well as the rehearsed body movements and a stage in the auditorium. The kind of performance in the documentary was all the more potent for me as merely being in a particular location at a specific time, performing specific behaviors that were not rehearsed for a stage. It propelled the audience into a field similar to an auditorium or a theatre possibly even a more evocative one, while at the same time challenging them to rethink their roles in the society. Moreover, the audience hasn’t the slightest clue that what they are watching is indeed a performance, unlike in a theatre, making it all the more an intriguing experience to watch their responses as a third party.

The experiment resulted in a point that only a few individuals saw the display and the reason behind is that it was believable, the message that was supposed to be to be satirical in commentary did not translate well through the audience. It is true that when people are at the museum, they tend to think that whatever they are going to see is a fact and therefore turn off all the observational skepticism and automatically take whatever they see as being a fact. It did not result in massive fame for the couple nor did it become a staple in the modern American art. It was successful in being a satirical commentary and proved that people believe what they are told without the utilization of any rational thinking, especially when whatever is being said is confirmed by an expert.

In overall, the act did trigger a response, whether awe, sympathy or even outrage from the audience. It is however that the message to which the group was trying to convey, precisely the idea that it is a satirical message about conquering land and claiming it as your own, did not filter through the entire audience, to which resulted in some people believing to what they saw. The couple in the cage would undoubtedly satisfy the requirements of being considered art in the public interest piece because it took an issue affecting the society and manipulated it into an art form for the general public. However, there are two main reasons as to why the exhibition should be not be considered as an art. The first reason is that a majority of the people being the audience did not understand the message that was trying to be conveyed by the couple. Gomez-Pena and Fusco are preaching that conquering another area where there are already people is inhumane, drawing parallels between the discovery of America and being caged for display. There was no apparent connection to the audience took the exhibit at face value and didn’t understand the actual message. The second reason is that the premise is based on lies. There is no such island, and the couple dressed up to trick the audience. If the message were more explicit, then the people would not be fooled as easily, and therefore it could be considered as an art.

Reference

Fusco, C., & Heredia, P. (1993). The Couple in the Cage: A Guatinaui Odyssey; a Video. Third World Newsreel.

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Music and Emotions

Music is something that we find around us almost everywhere we go. Music elicits certain emotions in us, such as happiness, sadness, nostalgia, among others. One reason why music creates these emotions is what we associate the music with. For example, from our environment, parties and weddings tend to play upbeat and fast songs, which we come to associate with happiness. The second reason why music elicits emotions in us is due to musical expectations (TED 02:56). Everyone has a genre of music that they like, such as hip hop, RnB, jazz, and classical music. When an RnB fan listens to an RnB song, they can almost anticipate what is to come in a song. The listener may be able to hum along to a new song in the genre because they are used to listening to similar kinds of music. Expressions and emotional movement also elicit certain emotions when listening to music (TED 04:46). For instance, when a song starts with sounds of people arguing and slamming doors, the listener predicts that it will be a sad song. Finally, music could elicit emotions just because it acts as an activating sound. Just like alarm clocks activate the mind, music activates emotions in listeners.

Works Cited

“Emotional responses to music | Hauke Egermann | TEDxGhent.” TED. 2 September 2014. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kzFgoaZ9-VQ

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Chapter 15

Single-serve coffee makers are an example of continuous innovation. Coffee lovers around the world have switched from drip coffee makers to the newer and more innovative sing serve ones. This change is classified as continuous because consumers have switched from one type of coffee maker to another, which they view to be more superior. There has been no significant change in customer habits, because they still continue to drink coffee, only using a better machine. Companies have taken advantage of the growing competition in the market for coffee machines that are the most efficient for consumers. Consumers prefer the single-serve machines because they are much faster, and they can have their coffee in a few seconds after the press of a button. Companies making such machines have experienced significant growth over the past few years compared to drip machines. Nespresso and Keurig are the most prominent players in the coffee maker market, and they are reaping big from their innovations. Nestle is a leading producer of coffee across the world, and producing efficient coffee makers is a practical step for the company. Continuous innovation involves marginal changes (Björk et al. 387), and this is how these companies have continuously grown their market margins by building upon the habits of their consumers.

The innovation has been well received in the market, facing little resistance. The main reason why continuous innovation faces little resistance is that it does not alter customer habits significantly. Single-serve coffee makers have simply built upon the existing popularity of coffee consumption and made the experience of brewing coffee faster and more efficient. Customers find these machines to be different from existing drip machines, and this is a point of attraction (Ries 26). The new single-serve coffee machines are more expensive than the drip ones, but customers are willing to pay more for the convenience that the new machines bring. Companies are building towards more sophisticated espresso machines, which is another example of continuous innovation.

Works Cited

Björk, Jennie, Paolo Boccardelli, and Mats Magnusson. “Ideation capabilities for continuous innovation.” Creativity and innovation management 19.4 (2010): 385-396.

Ries, Eric. The lean startup: How today’s entrepreneurs use continuous innovation to create radically successful businesses. Currency, 2011.

