Compare/Contrast 1
Compare/Contrast 2
31024256
English 110
April 19, 2011
Paper 3, Draft 4
Perseverance in E Minor
Have you ever looked up to somebody so much that you wanted to be just
like them, whether a famous person, a family member, or even a friend? In Steve
Lopez’s book The Soloist, the main character, Nathaniel Ayers, strives to be like his
role model, Beethoven. Both Nathaniel and Beethoven have much in common; each
had a personal struggle in their life, defied the social norm, and had a passion for
music that could never be taken away.
Nathaniel Anthony Ayers was, at one time, a student at Julliard. He was going
places. It wasn’t until he was partway through his second year that he started to act
strange. As related in the book, Lopez interviews one of Nathaniel’s old music
teachers, Gary Karr, who comments that one time he said something like “Hey Man,”
and Nathaniel burst out with, “Don’t you ever call me Hey Man” (165). Karr also
notes that “Nathaniel would occasionally erupt, commandeering the conversation
and driving it from music to racial injustice” (165). Something wasn’t right with
Nathaniel, and he eventually dropped out of Julliard. Nathaniel’s mental condition
labels him as a “Paranoid Schizophrenic,” leaving him homeless on Skid Row, with
nothing but the music in his head and a two-stringed violin.
Just like Nathaniel, Beethoven was left with only the music in his head. Many
don’t know this, but Beethoven composed his last masterpieces when he was
Compare/Contrast 3
completely deaf! By the age of forty-eight, Beethoven had lost all of his hearing.
Born with a silver spoon in his mouth, at least in the music department, he was a
child prodigy. When he started to lose his hearing in his late twenties, Beethoven
went through periods of depression and deep despair. He would often write letters
to his friends explaining his issues and overall sadness of his condition (McCabe 23). Struggling to hear the music he so desperately loved had to be utter torture to
him.
If being homeless with schizophrenia doesn’t set Nathaniel apart from
others, his strange ways surely do. When it comes to “social norms,” Nathaniel is
completely oblivious. He marches to his own beat. Playing his music, Nathaniel
doesn’t stop for anyone, not even a comment or question aimed at him amidst his
playing. It’s as if the passerby does not exist; he is in his own reality. Aside from his
lack of socialization, Nathaniel lugs a shopping cart full of his belongings
everywhere he goes. When Steve Lopez arranges for them to go to a concert at
Disney Hall, Nathaniel states that “Nobody here can be trusted and I am not leaving
a thing in there with all the nonsense that goes on in this place. I wouldn’t leave a
dog with those clowns” (Lopez 108). He clearly has trust issues, and fails to realize
that not everyone is out to steal from him. The social barriers put up by Nathaniel
makes it hard on Lopez, who is trying to reach out to him.
Thankfully, Beethoven didn’t lug a cart around with him everywhere he
went. Instead, he lugged around “conversation books” and an “ear-trumpet.” Since
going deaf, Beethoven wasn’t able to hear much of anything. Indeed, having to use
an ear trumpet just to scarcely hear the strings in an orchestra made him stand out
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like a sore thumb from all the other social butterflies. When the ear trumpet no
longer sufficed for his problem, Beethoven switched to carrying little blank books in
which people could write down a question, and Beethoven could respond to
verbally since his speech was not affected. To give an example of his deafness: as
Beethoven finished performing his Ninth Symphony, the musicians had to turn him
around just so he could hear the tremendous applause that was being given to him
(McCabe 5). Being stone deaf did not keep Beethoven from performing until his
heart was content.
Although Nathaniel suffers from Paranoid Schizophrenia, it does not prevent
him from “hearing the music.” He isn’t handicapped in that sense. Pigeons flying
overhead, the noises from the tunnel he used to play in, all are music to his ears.
Toward the end of the book, Nathaniel and Lopez are riding home from a concert
just performed by Mr. Hone. They are listening to a composition of “Sibelius
Number Two,” when Nathaniel interprets what he thinks the artist was trying to get
across in the music: “Do you hear what Sibelius is saying here? He’s saying, ‘I love
music.’ Do you hear it? ‘I love this music. I love this music’” (Lopez 285-286).
When Nathaniel hears or plays music, a much deeper meaning is revealed than just
the notes or chords on a piece of paper. He hears what a normal person cannot
comprehend. It comes to life, and manifests itself in an entirely different manner to
his ears.
Music manifested itself in a whole different way to Beethoven as well. He
unfortunately wasn’t able to hear the music so freely, but the masterpieces that he
created, just from what he retained when he could hear, left people in awe. It ran
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through his veins, out his fingers, and onto the paper, where he was able, though
completely deaf, to compose and perform these masterpieces, unaware whether the
symphonies were being executed in a pleasing manner to people whose hearing was
not impaired. He trusted what he knew to bring the music he so greatly loved to
people. It was his passion, and being held back by deafness was not an option for
him.
