Monday, October 27, 2008

 

Introductory Paragraphs Cyber Assignment

Today in both classes, no one was ready to perform their scenes, so we put off for today what was due last week :-) I didn't realize we never completed the hip hop archives in the afternoon class. We will do this next week, as we begin Afeni Shakur: Evolution of a Revolutionary and start working on our final essay: research on a person who uses hip hop culture for social change. The person needs to live in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Post a completed essay here. You can use an introduction or body from someone else, but you have to compose your own conclusion, plus another section. Two thirds has to be original. Use a paraphrase, a block quote and a in-text citation, in the essay. Be sure to include signal phrases and transitions.

In the afternoon class we discussed developing thesis sentences. I suggest students read Planning (Hacker) and do the exercises on-line and in-text on developing thesis sentences. Some students were confused over a thesis sentences role in the essay and had learned really prescriptive methods of developing them and what their role was in the essay. We also discussed what a coordinating conjunction does and what a subordinating conjunction does. See Hacker. We defined essay: a short literary composition with a single theme or topic.

As I said in my introductory letter--stay loose and we'll be fine. All you need to remember is what is covered in the handout I gave you from Writing with a Thesis: a thesis is restricted, specific, and unified. It's not a title, an absolute fact, the entire essay or an announcement. For our purposes, it is an argument stated as a declarative sentence:

Although Tupac Shakur uses examples in his song, "Me Against the World," and his poem, "If I Should Fail," which often seem to contradict one another, his intention is to encourage his peers to continue pursuing their goals, because "even if things don't go the way [they] planned it [...]", they can still "make a difference in the world" (Verse 3MATW).

Here are my introductory paragraphs. We used Dalena's (I think):

Tupac Shakur's music articulated for black youth what Michael Eric Dyson called, "the contradictory poses of maturing black identity" (Holler 118). His poems, published after his death in A Rose Grew from Concrete, reveal a sensitive and vulnerable side of a public persona unimagined when one thinks of thug life. What happened to this young man, or is the 19 year old personality who speaks of love and pain and loneliness and fear the same person who writes about death and destruction? Though Tupac Shakur's use of examples in his song "Me Against the World" and poem "If I Fail" often seem contradictory, his intention is to encourage his peers to continue pursuing their dreams, because "even if things don't go the way [they] planned it [...]", they can still "make a difference in the world" (Verse 3MATW).

Looking at these themes: contradictions, isolation, hopelessness, resilience, we developed the foll lowing two body paragraphs, as I said, using a student introduction.

MATW expresses Tupac's struggles throughout his life, such as: absent parents, living in poverty, violence on the street and in the home. Tupac's desperation--his pursuit of happiness was like a job. Considering the emotional disadvantages he experienced, one could say it was a job he seemed least capable of fulfilling.

In the poem, "If I Should Fail," Tupac seems prepared for the worse, but hopes for the best. One can find similar ideas in the song MATW. In several stanzas, his character reflects on what he witnesses: people murdered, police violence, isolation, no support system. He even admits to participating in these illegal and self-destructive activities. Take for instance the lines in MATW, verse one which follow Tupac's question about his friends dying in large numbers:

Got me worried, stressin, my vision's blurried
The question is will I live? No one in the world loves me
I'm headed for danger, don't trust strangers
Put one in the chamber whenever I'm feeling anger
Don't wanna make excuses, cause this is how it is
What's the use unless we're shootin no one notices the youth
It's just me against the world baby

The introduction I write this morning in the early class follows: Rough draft revised...but it's still rough:

In Tupac Shakur's song, Me Against the World and poem If I Fail, he writes about the obstacle to success. He speaks eloquently about the loneliness and isolation a creative person feels when his intentions and thoughts are misunderstood or dismissed. He writes as if signing an epithet--"those who know me are aware of my hard life: [poverty, single parent head of household, black skin, male body] (Rose 27). Both in the song and in the poem Tupac tells his audience that even if it sometimes feels as if it is "him against the world" to not let the "pressure make [them] panic, and when [one is] stranded or things don't go the way you planned it to keep working toward one's goals. No one is going to help the person who doesn't help him or herself.

Comments:
Dalena Tran
English 201A
MW 1-2:50

Tupac Shakur's music articulated for black youth what Michael Eric Dyson called, "the contradictory poses of maturing black identity" (Holler 118). His poems, published after his death in A Rose Grew from Concrete, reveal a sensitive and vulnerable side of a public persona unimagined when one thinks of thug life. What happened to this young man, or is the 19 year old personality who speaks of love and pain and loneliness and fear the same person who writes about death and destruction? Though Tupac Shakur's use of examples in his song "Me Against the World" and poem "If I Fail" often seem contradictory, his intention is to encourage his peers to continue pursuing their dreams, because "even if things don't go the way [they] planned it [...]", they can still "make a difference in the world" (Verse 3MATW).