Character Analysis: Willy Loman

He is insecure and self-deluded:

Except that in the perfect universe, when he was perfect, he admits to being a horrible father. The hero’s sorrow is characterized by the fact that he was plucked from his ideal setting and thrust into a terrifying reality in which his ambitions were shattered.

Willy’s mental health deteriorates more as his illusions disintegrate in the face of crushing truth in his existence. Willy is motivated by the enormous tensions created by this imbalance, as well as the societal ramifications.

Willy Loman is a tragic hero:

Willy realizes that sales promotion is not the noblest profession, and his readiness to devote his life just for his family is more than just a wish to retain his dignity by not proclaiming in public that everything he had planned had been shattered.

Willy Loman is a humble man who worked as a salesman but now aspires to live a more relaxed life due to his health and age issues.

Willy’s entire existence has always been meaningless and has yielded no results. Willy recognizes that salesmanship is not the noblest profession, and his willingness to commit his life for the benefit of his family is a desire to maintain his dignity by not publicly declaring that all he had planned had been broken.

Except for the ideal world where he was the finest, he recognizes he was a lousy father. The hero’s tragedy is defined by the fact that he was taken from his ideal world and thrust into terrible reality, where his ambitions were dashed.

Willy has been yanked from his ideal world, where his boys are outstanding salespeople, and plunged into reality, in which they have failed to attain financial success.

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Chapter Eight: Social and Political Philosophy

Chapter eight of the book, “Philosophy: A Text with Reading” by Manuel Velasquez discusses social and political philosophy. The chapter opens by trying to elaborate on the relationship between an individual and society as well as the problems to do with justice. The subject of social and political philosophy tends to analyze the substantial role of a government towards its citizen, what it should do for the underprivileged, how an individual relates to the society as well as discussing on the issue of justice, for example, the justification of state authority. All these issues center on social and political philosophy. Social philosophy is defined as a philosophical study of problems that are affecting the society and the application of moral values for countering those issues, for instance, human rights and freedom.

On the other hand, political philosophy is a branch of social philosophy, and it discusses the role of the government or state in society. The government or state is the supreme authority, and hence it has the power to define the interests of the public and impose its rule on the public. By doing this, it tends to answer the question of justification of the state and its authorities. For example, the state implements this through the income tax method. That is, it sets its primacies by defining the programs that it feels are according to the public interest and afterward, it implements those programs by taxing the citizens. For example, the American government taxes its citizens according to their incomes.

Moreover, the issue of justification of the state and its authorities are well analyzed through the contract theory which is based on the philosophies of John Locke and Thomas Hobbes. John Rawls rejuvenated the theory during the twentieth century. Rawls contends that social contract is a fictional means for establishing what a fair society is and what the government in this society looks like. However, this theory has faced some criticism for example by communitarians who claim that the theory disregards the social l beings of individuals. Also, the feminists argue that the theory undertakes a nonconsensual division whereby women tend to be downgraded to the contentious issues in the society like in economics as well as politics where men dominate.

The issue of justice in society is also well discussed in this chapter. According to Velasquez, justice comprises retributive justice and distributive justice. Retributive justice analyzes how impartial punishments exist while distributive justice examines how the impartial society distributes benefits and burdens to society. Due to the different views of philosophers concerning the issue of justice, it exists in many forms, for example, justice as social utility, justice as strict equality and justice as moderate egalitarianism among other significant types. Plato and Aristotle link justice with merit. Their sentiments are according to the conventional Greek view of Justice. The egalitarians on their side claims for strict equality or evenhandedness of political rights as well as in economic opportunities. Their claim tends to be supported by society liberals; for example, Rawls who contends that justice entails financial support for the deprived. There are other liberals like Robert Nozick who also argues that individuals’ free choices need to be respected in all dimensions, particularly in economic matters.

The chapter closes with discussing the limits of the state towards the society. Although the section has different authors with diverse views concerning the issue of justice, it is evident that they all agree that it is the responsibility of the state to promote justice. For example, Aquinas maintains there is a great need for the laws of the state to be consistent with natural law. Moreover, these laws need to be compatible with the right to freedom. The right of freedom is entailed in the Bill of Rights, and it protects the citizens against interference by the state. In this chapter, the subject of human rights is also well analyzed by classifying it into positive and negative rights. This is according to how different individuals regard and view the issue of human rights. Even though every individual approves that it is necessary for changing the state laws when they seem to be conflicting with human rights, there are others who argue that there is a need for the state to enforce only the individual’s negative rights. On the other hand, others maintain that the government must obey and afford individuals positive rights.

The last end of the chapter is about the morality of war. Under the morality of war, political realism, pacifism as well as just war theory are discussed by the author. According to Velasquez, political realism maintains that morality is not effective to war while pacifism arguers on the immorality of war to the society at large. There is also the description of just war theory which discusses on the evil nature of war. For the just war to be justified, it has to achieve the following conditions according to this theory: it has to be I regard to the legitimate authority, it should have the right intention, it is real, and it has a just cause and finally if it is the last and only option. Moreover, just war tends to condemn some evil vices in society like terrorism.

