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Example research essay topic: Aldous Huxley Jim Morrison - 4,069 words

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The 1960 s were a time of major political and social change. These changes were primarily fuelled by the youth of the time. Their parents had come from life in both the great depression of the 1930 s as well as World War II, and were on a whole more conservative than their children, a fact the younger generation did not like. In the early 60 s the electronic media (Television and radio) became an important communication tool, as opposed to the largely print based media of previous decades. With change came a profound increase in the exchange of knowledge, ideas, and information, which in turn influenced a generation to become much more active in politics and other affairs which affected them, than what the previous generations would have been. The youth culture aimed to change all of the contradictions that remained unchanged from their parents culture.

Examples of this move for change and progress included politics, religion, class struggle, racial issues, and the Vietnam war, but the area in which this change was most visible was in the arena of popular music, which too had become a tool for the communication of ideas. James Douglas (Jim) Morrison was born in Melbourne, Florida on December 8 th, 1943. He was the son of a Rear-Admiral, whos father, grandfather, and family all had lifetime careers in the Navy. This suggests a strict and militaristic upbringing, with the assumption being that the young Morrison would be a career Navy officer like his ancestors. Clearly Morrison came from the kind of household that the youth culture were rebelling against. Perhaps this was one of the causes of Morrison open rebellion.

When he had finished school, he moved to California, where he enrolled in the theatre department of the University College of Los Angeles (UCLA), and hoped to become a movie director. It was here that he met Raymond (Ray) Manzarek, who was also a student of the film school. Manzarek had learned classical piano as a child, although his personal tastes led him to playing blues on the organ. In 1965 the two conceived the idea of forming a band. Morrison wanted the band to be not just a group that creates music, but a form of rock guerrilla theatre- using the music as a way to communicate his ideas beliefs. He wanted the band and the audience to be connected through a collective consciousness.

This being a long way from the music of previous decades, where while the audience may dance to the music, they were not physically, or emotionally involved with the band. Manzarek saw a performance by a group called the Psychedelic Rangers, and asked guitarist Robbie Krieger and drummer John Densmore whether they would be interested in joining the group. The two agreed, and they took the name The Doors after a book called The Doors of Perception by Aldous Huxley, which was in turn inspired by a quote from the poet William Blake If the doors of perception were cleansed, everything would appear as it is, infinite. Blake was one of Morrisons primary poetic influences. This was also the origin of Morrisons well known phrase There are things known and things unknown and in between them are the doors. The Doors primary themes were sex, violence, and politics.

Morrison was also a suprisingly good poet, which is evident in the songs lyrics, and many of his poems were published after his death. At this time, rock acted as a kind of counter culture, challenging the boundaries of the dominant culture where it had become hypocritical and even unjust... The main thrust of rock music was a force for change, both on a personal level [ie. sexual morality, drug use, etc. ]...

and on a societal level, in opposition to the Vietnam War, [and] racial injustice... Rock and roll provided much of the communicative power of the counter culture, and, as such, was a force for change. (Macken, 1980: p 23) Rock, the music of the Sixties, was a music of spontaneity... It came from the life experiences of the artists and their interaction with an audience that was roughly the same age. (Frith, 1981: p 41); rock was not made to be commercial, ie. it was not produced to sell records and make money. Rock music was a reflector of society, ie. rock lyrics reflected the values and ideas of the youth culture.

It was also relatively structureless compare with previous decades. The Doors epitomized this belief. Their music was never made to make a living. Furthermore, it was a rare occasion when they actually conformed to the constraints and obligations placed on them (usually by the older generation). Jim Morrison was anything but predictable and well behaved- he was arrested on several occasions, for being disruptive, and on one occasion taken to court for alleged indecent exposure on stage, though it must be noted that the prosecution could produce neither witnesses nor photographic proof of the lewd behaviour, so it is entirely possible that the authorities wanted any excuse to silence this young rebel who threatened their authority by defiance.

Morrisons reasons for acting like this, were: one, he was a romantic and a rebel at heart (the struggle of the young hero against the corrupt and malevolent authorities); and two, he believed that External revolt is a way to bring about internal freedom (Morrison, from the biography he provided for Elektra records, with which the Doors were signed to). Often lyrics in the Doors songs were also rebellious and seen as anti-social. For example, in the song The end, are the lyrics Father. Yes son? I want to kill you... Performing this song got them fired from their first act, which was at the Whisky-a-go-go bar in Los Angeles.

