Francisco Legorreta
English 114 B
5/14/12
Cover
Letter
In this particular English course I
learned many different things, some of which I had a feeling I would learn.
However, we also discussed and learned material that I would never have thought
we would talk about in an ordinary English class. Even though the class was
constructed in an abnormal way we still learned many new things while enjoying
it at the same time. Some thing that I really enjoyed was the fact that we
would look at and talk about current issues that we live in our modern society.
These issues could have been have ranged from economic to social issues. No
matter what topic we would talk about, it would always end up being very
interesting. Even since the beginning of this course, which was last semester
we have been doing these unorthodox assignments, but in my opinion I believe
that these different methods have made me into a better writer. One method that
I really enjoyed was how we did several drafts and progressions, which would
slowly ease us into the bigger more important essays. These helped a lot
because I saw them as practices, and during this we also would be put into
groups in which we discussed and reviewed each others progress. I thought that
this process was essential to my success because it allowed me to stay on
course and fix my mistakes and improve my writing style before I turned in my
actual essay. Another method that we did last semester that I really enjoyed
was how we were able to watch videos and look at images on the issues we were
writing about. To me this helped because of the fact that I happen to be more
of a visual person. My favorite assignment that we did last semester was the
Ethnography, the reason being that we had the ability to choose our own topic
to do an essay on. The most important and interesting part about this
assignment was the fact that it all started with us choosing a simple image and
describing it, and then eventually elaborating on it. This method was important
because it showed that an essay could be written with an image and a survey. In
my overall opinion the first half of this English course was more creative than
any thing because we would be talking just about anything, even current issues
that would happen on a daily basis at CSUN. No matter the case the first half showed
us that we could create an essay on any issue, which would be essential in the
second half of this class.
In this current semester, I noticed
our English class changed a little bit, however it still had its unorthodox
feel to it. For example we had to do more critical thinking, such as the
identity of a person. Almost all of our works dealt with the identity of the
person, but the difference is that we had to talk about the identity of the
person in different situations. For example we had to talk about the identiy of
the person in an the form of an Avatar, I thought that this was a creative
angle on how to approach it. The reason why I thought that this was a good idea
is because this topic has such a huge amount of people who apply. This topic
opened my eyes and I learned that people
can enforce their personal identity on their Avatars, and at the same time the
Avatars identity can be rubbing off on the person playing as well. Another
thing that I found to be extremely peculiar was that we were to explore and
research different spaces, of all assignment I found this to be the oddest.
However, once our group went to our designated locations we noticed that a
persons behavior and even identity of the person can be changed by the simple
space of the area. However, perhaps the most controversial and most informative
topic had to be about the book we read, which was As Nature Made Him. This was
the ultimate test of identity of a person and it showed me that there many different
incidents that may or may not change the identity of a person. In this
particular case it was a huge deal and it really had huge implications. Since
this half of the class was primarily based on a persons identity I decided to
choose essays that deal with this reoccurring theme. The two essays that I
decided to put into my portfolio would be my Ethnography of why people decided
to switch from MySpace to Facebook, which at first does not seem as if it deals
with identity, but in actuality it shows how a persons identity can be changed
by the general population. The other essay that will be in my portfolio would
be the most recent essay we did which had to deal with identity, this time I
decided to do it on music for the simple fact that music can have a huge impact
on a person’s identity.
Overall during my time in this
English class I was able to learn new methods of writing and new ways on how to
improve my writing style. The best part about it is the fact even though we all
were being productive we were still writing issues that caught our attention.
From the first half of this class I believe that learned how to be a more
creative writer, and above all I now have a proven method in which my essay can
be the best it can be. Which is I must do several smaller drafts and
progressions and still be sharing my work with some one who can give me
feedback. In the second half of this class I believe I learned how to become
more of a critical thinker and writer as well. All in all I think having this
class through out the entire year allowed me to develop into a better writer, and
I am leaving with new knowledge.
