These are all pieces from my college writing course of the same name..
My Name is My Name
Hi, my name is Mekhi/ Don’t have a story behind it, I just know it’s mine/ Who is like God. I’m not sayin’ I’m not./ Cause one on one, ain’t no one with flows that’s like mine./
Asked pops where it came from, he said a baby book./ Momma said it came from bull, was Future in 8 Mile, was Mitch in Paid In Full./ I used to be ashamed of what it was, it wasn’t soundin’ right./ Now, make sure my M is capital, and pronounce it right./
Whenever I tell or write to the ladies, I put swag behind it./ Let it roll off, ‘could feel my tongue shadowboxin’./ I be havin’ this feelin’ like I’m braggin’ ‘bout it/ Though it ain’t much to say when you ask about it./
Even though my stage name the baddest out there,/ I don’t need either one, I could rap without em/ It’s all about my gave one/ The one thing that represents me besides where I came from./
From Jamaica Ave to Bedstuy,/ My name, my biggest flex next to my dreadlocks./ So unique, ain’t a better style off the headtop./ Can’t be hit if you had a sniper scope and a red dot./
I walk around like it’s invincible/ Stay lowkey, word to the first syllable./ Dope enough to odee like I put the syringe in you/ That’s how they know me like I’m lookin familiar/
—
My name is my name, gawd./ If everything changes that’s stayin’ the same gawd./ A change in personas, through money and fame gawd./ What more can I say gawd?/
My name is my name gawd/ Don’t matter what changes, that ain’t goin away gawd./ The one I was given, not somethin’ I came ‘cross./ Other than that, ain’t much to explain gawd./
As the Lord Swings the Pendulum
Rhetoric is defined as the art of effective or persuasive speaking or writing, especially the use of figures of speech and other compositional techniques. We see rhetoric everywhere, on TV, in advertisements, in music, etc. However one genre where we see the use of rhetoric the most, is within poetry. An author will use various forms of wordplay to dance their idea/point around the readers’ head.
TAMAYO
For example, let’s look at Please, Hurt by Jennifer Tamayo. Throughout the entire poem she uses repetition as she explains the struggles she goes through as a woman in modern society.
She starts with “We can’t masturbate to Oprah, or NPR or Sesame street. We can’t masturbate to Julia Child or pastry puff. We can’t masturbate to lakes, trees, or flowers”. As she continues on, she ends with “The women have sewn their lips shut. The women have sewn their lips shut. The women have sewn their lips shut & their children’s lips”.
Jennifer Tamayo expresses that as a woman, society has forced her to feel like she has to be politically correct one hundred percent of the time, otherwise society will look down on her. So, she and the women around her have to constantly be on their best behavior, so much that they need to teach this to their daughters because when they grow up, they’ll go through the same thing.
ROYCE DA 5’9”
After reading, I instantly made the connection to a song I heard, “Pendulum” by Royce da 5’9”. Although he speaks on a completely different issue, the structure is very similar. He starts with “When it ain’t nothin’ left to be for these hoes but a bitch. And ain’t nothin’ left to heat on the stove but a brick. It ain’t nothin’ left to eat for the poor but the rich”.
He raps about the struggles that African Americans go through in this country, dealing with systematic racism, and being oppressed for so long that we actually have to go in survival mode, and do what we have to do to get by.
He continues with “All my people gon’ be speakin’ what they feel. All my people gon’ be eatin what they kill. Rob the rich and leave ‘em with the fuckin’ bill. Rob the rich and leave ‘em with the fuckin’ bill. Roll this weed with your degrees up in hell”. He raps about the unfairness of trying to live as a human being but constantly being set back because of the color of his skin, and how he and his people take matters into their own hands.
We’ve seen this in recent history, with the Black Lives Matter protests, and the rioting. Stores were robbed and destroyed, people fought with law enforcement and it was all on more than one occasion throughout 2020 and 2021.
CONCLUSION
Between Tamayo’s poem and Royce’s song, you can pinpoint the similarities in the structure. Tamayo uses repetition to give detail to the issue she was dealing with as a woman, and Royce’s technique throughout his song is parallel to that, as he gives detail to the situation some African Americans are going through in the U.S. Both authors then used repetition to show the overall severity of their respective situations through the long term effects they’ve explained.
Could Be Wrong
The research essay I chose to speak about and potentially put on the chopping block, is that of my classmate Daniella Perez. The subject of her paper was based on sexist and misogynistic ideas that have been created and implemented throughout history. Her main point, as she states explicitly, is “Since ages ago and up until now, mothers have been conditioned to believe that their only purpose is being a housewife, in order to give space for the strong and powerful men to thrive in the outside world”. To support her main point, Perez uses sources “Girl” by Jamaica Kincaid and “Pride and Prejudice” by Jane Austen.
“Girl” is a short story about a mother speaking to her daughter, teaching her how to behave so she isn’t slut shamed by men and society. “Pride and Prejudice” is a novel where the antagonist, Caroline Bingley, has seemingly misogynistic views on qualities a woman should have, otherwise she basically doesn’t matter. Perez uses her sources to support her claim very well.
She then goes on to share her own experience/witnessing of these ideas being implemented in society. Perez states “Little girls fall victim to sexist propaganda while they are too young to realize it, and reinforcing it are the parents. The most common way this occurs is through children’s toys. Toys such as cleaning sets, strollers, kitchen sets, baby dolls (which are usually female babies), etc. are majorly advertised towards girls only”.