Also, in their hit, Light my fire, is the line Girl, we couldnt get much higher. Both relatively tame to todays I wanna f %k you like an animal, by Nine Inch Nails, but in their day, the connotations of these lyrics were very disconcerting to record companies and venue owners, and loved by teenagers for the same reason. Revolt was a major theme of the sixties in the USA This revolution came from the youth, and predominantly from university students. It has been said that knowledge is power, and knowledge and information gave the youth of the sixties the power to make choices about their lives and their world; many of these choices involved breaking away from the way of the older generation, and therefore rebelling.

The Doors were seen as significant at the time because they too did this, and in the public arena, thereby giving the individual courage to make choices too. The main areas of conflict were politics and war, and arising from the conflicting public and private obligations, between freedom and the responsibilities of the youth. It was this conflict that rock addressed more than any other form of expression, and therefore the rock bands of the time represented a largely unified voice of the younger generation; The Beatles, Bob Dylan, the Doors, and later on Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple, were among these bands. One of the major things that the Doors, along with many young people (American and Australian), were strongly opposed to was the Vietnamese war. Young Americans and Australians and were being forced to go off to Vietnam and fight a war that many believed was none of our buisness.

Public protests against Americas involvement in the war were common. Several of the Doors songs were written to raise social awareness about the war; they included When the musics over, and The end, which featured in the Oliver Stone film about Vietnam, Apocalypse Now. This is an example of how rock music analysed and dealt with issues of the day. Another reason for the Doors phenomenal success was their concerts. The word performance is a little too tame to describe the spectacle of Manzarek's organ solos, Krieger's jazzy guitar, and especially Morrisons on stage antics, which on more than one occasion resulted in a premature end to the concert. Jim Morrison died in a bath-tub in Paris July 3 rd, 1971, of what appeared to be heart failure, although it was quite possibly drug related (possibly taking heroin thinking it was cocaine), aged 28.

He can be summed up by the phrase The candle that burns twice as bright, burns half as long. , and Morrison burned very brightly. The Doors music, as well as Morrisons refusal to conform were's influences to the groups who would make up the 1980 s punk rock genre, who in turn influenced 1990 s punk bands. After Morrisons death, the three remaining members went on to make two more albums, with reduced success. They put some of his poems to music with excellent results, and released it as an album. Several live albums, as well as several greatest hits albums have also been released, which leads to an interesting fact about the band- theyre more popular now than when they were in the sixties.

All their albums have sold more copies after Morrisons dea The 1960 s were a time of major political and social change. These changes were primarily fuelled by the youth of the time. Their parents had come from life in both the great depression of the 1930 s as well as World War II, and were on a whole more conservative than their children, a fact the younger generation did not like. In the early 60 s the electronic media (Television and radio) became an important communication tool, as opposed to the largely print based media of previous decades. With change came a profound increase in the exchange of knowledge, ideas, and information, which in turn influenced a generation to become much more active in politics and other affairs which affected them, than what the previous generations would have been. The youth culture aimed to change all of the contradictions that remained unchanged from their parents culture.

Examples of this move for change and progress included politics, religion, class struggle, racial issues, and the Vietnam war, but the area in which this change was most visible was in the arena of popular music, which too had become a tool for the communication of ideas. James Douglas (Jim) Morrison was born in Melbourne, Florida on December 8 th, 1943. He was the son of a Rear-Admiral, whos father, grandfather, and family all had lifetime careers in the Navy. This suggests a strict and militaristic upbringing, with the assumption being that the young Morrison would be a career Navy officer like his ancestors. Clearly Morrison came from the kind of household that the youth culture were rebelling against. Perhaps this was one of the causes of Morrison open rebellion.

When he had finished school, he moved to California, where he enrolled in the theatre department of the University College of Los Angeles (UCLA), and hoped to become a movie director. It was here that he met Raymond (Ray) Manzarek, who was also a student of the film school. Manzarek had learned classical piano as a child, although his personal tastes led him to playing blues on the organ. In 1965 the two conceived the idea of forming a band. Morrison wanted the band to be not just a group that creates music, but a form of rock guerrilla theatre- using the music as a way to communicate his ideas beliefs.

He wanted the band and the audience to be connected through a collective consciousness. This being a long way from the music of previous decades, where while the audience may dance to the music, they were not physically, or emotionally involved with the band. Manzarek saw a performance by a group called the Psychedelic Rangers, and asked guitarist Robbie Krieger and drummer John Densmore whether they would be interested in joining the group. The two agreed, and they took the name The Doors after a book called The Doors of Perception by Aldous Huxley, which was in turn inspired by a quote from the poet William Blake If the doors of perception were cleansed, everything would appear as it is, infinite. Blake was one of Morrisons primary poetic influences.

