Senior Blog Post: Due Thursday, April 28
“Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” is a multi-layered story, which, in addition to possessing a fascinating plot, calls to mind many important ideas and issues. The author, Joyce Carol Oates, admitted that she had a partiality during this time in her career for writing "allegory," and after all, good allegory invites us to think about and apply the story to our own lives. Respond to one of the five (5) prompts in 200 words or more and post your response before Thursday, April 28.
1. Fall from innocence into experience
Share with us an incident in which you lost a little of your childhood innocence and you learned the ropes of the real world.
2. The disappearance of religion and the acceptance of the easy values of the modern world
Share with us parts of your “faith life.” Do you attend Church weekly? Read the Bible? Belong to a Church group? Etc. Discuss how this has benefited you and others.
3. Rock and roll is the Devil's tool: Arnold Friend is the Devil (Ellie Oscar as Elvis)
Talk about a musical artist or group that promotes aberrant or immoral behavior for followers of that group. Why do you think that teens and young adults attracted to that group?
4. The story is a feminist parable of the sad situation for women in the 60s—they lose their beauty, youthful innocence, and romantic dreams or become hopeless old maids like Connie’s sister.
Write about a (somewhat modern) famous woman who resisted and won against this stereotype.
5. Bob Dylan was a “new” realistic voice of reason and experience in 1965
Tell me about a current musical artist or group whose songs promote meaningful thought or messages, especially ones that promote new ideas.
posted by JTF @ 10:06 PM
21 comments
21 Comments:
An experience in which I lost my innocence as a child was when I was around 6 years old. My grandmother had lung cancer which was caused from smoking and she had passed away. Even though my parents tried to hide the truth from me, I grew up quite a bit when my curiosity led me to read more about what happened when cancer overtook the body. When she died, I listened in on conversations behind my parents back to hear just what happened to her. I really lost my innocence in that year because I learned very clearly that the world is not a safe place. People get sick and people die even if they are good people. I learned that even good people can get sick and die. I also learned that my own intelligence was not always going to do good things for me. My own knowledge of what was happening to my grandmother made it that much more painful for me. I completely understood what was happening to her body and I understood how much pain she was in and how it was self inflicted essentially from her smoking. The fact that I knew and understood those things made me lose the innocence I had left and threw me into the world.
2. The disappearance of religion and the acceptance of the easy values of the modern world
Share with us parts of your “faith life.” Do you attend Church weekly? Read the Bible? Belong to a Church group? Etc. Discuss how this has benefited you and others.
I have been fortunate enough to develop my relationship with God all throughout my life. My mom and I went go to Church every Sunday at my parish, Sacred Heart Church. I was an altar server there and I am currently a lector. My family is the kind of family that finds a Church to go to on Sunday when we are on vacation. I have never read the Bible in its entirety but I have studied many of the passages. I went to a Catholic grade school, Sacred Heart, and I am at a Catholic high school presently. That’s 10 years of being able to study the history and teachings of God. This has benefited me spiritually and emotionally. I have a strong faith in God. If I am in trouble or need I pray to God and trust that he has a plan for me. If I am happy I thank Him for everything He’s given me. I try to go to penance every 3 months. I think having base of faith is important for every person. My faith has benefited my mom in which I make her proud by practicing my faith independently. Going to Catholic schools have given me the opportunity to meet other people who have the same values and beliefs as me.
Rachel Platten is a fairly new artist who is known for her very first single, “Fight Song”. “Fight Song” talks about never giving up and always sticking to what you believe in. It also conveys the message that one person can make a difference, as it is stated in the line, “…I might only have one match but I can make an explosion.” She also has another popular song called “Stand By You”, which was also this year’s fashion show theme. The lyrics in “Stand By You” revolve around a common theme: you’re never alone. Even though you may be feeling down or broken, there is always someone else who feels the same way. One of my favorite lines in the song is, “…if your wings are broken, borrow mine 'til yours can open too…” because it lets you know that someone will always be there to help you and lift you up. Rachel Platten is one of the very few artists who promotes meaningful messages in her work. With all the derogatory rap and overly sexual pop, it’s hard to find music nowadays that actually makes you feel good. Her songs make you want to belt the lyrics and jump around to the rhythm and not care about anything or anyone else. Rachel Platten is truly an artist who brings people together and encourages self-confidence and acceptance of others.