In conclusion, Nathaniel and Beethoven each had their own share of personal
struggles and trials. Considering Nathaniel has more of a mental disorder, and
Beethoven lost one of his major senses, neither used their problems as an excuse to
stop doing what they loved best: music. Instead, they persevered through their
hardships, and made the best of what they had, each hearing the music in his own
special way.
Compare/Contrast 6
Works Cited
Beethoven-Haus Bonn. Museum Beethoven-Haus. Web. 23 March, 2011.
(http://www.beethoven-haus-bonn.de/sixcms/detail.php/18568/
Glossar detail en)
Lopez, Steve. The Soloist. New York: Berkley, 2008. Print.
McCabe, Brian F. “Beethoven’s Deafness.” University of Michigan Ann Arbor. 67.1
(1958) :Pg.2, 3, 5. EBSCO Publishing. Web (PDDF). 22 March, 2011.
Compare/Contrast 7
Maria Moreno
English 110 Intro to College Writing
April 14, 2011
Final draft, Contrast Essay
Contrast Between Day of the Dead and Halloween
Some people don’t know the difference between the Mexican celebration
of Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) and Halloween. Day of the Dead is a
holiday where people get together to celebrate death, and it is a religious festival;
in contrast, Halloween is a holiday where people get together just to have fun,
and it is a secular festival. Halloween and Day of the Dead have more
differences than similarities due to their celebration’s dates, origins, religious
connotations, traditions, symbols, and attitudes toward death; in fact, they are
two holidays that celebrate very different concepts.
One of the few similarities between these two holidays is the proximity in
dates. Most people believe that Day of the Dead and Halloween are celebrated
the same day, but that is not true. Day of the Dead is celebrated two days after
Halloween. On one hand, on November 1, the Mexican people celebrate the Day
of the Little Dead or All Saints Day; on this day the deceased children called
“angelitos” (little angels) are remembered and honored. November 2 is the main
day of the religious festival; on this day, people celebrate the adult deceased
(Hoyt). On the other hand, Halloween is an American holiday celebrated on Oct
31. Halloween is only a holiday to have a good time with friends and family, and
Compare/Contrast 8
have fun with everything related to dark fantasy like the occult, terror, and black
magic.
Beyond their proximity in dates, the origins of these two holidays come
from different continents. The origins of Day of the Dead come from the Aztecs,
who honored their ancestors. When the Spanish invaded Mexico, they brought
Catholicism with them. The indigenous traditions of the Aztecs are almost extinct,
but the festival of the dead survived because it was merged with Catholicism
(Ross, Miller, and Erichsen). In contrast, the origins of Halloween come from the
northern European Celt’s harvest festivals. In these festivals the Celts celebrated
the end of the summer and the beginning of autumn. Halloween was brought to
America by the Irish immigrants (Filip), and its origins were not religious.
The religious connotation in these holidays carries a huge difference, too.
On the one hand, Day of the Dead is mainly a religious celebration where the
people honor the memory of relatives and friends who have passed away. The
religious connotation in the Mexican holiday is represented with special masses
ordered by the families of the dead being honored and the gatherings in
cemeteries to pray for their souls. On the other hand, Halloween is a pagan and
festive celebration, where people get together to have a nice time and fun with
friends and loved ones. There is not religious meaning in this holiday. This is
one of the main differences between these festivities.
Furthermore, each holiday has different traditions. Day of the Dead is
celebrated with a lot of activities starting weeks before the date, when the local
merchants set up large and provisional markets full of all kind of treats like
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“dead’s bread,” skeletons, sarcophagi, and “dead’s flowers” (marigolds) made of
sugar. These items are used in the preparation of altars, which is a very
important and colorful custom for this holiday. The people prepare altars in
houses, offices, businesses, and schools. The traditional colors for the altar
covers are black, Mexican pink, bright green, orange, and purple. The altars
include the favorite dish of the person being honored, dead’s bread, photographs
of the deceased, and fresh “dead’s flowers” (marigolds); they also include sugar
skeletons. The altars are decorated with colorful paper-mache because it is light
paper representing the echoes of the wind. The people also include beautiful wax
candles, aromatic incense, and containers full of water to represent the
purification from water and fire. Also, on Day of the Dead, people wear costumes
to represent death. The women wear dresses in bright colors with painted skull
masks on their faces; they wear flowers, hats or braiding on their head. The men
wear skeleton costumes or sober black suits and hats, and they also paint their
faces to look like skulls. The people wearing the skeleton and skull costumes
dance and make jokes about death, but moreover, they feel proud of dressing up
as dead, because it is an honor for them to represent the death in that special
day. In contrast, on Halloween the people start decorating houses, streets,
businesses and schools with lights, ghosts, skeletons, skulls, witches, and fresh
and fake pumpkins several days before October 31. The horror films, haunted
houses, and everything related to the occult, magic, and monsters are traditional
as well. The traditional colors are orange, purple, black and all kinds of dark
colors. The costume contests are one of the favorite activities on this holiday.