This was also the origin of Morrisons well known phrase There are things known and things unknown and in between them are the doors. The Doors primary themes were sex, violence, and politics. Morrison was also a suprisingly good poet, which is evident in the songs lyrics, and many of his poems were published after his death. At this time, rock acted as a kind of counter culture, challenging the boundaries of the dominant culture where it had become hypocritical and even unjust... The main thrust of rock music was a force for change, both on a personal level [ie.

sexual morality, drug use, etc. ]... and on a societal level, in opposition to the Vietnam War, [and] racial injustice... Rock and roll provided much of the communicative power of the counter culture, and, as such, was a force for change. (Macken, 1980: p 23) Rock, the music of the Sixties, was a music of spontaneity... It came from the life experiences of the artists and their interaction with an audience that was roughly the same age. (Frith, 1981: p 41); rock was not made to be commercial, ie. it was not produced to sell records and make money. Rock music was a reflector of society, ie.

rock lyrics reflected the values and ideas of the youth culture. It was also relatively structureless compare with previous decades. The Doors epitomized this belief. Their music was never made to make a living. Furthermore, it was a rare occasion when they actually conformed to the constraints and obligations placed on them (usually by the older generation). Jim Morrison was anything but predictable and well behaved- he was arrested on several occasions, for being disruptive, and on one occasion taken to court for alleged indecent exposure on stage, though it must be noted that the prosecution could produce neither witnesses nor photographic proof of the lewd behaviour, so it is entirely possible that the authorities wanted any excuse to silence this young rebel who threatened their authority by defiance.

Morrisons reasons for acting like this, were: one, he was a romantic and a rebel at heart (the struggle of the young hero against the corrupt and malevolent authorities); and two, he believed that External revolt is a way to bring about internal freedom (Morrison, from the biography he provided for Elektra records, with which the Doors were signed to). Often lyrics in the Doors songs were also rebellious and seen as anti-social. For example, in the song The end, are the lyrics Father. Yes son? I want to kill you... Performing this song got them fired from their first act, which was at the Whisky-a-go-go bar in Los Angeles.

Also, in their hit, Light my fire, is the line Girl, we couldnt get much higher. Both relatively tame to todays I wanna f %k you like an animal, by Nine Inch Nails, but in their day, the connotations of these lyrics were very disconcerting to record companies and venue owners, and loved by teenagers for the same reason. Revolt was a major theme of the sixties in the USA This revolution came from the youth, and predominantly from university students. It has been said that knowledge is power, and knowledge and information gave the youth of the sixties the power to make choices about their lives and their world; many of these choices involved breaking away from the way of the older generation, and therefore rebelling. The Doors were seen as significant at the time because they too did this, and in the public arena, thereby giving the individual courage to make choices too. The main areas of conflict were politics and war, and arising from the conflicting public and private obligations, between freedom and the responsibilities of the youth.

It was this conflict that rock addressed more than any other form of expression, and therefore the rock bands of the time represented a largely unified voice of the younger generation; The Beatles, Bob Dylan, the Doors, and later on Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple, were among these bands. One of the major things that the Doors, along with many young people (American and Australian), were strongly opposed to was the Vietnamese war. Young Americans and Australians and were being forced to go off to Vietnam and fight a war that many believed was none of our buisness. Public protests against Americas involvement in the war were common.

Several of the Doors songs were written to raise social awareness about the war; they included When the musics over, and The end, which featured in the Oliver Stone film about Vietnam, Apocalypse Now. This is an example of how rock music analysed and dealt with issues of the day. Another reason for the Doors phenomenal success was their concerts. The word performance is a little too tame to describe the spectacle of Manzarek's organ solos, Krieger's jazzy guitar, and especially Morrisons on stage antics, which on more than one occasion resulted in a premature end to the concert.

Jim Morrison died in a bath-tub in Paris July 3 rd, 1971, of what appeared to be heart failure, although it was quite possibly drug related (possibly taking heroin thinking it was cocaine), aged 28. He can be summed up by the phrase The candle that burns twice as bright, burns half as long. , and Morrison burned very brightly. The Doors music, as well as Morrisons refusal to conform were's influences to the groups who would make up the 1980 s punk rock genre, who in turn influenced 1990 s punk bands. After Morrisons death, the three remaining members went on to make two more albums, with reduced success. They put some of his poems to music with excellent results, and released it as an album. Several live albums, as well as several greatest hits albums have also been released, which leads to an interesting fact about the band- theyre more popular now than when they were in the sixties.

All their albums have sold more copies after Morrisons death than while he was alive. When we in the 1990 s, especially the younger generation who were born in the late seventies and eighties, look back and remember the sixties, we see the Doors as one of the driving forces of the youth movement, and as one of the most significant bands of the decade, not th than while he was alive. When we in the 1990 s, especially the younger generation who were born in the late seventies and eighties, look back and remember the sixties, we see the Doors as one of the driving forces of the youth movement, and as one of the most significant bands of the decade, not In April 1960 the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) was founded in Raleigh, North Carolina, to help organize and direct the student sit-in movement. King encouraged SNCC's creation, but the most important early advisor to the students was Ella Baker, who had worked for both the NAACP and SCLC.

