The music created by the legendary Scott Joplin can be heard around the world even today. Many of his works are instantly recognizable to millions of people, including me. I didn't even know I knew any of Scott Joplin's masterpieces, but I sure did. The composition titled The Entertainer has appeared countless times in the films and games I've experienced, and its catchy beat has become entrenched in my mind (IMDb). Joplin was the king of the ragtime music genre, and her name is synonymous with that musical period. Ragtime music is described as having a syncopated or "irregular" rhythm, and that's exactly what Scott Joplin's music sounds like. The music he writes seems like cheerful but light piano music to me. The music is not classical and dramatic; it is hoppy and sometimes delicate. The whole thing, however, has a strange but incredibly catchy rhythm or melody. I wasn't sure I would like ragtime music because I thought I'd never heard any of it before, and since its origins date back to the early 1900s. However, I had heard ragtime music before and didn't realize it, and I really liked it. Something about the rhythm of the music made it easily stick in your head and I found myself singing the beat to The Entertainer over and over in my head. Scott Joplin was born in East Texas and grew up in a town called Texarkana; the date of his birth, however, is in dispute. He was initially thought to have been born on 24 November 1868, but later research indicates that his birthday was more likely in the second half of 1867 (Berlin). He was the second child born to Giles Joplin and Florence Givins of their six children. He was of African descent and his father was a freed slave, which means Jo...... middle of paper...... and the abolition of slavery. The Emancipation Proclamation was written and signed by President Abraham Lincoln in 1862, just five years before Joplin was born. Being a member of the first generation of free African Americans in the nation's history was a positive and liberating idea for Scott Joplin. Her father had to endure the hardships of slavery, so the cruelty of the slave trade was not lost on Joplin. Free to do as she pleased, Joplin pursued a musical life from an early age, bringing to her compositions the carefree, jubilant attitude of a nation in the process of rebuilding, even as the country was in the process of rebuilding itself. It was not an easy time for blacks in America, as they had a long way to go before enjoying equal rights and freedoms, but the promise of a better life was enough to empower many of them, including Joplin..