MATW expresses Tupac's struggles throughout his life, such as: absent parents, living in poverty, violence on the street and in the home. Tupac's desperation--his pursuit of happiness was like a job. Considering the emotional disadvantages he experienced, one could say it was a job he seemed least capable of fulfilling.

In the poem, "If I Should Fail," Tupac seems prepared for the worse, but hopes for the best. One can find similar ideas in the song MATW. In several stanzas, his character reflects on what he witnesses: people murdered, police violence, isolation, no support system. He even admits to participating in these illegal and self-destructive activities. Take for instance the lines in MATW, verse one which follow Tupac's question about his friends dying in large numbers:

Got me worried, stressin, my vision's blurried
The question is will I live? No one in the world loves me
I'm headed for danger, don't trust strangers
Put one in the chamber whenever I'm feeling anger
Don't wanna make excuses, cause this is how it is
What's the use unless we're shootin no one notices the youth
It's just me against the world baby

His struggles throughout his life provided Tupac Shakur with strength, physically and mentally. He expressed his feelings towards music as it inspired many to be optimistic about life. He encourages everyone to be strong and never give up. MATW and IISF are two of his well known songs that portrays fighting and conquering life itself. Tupac Shakur has left many minds with encouragements and optimism. His experiences are now a part of history.
 
Lisa Ryan
English 201A
MW 1-2:50
Prof: Sabir

Tupac Shakur was known to many as a gangster rapper and to others he was a true educator. Tupac's lyrics and poems were an expression of his experiences in life and/or his aspirations for his future and the future of those who followed him. Although Tupac Shakur uses examples in his song, “Me Against The World" and poem "If I Fail" which often seem to contradict each other, his intention is to encourage his peers to continue pursuing their dreams, because "even if things don't go the way[they] planned it[....],"they can still make a difference in the world"(verse 3MATW).

In the poem "If I Fail" Tupac prepared himself for failure but strived to accomplish his goals. He made no excuses for his poor choices and accepted the consequences. The poem is inspirational and encourages the reader, no matter what obstacles you face, if you fall down get back up and continue to strive to reach your goals. However, when you compare the lyrics in his song "Me Against the World" Tupac is clearly speaking of the everyday struggles that he has to face as a poverty stricken young black man.

Tupac’s lyrics and poems expressed a reality that Tupac could not escape and it included, violence death and despair. He clearly had aspirations and wanted to proved that even against all odds anyone could reach their goals and make positive contributions to society. Tupac struggled between the thug life and a life void of violence, thug life ruled in his world but it never stopped him from trying to deter other youth from settling for the latter.
 
From both song and poem; Tupac write about his struggle to finding happiness. In the poem "If I fail" he's not afraid of failing, because there seemed Tupac emphasizes on the phrase "if". Meaning he is prepared for the worst, but also hoping for the best. A need of guidance became his desperation, for a better tomorrow. Although Tupac uses examples in the song "Me against the world" and poem "If I fail" both were written to illustrate a critical period in his destination of embracing happiness instead of grief.


"Me against the world" expresses Tupac's struggles throughout his life; such as living in poverty, violence on the streets, and absent parents, as I've explained in class. Tupac's desperation consisted of him pursing happiness; considering the emotional disadvantages he experienced, finding happiness became a task on his daily journey. I believe his pursuit of happiness became a job.


In the poem "If I fail" Tupac has a positive attitude regarding his where a bout’s for his next destination that he hopes to successfully accomplish. Both the song and the poem share the same intellectual mind set of survival even if there is a blockage from the world. Tupac's work in general has a visual sense of encouragement to people that feel that hope is vacant. Tupac's message consist of empathy for the people who are struggling to survive because he knew what it meant to live based on always having to think about what tomorrow will be like. Tupac's music and poetry were written about his personal life, but also there are many messages to empower the people that live for today because they don't know what tomorrow will bring.