She believed that SNCC should not be part of SCLC but a separate, independent organization run by the students. She also believed that civil rights activities should be based in individual black communities. SNCC adopted Baker's approach and focused on making changes in local communities, rather than striving for national change. This goal differed from that of SCLC which worked to change national laws. During the civil rights movement, tensions occasionally arose between SCLC and SNCC because of their different methods. After the sit-ins, some SNCC members participated in the 1961 Freedom Rides organized by CORE.

The Freedom Riders, both black and white, traveled around the South in buses to test the effectiveness of a 1960 Supreme Court decision. This decision had declared that segregation was illegal in bus stations that were open to interstate travel. The Freedom Rides began in Washington, D. C. Except for some violence in Rock Hill, South Carolina, the trip southward was peaceful until they reached Alabama, where violence erupted.

At Anniston one bus was burned and some riders were beaten. In Birmingham, a mob attacked the riders when they got off the bus. They suffered even more severe beatings by a mob in Montgomery, Alabama. The violence brought national attention to the Freedom Riders and fierce condemnation of Alabama officials for allowing the violence. The administration of President John Kennedy interceded to protect the Freedom Riders when it became clear that Alabama state officials would not guarantee safe travel. The riders continued on to Jackson, Mississippi, where they were arrested and imprisoned at the state penitentiary, ending the protest.

The Freedom Rides did result in the desegregation of some bus stations, but more importantly, they demonstrated to the American public how far civil rights workers would go to achieve their goals. SCLC's greatest contribution to the civil rights movement was a series of highly publicized protest campaigns in Southern cities during the early 1960 s. These protests were intended to create such public disorder that local white officials and business leaders would end segregation in order to restore normal business activity. The demonstrations required the mobilization of hundreds, even thousands, of protesters who were willing to participate in protest marches as long as necessary to achieve their goal and who were also willing to be arrested and sent to jail. The first SCLC direct-action campaign began in 1961 in Albany, Georgia, where the organization joined local demonstrations against segregated public accommodations.

The presence of SCLC and King escalated the Albany protests by bringing national attention and additional people to the demonstrations, but the demonstrations did not force negotiations to end segregation. During months of protest, Albany's police chief continued to jail demonstrators without a show of police violence. The Albany protests ended in failure. In the spring of 1963, however, the direct-action strategy worked in Birmingham, Alabama. SCLC joined the Reverend Fred Shuttlesworth, a local civil rights leader, who believed that the Birmingham police commissioner, Eugene "Bull" Connor, would meet protesters with violence. In May the SCLC staff stepped up anti segregation marches by persuading teenagers and school children to join.

The singing and chanting adolescents who filled the streets of Birmingham caused Connor to abandon restraint. He ordered police to attack demonstrators with dogs and firefighters to turn high-pressure water hoses on them. The ensuing scenes of violence were shown throughout the nation and the world in newspapers, magazines, and most importantly, on television. Much of the world was shocked by the events in Birmingham, and the reaction to the violence increased support for black civil rights.

In Birmingham white leaders promised to negotiate an end to some segregation practices. Business leaders agreed to hire and promote more black employees and to desegregate some public accommodations. More important, however, the Birmingham demonstrations built support for national legislation against segregation. Desegregating Southern Universities In 1962 a black man from Mississippi, James Meredith, applied for admission to University of Mississippi.

His action was an example of how the struggle for civil rights belonged to individuals acting alone as well as to organizations. The university attempted to block Meredith's admission, and he filed suit. After working through the state courts, Meredith was successful when a federal court ordered the university to desegregate and accept Meredith as a student. The governor of Mississippi, Ross Barnett, defied the court order and tried to prevent Meredith from enrolling. In response, the administration of President Kennedy intervened to uphold the court order. Kennedy sent federal marshals with Meredith when he attempted to enroll.

During his first night on campus, a riot broke out when whites began to harass the federal marshals. In the end, 2 people were killed, and about 375 people were wounded. When the governor of Alabama, George C. Wallace, threatened a similar stand, trying to block the desegregation of the University of Alabama in 1963, the Kennedy Administration responded with the full power of the federal government, including the U.

S. Army, to prevent violence and enforce desegregation. The showdowns with Barnett and Wallace pushed Kennedy, whose support for civil rights up to that time had been tentative, into a full commitment to end segregation. The national civil rights leaders...


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