Character Strength

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Introduction

Character strength influences positive behavior. If developed and used correctly, character strength can help individuals navigate life challenges and ensure their wellbeing. Recent events over the last three years have shown that character strengths help individuals flourish regardless of the challenges they face. Character strengths are positive qualities that have the power to shape perspectives, promote positivity and ensure the wellbeing of individuals.

Important Concepts on Character Strengths

Character strengths affect feelings, thoughts, and behavior. Character strengths are universal, and they focus on the positive aspects of life, they influence wellbeing, and they help counteract negative emotions. According to Peterson and Seligman (2004) character strengths highlight the key elements of core values. They are measured through a survey of character strengths known as the values in action inventory (VIA). These values and traits are what people of all ages and cultures consider positive and good. As character strengths are universal traits, they are respected by people of all cultures and beliefs, and are evident through people’s feelings, thoughts, and behavior (McGrath, 2015). Character strengths are classified into twenty-four strengths that fall under six categories of virtue. People from all parts of the world classify these categories and traits uniformly, and they represent the different human characters that determine human values and traits. A standardized and uniform classification serves as a tool of common language. For instant, a kind person from one region and culture is viewed as kind across all regions and cultures. The use of a common language makes it easy to describe peoples’ characters and inspire positive change. For instance, by taking a VIA survey, one can easily make comparisons about their strengths and virtues and create an action plan that helps them develop their strengths (Truempy, 2014). Developing character strengths is crucial in ensuring personal and professional success.

Another important aspect is that character strengths directly influence wellbeing. By taking a VIA character strength survey, individuals can learn the strengths they have and equally measure the degree to which they possess these strengths. Understanding one’s strength is a form of self-awareness as one can easily describe the core of who they are. Self-awareness contributes to wellbeing (Niemiec, 2017). Various studies have shown that people that are self-aware are less likely to suffer from depression as they are happier and are aware of different aspects of their lives (Seligman, 2015). Over time, these positive effects foster self-confidence that further contributes to an individual’s wellbeing. Character strengths help people focus on positives, a trait that negates negative emotions. It is human nature to focus on the negative aspects of life, and this is evident through people’s tendencies to focus on negative experiences over positive experiences. Character strengths highlight positives, and this helps people focus on the good in their lives. Focusing on positive aspects of life counteracts human’s nature to focus on negatives experiences and emotions, and it helps people feel authentic to themselves and their beliefs ((Niemeic, 2017).

Some of the models and interventions used to identify and encourage the development of character strengths include the strength spotting and the aware-explore-apply model. Strength spotting is a technique that enables one to spot the character strengths in other individuals. Through this technique, people can be more conscious of how others use their strengths and emulate these positive traits. In a professional set up, strength spotting is important as it helps team leaders identify positive traits in different individuals and create efficient teams in which all team members have complimentary traits. This approach to creating teams ensures overall success and the attainment of goals. Other than promoting teamwork, strength spotting encourages people to compliment other individuals. Compliments serve as a means of appreciating other people’s skills and it helps strengthen work relationships. Also, strength spotting is beneficial in instances in which individuals are required to employ several character strengths. For instance, workplace conflicts are a common occurrence. To solve these conflicts effectively, individuals involved are required to focus on the positive and employ a variety of character strengths (Pawelski). A positive environment and the use of various character strengths allows for the use of various conflict resolution approaches. The result of this process is the use of efficient problem-solving methods that encourage the development of individual character strengths.

On a personal level, strength spotting is important in promoting happiness and personal growth. The ability to identify one’s positive traits boosts confidence, motivates one to be better, and contributes to individual happiness. Character strengths are dynamic in nature; therefore, one can identify various attributes about themselves that they want to nurture and develop. This approach promotes positive life experiences that are not dependent on prevailing life circumstances. For instance, during the onset of the pandemic, it was easy for people to fall into a state of paranoia and hopelessness. However, people that chose to develop their sense of gratitude focused on the positives in their lives. This focus on the positives helped them create cheerful memories and experiences.

The aware-explore-apply strength model involves a three-step process that promotes positive change. The first step in this model is awareness and it involves identifying character strengths and the common language used. Explore is the next step in this model and it involves connecting identified strengths to lived experiences and individual traits. The last step in this model is apply and it involves utilizing strengths in daily life. This model is repeatedly applied in all aspects of life, and it helps foster permanent character strength growth as one intentionally integrates various character strengths into their daily life.

Real Life Experience

A while back my friends and I decided to celebrate our reunion after spending time apart by going on vacation. I was tasked with the responsibility of choosing a vacation destination and planning the logistics of how we would get to the location I selected. I tend to take time when making decisions and often it results in delays. A week into the planning, one of my friends called to find out the location I had picked out. At the time, I had not yet decided on a specific location; therefore, my friend offered to help me fulfill my task. I was grateful for the help and given how excited she was I took a step back and let her take charge of making decisions.