Women are often seen as weak, hopeless, and oppressed. In the story, a feminist parable, a sad situation for women in the 60s is highlighted. Women in the 60s were seen to have lost their beauty, youthful innocence, and romantic dreams, and become hopeless old maids like Connie’s sister. That stereotype has died down in modern days, but some aspects are still very present in society, such as women being taken advantage of because they are seen as weak and helpless. In 2003, 9 out of every 10 victims of rape were female, and 1 out of 6 women will be raped in their lifetime. Those statistics are scary and an example of how men still believe they can take advantage of innocent women, usually young girls. 80% of rapes are women under thirty, women who are still young and beautiful, who have youthful innocence, and who have romantic dreams and are not helpless old maids. Two women that have beat the odds in their small town, and may not be necessarily “famous”, but have made a huge impact in the lives of women around them, are Elba and Emelin. They are two Mayan teens living in rural Guatelama, where only 14% of girls finish school and teen pregnancies are usual. The girls are not highly regarded in this community because they are not respected when people think they are uneducated or “stupid”. They are also not respected if they are walking around as teens with a life inside of them; having a baby is a huge undertaking, and these girls may not have chosen to become impregnated. Elba and Emelin were passionate about making a change in Guatelama, so they looked for ways to help out. They heard about the Let Girls Lead’s empowerment program, and they quickly joined. After learning new skills through the program, they convinced their town mayor to fund new programs to protect women and girls. They struggled against the mayor and the local men and boys in the town, but they kept pushing and eventually gained funding for programs that support girls’ education, health, and safety. These two young teens are not considered famous, but fame is overrated. The real famous people are the ones who are doing good works away from cameras and publicity, and those who fight against adversity. Elba and Emelin have created safe places for the youthful innocence with romantic dreams to escape, and they are famous even if they gave only one girl hope. Through their bravery and perseverance, they enabled many women and girls to succeed when otherwise, they may have been taken advantage of by men who did not respect them.
My father was diagnosed with Type One Diabetes when he was only eight years old. He has lived with it for most of his life and is now just an unnecessary, unwanted daily chore. I clearly remember being woken from sleep when I was young to the sound of paramedics coming up the stairs due to my dad’s low blood sugar. The words “low blood sugar” have always had a negative connotation to me even though I never knew exactly what those words meant. Those words only trigger a distant memory of crying in halls and praying that my dad will be alright in the morning. Sometimes, when his blood sugar is not as grave, my mom would take care of it herself. Coca Cola and orange juice were always the go-to items to boost the blood sugar. There were a good several months when my dad did not have a low blood sugar and I was not scared to be alone with him, for the fear of dealing with a low blood sugar was high. I was eight years old and we were spending our summer in our lake house in Minnesota. My mom had to leave for Chicago for a business trip, and I would be left alone with my dad. I was not scared, in fact, I was excited to spend the weekend with my dad. We were playing a board game and I noticed sweat dripping from his face. I asked him a simple math question and him being a computer engineer, I surely knew he would give the correct answer. However, his answer was the lone word, “purple”. I called 911 and told them our address. Next I ran to get him orange juice. Of course, him denying the fact that he has a low blood sugar added some difficulties including having to pour the orange juice down his throat. Luckily, the orange juice acted quickly rising his blood sugar, bringing him somewhat back to his normal, rational self. The funny part came when the paramedics showed up to our drive, but they could not find the right cabin. My dad had to wave them down and when they finally stepped out of the ambulance, they asked who was in need of help. My dad responded, “Me!” That was the first time I was ever in control of someone’s life or death. I lost some innocence but gained some responsibility. It was a scary feeling but a feeling that I was growing up, finally.
Sean B.
Prompt 2
Religion seems to be a fleeting idea in today's society. All my life I've been brought up in a religious setting, having been apart of church groups and going to church every weekend. It really is a shame that religion seems to be an afterthought of the modern world. Through church and going to a Catholic school I've been able to meet new people and even become great friends with others. It doesn't have to be an all encompassing thing; in a sense that might ruin it. The problem is today that there are two sides to people who follow these religions, especially when it comes to Christianity. There are those that live by it and swear by what they learn from religious figures and the bible. Then there are those that see just the radicals and tend towards hating the religion. Neither see the in between, those that cherish it enough not to let it take over their lives but just enough to allow it to help them love a fulfilling life. Religion shouldn't have to be a controversial thing, and it certainly shouldn't ruin the way you live your life. It's certainly helped me and hopefully it'll help others in the future.
