final blog

My final thoughts on this class are that I can not believe I actually made it. When I first started this class I was amazed with the amount of work we had to do each week. I think the amount of work was too much too much; I was stressed out during this whole semester. I was not really able to focus on my other class do to the massive amount of work that we had in this class. When I signed up for this class I thought I would have more time to focus on the other classes, but this class took up most of my time and I was not able to spread my time over all the other classes. Since it was an online class I thought that it would be a lot easier than a regular class. I thought since I actually did not have to physically be in a class room I would have a lot more time on my hands.  I did not like the reading assignments that we were given in this class they were really confusing because we kept redoing the same reading assignments again and again.

 Another thing that was hard for me was the group activities because there were some people in my group that would not participate until the last minute and It made it very difficult on me because I always ended up doing all the work with one more member of the group. I did not learn anything from these group activities I just got even more stressed out. I think that the only thing that I actually liked from this class was writing and reading the blogs that we did each week. I really enjoyed just saying what was on my mind every week; it was very relaxing for me to let out everything that I had to say. I did not learn any new techniques in writing, and I found that the They Say I Say book was really confusing; there was not anything in there that I can remember or use in my future writing. Another thing that I found not be helpful were the peer draft reviews. Every time I got my paper back the information that was given in the feedback section was never helpful and it just made everything more difficult and confusing.  Most of the people that gave feedback usually said the same things and just say a lot of random things.  There were some fun assignments that I really enjoyed doing. Most of them were the ones which involved doing some research on the music we listen too. Over all I would have to say that this class was not a good experience for me I really struggled with the massive amounts of work that we were given. The only thing that I am looking forward to from this class is for it to finally end so I can enjoy the summer and not have to do a blog every week.

Week 15

When I first started this class my writing was on an average level, it was not great. And that is where I wanted it to be. I think that the reason my writing was not where I wanted it to be was because I really hated writing essays because I felt like it took up a lot of my time. I had always been hard for me to write paper it took me a long time to get started on them because I did not know what to write about. English has always been a subject that I did not like. I did not like writing essays. But after doing all the things we did in this class, blogging every week and writing all the essays we did really helped me improve on my writing. What I think that helped me the most in this was the peer draft review because I was able to see what types of mistakes I did every time I wrote a paper. With these peer draft reviews I was able to see that I was making the same mistakes every time I wrote a paper. And now when I write papers I am able to not make those mistakes because of what I learned from the peer draft reviews. I also am able to write papers more easily because of all the papers I did. I got used having a paper due every couple of weeks and now I notice that when I write papers I am able to write them a lot faster and without all the problems I used to come across. Over all I feel like my writing has improved a lot. I did not think it would improve as much as I did since is an online class. But I think it is all because of all the writing assignments that I had every week. I found myself doing some type of writing assignment almost every day. The first couple of weeks were hard for me because I was not used to doing so much writing for just one single class. This has really improved my writing and now I enjoy writing papers a little bit more than before. This class has been a great experience for me because this was the first online class I have ever taken and know I know what the online classes are like, so I will be prepared if I end up taking another online class in the future. I really did not think I was going to learn much in this class, I actually thought that this class was going to be really easy because4 I t was online. But know I know that these online classes are not easy at all. I am really happy with the way I write now, I feel more confident when I write papers now. Before I would be worried about doing well on my papers, but now I am sure that I can do well when I do papers.

Why Do Artist Sample?

