Timmy's Essay 13

Timmy O’Brien
Mr. Salsich
English 9
17 February 2009

Music in Many:

An Essay on Music in my Life and Caliban’s

        1. Everyone in this world is different. 2. They look different and have different likes and dislikes, but most of them share one thing – a love of music. 3. Most everyone in the world from China to the United States has an interest in music of some sort. 4. This curiosity occurs in people such as myself, and other fictitious characters such as Caliban in “The Tempest”.
        TS A seemingly shapeless and monstrous man, Caliban can be changed by the simplest of things – music [appositive as sentence opener]. SD These magical “sounds and sweet airs” change Caliban’s whole outlook on life. CM He is usually angry with Prospero for making his life terrible, but music lets him feel happier. CM He fears nothing, and is able to live in a state of pure bliss for a little bit. SD The music also lets Caliban dream [short sentence amid longer ones]. CM In a literal sense, sometimes when he hears the music, he falls asleep and dreams. CM Figuratively, he dreams of what he can accomplish, and he imagines “riches” falling onto him, making him wealthy. SD Finally, Caliban is able to turn a terrible situation of servitude around with the benefit of music. CM The “thousand twangling instruments” he hears “give [him] delight and hurt [him] not”. CM On that island, those jingles are his only friends. CS Those splendid sounds are the only things that make him feel that life is even remotely worth living.
        TS For me, music is a very important part of life. SD The sounds I hear can determine the way I feel. CM If I’m listening to a particularly upbeat song, my mood can be lifted. CM I can go from cheerless to cheerful in seconds if the right song is playing. SD Alternatively, my mood can change the other way around. CM This happens less frequently, but sometimes if I play a really depressing song, I can start to feel a bit gloomier [compound-complex sentence]. CM The music can have a numbing effect that makes me feel worse. SD Along with changing my mood, music can let me drift away from reality. CM In some songs, the lyrics mean a lot to me personally, so I can get lost in them. CM I am able to focus on nothing for a little while and leave my troubles behind. CS At some times, music redefines my life and lets me make it what I want it to be.
        1. Music has a lot to do with both real and fictional lives. 2. With Caliban, it changes his personality to make him fearless and happy. 3. Music provides me with happiness, with sorrow, and with the ability to be free [three consecutive prepositional phrases]. 4. In the end, music can be portrayed as the definition of life because it is the only thing keeping some, like Caliban, alive.