Compare/Contrast 10
The costume parties are organized at the schools and businesses, where adults
and children participate wearing their most chilling, creepy, and scary costume in
order to win prizes. On Halloween, people don’t wear a specific costume; they
use all kinds of scary costumes like skeletons, witches, vampires, monsters, and
ghosts to mention a few. Both holidays have very different traditions where the
people explore their imagination to get fun and maintain these traditions alive
year after year.
In addition to all these beautiful traditions, these holidays have their
specific symbols that represent different things, too. In Day of the Dead, the
skeleton is the main symbol. Death is represented and honored with skeletons
skulls. There is a lovely tradition of buying skulls to exchange with friends and
relatives. The people buy, in the provisional markets, skulls made from sugar in
all sizes and colors; then, the people write or paste the name of the loved one on
the forehead of the skulls. The people exchange these skulls during the festive
season. In contrast, the main symbol for Halloween is a hollow pumpkin called a
Jack O’ Lantern. The people organize pumpkin carving parties where everybody
carves their own pumpkin in scary or funny faces as well as in landscapes or
phrases. These two symbols represent another fun tradition greatly anticipated
for children and adults during both these holidays.
As I mentioned before, both Day of the Dead and Halloween use
skeletons and skulls in their festivities, but the meaning is completely different. In
the Day of the Dead, the skeletons represent death in a cheerful and fun manner.
The people don’t use the skeletons to terrorize; instead, the skeletons are used
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to play. In Halloween, the skeletons represent death, too, but they also symbolize
a hallowed spirit, all things scary, and the fear of death; the people use the
skeletons to play and to try to scare other people in a harmless way. Both
holidays uses skeletons to have fun in different ways.
Another main tradition and entertainment is “Trick and Treating.” In fact, it
isn’t a fun activity on Day of the Dead, because the children have transformed it
into vandalism. On the contrary, on Halloween this tradition is the delight of the
children because they wear their favorite costume. The children go from door to
door demanding a treat or tricking neighbors, family, and friends, and getting a
wide variety of cookies and candies. This tradition is not appreciated in Mexico,
while in America is a very fun activity.
In addition, traditional and special dishes are present on both these
holidays, too. The main Day of the Dead celebration is on November 2, when the
people gather together in the cemeteries and bring picnic baskets full of special
dishes such as mole, chiles rellenos, enchiladas, and tequila to eat. Some people
may even hire mariachi bands to sing the favorite songs of the honored person
(Hoyt). However, on Halloween everybody gets together with friends and family
to enjoy special “devilish” treats and dinners represented with food cooked in
shapes of spiders, spider webs, bone-shaped cakes, bloody fingers, vampires,
and bats to name a few. Again, here we have an example of how these two
holidays have very delightful traditions to enjoy with family and friends.
Finally, there is a cultural attitude that makes a big difference between
these two holidays - the attitude toward death. Day of the Dead embraces death
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as part of life and accepts it with respect. This feeling helps people live without
the fear of death because they believe that they never lose their place in the
heart of their family, and that thought gives them comfort and makes them relax
and enjoy life. On the other hand, in the American culture, Halloween represents
the fear of death; it is something negative to be feared (Erichsen). Halloween
symbolizes the fear of the unknown, fear of dying.
In conclusion, the reason and meaning of these two holidays are
completely different, and their origins, religiosity, traditions, and attitude toward
death are not the same. In Mexico, the celebration of Day of the Dead is a festive
event with religious connotations where the people honor dead loved ones, while
in America, Halloween is a secular festivity with no religious origins where people
have fun with friends and family.
In essence, the only similarity between these two holidays is the proximity
in date because both are celebrated at the end of the summer and both use
skeletons to have fun. Actually, Day of the Dead is a day to remember deceased
loved ones, while Halloween is a day to have a good time with loved ones.
Works Cited
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Erichsen, Gerald. "Day of the Dead Honors the Deceased." About.com., n.d.
Web. 11 Feb. 2011.
<http://spanish.about.com/cs/culture/a/dayofdead.htm>.
Filip, Julia. "The History of Halloween." Suite101. 22 Oct. 2009. Web. 11 Feb.
2011. <hppt://www.suite101.com/content/the-history-of-halloweena161635>.
Miller, Carlos. "Indigenous People Wouldn't Let 'Day of the Dead' Die."
Azcentral., n.d. Web. 11 Feb. 2011.
<http://www.azcentral.comentdeadarticlesdead-history.html>.
Palfrey, Dale Hoyt. "November 2: Day of the Dead." Mexconnect. 1995. Web. 11
Feb. 2011. <http://www.mexconnect.com/articles/1972-november-2-theday-of-the-dead>.
Ross, Shmuel. "Day of the Dead." Infoplease.com. 2007. Web. 11 Feb. 2011.
<http://www.infoplease.com/spot/day-of-the-dead. html>.