When it comes to sampling I do not see how it is creative at all. When an artist uses sampling to try and create their own music it just shows that they do are not the great artist that they make it seem like they are. A true artist does not need to use sampling; they will be able to create amazing music without using something someone else already created. I do not think it is original music if an artist uses sampling, how can it? In order for something to be original you have to create it not borrow it from someone else and claim it to you own work. There are a lot of artist that do this, especially the new artist. To me it just shows their lack of creativity. But most artists just say that they are using other artist music to show them that they look up to them and respect them enough to put them into their own music. An artist who I see that is constantly doing this is Lil’ Wayne. A lot of his songs have samples of other artist music; he has even gone as far as using almost all the lyrics from the other person’s song. In one of his songs that is called “Misunderstood” he using the entire beat and the hooks that the other artist used. The only thing that is good in that song is the beat. The lyrics that he uses in that song are horrible, so without that sample that he used the song be a lot worse than it already is. I believe that sampling should not be allowed to be done by artist; they should be made to create original music. That is what it takes to be a real artist, they need to create their own music, I do not know why most of these artists are famous when all they do Is sample music from other musicians. I do not see any creativeness to that. I personally do not like to listen to artist that are constantly sampling from other musicians. I like real music that is created from the heart and soul of the artist, I do not want listen to someone who is using the same lyrics or beat that someone else already created.  Just because they change a couple of words here and there from the music they are sampling does not make it an original work of art. I cannot enjoy music that is not originally made by the artist. That is how I feel about artist sampling  music, and I know that there are some people that think that it makes the music better if you sample, but I honestly feel like that is not real music. Real music comes from the heart and it inspires to people to do great things, I do not believe that other artist that sample can create this type of inspiring music; it is not possible to do that if it is not your creation in the first place.

Venting About My Research Paper

To me the hardest part on writing any paper is just getting started. So far my paper has been coming along okay, but I need to step it up if I plan on finishing it on time. I personally hate writing research papers; I really do not see a point to writing research paper because everyone can find everything on the internet these days so there really is not much “research” that goes in to these papers. I’m having a really hard time with this paper because I just can seem to find that much information about my topic, which is on the PMRC. I do not know how I am going to write six full pages about this. I have some information that I believe will get me about half way done, but after that it is going to be a real challenge to try to finish off the rest of my research paper. I just recently started my paper so I still need a lot to do to complete it. I need to find all the information I plan to use so I can really start this because the more time I waste the harder it is going to be to finish this, but for some reason I always find myself doing better on essays when they are close to the due date. I do not know why I do this, but I always seem to do it. I plan to accomplish this research paper by focusing most of my time on it; this is the only way that I will get this done. I need to stop trying to avoid this paper because no matter how much I hate writing research papers this is something that I have to do. Where I am really having trouble on this paper is just the beginning I started my paper already, but I just cannot seem to get past this section. As soon as I try to write something down my mind just goes blank for some reason. The only way that I see myself overcoming this obstacle is by trying to make an outline of all the information that I have so far and trying to find more information about the PMRC, I think what would be best for me is to watch some videos about what they do or have done so far. Something else I could do is to stop by my professor office and asking her for some help. Over all I just think that the fact that I do not like witting papers is what is preventing me from getting this done, I really do not see any other reasons why I would just be stuck like this. These are the only things that I am having trouble with so far maybe when I get some more of my paper done I will come upon some new obstacles, but for now this is it. I think after talking to my professor I will finally be able to get this essay done.  

week 12

Internet piracy is everywhere you look. Internet piracy is when people download music from the internet without paying for those songs. People are downloading music, and videos and movies all the time. Some people even make this in to a business. They will download music from the internet and make CDs and sell them without paying for the music that they download. There are a lot of programs that let people download as much music as they want. And all the programs are free and easy to download.  This is main reason why there is so much internet piracy the fact that it is so easy to do is the reason why so many people do it. These people get all this music and movies without any consequences, sure once in a while some people get caught doing this. But there are still millions of people that are doing it. There are other programs that let you download music the legal way, which means that you have to pay for the music. For example, iTunes and Napster are popular programs that let people download music the legal way. But this way does not help the musicians because someone can just be a member to an online website where they just pay a couple of dollars a month and download all the music they want with no restrictions. These types of programs but they do not hurt them as much as downloading there music for free.

I do not believe that it will be very difficult for the music industry to stop internet piracy. I believe that there will always be someone who is able to find the music and put it online for everyone to download. I do not see how the music industry could do anything at all, this will be very difficult for them to achieve. All it takes is for someone to buy the album of an artist and then they could post it online and from there anyone one around the world with internet access can access these songs and listen or download them.  I have known about these programs since I was around 10 years old and I am now 20 years old. So that shows how long that people have been able to download free music.  And since then all my friends and their friends have been able to get all the music that they want for free.

