Diagnostic Writing Prompt
Write an informational essay explaining the impact of music on humans.
Be sure to use evidence from the texts in your essay.
Manage your time carefully so that you can:
· Read the passages
· Plan your essay
· Write your essay
· Revise and edit your essay
Your written response should be in the form of a multi-paragraph essay. Remember to spend time reading, planning, writing, revising, and editing.
Directions: Students will read a stimulus about a single topic. A stimulus consists of several texts written on a single topic. The stimulus may include informational or literary fiction or nonfiction texts and can cover a wide array of topics. After reading the stimulus, the students will respond to a writing prompt in which they will provide information on a topic, develop a narrative, or take a stance to support an opinion or argument. Students will be required to synthesize information from the text sets and must cite specific evidence from the texts to support their ideas. Students’ informative/explanatory responses should demonstrate a developed and supported controlling idea. Students’ opinion/argumentative responses should support an opinion/argument using ideas presented in the stimulus. Students will read the passages, and plan, write, revise and edit their essay. Students should read the prompt first. They should be encouraged to highlight, underline, and take notes to support the planning process.
10 Magical Effects Music Has on the Mind Effects of music include improving verbal IQ, aiding in heart disease treatment, evoking colors in the mind and even helping you see happy faces all around. Every fan knows the tremendous effects of music and the power it can have over both thoughts and emotions. Great music can transform an ordinary day into something magical, even spiritual. It can provide solace, release, strong sensations and more. But the effects of music spread further still: right up from our genetic code, through our thoughts and bodies and out into how we relate in groups.1. Improve verbal IQ Practicing the piano won’t just improve your musical abilities, it can also improve your visual and verbal skills. A study of 8 to 11-year-olds found that, those who had extra-curricular music classes, developed higher verbal IQ, and visual abilities, in comparison to those with no musical training (Forgeard et al., 2008). This shows the benefits of learning an instrument are not purely musical,but extend into cognition and visual perception.2. Feeling the chills Have you ever felt chills down your spine while listening to music? According to a study by Nusbaum and Silvia (2010), over 90% of us have. How powerful the effects of music, though, depends on your personality. People who are high in one of the five personality dimensions called ‘openness to experience’, are likely to feel the most chills while listening to music.
In the study, people high in openness to experience were more likely to play a musical instrument, and more likely to rate music as important to them.3. The happiness effects of music One of the effects of music should be feeling the chills; if not, perhaps you should try a little harder. A recent study contradicts the old advice that actively trying to feel happier is useless. In research by Ferguson and Sheldon (2013), participants who listened to upbeat classical compositions by Aaron Copland, while actively trying to feel happier, felt their moods lift more than those who passively listened to the music. This suggests that engaging with music, rather than allowing it to wash over us, gives the experience extra emotional power.4. Singing together brings us together Since music is often a social activity, making it together can help bring us together. A study of almost one thousand Finnish pupils who took part in extended music classes, found they reported higher satisfaction at school in almost every area, even those not related to the music classes themselves (Eerola & Eerola, 2013)Explaining the results, the lead researcher Päivi-Sisko Eerola, said:“Singing in a choir and ensemble performance are popular activities at extended music classes. Other studies have established that people find it very satisfying to synchronize with one another. That increases affiliation within the group and may even make people like each other more than before.”5. Effects of music on heart disease Music can help deal with the stress and anxiety associated with having treatment for coronary heart disease.
A review of 23 studies covering almost 1,500 patients found that listening to music reduced heart rate, blood pressure and anxiety in heart disease patients (Bradt & Dileo, 2009).6. Why sad music lifts you up‘ Mood management’ is the number one reason people love music. And, all music fans know that music can have a cathartic effect. But, it’s still odd that, for some people, sad music can, under the right circumstances, improve their mood. Why? According to a study by Kawakami et al. (2013), sad music is enjoyable because it creates an interesting mix of emotions; some negative, some positive. Crucially, we perceive the negative emotions in the music, but don’t feel them strongly.7. Seeing happy faces One of the effects of music is that it can make you feel different, but as little as 15 seconds of music can change the way you judge the emotions on other people’s faces as well. A study by Logeswaran et al. (2009) found that a quick blast of happy music made participants perceive other’s faces as happier. The same was true for a snatch of sad music. The biggest effect was seen when people looked at faces with a neutral expression. In other words: people projected the mood of the music they were listening to onto other people’s faces.8. The color of music Music naturally makes people think of certain colors. Across different cultures, people pair particular types of music with particular colors.