Now while I do see and agree with Daniella’s point, I don’t one hundred percent think she was spot on when she spoke about toys. While she is right that these toys are marketed toward little girls, and most of these toys mimic the role of a housewife, it doesn’t necessarily have to be a misogyny thing.
Growing up starting at a young age, most kids spend a lot of time with their parents. They learn about life from them, and they watch what they do. Most people, let alone children, might say that their parents are their hero. Who is to say these toys aren’t marketed towards little girls to allow them to be just like mom and dad who may both keep the house nice and neat, cook delicious meals every other day and take care of their siblings? I’m not saying Perez is wrong, but this could be looked at in an innocent light.
However, just for chuckles, let’s say, these toys are meant to gear little girls toward an adulthood of being a housewife, and it is misogynistic. What is it called when these same brands market toys for boys like tools sets, and guns? If we aren’t looking at those instances in the same light, then what’s the difference?
Just saying. But hey, I could be wrong…
Class On Monday
Class was Ightish/
First class ever had me excited for college/
Snapback, white tee I was keepin’ it stylish/
Class chat, so many people I keep it on silent/
If this was any other class you’ll catch us cheatin’ on the test/
Professor cool, and I’m relieved cause I don’t even want the stress/
So cool, I’m probably gon’ be sleepin’ on the next/
Creative writing so ballistic, gotta keep an armored vest/
I’ll take the class serious, ain’t gonna play no games/
Couple cute girls in here but I ain’t gonna say no names/
I’ll just make sure I arrive sharp as a razor blade/
Hopefully It’s always on time, I was almost late today/
Got a couple Homeworks, nothin’ to worry ‘bout/
Favorite class, but when it’s done, I still might hurry out/
August 29th, there go my first day for you/
Woulda kept goin’ but what more can I say to you
Ain’t much happen..
Curtain Call
This semester, if anything, has been crazy. It has been a tough, short ride that felt long, and I am TIRED. But, regardless of any mistakes this semester, I have learned. I already knew how to write before I got here, but I have learned who I am as a writer, and I have learned a lot about myself.
The main thing I learned is how to use my voice. During the semester, we have received a few projects, all writing prompts, but we did not receive rubrics. That allowed me as a writer to let my imagination run wild and shape my writing pieces in whatever way I wanted. It ultimately allowed me to have fun.
For example, the very first homework we were given was to write a letter to ourselves about how we felt about our first day. The only other thing we were told was to seal it in an envelope, and that was it. There were no guidelines we had to follow. My immediate thought was to rap about it, because I wanted to show who I was on a piece of paper. And I did, for that time. But that brings me to the next thing I learned about myself.
While no guidelines allows you to have fun with your work, the key detail about it is that it forces you to really go in your mind and think.
I learned that I think deep through thorough thought. Sometimes, way too deep. When I write lyrics, I like to be very detailed with my work, whether that be complex use of rhetorical devices, or trying to rhyme as many syllables as possible. But recently I have found it very hard to come up with lyrics that I actually like, and it’s been eating me alive. But it hit me like a ton of bricks.
Our second big assignment, our research paper, we had a list of things we needed to do which obviously guided the direction of our writing, but again, we had our breathing room (I say we as in my fellow classmates and I). We had to take one of our readings from class and compare it and the author’s use of rhetoric to another book, or tv show, or whatever piece of media we wanted.
It must’ve taken me a week to find a good comparison, and I started and finished the assignment the day before it was due. When I was looking, I couldn’t really find any similarities, and when I did I felt a brief moment of relief knowing I was going to get the essay done, and that’s when I realized I think incredibly deeply because I want it to be perfect. That whole week, I had the same feeling of frustration I always have when I can’t think of a good bar for a song. It’s almost like I try to get my work to fit a certain boujee standard that the back of my mind created.
After that I made an agreement with myself to stop being so hard on myself. Even after all that, I ironically found a perfect match, between Jennifer Tamayo and Royce da 5’9.
That very assignment helped me get better with my analyzing skills. Noticing how different authors and creators use rhetoric to get their points across has really shown me that rhetoric is everywhere, and absolutely anything can be a hidden message. Not just through my sources, but through my peers’ presentation’s too.
One of my classmates brought up how Balenciaga started marketing bags that look like trash bags, which look hideous, but the fact that they are a designer brand almost justifies in our mind why their products are so expensive. I forget who it was, but she said we aren’t paying for the product, we’re paying for the name of the brand on it, and that was one of the most brilliant things I’ve heard in this class. (To be very honest, I thought the black one looked kinda cool.)
But here is where it got tricky. Our third big assignment was to read one of our classmates’ essays, and demonstrate our understanding of rhetoric and use of it by either agreeing or disagreeing. So you could take the easy road and agree with someone, but the downside is it’s boring. Or, you could go against somebody, which is more entertaining, but you’d then have to use rhetoric to debunk the rhetoric they found for their project.
I chose to go the fun route and try to debunk someone, and put Daniella Perez on the chopping block. She wrote her research paper about certain toys being designed to train little girls for a life of being a housewife, with toys such as strollers, cooking sets, and cleaning supplies. I said she’s not entirely wrong but, it could just be a marketing strategy toward kids who idolize their parents, the same way boys grow up with toys like toolsets and nerf guns, but no one ever talks about that. I simply went to the same primary source she used, and analyzed the use of rhetoric the same way she did.
Lucky for me, her source was loose with the rhetoric so it was simple to work around (no offense daniella)
Overall, I loved this class and I really do feel like I can take what I’ve learned and apply it to not just future projects, but to life ahead of me.
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