I believe I am achieving my annotation goals, I ask questions and comment on how I feel about the paragraph and information. I also am defining words I do not understand.

1.) The surrounding context for this essay is that arts are important, and have a major impact on those who study arts. Yo Yo Ma is the author of this article, as he reflects on his life as a musician and the impact music has.

2.) The purpose for reading this text is to better understand the importance of arts. It is also to reflect on the benefits music has on us and the effects it has on the way we think and approach different situations.

3.) The “so what” would be to keep arts in lives. As there is a large benefit to having arts as a part of our lives and overall is a way for young people to grow and communicate better. There are many pros to arts that are often looked over but should not be. They allow for a better way of portraying values and tools to use in everyday life. The article also talks about the importance of empathy in education and that empathy is once of the most important ways of thinking.

balster – support or strengthen

lewd – crude and offensive in a sexual way

lascivious – feeling or revealing an overt and often offensive sexual desire