The immediate context of this essay is when and where the essay is first published and includes the author’s biography. “Necessary Edges: Arts, Empathy, and Education” was written by Yo Yo Ma is a professional songwriter who graduated from Juilliard School and Harvard University. This essay was originally published in Switzerland in January of 2014. It was published by the World-Post which is an online news site. What stood out to me in his biography was that he received several awards of achievement for his amazing songs which he produced over 90 albums.
The imposed context of this essay is the reason why I read this text and what my personal experiences were while reading this text. To me, I feel like I read this text today not only to complete the assignment at hand, but also to learn how education and schooling have changed. I do agree with Ma on how schools need to be teaching more than just the STEM educational model and more of the STEAM educational model. I feel that the STEAM model can help broaden the knowledge of individuals which would help you in any profession that one is headed towards.
The internal context is the “so what?” of the essay and what primarily is the author trying to tell you and have you understand. Yo Yo Ma is trying to tell his audience that the educational system is only giving its students the bare necessities of education including your subjects like math, science, english, and history. The main point that he is trying to reach the readers about is that art is very important for a child to possess knowledge of as he or she grows older. Ma thinks that the educational system now is wrong in the fact that students just need the primary subjects without giving art the respect that it needs.
Magnate-a wealthy and influential person in business.
Virtuosos-a person highly skilled in music or other artistic pursuits.
Nonpartisan-not biased or partisan, especially toward any particular political group.
