11. Existentialism

Existentialism is a philosophical perspective that emphasizes the larger reality of the external world beyond the specific human needs or goals of the individual. Its two most influential contributors are Nietzsche and Kierkegaard.

12. Information on the origins of Jazz

Generally, Jazz is believed to have originated in New Orleans, Louisiana after the Creoles who were originally from the West Indies and lived under Spanish and then French rule became American through the 1803 Louisiana Purchase from France. A series of racial segregation measures forced the well educated and classically trained black Creoles to live with uneducated, newly freed American slaves. Jazz evolved from the combination of the musical influences of the two different cultures.

13. Octavio Paz

Octavio Paz was a Twentieth Century Mexican writer and poet and was also a publisher and a diplomat. His writings were heavily influenced by his political beliefs and his intense criticisms of specific political philosophies like Marxism and Stalinism.

14. How does the theater of the absurd reflect the quest for meaning at mid-century? How about the poetry of Eliot and other poets at mid-century?

The so-called "theater of the absurd" can be thought of as the expression of intellectual freedom of the early Twentieth Century. It explored themes and plots that were unconventional and that tested the audience's imagination. Likewise, the poetry of T.S. Eliot and others of the time introduced a free-flowing stream-of-consciousness and light-hearted prose that was also radical in relation to classical poetry and art in general. 15. How is ethnicity and ethnic identity shown in the arts?

Generally, all cultures represent aspects of self-image as well as the manner in which they regard others in their artistic expressions. Cultures typically emphasize culturally important and recognizable images and themes from their societies and they depict other cultures in accordance with the way they regard them.

16. How has high...

Today, social culture is much more dynamic than ever before, largely because of the speed and range of communications media. The same is true about art and literature in addition to the fact that the individual artist and writer no longer have to rely on third-party publishers and their opinions or decisions about the worth of their work in order to publish and distribute it very widely.
Sources

1. Taj Mahal

http://www.angelfire.com/in/myindia/tajmahal.html

2. The Life and Work of Galileo

http://galileo.rice.edu/

3. Biographical Information about Jean Jacques Rousseau

http://www.lucidcafe.com/library/96jun/rousseau.html

4. Biographical Information and Resources Related to Percy Bysshe Shelley

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/PRshelley.htm

5. The History of the American Abolitionist Movement

http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/african/afam005.html

6. Information about Verdi

http://www.classical.net/music/comp.lst/verdi.php

7. The Eiffel Tower web page http://www.endex.com/gf/buildings/eiffel/eiffel.html

8. The Vincent van Gogh gallery http://www.vangoghgallery.com/

9. Biographical information about Franz Kafka

http://www.levity.com/corduroy/kafka.htm

10. Biographical information about Adolf Hitler

http://remember.org/guide/Facts.root.hitler.html

11. Resources related to Existentialism

http://www.tameri.com/csw/exist/exist.html

12. Information on the origins of Jazz

http://www.redhotjazz.com/originsarticle.html

13. Biographical information about Octavio Paz

http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/opaz.htm