-Sameela Smith eng 201A M, W 1-3
 
Joshua Brown-James
October 29, 2008
English 201A 1-2:50pm


Tupac Shakur's music articulated for black youth what Michael Eric Dyson called, "the contradictory poses of maturing black identity" (Holler 118). His poems, published after his death in A Rose Grew from Concrete, reveal a sensitive and vulnerable side of a public persona unimagined when one thinks of thug life. What happened to this young man, or is the 19 year old personality who speaks of love and pain and loneliness and fear the same person who writes about death and destruction? Though Tupac Shakur's use of examples in his song "Me Against the World" and poem "If I Fail" often seem contradictory, his intention is to encourage his peers to continue pursuing their dreams, because "even if things don't go the way [they] planned it [...]", they can still "make a difference in the world" (Verse 3MATW).

MATW expresses Tupac's struggles throughout his life, such as: absent parents, living in poverty, violence on the street and in the home. Tupac's desperation--his pursuit of happiness was like a job. Considering the emotional disadvantages he experienced, one could say it was a job he seemed least capable of fulfilling.

In the poem, "If I Should Fail," Tupac seems prepared for the worse, but hopes for the best. One can find similar ideas in the song MATW. In several stanzas, his character reflects on what he witnesses: people murdered, police violence, isolation, no support system. He even admits to participating in these illegal and self-destructive activities. Take for instance the lines in MATW, verse one which follow Tupac's question about his friends dying in large numbers:

Got me worried, stressin, my vision's blurried
The question is will I live? No one in the world loves me
I'm headed for danger, don't trust strangers
Put one in the chamber whenever I'm feeling anger
Don't wanna make excuses, cause this is how it is
What's the use unless we're shootin no one notices the youth
It's just me against the world baby

The struggles Tupac faced were those that would make many others want to give up and to not keep pushing to succeed. Tupac was a man that always encouraged others to continue fighting through the rough times. He was admired by many people for this because he was a man that demonstrated what he spoke about in his songs and poems. He was a fighter throughout his whole life and nothing ever stood in his ways. He knew that he wasn't perfect but he always wanted to help and encourage others to succeed and be better than him and that’s why he was a great role model to many people. Tupac was a great leader whose words helped many and to overcome their obstacles and that’s why he is known as one of the greatest of all times.
 
Renee Dumaguit
Eng 201B
MW 1-2:50pm
Due: October 29th, 2008

As we listen to Tupac's music and read his poems, do we really understand what he's writing? Well, as for most of us, we can relate to his life long struggles and the life he calls "Thug Life". In life, many things do not go as we plan, yet we still manage to live it through. His music and poems are very deep and life relative. Tupac Shakur uses examples in his song "Me Against the World," and poem "If I Fail," which often seem to contradict each other, his infention is to encourage his peers to continue pursuing their dreams because "even if things don't go the way [they] planned it [...]," they can still "make a difference in the world." verse3.MATW

"Me Against the World" experiences Tupac's struggles throughout his life: such as living in poverty and violence on the streets and absent parents; Tupac's desperation - his pursuit of happiness was like a job. Considering the emotional disadvantages he experienced; one could say it was a job he seemed least capable of fulfilling.

In the poem, "If I Fail," Tupac seems prepared for the worse, but hopes for the best. He has been through many obstacles in his life, yet he accomplishes his goals. His life was very difficult and he only had himself as a role model. His voice within himself guided him through his life and he learned from his mistakes:
"There was never a life as hard a mine
No father - no money- no chance and no guide
I only follow my voice inside [...]"

Both Tupac's song, "Me Against the World" and poem, "If I Fail" shows us the life that he has struggled to live with. He shows he overcomes his struggles on his own and looks at the positive side of his life. This has made him a stronger, intellectual person, and a role model for many young men who are struggling to get out of the difficult situations that they're in now. We can all look at Tupac as a great part of our history today.
 
Treana Penn
English 201
mw1:00-2:50

Tupac Shakur's music articulated for black youth what Michael Eric Dyson called, "the contradictory poses of maturing black identity" (Holler 118). His poems, published after his death in A Rose Grew from Concrete, reveal a sensitive and vulnerable side of a public persona unimagined when one thinks of thug life. What happened to this young man, or is the 19 year old personality who speaks of love and pain and loneliness and fear the same person who writes about death and destruction? Although Tupac Shakur's use of examples in his song "Me Against the World" and poem "If I Fail" often seem contradictory, his intention is to encourage his peers to continue pursuing their dreams, because "even if things don't go the way [they] planned it [...]", they can still "make a difference in the world" (Verse 3MATW).

In the poem "If I should fail" Tupac seems prepared for the worse. His lyrics describe a pattern of self destruction within his community that repeats itself every day like a cycle. Throughout all these distractions Tupac points out the negative so he can aim for a better place with positivity. He continued making music, just while his community was troubling he never took a break to make a difference.