Francisco Legorreta
English 114 B
5/14/12
Social
Media Ethnography
As most people may or may not know MySpace
was the first social media that grabbed the attention of both the older and
younger public. Since being the first social media, MySpace was groundbreaking
because it gave an immense amount of freedom to the general community. Even
though MySpace was indeed huge with the general population, it was much bigger
deal to younger kids around the ages of thirteen or fourteen. MySpace served
more as an outlet from the boredom of being home. The reason was because MySpace
allowed all people to communicate with their friends and even make new friends
and relationships. Another thing that most young users including myself really
liked was the fact that each person was able to customize their own profile as
much as they pleased. However, the feature that people from my survey thought
was the reason why MySpace became such a phenomenon was the fact that they
could communicate with such a large audience. This was extremely important to
the younger generation because they were able to communicate without being
charged a fee. Mostly all of these young
users had no income so to them a free social media sounded a whole lot better
than calling one another; This made most teenagers choose MySpace over a phone.
People who I interviewed were people who I grew up with so they were more or
less my same age. Even though MySpace was the first social media that gave
people the ability to communicate in a whole different manner than ever before
certain users eventually became bored with it. These few users who got tired of
MySpace found Facebook (another social media), so they decided to switch over
to Facebook and give it a try. At first it was a gradual transition the public
had, but eventually more and more people began to switch over to the new social
media until Facebook eventually took the crown of social media supremacy. This
to me was astonishing and it made me wonder what were the reasons why the MySpace
users left and decided to make Facebook their new social media of choice. So in
order to find this answer I decided to conduct a survey with the people from my
hometown because they were the group of people who I was associated myself with
when this shift happened.
Since I knew that I was going back
home for the weekend I thought that this would be the best time to conduct my
survey because I would have the chance to ask all of my friends why they
switched. Even though I was going back to my hometown to where most of my
friends were Latinos I knew that I would mostly have similar answer, well only
if they applied to their demographics. For this survey I also made sure that
these people who I interviewed were of the correct age, well at least old
enough to remember about MySpace and remember why they switched. Most of the
people who I interviewed were around my age so they all are about nineteen
years old right now. And when they made the switch from MySpace to Facebook
they were between the ages of fourteen and seventeen. Another thing that I made
sure with the people I interviewed was that they all lived in a common area,
which happened to be my hometown of Santa Maria. I knew that the best way in
which I could conduct my survey was to try and have as many friends as I could
to talk to me in person. By doing this I was going to be able to see their body
expressions to their answers. For example I would be able to tell that one of
my friends felt very strongly about his reason if he was flapping his arms
around. While I wasn’t able to get a chance to get a face-to-face discussion
with all of my friends, however I thought asking them through a phone call
would have to do. All I all I interviewed 30 people in total, 16 of them were
guys and the rest were girls. Most of the people who I interviewed were
Latinos, while the rest were either Asian or Caucasians. I was also able to
make the assumption that not everyone who I questioned would be doing well
economically, because most of us lived in a predominantly Latin based town.
However, in order to conduct a very accurate ethnography I tried to get an even
number of guys and girls, and to ensure accuracy even more I came up with 4
very simple questions that will be the exact same ones asked to each person.
The first question I asked was, “What was the reason why you decided to get a MySpace?”
The second question was, “What was your favorite feature about MySpace?” The
third question was, “What made you want to switch from MySpace to Facebook?”
The final question was, “Now that you have had both a MySpace and a Facebook,
what do you think is the biggest difference between the two social media
websites?” I was pretty confident that if I administer these questions I would
be able to discover the main reason why most MySpace users switched over to
Facebook.
When I asked the first question of
my survey to my 30 friends I got answers that I was pretty much expecting to
hear. For example, 20 of the 30 replied that the reason why they got a MySpace
was because their friends also had one and they did not want to be left behind.
In a demographic point of view the answers I got from this question did not
really make a difference because those who gave me this answer were not predominantly
a certain race. Then from the 10
remaining 7 said that they got a MySpace because of the fact that they did not
have a phone and they thought that their only way of communicating with their
friends when they needed something was through MySpace. This answer however
made me realize something else; the people who actually got their MySpace
because they needed a way to communicate with their friends were all Latinos.