Tyler the Creator is an American rapper, songwriter, musician, music video director, record producer, graphic designer, and actor. He is the founder and leader of Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All, (OFWGKTA) or simply “Odd Future”. Tyler has been criticized of his horrific words and homophobic slurs. In an interview Tyler stated, ”I’m not homophobic. I just say faggot and use gay as an adjective to describe stupid s***.” He has also been criticized for his graphic words of violence against women and misogynistic lyrics and attitude. Tyler the Creator was also banned from the UK for posting a threat to public order in his song lyrics. Tyler also depicts rape and a beating of women in his songs, as well as retelling of his violent dream of murdering Bruno Mars. Teens and young adults are attracted to him because some might be able to relate to his way of living by jokes and silliness, or those who do not do not stick with society and struggle with abnormal thoughts and questions of society. Tyler’s lyrics may give teens that escape and independent freedom to maybe even go against their parents. Some people might just simply like the beat of his songs and aren't really listening to the lyrics.
“Where are you going, where have you been?” is a feminist allegory of the sad circumstances for women in the 1960s. Women lose their beauty, youthful innocence, and romantic dreams or become hopeless old maids like Connie’s sister. Atifete Jahjaga, the president of the Republic of Kosovo, overcame this harsh stereotype when she became the first woman in the country and region, and the youngest person in the world, to hold a presidential position.
Atifete Jahjaga always considered herself lucky because she was raised by courageous women, who in challenging times of repression by the Serb regime, fought for the freedom of their community, for the right to live as equal citizens, and for the right to life. Jahjaga said, “I have grown among the women, who have been an inseparable part of the national struggle to survive during the times of war, women who were ready to sacrifice everything to protect their families, to safeguard their children. Women who became a part of the tragedy inflicted by aggression today even carry the scars of the heinous acts of sexual abuse committed by the Serbian forces for political gains.” As president, Jahjaga joins the women of Kosovo who have gone through oppression and war. The women of Kosovo struggle with challenges of building a nonviolent, stable, and safe country for all its citizens and try to create opportunities for prosperous lives.
In an interview, Atifete Jahjaga said, “I refuse to be considered the exception to the norm, for I am one of the women of my country who make decisions every day, decisions that determine the path of our society at all times.” When she took the oath to serve the Republic of Kosovo, she promised to continue paving the path for young women to consider themselves as equal members of the society and to guarantee they offer their own contribution to the society. She also said that her presidency is where she found the strength and the power to overcome the gender prejudices, to fulfill her constitutional duties, and to promote and fight for the rights of women in all sectors of life.
4. During the early 20th century, women were usually treated unequally, as the idea of gender equality was not truly mainstream. The men in the family would provide for the females, who would try to stay out of their way and please them. As time progressed, these women would gain opportunities that would be previously only accessible to men. Jobs in heavy industry and construction were opened to women because of the World Wars, and women’s leagues of sports would be created. One famous woman who helped break the stereotypes that women had was Babe Didrikson Zaharias. Born in 1911, she was one of the most successful women athletes, and helped break the stereotype that women should stay inside rather than do strenuous activity. She won two gold medals in the 1932 Olympics for the javelin throw and 80 meter hurdles. After the Olympics, she became one of the best golfers, winning many championships and trophies in her prime. She broke the negative stereotypes that women should only think about family and home, and instead pursue what interests them the most. She is one of the prime examples of someone who never gave up on what they wanted to do, pursuing it even through cancer and old age. She resisted against the common stereotype of women at the time, and inspires both men and women that through hard work and dedication one’s dreams may be fulfilled.
As a child I was always taught to never talk to strangers and to never get in the car with someone I didn’t know. I was pretty shy growing up so I never had a problem with unfamiliar people and interactions. Going to a private elementary school only reinforced the caution to never talk to strangers and to never go anywhere by yourself. One day in sixth grade, the soccer team was outside practicing on the field as usual. I was warming up with my friends, stretching and running laps when our coach called us all over to the bench. He told us not to be scared, but that practice was ending early due to a man stalking someone on our team. Of course multiple people asked who was being stalked, where the man was, and is he going to hurt us? Our coach was calm and reassured us that the police were on their way and we were all safe as long as we stay together. We looked over to our right and saw a man in a car that had been seen driving by our practices all week long. We immediately recognized this man, as many of us had seen him walking by during our practices. The team left as quickly as we could to get home. The next time we met for practice, our coach explained to us that the police arrested this man shortly after our practice due to him being a registered sex offender, and specifically targeting one of the boys on our team. This was so unsettling to me, especially because that man had specifically said hello to me before. I had said hello back to be polite, but the conversation never went further. I was extremely grateful that the police had caught this man before he could do any harm to one of us, but the fact that I had talked to a stalker was terrifying to me. This incident helped me to see the dangers of the world first hand, and to understand why adults constantly tell children to not talk to strangers.