In MATW, he showing that the people of his community can relate with him, because even though he is in the music industry he has struggles, too. For example, in one of the verses it shows Tupacs hopelessness:

The question is will I live? No one in the world loves me, I'm headed for danger, don't trust strangers

Tupac has experienced struggle, so his lyrics just express the way he has lived. His music sends messages out, you might not want to hear what he has to say, but you should first listen to the lyrics and he explains everything he says. Tupac had a purpose, he died young, but his story is still embeded in us today. The reason, why we appreciate Tupac, is for his genius approach to come across the world in a way that we would not have expected. While his music is his stories that need to be told, in reality his stories our are stories.
 
Melissa Mah
English 201A
MW 1-2:50 PM

At one point in life, everyone has obstacles that makes it hard for one to overcome. Society does grasp the chance of achievement, but instead, take the easier route, which is giving up. Tupac shows his resilience by overcoming the tough ties in his life. Although Tupac Shakur uses examples in his songs MATW and poem IFIF which often seem to contradict one another his intention is to encourage his peers to continue pursuing their dreams because "even if things don't go the way [they] planned it" they can still make a difference in the world" (verse 3).

Tupac illustrates his strong resilience throughout his inspirational songs. In his song MATW, describes one mans struggle with the poverty stricken neighborhood. He uses examples like violence and loneliness to support his point. Tupac describes his society as untrustworthy. He believes that he is alone in this world and is unable to look towards others for help in his time of need, bringing us back to the title of his song, "Me Against The world". This title literally means what it says. Tupac is alone in his fight against poverty.

Tupac is able to portray himself as a strong man because of what he has been through. The song "ME against the world" describes his society and the world he had grew up in. Through it all Tupac was able to achieve his goals and he did not give up, and this had made him a stronger man.
 
Essay in class
ENG 1-2:50

In the song “Me Against the World” and poem “If I Fail” by Tupac Shakur he talks about resilience, never giving up. No matter the situation of failing you should always strive to succeed in everything you do. In never giving up Tupac got far in his fame and what he wanted to do. Although Tupac used examples in his song, “MATW” and “If I Fail” which often seem to contradict one another, his intention is to encourage his peers to continue pursuing their dreams, because “even if things don’t go the way [they] planned it […]”, they can still “make a difference” in the world (verse 3 MATW).

Me against the World expresses Tupac’s struggles throughout his life; such as living in poverty, violence on the streets, and absent parents. Tupac’s desperation- his pursuit of happiness was like a job: Considering the emotional disadvantages he experienced, one could say it was a job he seemed least capable of fulfilling.
In the poem “If I Fail” Tupac seems prepared for the worst but hopes for the best, one can find similar ideas in the song “Me Against the World”. In several stanzas he reflects on what he witnesses: people murdered, police violence, isolation, no support system. He even admits to participating in these illegal activities and destructiveness.
I’m headed for danger, don’t trust strangers
Put one in the chamber whenever I’m feeling this anger
Don’t want to make excuses, cause this is how it is
What’s the use unless we’re shootin no one notices the youth
It’s just me against the world baby

In conclusion the world in Tupacs eyes is set up in a way to destroy the black race and in his songs and poetry he strives to uplift the community by sending messages to the youth to ask questions and do their best.
 
Tipton
English 201 B

Tupac Shakur was known to many as a gangster rapper and to others he was a true educator. Tupac's lyrics and poems were an expression of his experiences in life and/or his aspirations for his future and the future of those who followed him. Although Tupac Shakur uses examples in his song, “Me Against The World" and poem "If I Fail" which often seem to contradict each other, his intention is to encourage his peers to continue pursuing their dreams, because "even if things don't go the way[they] planned it[....],"they can still make a difference in the world"(verse 3MATW).

In the poem "If I Fail" Tupac prepared himself for failure but strived to accomplish his goals. He made no excuses for his poor choices and accepted the consequences. The poem is inspirational and encourages the reader, no matter what obstacles you face, if you fall down get back up and continue to strive to reach your goals. However, when you compare the lyrics in his song "Me Against the World" Tupac is clearly speaking of the everyday struggles that he has to face as a poverty stricken young black man.

In Holler If You Hear Me, “Do the Lord Care” songs such as Thug Mansion, So Many Tears, Keep Ya Head Up, Me Against The World, poems Sometimes I Cry. Tupac cries out for help, he wanted to cease the violence, poverty, pain, and the tears in life as well as other people lives. The Demons he fought wouldn’t let him to have peace in his mind nor his soul. In spite of all he was going through he made beautiful uplifting music for his people, he encouraged them to keep your head up love people
 
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