1) The document discusses biographies of famous composers and artists such as Chopin, Picasso, and poet Edgar Allan Poe. 2) It also provides analysis of some of their famous works, including Chopin's Funeral March, Picasso's painting Guernica, and Poe's poem Annabel Lee. 3) Additionally, it summarizes the plot of the book The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, about a young boy who befriends another boy in a Nazi concentration camp, highlighting how it fits the definition of a tragedy.

1. By Mitchell Hsu

2. Tragedy – [tra-ji-dee] noun, plural trag·e·dies. A
dramatic composition, often in verse, dealing
with a serious or somber theme, typically that
of a great person destined through a flaw of
character or conflict with some overpowering
force, as fate or society, to downfall or
destruction.

4. Chopin was a famous pianist and composer in the early 1800’s.
He was born on February 22, 1810 in Poland. He died in Paris,
where he first began his career. He wrote the funeral march
somewhere in the 1830’s as part of his Sonata.
Its slow tempo and minor chords give it a somber and tragic
mood. This song is meant to help remember lost ones. In the
music, you hear brighter parts that are meant to signify the happy
memories in the deceased’s life.

6. Picasso was a painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramist, and stage
designer. He was born on October 25, 1881 in Malaga, Spain. He
died on April 28, 1973 in Mougins, France. His actual full name
was Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María
de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Clito Ruiz y
Picasso. He was a poor student with natural talent, who helped in
creating the art style, cubism.
The Guernica by Picasso, was painted as a response to the
bombing of the village in Basque country. In the painting, you can
see a stampeding horse, and dead and injured people. These black
and white shapes give the feeling of depression and sadness as
well as the idea of the bombing.

7. It was many and many a year ago,
In a kingdom by the sea,
That a maiden there lived whom you may know
By the name of ANNABEL LEE;--
And this maiden she lived with no other thought
Than to love and be loved by me.
She was a child and I was a child,
In this kingdom by the sea,
But we loved with a love that was more than love--
I and my Annabel Lee--
With a love that the winged seraphs of heaven
Coveted her and me.
And this was the reason that, long ago,
In this kingdom by the sea,
A wind blew out of a cloud by night
Chilling my Annabel Lee;
So that her high-born kinsman came
And bore her away from me,
To shut her up in a sepulchre
In this kingdom by the sea.

8. The angels, not half so happy in Heaven,
Went envying her and me:--
Yes! that was the reason (as all men know,
In this kingdom by the sea)
That the wind came out of a cloud, chilling
And killing my Annabel Lee.
But our love it was stronger by far than the love
Of those who were older than we--
Of many far wiser than we-
And neither the angels in Heaven above,
Nor the demons down under the sea,
Can ever dissever my soul from the soul
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee:--
For the moon never beams without bringing me dreams
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And the stars never rise but I see the bright eyes
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side
Of my darling, my darling, my life and my bride,
In her sepulchre there by the sea--
In her tomb by the side of the sea.

9. Edgar Allan Poe was born on January 19, 1809 in Boston
Massachusetts and died on October 7, 1849 in Baltimore. Poe was an
American author, poet, editor, and literary critic. At one point in his
life, he was a soldier at Fort Independence in Boston Harbor. This
was also when he wrote his first poetry book, Tamerlane and Other
Poems.
Edgar wrote Annabel Lee after the
death of his bride Virginia Clemm Poe
in 1849. He uses vocabulary and
repetition to convey how he feels.
He feels great sadness and grief for
his departed wife. Sadness also tends
to bring anger with it, and that is shown
when he blames God and the angels of
“chilling and killing my Annabel Lee.”

10. This book takes place in Poland, near a prisoner
camp. There he meets a boy named Shmuel from
across the fence. The two boys soon become friends.
Then one day, Shmuel seeks Bruno’s help in finding
his father, who has gone missing. After Bruno entered
the camp, he heard a siren, which signalled soldiers to
march the people away. The two boys find themselves
in an air-tight chamber where they shake hands and
promise to be friends forever until they die, which they
do in the gas chamber. In the end of the chapter, the
author tells you that even when they died, they were
still holding each others hand. All that Bruno’s parents
were able to find were his shoes and jacket, which he
had taken off earlier so as not to get them dirty when
he got home.

11. Boyne was born in Dublin, Ireland, April 30, 1971 and is still
alive today. The first short story he did was The Entertainments
Jar. The Boy In The Striped Pajamas was written in 2006, won two
Irish book awards, and was later turned into a film.
This book is about the story of a young boy, who is the main
character, making a new friend and dying with him as a best
friend. This follows the exact definition of a tragedy where
something tragic occurs to the main character at the end.