Prompt 1
When I was in Eighth grade I was so excited to do an overnight volleyball camp at the University of Delaware. I remember hearing about it from other people and could not wait for the experience to be my own. A camp like this came with a hefty price, five hundred dollars to be exact. My mom picked me up from a friend’s house and on the way home she proceeded to tell me they had payed for the camp, but “no new clothes for awhile”. As offhanded as this comment may seem it has been about four years and I can still remember the stress in her voice when she said it. My parents make enough money to support a family of five, but the stress of two college tuitions and an upcoming private high school was enough to break anyone’s bank. My parents continue to support me financially as much as they can, and while they never have once complained about the financial burden they had for the first two years of my high school career, the signs are there. An unfinished living room, a kitchen in need of an update, and the phrase that is said every year, “next year when we have the money we’ll finish redoing the house”. I lost bit of my innocence that day in the car because for the first time I realized the sacrifices my parents had been making for myself and brothers. As strange as it sounds I never thought I would live in a world where money would be an issue, but for two years it was. I don’t know how my parents did it, but they managed and when one of my brothers finally graduated from college you could sense the relief in my house. The real world is full of sacrifices and sometimes you are going to live week to week wondering financially how you would get through it. Now I would not find it as shocking if my mom or dad ever said it to me, but as a thirteen year old “no new clothes for awhile” can be the push between innocence and discovering the real world.
One example of a musical group that promotes aberrant behavior in its fan base is Insane Clown Posse. In addition to their songs being extremely graphic and sometimes violent, their fan base is often encouraged to engage in behavior ranging from disruptive to outright criminal or violent. I can only speculate as to what makes this group attractive to its followers, as I am not a fan of this group myself. However, what likely attracts teens and young adults to this group is mostly likely a sense of rebelliousness. Insane Clown Posse does not adhere to societal standards of "appropriate" musical content or behavior. Additionally, there is a sense of community among the fans, which encourages them to stick together and groupthink principles help to spread this type of behavior throughout the entire fan base. This sense of community is so strong that they give themselves a name: The Juggalos. They often wear similar facepaint, drink similar soda brands and even hold conventions. Sometimes these conventions do not even have musical performances, but are simply gatherings of the Juggalos. This sense of rebelliousness and community attract the fans to Insane Clown Posse and help spread the idea of what society considers aberrant behavior.
Prompt 1
One incident in which I was exposed to the reality of the world would be during my sophomore year, when my dad was sent to the hospital. I was just on my way to String Ensemble after school one day, when I received a call from my mom telling me that my dad’s heart had stopped and that he was sent to the emergency room. He was at a doctor’s appointment and he had to have a stress test to determine how much his heart could handle to make sure it was working properly. The test was too much, and my dad’s heart stopped, and he had to be sent to Christiana Hospital. Listening to my mom say that exposed me to the reality of the world. Sitting in the hospital, I learned about the importance of being close to family and friends, because you will never know when you will see them last. Thankfully, my dad recovered quickly. However, I was no longer under the childhood illusion that my parents were essentially immortal and would stay around forever. With my dad that close to death, I learned that you should always be close with those you love, and realize that we do not live forever.
Marshall Mathers, aka Eminem, aka Slim Shady, is the best rapper of all time in my opinion. One wouldn’t think Eminem portrays positive messages in his songs. However, that is not the case at all. Eminem has numerous songs where he attempts to get a strong, influential message across to his fans. Sure Eminem says a lot of curse words and talks about excessive actions in his raps, but it’s because he thinks it’s the best way for listeners to understand his message. I’m not saying all of Eminem’s songs promote influential messages because I know they don’t but he gets a bad rap due to all of the songs where he talks about sex, drugs, murder, etc. One of my favorite Eminem songs is “Beautiful. ”“Beautiful” is a song where Eminem raps about his battle with depression and drugs. No one understands what he is going through and nothing seems to be helping him. Many people can relate to what he describes in this song. In the chorus, he says “you’d have to walk a thousand miles in my shoes, just to see what it’s like to be me.” Some of the last words of the song are “Be yourself, man, be proud of who you are.” Eminem is telling us that we are all beautiful in our own way and we should stay true ourselves no matter what other people say about us. Eminem has had to deal with many struggles throughout his life and rapping is a way he could relieve this pain. With many of his songs Eminem produces influential and positive messages to his fans.
