Chants

Marge Piercy’s, The Secretary Chant, describes a woman feeling dehumanized by her job to the point where it consumes her and she becomes the lifeless, inanimate objects she works with. Piercy expresses the secretary’s emotions across in a somewhat humorous way using metaphors, onomatopoeia, and repetition. The whole poem is an extended metaphor comparing a secretary to the office supplies surrounding her. Her role as a human is belittled and she is reduced to functionaries, not seeing herself…

Music is an art form that we as humans listen to because it engages our brains. It gives us a sense of euphoria, much like a drug. Throughout history, music has always played a large role in our lives, whether we recognized it or not. One reason we are attracted to music is because “it is the rhythm of the human species” (Music moves the world: The power and passion of rhythm, melody, and dance [Video file]. (2004). Through the use of rhythm and melody, we as humans use music as a way to…

As a literature lover, I spent a lot of time understanding what these poems are trying to say, and I enjoyed reading every single of them. As far as evaluating each of these poems, I need to say that the meaning of "The Secretary Chant" was pretty straight forward from my understanding. The poem reveals how the career of a secretary has taken away her life to the extent that she has forgotten herself as a woman. Moreover, because of the way the poet described her situation, we can realize that…

that they need in the workplace this is why women have struggles with finding their identity in the workplace. The speaker in "the secretary chant" describes herself as an overworked machine. The speaker feels much trapped in the workplace and has a sense of feeling overwhelmed with her job. The speaker In Marge Piercy’s "the secretary chant” makes the use of metaphors a lot in the poem. The speaker says "My Hips are a desk/ from my ears hang chain of paper clips/Rubber bands form my…

What does a businessman riding the subway in Tokyo have in common with a man performing a Balinese Monkey Chant? At first glance they may seem totally unrelated, but in fact it is the way they learned such behaviors that links them together. People’s behavior and knowledge is constantly influenced by their environment. In turn, these changes in knowledge or behavior result in learning. Baraka explores over 24 countries and cultures that overall demonstrate this concept. While Baraka’s raw…

There are many things that can make up a person. From their age, nationality, gender, personality, and personal beliefs, everyone is different in some way. In the poem, “The Secretary Chant,” written by Marge Piercy, the speaker is slowly being dehumanized as each of her body parts are referred to common office supplies. In 1970, the time that the poem was written, Marge Piercy was a secretary who worked long shifts and was constantly mistreated for the fact that she had the jo Piercy’s use of…

Gregorian chant from the ninth and tenth century of the medieval Catholic church is also known as plain chant. Kyrie eleison and Credo are two examples of Gregorian chant that share many similarities, but also include many small details that signify their differences because they were created for different purposes. In the paragraphs below I will explain how the musical notes from the two chants signify how the two chants are similar and also very different from each other. Both chants are…

middle Ages between 500-1400 AD. The Catholic Church’s chants dominated at this time with their sacred music known as the Gregorian chant. This sacred music gradually developed into polyphonic music known as organum. However, secular music also flourished from Trouveres and Troubadours, until it was crowned with secular compositions of the first true genius of western music regarded as Guillaume de Machaut (Organ, 2001). However, the Gregorian chant was developed from early Christian music…

melody with entrances and exits from the Kakko and a San-no-tsuzumi. The Ryuteki introduces us to the melody used throughout the remainder of the piece. These moments of monophony are seen throughout the piece. An example of monophony from Gregorian Chant can be found in “Alleluia Vidimus Stellam”(1). This clip begins with a male soloist singing sacred text, who is later joined by a choir of men. The choir is singing in unison, meaning together and without harmony. The melody sung by the choir…

lines of crusades, dancing, and love songs and less of the more religious and spiritual theme that sacred has. There are several different types of sacred music. The most common ones being the Gregorian Chant, Organum, Mass Ordinary, and Renaissance Motets. According to our book, the Gregorian Chant “consists of melody set to sacred…