I believe that both the musicians and the music industry lose because of internet piracy. The musicians work hard to make their music and there producers and record companies also work hard to get there music out to the world for everyone to enjoy. Why shouldn’t they get paid for the hard work they put into their music. It is not fair to the artist because they put everything in to their music so we can enjoy it. Just imagine yourself working really hard on something and spend many sleepless night trying to perfect your work all just for someone to take it without paying you what you deserve for all the hard work you put into it.

Reality Based Lyrics..

Teenager gave Eminem credit for keeping it real because his songs are all based on reality, well at least that is what he makes everyone think. His lyrics are all based on his life and how tough it was for growing up where he did. A lot of people can relate to his lyrics and that is why he gets credit for keeping it real. It is very important to the listener to be able to relate to the lyrics of a song and that can only happen if the lyrics have some truth behind them. It is important for lyrics to be reality based because a lot of people use music as a form of therapy. Reality based music is more interesting and can grab the attention of the listener. And when it comes to non reality lyrics the song can be entertaining to listen to, but it really has no meaning to it is just a fun song. Some songs do not have reality based lyrics behind them, but that does not mean that they are not great songs. There is still a great importance to reality based lyrics because every one likes to listen to songs that tell a story about the artist. It makes them see how hard the artist worked to get where they are today. Eminem is a good example of this he has a lot of songs that are based on his life and the obstacles he had to over come to get to where he is today. He has earned the respect of a lot of people because of his reality based lyrics. He does not not rap about the same thing that every one else does. It is not always about money or drugs and women, it is about life. And the problems he has in his life which a lot of people can relate to. They can see Eminem and how he overcame everything he went through and begin to believe in them selves and know that they can overcome any obstacle as well. You do not have to be a fan to enjoy Eminem’s music as long as you are able to feel the truth behind his music and that is all you need to enjoy it. When you are able to relate to the lyrics it makes you feel like you are not the only person with problems in the world.

 I personally like reality based music better than non reality based music. Most of the music that is my music library I would say is reality based. I feel like I can share some of the same emotions that some artist put in to their songs when they speak the truth. When they talk about the rough times they had growing up it does not just make me feel closer to the artist, but all his other fans too. Every time I am having a bad day I just listen to some music that I can relate to and it becomes a form of therapy that can help me get over my problems.

week 9

In the video “2 of Amerikaz Most Wanted” by Tupac the message that he portrays is that being a “gangsta” and a “thug” is a good thing because you will get money and have everything that you want. This video is about killing people and running away from the police. In the video Tupac is being accused of killing Biggie Smalls and he is sent to court to be put away in jail. He wants to show that it is ok to get in to trouble and be accused of killing someone because you can get more “Street Cred” which will make other gangsters respect you and fear you because of the things you are willing to do. The lyrics of this song are really simple all he talks about is being one of the most wanted and feared men in America. And that getting money is very easy when you are a thug. And also that you can do whatever you want because there is no one that can tell you what to do since you have money and power.  The images that are used in this video are several ones that would want to make someone be just like Tupac. He flashes money everywhere and he has nice cars, he parties in clubs in the V.I.P room with all the champagne and women that anyone would want. He is also in nice suits and has jewelry and he is smoking cigars it is just a lot of images of what you can have only if you are a wealthy person. The way Tupac moves in this video makes him seem like a cocky person, as if he were above the law. In the scene that they are in the court room he laughs and throws papers at the other lawyers. He acts like he invincible and no one can hurt or stop him. He counts his money and he just throws it around as if he had an unlimited supply of it. His body movement is what makes him seem like he does not care about what anybody thinks and says about it because he believes that he will always have the last laugh at the end of the day. At the end of the video you see cop van driving fast down an alley way and then it begins to swerve around and then it crashes. And when the door opens Tupac comes out smiling and acting like it was easy breaking out of the van and acts like the cops can no one else in the world can stop him. I am personally a fan of Tupac I enjoy his music but after analyzing this video I can see how the way Tupac talks and acts can give off a negative message to his fans and this can be a bad thing because he has a wide variety of fans they are all different ages including young kids who could take his song lyrics as something you need to do to have all the things that he has.