At first I did not notice but then it hit me, since they did not have the
financial means to own a cell phone, they turned to the only way other way that
was free, which was MySpace at the time. While the remaining 3 said that they
only got one to have it and that they honestly do not even use it, they even
said that they could live without it. However in my second question I was
expecting my answers to be a bit more diverse than my expectations for the
first question. This time 7 of the 30 replied that their favorite feature about
MySpace was how they were each able to customize their individual page as much
as they wanted without having anyone telling them something. To me this answers
I got from this question could not show me what race or age a person maybe,
because no matter who it maybe everyone has their own opinions. Then from the
23 remaining 8 said that their favorite feature was how they were all able to
find old friends and new friends and be able to talk to them. Then 10 from the
remaining 15 said that their favorite feature was how they were able to upload
their pictures and have people comment on them. Most of the people who said
that they liked this were girls because they all admitted that they all like to
have guys commenting on their pictures because they feel wanted. While the
remaining 5 said that their favorite feature was how they were able to show off
their favorite things such as music, books, movies and sports teams. This
answer to me was intriguing because it showed me that some of the people liked
this feature were Latinos because they were able to put their favorite soccer
team. The next question was the most important one, and I was very intrigued to
see what the answers are going to be. From the 30 I found out that 17 switched
to Facebook because everyone else was doing it as well and they did not be the
only one who stays on MySpace. This was pretty much the same reason why I also
switched over to Facebook. From the 13 remaining 4 said that they switched over
to Facebook because they liked the layout of Facebook a whole lot more than the
one MySpace had. The remaining of my friends said that they didn’t really switch
over to Facebook but instead they pretty much just got a Facebook while they
had a MySpace and was using both of them at the same time. For this particular
question and answer for my survey I believe that it did not matter what race
you were, I think it mattered on how mature you happened to be. For example all
different races eventually switched over to Facebook, this pretty was self-explanatory
with the results I got because more than half did it because everyone else was
doing it. However, the bigger question is probably when, the people who told me
they switched over because they liked the lay out better than the one MySpace
had, well these people happened to be the slightly older ones from the bunch of
people I interviewed. For the final question I was not to sure what the
responses were going to be but I wanted to know their answers. From the 30 of
friends 3 of them said they did not really know the differences between the two
social media websites because as they had already mentioned in question one
they did not really use their MySpace accounts that often. However 10 of the
remaining people said that some of the biggest differences was that Facebook
was so much more formal and more for mature people while MySpace was much more
juvenile. Two people said that the biggest difference for them was that
Facebook had a LIKE button unlike MySpace where you could only comment. From
the remaining 15 people 6 of them said that the biggest difference for them was
how Facebook was so much more global than MySpace. As we all know MySpace was
global, however, Facebook is far more global. This made sense to because almost
all of my family members from Mexico are able to talk me. Four of these people
said that their biggest difference was how people can create an event and also
make a group for a club, fraternity, sport, etc. While the remaining 5 people
that their biggest difference was how much bigger Facebook is than MySpace in
both schools and in businesses. This makes sense because now that I think about
it CSUN and the businesses that are on campus have a Facebook page, to me this
is incredible. Just like in the last question I believe that the answers
mattered more on the age of people rather than the race or even their economic
status. The reason why I say this is because more than half of the people who
answered this question gave reasons older might give as well. Which are that
they can now communicate with their family members from other countries.
Another answer in why the age mattered in why they switched was because they
said that they liked the fact of how Facebook allowed people to create groups
in both their Universities as well as businesses.
MySpace was the social media that
set off the trend that people could communicate with one another through a free
online website. When it first came out it was breathe taking because this had
never been done before. MySpace was incredibly huge for a while until the new
social media site, Facebook, came around. Once Facebook came around MySpace
began to dwindle away because people were leaving. MySpace is still in use at
this point in time, however it lost a lot of users when Facebook came into the
picture. In the responses I received I was surprised yet I already had an idea
that some of the answers were going to be similar to reasons why I decided to
either get a MySpace and then get a Facebook. In my personal opinion I think
that it does matter who you interview and how many, I also do believe that
maybe if I would have interviewed different age group or even a city with a predominantly
different race I might get different answers. However all I know is that the
answers I got came from mostly nineteen year old people who have lived in the
same town their whole lives. Nonetheless I believe that my predictions were on
point with the answers I got. However, this just makes you think that what’s
next for when it comes to social media sites. What is going to be the next big
thing that comes around and eventually knocks down Facebook from its high horse?
This is bound to happen either way because social media sites are just like in
electronics there is always something new coming out. As of right now Facebook
is the top social media until another tops it, but when it does I would really
be interested to see why people leave Facebook for another site.
