In the Ted Talk “Between Music and Medicine” Robert Gupta goes into depth how music can significantly and positively impact people. Gupta uses examples of people who are in a very distressed time and how music helped them in those times. He even uses the example of a patient who was shot and couldn’t speak but was able to when they began to sing with their therapist.  Gupta also mentions how he started an organization called “Street Symphony” that was supposed to help those in dark times, by the use music. This organization performed at shelters and clinics for the homeless and mentally ill on Skid Row, performed for veterans with PTSD, for the incarcerated and the criminally insane. Another example of healing with music that Gupta mentioned was after one of these performances where a lady with some type of palsy had finally stopped shaking when she heard classical music of the first time. Gupta emphasizes the power of music and why it is so important to society and to him. 

Robert Gupta is a violinist, he attended Yale University and Marist College. Started the “Street Symphony” organization in 2010. They are very passionate about music and seems to have a positive attitude towards the world and the subject they way that he is trying to make the world a better place with the use of music.

The primary audience are probably people who are also passionate about music like he is. However, the way he was speaking he wasn’t using language that only people who know about music would understand and he seems like he wants to spread his message so his secondary audience can maybe be anyone who wants to listen.

He started the “Street Symphony” organization in 2010 and the Ted Talk was made in 2012, so the experiences he experienced in the last couple years with less fortunate people and music could’ve pushed him to make this Ted Talk and finally be able to share his experiences on a larger stage.

The purpose of this Ted Talk is to inform people on how powerful music can be and how it can actually change lives.

I would call this genre an informative speech and maybe even a demonstrative speech for his use of the violin in the beginning and end off the video. I think the main point comes out with this type of speech, because even though it is motivational in some ways the informative route was the best for this topic because the speaker was mainly telling the audience experiences and explaining them and elaborating on them and this may not fit that well with other types of speeches.

The tone is passionate and serious. Gupta makes one joke throughout the video but also doesn’t make the tone depressing, he speaks with passion about his experiences and uses many gestures and changes his pitch and volume when he wants to emphasize a word or words.

This video helps me answer my question a lot, it also gives me extra information about the topic as well.

He cited mentors and people he learned from in the past.

  • Who’s the author? What do we know about this person? This  organization? How do we know that (figure it out from  the language they use, from the creator of the  website, from research and information from somewhere else)? What is their attitude toward the subject or the  world in general? How do we figure that out? What is their authority for writing this?
  • Who’s their audience? Who is the primary audience? What other audience besides a primary one might there be? What makes you say that? What audiences do you think the author is ignoring?
  • What’s the occasion? Why did the author create this text at this particular moment? What is the context? Where was it shown/published?
  • What’s the purpose?  What was the author trying to accomplish?
  • What’s the genre? Why use it? What made this genre the best one to address their audience? What are the conventions of this genre – the things everybody expects to find? How does this  author change some of those conventions? Why did they change them?
  • What is the tone? How can you tell the creator’s feelings by the words and phrases, or the visuals and audio, that were  chosen
  • Relevance: Does it help you answer your question?
  • Accuracy: Can you verify this information anywhere else? Is there evidence to support their position? Have they cited other authorities/experts?