In three days, my friend decided on a location and had started planning the logistics of the trip. A week into the planning, my friend called me angrily and expressed frustration and anger over my “lack of input”. While I agree that I had let her take full control of the planning, I felt angry that she did not notice the effort I put into planning the trip. The location she ended up choosing was a suggestion I had made. Also, I had sent her a detailed email that contained information on the travel agents we could use during our vacation. The email also contained details about suitable hotels that we could use. Her call made me feel disappointed, angry, and defensive because contrary to her view, I had fulfilled my obligation. During that phone call, I chose not to say anything and instead listened to all her grievances until she hanged up.

I had long noticed that my friend has a strong sense of leadership and teamwork. These qualities are useful in accomplishing tasks as one can take charge and ensure that goals are met. As I have previously highlighted, I had long noticed my friend’s sense of leadership and teamwork. As such, I was confident that letting her take charge of my duties would benefit our group as she would make good decisions at a faster rate. Also, as I was aware that she possessed these qualities, I was certain that she could perform my tasks better that I could.

Though my friend’s call made me angry I chose to utilize my sense of self-regulation by controlling my emotions and remaining silent. Self- regulation ensures that one uses appropriate actions (Truempy, 2014). In my case, it involved remaining silent and controlling my anger. Given a chance to go back, I would change this experience by becoming a better team member that participates more in the decision-making process. Increased participation would help show my friend that I was interested and invested in our vacation plans. I would also be more honest about my thoughts and my inability to make decisions quickly. Honesty would help me become more responsible for my actions. It would also reassure my friend that I had not intentionally left all my decision-making responsibilities to her. I would also practice appreciation of excellence. Through this strength, I could commend my friend for her skills and efforts in the planning and decision-making process. The use of this character strength would show my friend that I appreciated all her efforts in organizing a memorable vacation.

Character strengths influence positive change and shape people’s perspectives. Therefore, developing a multitude of character strengths is important as it ensures growth and encourages happiness and wellbeing. People should try to identify and develop their character strengths as it will guarantee positive life experiences.

References

McGrath, R. E. (2015). Character strengths in 75 nations: An update. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 10(1), 41-52.

Niemiec, R. M. (2017). Character strenghts interventions: A field guide for practitioners. Hogrefe Publishing.

Pawelski, J. (n.d.). James Pawelski: 3.3 Signature Strengths the Positive Psychology: Applications and Interventions MOOC from Penn ́s Positive Psychology Center (7min)

Peterson, C., & Seligman, M. E. (2004). Character strengths and virtues: A handbook and classification (Vol. 1). Oxford University Press.

Seligman, M. E. (2015). Chris Peterson’s unfinished masterwork: The real mental illnesses. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 10(1), 3-6.

Truempy, K. (Producer). (28 September, 2014). The Positive Psychology Podcast episode 006: Ryan Niemiec on Strengths. (Audio File) Retrieved from https://play.acast.com/s/thepositivepsychologypodcastbringingthescienceof happinesstoyourearbudswithkristentruempy/006-ryan-niemiec-on-strengths-the- positive-psychology-podcas

Muscle Fatigue

The purpose of the muscle function lab is to become familiar with basic properties of the skeletal muscle: such as types of contractions and muscle twitch. The main method behind this lab is to dissect a gastrocnemius muscle of a frog and stimulate it. Various results will show a threshold stimulus and a maximal stimulus. Contraction length, summation, tetanus, and muscle fatigue are also shown in this specific lab. Also, through this electrical stimulation we can visually see the relationship between length and tension with the presence of an isotonic and isometric contraction. Chemically, calcium ions have an effect on muscle contraction. A prolonged stimulation of the muscle, causing muscle fatigue, as we learned also affects muscle contraction. In this experiment we used a physiologic stimulator. This device delivers something like an electric shock directly to the frog’s gastrocnemius muscle. A force transducer was used to convert mechanical movements produced into a form of electrical signals. In this particular experiment we used a string to help measure the force of the muscle contraction, and with the help of the force transducer we were able to see this movement in electrical signals. The MacLab/4 is computer hardware that we used to help display the data in which we encountered. And lastly we used a Macintosh Computer to read and analyze the data that was found with the help of the MacLab/4 program.

The second part of this experiment was a direct stimulation of the human forearm muscle and induction of finger movements. Once again, this involved stimulation of the muscle with a direct electrical current. We placed the electrical stimulator on the flexor digitorum sperficialis muscle of the forearm. When we did this experiment we found the minimal electrical stimulus required to achieve a movement and contraction of the FDS. During this experiment there was a time from when the electrical charge starts to move through the sarcolemma to the time when the muscle contraction begins. The brief period of time we learned is called the latent period. We also found that there is a greater latent period in the human than the frog. In this experiment we used a stimulator, which is the same device as earlier stated. The McADDAM is part of the computer, which moves the signals from the Physiogrip trigger to electronic signal. With these electronic signals, the computer is able to recognize what is happening with the muscle movement. The Physiogrip Transducer is shaped like a pistol trigger and the twitching finger will be placed on and the transducer will help display the mechanical force to an electrical signal for the Macintosh computer to read. Therefore, in both labs we were able to determine an intensity-tension relationship, length-tension relationship, and frequency-tension relationship.