In a study by Palmer et al. (2013), people from both Mexico and the US showed remarkable similarities in connecting duller, darker colors with sadder pieces of music and lighter, more vivid colors with happier music. A follow-up study showed that these music-to-color associations were seen because of the emotional content of the music.9. Could music bring back your vision? In 60% of people who have a stroke, the visual areas of the brain are affected. This leads to ‘visual neglect’: the patient loses awareness of objects on the opposite side to where the brain has been damaged. But, studies have found, when patients listen to their favorite music, some of their visual attention is restored (Tsai et al., 2013).So, the effects of music can be an important tool in rehabilitation for stroke patients.10. Babies are born to dance !Infants as young as five-months-old respond rhythmically to music and seem to find it more interesting than speech. In a study by Zentner and Eerola (2010), the babies spontaneously danced to all different types of music, and those that were most in time also smiled the most . Maybe the effects of music really are in our genes!
How Music Affects Our MoodsNew research shows that listening to music can lift (or reinforce) your mood and ultimately lead to a greater quality of life.The popularity of music festivals and online sites like Spotify and Pandora shows just how much music is part of our culture, but researchers continue to find that music can also be an integral part of our health. Scientists at the University of Missouri have found that people can boost their mood simply by listening to upbeat music.“ Our work provides support for what many people already do—listen to music to improve their moods,” said lead author Yuna Ferguson in a press release. “Although pursuing personal happiness may be thought of as a self-centered venture, research suggests that happiness relates to a higher probability of socially beneficial behavior, better physical health, higher income, and greater relationship satisfaction. ”People can successfully improve their moods and boost their overall happiness in just two weeks, according to Ferguson’s research, published .In the study, participants improved their mood after being told to try to do so, but they only succeeded when they listened to the upbeat music of Copland, as opposed to the sadder tunes of Stravinsky. Other participants, who simply listened to the music without attempting to change their mood, didn’t report an increase in happiness. For people to put the research into practice, however, they should be wary of too much introspection into their mood or constantly asking, “Am I happy yet?” Ferguson added. “People could focus more on enjoying their experience of the journey towards happiness and not get hung up on the destination,” Ferguson said.
But music isn’t just good for elevating our mood. Another recent study published in the Journal of Consumer Research found that people who are going through break-ups or having relationship problems prefer music and experiences that reflect their negative mood. One study showed that the preference for sad music was significantly higher when people experienced an interpersonal loss as opposed to an impersonal loss, such as losing a game. In another study, people were presented with various frustrating situations and asked to rate angry music versus joyful or relaxing music. Consumers liked angry music more when they were frustrated by interpersonal violations, like being stood up on a date, than by impersonal hassles, like not having Internet access. Music As Therapy This music research aligns with the larger arena of music therapy, defined by the American Music Therapy Association as “the clinical and evidence-based use of music interventions to accomplish individualized goals. “Music therapy has been used for centuries as a way to restore energy, improve mood, and even help the body heal more naturally. Dr. Frank Lipman, founder and director of Eleven-Eleven Wellness Center in New York City and a pioneer in integrative and functional medicine, recommends musical time-outs as a way to calm your body and brain with soothing rhythms and to slow down your heart rate and help you breathe easier. “My go-to, slow-it-down favorite tunes include anything by reggae genius Bob Marley or brain wave music master, Jonathan Goldman,” he wrote on his blog. Making Your Own Music While listening to music has great health benefits, making your own, especially through singing and chanting, is also therapeutic.
A study published in the International Journal of Yoga showed that chanting the word “Om” was about as effective as implanting a vagus nerve stimulator (VNS). A VNS, which requires surgery and can affect the vocal cords, is beneficial for the treatment of both epilepsy and depression. Both implantation of the VNS and chanting “Om” produce limbic deactivation, the opposite of what happens when we are depressed. Emily Lewis, a graduate student at the California Institute of Integral Studies who studies sound and healing, has focused her thesis on vocal improvisation and its effects on the brain. “Listening to music, sound, and healing is all really about relaxing the nervous system,” Lewis said. “It works on a cellular level. ”She examined research on telomeres—the end caps of DNA strands—and found that longer strands are correlated with both longevity and quality of life. “My research showed that doing vocal singing sessions is a way to bring you into the present moment,” Lewis said. “Vocal improvisation is potentially a mindfulness practice and could be correlated to longer telomere lengths. “She said that singing is doubly beneficial for your body in that it helps relax you, but also helps you to feel energized.
