9/11

For those alive and old enough to remember September 11, 2001 is a day that no one will forget. Almost anyone would be able to tell you where they were and what they were doing on the terrible day almost eighteen years ago. The amount of deaths and the number of people injured did not compare to anything that had happened in the Unites States prior. Not only were those in New York present for the tragedy but Americans across the country were able to watch the collapse of the twin towers on their televisions. This left the country grieving and in fear.

September 11^thhas always been a historic day that has interested me when learning about it in school. Other significant and tragic events that have happened in the past feel much more distant from me. 9/11 was an event that I was alive for and was not just an incident I read about in a history book. The summer before my junior year of high school I was assigned to read the book “102 Minutes” which described the moments before and after the planes crashed into the twin towers. This was an informational text that included aspects from the floor plan of the towers to what individual people were experiencing. The book was based on eyewitness accounts and emergency phone call transcripts. It explained instances from both towersdocumenting escape, evacuation, and rescue attempts. 

Due to my prior knowledge and interest in 9/11 I chose the article “Requiems for a City: Popular Music’s Response to 9/11” for my article summary. In the book I read in high school there were detailed experiences of firefighter and other rescue workers, people inside the towers, and those watching from the outside described, showing what many different people went through and what they thought and felt.Similarly, the music during this tragic time in our history reflected the emotions and feelings of all of Americas. In the article I worked on this week the author, Christine Lee Gengaro, focused on two albums created about 9/11. The album “The Rising” by Springsteen expressed the immediate emotions people felt of the tragedy. Much like how the book allowed readers to empathize and put themselves into the shoes of firefighters climbing the stairs of the towers or those stuck in the tower desperately trying to escape, the album allowed listeners to do this as well. Gengaro even states “When people listen to The Rising, for instance, they are the fire fighters, the rescue workers, they are the grieving family members. The listener assumes each of the identities that Springsteen assumes when he sings. To share such grief and such courage with both the characters in the songs’ narratives, and with other listeners, can be a powerful experience” (Gengaro 29). In general, music allowed Americans to truly understand what happened and what other Americans were feeling. This led to many Americans uniting and coming together during a time of crisis.