This lab was an excellent source to learn about how the muscular system functions and helps us understand how some muscular disorders come into play in our lives.

For the physiology mid term paper, we are focussing on the muscle function lab. In this lab, we became familiar with skeletal muscle, by isolating a frog’s gastrocnemius muscle. As a class, we learned about the use of direct electrical stimulation of muscle, the relationship between intensity-tension, muscle-length, and frequency-tension, stimulus, and muscle fatigue.

When an area of the body is stimulated, the message is sent to the brain by an electrical signal. This happens due to the nervous system. It is made up of nerves, “which connect the central nervous system with the periphery” (Germann 782), and neurons, which are cells of the nervous system. These cells have many parts, which aid in the transmission of messages throughout the body. The soma (cell body) is where the nucleus is found. The dendrites branch out from the soma, and form synapses with other neurons. This is important because this is how other neurons receive messages. The axon of the neuron sends the information down the whole cell. It is mylenated to speed up the process. This is why it does not take a very long time to feel a pain sensation, or to move a muscle. Between the mylinated portions of the axon are nodes of Ranvier. These areas of the cell are the places that the neurons are able to become excited, and make an action potential. This simply means that sodium ions flow into the cell, depolarizing it, so that signals in the form of neurotransmitters can be sent. An action potential only occurs in excitable cells, and follows the all-or none rule. This simply means that an action potential will occur only if the neuron is stimulated to the threshold or above. If the stimulation does not reach the threshold, there will be no action potential, and no message sent. A graded potential differs from this because it does not follow the all-or-none rule. Graded potentials are smaller then action potentials and result from the opening or closing of an ion channel. A single graded potential will not elicit a response or action potential (Germann 186). When they overlap, however, they can add together. This can happen in two ways. In temporal summation, “stimuli are applied in such rapid succession that the graded potential from one stimulus does not dissipate before the next graded potential occurs” (Germann 186). Spatial summation is closely related to temporal summation, except is occurs in when different synapses are stimulated simultaneously.

Ion channels are places on the neuron where sodium (NA+) flows in to the cell, or potassium (K+) flows out. These channels open when they see a change of voltage along the neuron. As this happens the Na+ channels on the muscle open so the acytlecholine can bind to its receptors. When the distribution of these ions change, the cell either becomes depolarized or hyperpolarized. When a neuron has been depolarized and begins to be repolarized, it enters an absolute refractory period, in which any stimulus will not elicit a response. This is because the neuron has reached its maximum threshold. After repolarization, there is a chance that the action potential may be excited again. This happens during the relative refractory period. In this period, an extremely large stimulus may elicit a response.

The body has many different types of neurotransmitters that have an array of functions. Some are excitatory, and others are inhibitory. As stated before, when a neuron becomes excited, Na+ flows into the cell, depolarizing it. Inhibitory neurotransmitters have the opposite effect, and inhibit neuron activity. They are released when the neurons are hyperpolarized, and an influx of K+ flows out of the cell (Kapit, 87). In the nerve lab, the neurotransmitters that were being tested were acetylcholine and norepinephrine. Acetylcholine can be found at the neuromuscular junction. It is involved with the contraction and twitch of muscles. When added to the muscle, it should increase the contraction. Norepinephrine can be found in the nerve, and when added to the nerve it should also increase muscle contraction. When acetylcholine is released, it binds to the acetylocholine receptors on the post-synaptic neuron. This is how the neurotransmitters are sent from the brain to the muscle. As acetylcholine enters the synaptic gap, acetylcholineserase breaks it down into acetate and choline, in order for it to be able to bind to its receptors. This is important because without all of these chemicals muscles would not be able to contract.

As the frequency was increased, the muscle went through summation. The twitches added together until they reached their maximum, and tetanus was achieved. This is because the calcium ions did not have time to go back into the Sarcoplasmic Reticulum and restart the entire process. The sarcomeres are the smallest unit of muscle cell that are separated by elastic fibers called z-lines. We can find within each sarcomere two typed of myofilaments. These myofilaments are positioned along the sarcomere’s length. Thick myofilaments are made up of myosin, and thin myofilaments are made up of actin molecules. A sliding movement of the thin filaments with the thick filaments causes contraction. This results in the shortening of the sarcomere.

This act of the muscle tissue being stimulated directly with electric shocks will then send a release of calcium ions and activate the muscle’s contraction. A twitch of the muscle shows a single muscle fiber or a whole muscle fiber activated.