Francisco Legorreta
5/15/12
English 114 B
East
Coast Rap Vs. Pop Rap
Music plays a huge role in almost
every individual’s everyday life. The influence of music can be as simple as a
person listening to a song on the radio while being stuck in traffic, or can be
as inspirational as person who listens to music to rid their drug and or
alcohol addiction. No matter the case, music has always been a key influence on
a person’s identity. One of the biggest forms of music happens to be Hip Hop, the
reason being that it has so many subgenres. And each and every one of these
subgenres have their own unique identity in the Hip Hop industry, however two
of the biggest and most influential styles that we have today are East Coast
Rap and Pop Rap. Even though these two subgenres have the same roots, they still
both represent different styles and create different identities all together.
East Coast Rap for example usually has very simple beats, but always makes up
for that with its extremely lyrical style. East Coast Rap is such an
influential form of Hip Hop because of the fact that some of the most respected
and lyrically acclaimed artists have come from the East Coast. Pop Rap on the
other hand incorporates more upbeat type of music and uses far less lyrics;
hence it personifies the image of flashiness. This form of Pop Rap is often
revered as party music. Nonetheless the identity of the two genres can vary a
lot, from the simple clothing style that the artists endorse to the life long
messages they happen to be spreading. Either way music can shape the identity
of the listener and the artist.
All forms of Hip Hop come from the
same roots and beginnings, but there are certain genres of Hip Hop that have
had more success than others. However, East Coast Rap happens to be a very
sacred type of Hip Hop because it happens to come from the same place in which
Hip Hop was born, and it happens to be the city of New York. Since the
beginning of its existence East Coast Rap has always had a very unique style,
which is that the beat is simplified and the lyrics amplified. This in a sense
causes the listener to pay less attention to the actual beat and more to what
is being said, some people have even said that this style is considered inner
city poetry. East Coast Rap talks about all kinds of subjects, they can range
from social to political problems, but nonetheless East Coast Rap has served as
the voice of the people and has also greatly influenced the identity of the
listener. For example unlike other people who enjoy Pop Rap and Southern Rap
and like to go out and show off their wealth and materialistic items, people
who personify East Coast Rap would much rather not go flaunting around. The reason
why is because just like in East Coast Rap they would much rather have their
intellectual vocabulary do the talking then their wealth, this identity that
the people are exhibiting resembles East Coast on how the beat is not as
important as how the lyrics are. Another way in which East Coast Rap influenced
the identity of the listener was both through slang and wardrobe. Some slang
that is used is still considered to be only understood in New York, it seemed
as if they would speak another language. The wardrobe that was used by people
in New York usually consisted of Timberland Boots, baggy pants, hoodies, and a
high fade, people didn’t wear the top of the line clothes because they knew
that if they were showing it, there was a chance they could get robbed. New
York was also known as a rugged town so the people too wore rugged clothes;
this just further more exemplifies the influence of East Coast Rap on the
identity of the people who listen to it. The East Coast artists also have a
very unique identity about them, something that artists from other Hip Hop
genres try to emulate but can’t. These East Coast artists have lived through
tough times and hardships, creating a hardened identity, this is clearly
evident in the type of music they create. For example in their music these
artists talk about the constant struggles they have endured and give vivid
imagery of how cruel the world can be, while at the same time still giving the
youth positive messages. Since East Coast Rap is predominantly lyrical, MC-ing
and free styling have become synonymous with this type of Hip Hop, further
showing that the power of their words is much more important. Some of the most
famous East Coast Rap artists of all time happen to be The Notorious B.I.G,
Nas, KRS-One, Rakim, and Big Daddy Kane, these are just a few artists whose
music have lasted the test of time. Overall East Coast Rap has a very distinct
style and both the artists and audience who enjoy this type of music also have
their own particular identity.
