Through Sky-Colored Glasses

In our English class, we read and discussed about a piece called “Because My Father Always Said He Was the Only Indian Who Saw Jimi Hendrix Play ‘The Star Spangled-Banner’ at Woodstock” by Sherman Alexie. It talked about Alexie’s father and how he had a strong connection to a guitar arrangement of the American national anthem. Throughout the story, it can easily be seen that the strong power of music as emotional medicine is one of the main themes that Alexie tries to convey. Not only his father but even Alexie himself began to connect with Jimi Hendrix’s music as he and his father drove through a snowstorm. “In that near blizzard with [his] father at the wheel, with the nervous silence caused by the dangerous roads and Jimi’s guitar, there seemed to be more to all that music” (Alexie 28). Making a connection with music also means having a deeper connection with his father, which again emphasizes the power of music in Alexie’s writing. While reading, I was reminded

When I typed the word “patriotism” in the search box, one of the drop-downs “patriotism vs nationalism” immediately caught my eye. As someone who always thought of the two words as synonyms, I figured out that “nationalism” has a more negative connotation, suggesting a more blind belief in one’s country and thinking of it as more superior than other nations. Remembering the origins of the United States, I realized the contradictory nature of some Americans who would always criticize the extreme jingoism in other countries while blindly supporting America themselves. Of course, these people should only make up a small part of America’s entire population; however, it is true that many people seem to forget that while America is a nation of its people, the country can still make mistakes, as all people have their own faults. A Partly Cloudy Patriot written by Sarah Vowell is an essay that addresses the misinterpretation of patriotism in our nation. When talking about the Civil War