The skeletal muscle is a fixed muscle attached to bones and skin and it is responsible for all voluntary and involuntary movements. The skeletal muscles are controlled by the somatic nervous system (Vander, 288). The gastrocnemius is a whole skeletal muscle, comprised of many single muscle fibers. “The gastrocnemius muscle is one of the frog’s extensor muscles and it aids the frog in its jumping movement” (Meisami, 100). It is possible to do the same experiment on a single muscle fiber, as well as the whole muscle fiber.

In the experiment we dissected the gastrocnemius muscle, attached it to the force transducer, and studied the effects of the intensity-tension relationship first. While doing this part of the experiment, we had to conclude what was going to happen to the tension amplitude when we raised the voltage. In the next part of the experiment, we tested the relationship between length and tension. While doing this part of the experiment we studied the effects of what would happen to the tension when the length of the muscle was increased. The last relationship we tested in this lab was the relationship between frequency and tension. In this part of the experiment, we determined what would happen to the muscle tension when the frequency of stimulation was increased. One is able to learn by looking at the graph on page 115, in the Laboratory Manuel, that muscle tension gradually increases with increasing frequency of stimulation. The highest frequency that we were supposed to test our gastrocnemius muscle at is 16 Hz. Therefore, we can conclude that at 16Hz the state of muscle contraction is called tetanus, meaning the contraction becomes continuous (Meisami, 114). The last thing that we tested in this experiment was muscle fatigue. “When a skeletal muscle is repeatedly stimulated, the tension developed by the fiber decreases even though stimulation continues” (Vander, 309). This stimulation in a muscle can resolve in muscle fatigue. We tested muscle fatigue by increasing the frequency of stimulation until tetanus started to occur. After tetanus was occurring in the muscle for a short time, the muscle tension decreased. This decline in muscle tension brought about muscle fatigue.

The general objectives of the muscle function lab are “to familiarize you with some of the basic functional properties of the skeletal muscle. By use of a frog’s gastrocnemius muscle, calf muscle, you will learn the properties of muscle including muscle twitch and maximal contraction, the isometric and isotonic types of contraction and the relationship between length and tension. Summation of muscle twitches, occurrence of muscle tetanus and muscle fatigue and the effects of calcium ions on muscle contraction will also be studied” (Meisami 116). Furthermore, there are a few specific objectives listed in the lab manual or found below. These include understanding procedures for dissection and isolation of the frog and its muscle, understanding the use of direct electrical stimulation, understanding the concepts of isometric and isotonic forms of muscle contraction, study the different relationships, and study muscle fatigue after prolonged stimulation (116).

The Muscle Function Lab involves the usage of three different pieces of scientific equipment. These three scientific pieces include the physiologic stimulator, force transducer, and MacLab/4-Chart. The physiologic stimulator works to provide electric stimuli at various strengths that are measured in voltage, durations that are measured in milliseconds, and frequencies that are measured in hertz. The force transducer works to convert the movements into electrical readings. The string that is attached by the experimenter to the frog’s gastrocnemius aids this. Finally the MacLab/4-Chart takes the electrical readings and forms them on a chart onto paper. In the first part of the lab dealing with the intensity-tension relationship, the voltage delivered to the frog’s gastrocnemius muscle is changed to a higher voltage to help determine threshold intensity and maximal intensity.

Bibliography:

Music and Psychology Paper

Student’s Name

Institutional Affiliation

Course

Instructor’s Name

Due Date

Part I: Introduction

Music typically has a significant connection with human actions, feelings, emotions, and the mind. It is a story narrated in a language comprehensible worldwide. Music connects individuals to their various personal past encounters, hence, manipulating their feelings and emotions (Greb et al., 2018). The manipulation can be negative or positive. The three songs that influenced my behaviors and thoughts positively are “Let Me Love You” by DJ Snake, “Not Afraid” by Eminem, and “Time” by Don Carlos. In the present paper, I will examine these songs’ lyrics utilizing three theoretical perspectives, which include Kohlberg’s theory, information-processing theory, and Piaget’s theory.

Part II:  Stories and Lyrics

“Time” by Don Carlos gives me positive thoughts daily. I listen to numerous reggae music, especially after waking up and in the evening. They are among my favorite songs as they keep me going in my daily struggles. “Time” by Don Carlos was released in 2012 and is among my top favorite songs. The song’s lyrics are inspiring and penetrating. There is also a well-arranged rhyme to make it easy to memorize the song while listening for the third time. Nevertheless, this song changed meaning when I began listening to it every morning at 6 am after waking up and in the evening at 8 pm after unsuccessful days. The initial listening of the song began some eight years back on one evening when my friend and I had had a bad day. Thus, I went that evening, lay on my bed, and typed in YouTube, “tomorrow is another day,” only to find the song as the second in the result list and these lyrics:

Tomorrow is another day, as the clock keep tickin’ away:

Time is so precious and so I say.

Tomorrow is another day, as the clock keep tickin’ away:

Time is so precious and so I say.

Let’s make it, when the sun is shining,

Get up let’s do something creative (O.D.M Lyrics, 2020).