Even though the East Coast Rap and
Pop Rap originated from the same birthplace, they still offer contrasting
styles. Pop Rap represents different philosophies than the politically revered
East Coast Rap. One of the biggest differences is the fact that it focuses on
more entertaining beats, hence it glorifies the party life more. This type of
Hip Hop also uses far less lyrics, and the few lyrics that are being used do
not make sense at all. Most people who listen to Hip Hop on a frequent basis
have dubbed this type of music as Mainstream, for the fact that it is the music
that gets all the radio plays. In this more ignorant type of music it talks
primarily about drugs, alcohol, women and flashy materialistic items. This type
of music also influences the identity of the people a great deal, for example
more and more young people are far less intellectual and care more about image
and flash, which in a sense pretty much summarizes the style of Pop Rap.
Another huge factor that has contributed to the identity of the listener is the
fact that artists emphasize that we only live once and that we should do things
with out caring about the consequences. One of the biggest quotes that young
people use in our modern day is Y.O.L.O, which means (You Only Live Once).
Hence this shows that the listeners care far less about committing crimes or
committing illegal actions, such as doing drugs on a regular basis or driving
drunk. This clearly shows that the identity of a person who listens to Pop Rap
can easily be manipulated. The artists who make this type of music also have an
identity, however their identity is formed through different circumstances
unlike the East Coast artists who live through hardships. For example most Pop
Rap artists such as Drake and Wiz Khalifa did not endure these turbulent
circumstances, instead they received a helping hand into the music industry.
Drake in particular has been an actor since the age of thirteen further showing
that he never endured hardships; instead he had it made since a teenager. This
is perhaps the reason why these artists make Pop Rap, and why they focus on
mostly on party music because in their entire life it has all been one huge
party and they have never had to go through any adversity. Other Pop Rap artists
who fall under this category include Lil’ Wayne, Big Sean, Chris Brown, and all
of Young Money. These are just a few artists who make this party type of music.
Even though this type of music is somewhat idiotic it still reaches a larger
audience than East Coast Rap for the simple fact that it is still able to mix
with a variety of genres other than Hip Hop. Pop Rap also has the ability
attract people from all different backgrounds, for example some of the music
that is being played in California can be playing in Vermont. Pop Rap may not
be putting out the best messages or even teaching anything but it still happens
to be one of the biggest forms of Hip Hop.
Music does plays huge part of
everyone’s daily life and has been ever since the beginning and it will forever
be a huge factor. Hip Hop and all of its subgenres all represent different
things. For example people who will continue to listen to Pop Rap will have a
different identity opposed to the people who listen to other forms of Hip Hop.
Fans of Pop Rap will continue to focus completely on their image instead of
more realistic matters, such as their education and what is going on in the
world. Which goes to show us that Pop Rap will continue to represent the party
life as well as the wealth and flashiness. This also goes for the artists who
make Pop Rap it seems as if they will continue to make this form of Hip Hop. While people who listen to East Coast Rap will
also have their own identity. They will focus more on the lyrics of the songs
and to what is being said. The audience to East Coast Rap will usually focus on
the artist’s social, economic, and political views, which will make the
listener in a sense more intellectual. Hip Hop as a whole seems like it will
continue to thrive with all of its different subgenres it now has. However with
all of these subgenres in Hip Hop there will always be fans and artists with
different identities. But no matter what subgenre of Hip Hop it is and how
different the identities of the artists and audience who listen to it may be,
it will not change the fact that they all came from the same roots. Even East
Coast Rap and Pop Rap, who seem as if they are the complete opposite in a Hip
Hop point of view, they too have that factor in common. Overall East Coast Rap
and Pop Rap have different things to offer, but they still have the ability to
greatly to influence the identity of the listener and the artist.
Work
Cited
Alexander,
Ron. “The Differences That Define Rap/Hip-Hop.” ConvictedArtist.com. Web. 7 May
2012.
Fabian,
Jefferson. “The Evolution of Hip-Hop Today.” Cw.ua.edu. 24 Aug. 2011. Web. 7 May 2012.
Haram.
Dime Wars: Daily Insights, Music &
Entertainment. 23 May 2008. Web. 7 May 2012.
Hip Hop Lead. Glish Productions,2012. Web. 6 May
2012.
Hip Hop Music: Hip Hop Social Media. Amazon Services LLC Associates Program,
2012. Web. 7 May 2012.
“History
of Hip Hop.” AcesandEights.com. Web.
4 May 2012.
Shafer,
Eric. “West Coast? East Coast? Hip Hop Explained.” Audio.tutsplus.com. 19 Nov. 2010. Web.
6 May 2012.