From that day, whenever I needed some positive thoughts, I would ensure the song was among my top priority on the playlist. Every time I listened to the song, I felt inspired and strong again to keep pushing through the struggles. If I missed waking up, I would feel something is missing while the lyrics resonated in my mind concerning how precious time is. Therefore, listening to this song’s lyrics made me avoid wasting time and rise early in the morning.

Hip-hop music has been my workout song for a prolonged period. I can affirm that music truly increased athletic performance as I listened to the music every time during the morning run and gym. Specifically, the “Not Afraid” song lyrics by Eminem are essential in my workout and life opinions. The song was released in 2010 and have been among my top playlist for the last ten years. I have liked this song since the day I saw it on TV during a live performance and began memorizing it word by word. The song was a piece of fast music containing strong beats, which were essential. The musical tempo resulted in an increased heartbeat which facilitated my exercise early at 5 am and while in the gym. I made sure it was my workout song. Every time I got dressed for a workout, I thought of the song and its lyrics:

I’m not afraid (I’m not afraid)

To take a stand (to take a stand)

Everybody (everybody)

Come take my hand come (come take my hand)

We’ll walk this road together, through the storm

Whatever weather, cold or warm

Just lettin’ you know that you’re not alone

Holla if you feel like you’ve been down the same road (Tyz__official, 2012)

Moreover, when I listened to the song, I remembered my life decisions involving good morals without fear of losing bad friends. Thus, it contributed to good behavior. For example, the song resonated with various occurrences. I was tempted by friends to avoid being ‘clean’ and take drugs, but I took my stand. It also resonated with the multiple times I could carry out exercises while listening to the song’s lyrics. Therefore, the song’s lyrics have promoted endurance in my workout and strength and determination in making moral decisions.

References

Greb, F., Schlotz, W., & Steffens, J. (2018). Personal and situational influences on the functions of music listening. Psychology of Music, 46(6), 763-794.

O.D.M Lyrics. (2020). Don Carlos – Time Lyrics. Www.youtube.com. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-2UDti_COg

Tyz__official. (2012). Eminem – Not Afraid Lyrics (HD). Www.youtube.com. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eYaSNZRbFsA

Muscular Dystrophy

At least 1 in 3000 people is affected by a serious inherited neuromuscular disorder; muscular dystrophy makes up an appreciable amount of these. (Azofeifa,1995)

Muscular Dystrophy is a heterogeneous group of inherited disorders characterized by progressive muscle wasting and weakness. There are six types of muscular dystrophy: Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), Becker muscular dystrophy, Limb girdle, fasioscapulohumeral, distal, and oculopharyneal.

Duchenne type muscular dystrophy (also known a Meryon’s disease) is the most common form of dystrophy. It mainly only effects boys because it is inherited as an X linked recessive trait. It is probably the most serious form of dystrophy there is because it causes most boys to start using a wheel chair by the age of 12 and causing them to die by there 20’s. This disease causes some of the boys to have some degree of intellectual impairment. ( Kunkle, 1985) (Murray,1982)

Becker type muscular dystrophy is a lot alike with Duchenne but milder. The onset of this does not occur until they’re teenage years and early 20’s. Later in life they may lose the ability to walk, but they live until their middle ages and beyond (Murray,1982)

Over the past couple of years clinical features of weakness of the facial, scapulohumeral, anterior tibial, and pelvic girdle muscle have been extended to include retinal vascular disease, sensory hearing loss and, in severe cases, even abnormalities of the central nervous system. Most people are only mildly affected by this but many become dependent on wheelchairs later on in life. This is condition is inherited as an autosomal dominant trait. In 1990 the gene that is responsible was located on chromosome 4.14 restriction enzyme DNA fragments associated with the gene have been found to be greater than 35 kilobases in length in people who do not have muscular dystrophy. Then the people who are affected are always less than this (measured on an electrophoretic gel). We can then use the difference for suspected presymptomatic cases and in prenatal testing. (Murray,1982)

Limb girdle is a clinically and genetically heterogeneous group of conditions. Limb girdle is caused by a muscle specific protease deficiency. Less then 10 % of cases are inherited through autosomal dominant trait and are mostly mild. One sub type may be allelic to autosomal Emery- Dreifuss dystrophy. All other cases are inherited as autosomal recessive traits affecting both male and female. ( Azofeifa, 1995), (Matthews, 1996), (Perloff, 1967)

Distal myopathies are associated with wasting and weakness of the distal muscle, usually without the noticeable involvement of other muscle groups. Most people with this are only mildly affected although some may ultimately develop serious problem with walking and everyday life. (Padberg, 1997)

Oculopharyngeal (Bareau’s disease) is an autosomal dominant disorder that has been largely described as occurring in French Canadians descending from a couple who immigrated in 1634. The onset of this disease is late in adulthood of progressive ptosis and dysphagia, which is followed by involvement of other cranial and limb muscle. This gene is located on the 14th chromosome. This disease is likely to be genetically homogeneous but with different ancestral mutations in different populations. ( Bakker, 1997), ( Essen, 1997)

Molecular biological techniques have made the prevention of most forms of dystrophy possible through genetic counseling and prenatal testing. There also have been some major advances in the management of the disease. No matter what type of disease or what stage the disease is in certain things you should consider. Eat a well-balanced diet with plenty of fiber to help with constipation, especially when a person becomes immobile. You need to be on the lookout for excessive weight gain. Never let a person stay in bed for a long period of time because it can accelerate weakening of the muscles. You should have everyday activity that is within the person’s own limits. One sport that would be great would be swimming as long as it is supervised. You need to take good care of the respiratory system. Any time there is an infection it must be treated quickly and thoroughly. Surgical correction of scoliosis can make sitting easier and help preserve the lung functions. As the disease becomes older assisted ventilation may be something they might have to do. The quality of life of people with this disease can be much improved by a positive attitude to management, which includes respiratory care, physiotherapy, and surgical correction of contractures. (Bakker, 1997), ( Emery, 1969),

(Holding, 1993), (Kunkle, 1985), ( Reddy, 1984)

The research on this treatment has been mainly concentrated on Duchenne-type muscular dystrophy because of its frequency and severity. They have found that steroids help but they only slow the progression of the diseases for a time. They have not found a drug with any appreciably effects of the long-term course of the disease. Once they begin to understand the pathogenic pathways of the disease they may be able to come up with a drug that can interrupt those pathways. One prospect that looks great would be to upregulate a protein that would compensate for the deficiency of dystrophin. They can’t find a compound that will work in humans. ( Codd, 1989), ( Emery, 1993)

There are some things that a teacher may need to do if he or she has a child in their classroom that has muscular dystrophy. One thing is that most of the time the child will be a boy because the gene that has this defect is in the X chromosome and it that is a boy gene. This disease effects the muscles and causes them to become very weak. Which results in most boys being in a wheel chair by the time they are 12. You can prepare your other children in the classroom by explaining the disease to them and teaching them about wheel chairs and how they help the child to move freely and also teach them not to be afraid of them. Also with this disease some boys will have some intellectual impairment and in some cases special schooling may be needed. You may also want to teach the children about being overweight because some of these children may be overweight because excessive weight gain can sometimes be a problem because the child may be immobile. Another thing you may want to teach the children in your classroom is that they should help encourage the disabled student to engage in everyday activities that are within the children’s limits. For example if everyone is outside playing basketball you could encourage them all to play and then the child in the wheelchair can be included by being able to pass the ball and even shoot the ball. Another example is you could have the children have a race and get a chair on wheel that the other children could sit on and race the child in the wheel chair with. One last thing you could do is teaching all the children to encourage each other to eat a well-balanced diet because children with MS need to have a well-balanced diet to stay healthy.

Bibliography:

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Bakker E, Boten EJ, de Lange LF, et al. DNA probe analysis for carrier detection and prenatal diagnosis MS. JMed Genet 1997; 34: 805-812.

Bakker E, van Broeckhoven C, Boten EJ, van de Vooren MJ, Veenema H, van

Hul W, et al. Germline mosaicism MS mutations. Nature 1987; 329: 554-558

Codd MB, Sugrue DD, Gersh BJ, Melton IIILS. Epidemiology of idiopathic dilated and hypertropic cardiomyopathy. Circulation 1989; 80: 564-572.

Emery AEH. Abnormalities of the electrocardiogram in female carriers of MS. Br Med J 1969; 2: 418-420.

Emery AEH. MS. 2nd ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1993.

Essen van AJ, Kneppers ALJ, Hout van de AH, et al. The clinical and molecular genetic approach to MS: an updated protocol. Jmed Genet 1997; 34: 805-812.

Holding C, Bently D, Roberts R, Bobrow M, Matthew C. Development and validation of laboratory procedures for preimplantation diagnosis of MS Jmed Genet 1993; 30: 903-909.

Kunkle LM, Monaco AP, Middlesworth W, Ochs HD, Latt SA. Specific cloning of DNA fragments absent from DNA of a male patient with an X chromosome deletion. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 1985; 82: 4778-4782.

Matthews PM, Benjamin D, van Bakel I, et al Muscular inactivation patterns and dystrophin expression in MS carriers. Neuromuscul Disord 1996; 96: 167-176.

Murray JM, Davies KE, Harper PS, Meridith L, Mueller CR, Wiliamson R.Linkage relationship of a cloned DNA sequence on the short arm of the X chromosome to MS. Nature 1982; 300: 69-71

Padberg GW, Lunt PW, Koch M, Fardeau M, Royal Society of Medicine, 1997:

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Perloff JK, Roberts WC, de Leon AC, O’ Doherty D. The distinctive electrocardiogram of MS. Am Jmed 1967; 42: 179-188.

Reddy BK, Anandavalli TE, Reddi OS. X linke MS in an unusual family with manifesting carriers. Hum Genet 1984; 67: 460-462.

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