An artist who promotes aberrant or immoral behavior is Marshall Mathers, also known as Eminem or Slim Shady. Eminem grew up in Detroit, Michigan where he struggled through high school and was a normal bully suspect. Marshall barely survived threw his early life from the abuse of drugs and alcohol which led to an unsuccessful suicide attempt. Many of Eminem’s songs are about killing, raping, being a criminal, drugs, and alcohol while he is sometimes highly criticized for his anti-gay slurs throughout some of his lyrics. In some songs he talks about being attacked by the media for rapping this way and not being played on the radio. Marshall also displays the message that this is who he is and he won’t change. Along with the people who dislike and criticize Eminem, he has many more listeners who praise him and love his music. Rolling Stone labeled him as the “King of Hip Hop” when they ranked him in the top 100 greatest artists of all time. Slim Shady can arguably go down as the greatest rapper of all time and his loyal worshippers will always support him. Rap enthusiasts love Marshall Mathers because he writes what is on his mind and he doesn’t care what anyone else thinks. Marshall expresses this in one of his hit songs “The Real Slim Shady” when he says, “I’m only giving you things you joke about with your friends inside your living room, the only difference is I got the balls to say in front of y’all.” We can see that Eminem could be criticized for his choice of words but to his listeners the lyrics were genius and clearly get across his message. Eminem blends his songs with great beats that bring his lyrics together. Teens and adults were attracted to Eminem because of the new and different rap he brought to the table at the time of his first couple albums. People are also attracted to Eminem’s many songs of motivation such as “Love Yourself” and “Till I Collapse”. I personally love listening to Eminem and I would consider him my favorite hip-hop artist. I think he provides a different style of rap that makes him desirable to listen to.
Childhood innocence is a natural part of every child’s undeveloped mind. Unfortunately, in due time, the real world catches up with each and every one of us. Our innocence quickly meets up with reality. The time that this happens varies for each individual. In the short story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been,” Connie serves as a great example for the loss of childhood innocence. She is forced to transition from the innocence of childhood to the brutal awakening of reality. Part of childhood innocence is believing in irrational things, such as made up fantasies and monsters. When I was young, I believed in Santa Claus just as every other kid did my age. On Christmas Eve when I was nine, my sister told me that Santa was not real. By that time, I had already heard plenty of my friends speak out about how it was all a lie, but I never wanted to believe them. I was still a kid, and I wanted to believe in the magical Christmas spirit that I had believed in for all of my life. When my sister told me he wasn’t real, I began to make sense of everything. I began to doubt the possibility of one person’s ability to accomplish what I believed. Sparked by curiosity, I asked my mom about Santa the following morning. She told me the truth about how he was not real. I was bummed that I was told the opposite of what I wanted to believe; however, I was more confused at my parents. I didn’t understand why my parents would lie to me. I was too young to grasp the whole concept of dishonesty, especially from the two people I trusted the most. That day, I lost a little of my innocence because I learned that things aren’t always the way the seem at first. Things aren’t perfect, and things don’t always go the way that you want them to go. Now I know about the huge amount of pressure that is put on all parents. As parents, they are forced to lie because if they don't, they would be accused of ruining the imagination and the magic of the Christmas season.
Prompt 3
One of the most successful and well renowned rappers of all time, one who relays messages of obscenity and abhorrent behaviors in his ever popular music, is Eminem. A very skilled and talented rapper, Eminem made his rise to fame during a time of racial strife in the music industry. Rap was a predominately black genre of music, and hitting it big in the rap game as a white rapper was next to impossible. One of the techniques Eminem used which set him apart was his hard hitting lyrics which often included vulgar language and depicted obscene pictures. These aggressive lyrics were the first of their kind and set Eminem apart from the pack. His gritty songs were quick to catch your attention and left him with countless young fans wanting more. Their appeal to such violent songs was most likely due to the sheer fact that such music was criticized by seemingly everyone but the “cool” younger generations. Listening to such rebellious music was only egged on after the media publicly criticized Eminem and his music was plastered over newspapers and news stations. This backlash only pushed Em to keep making vile music in spite, which in turn developed a following of young fans, wanting more rebellious music.
Prompt 2: From a very early age my father took my family and I to Church every Sunday.
There was no excuse for him to not go to Church except for being in the hospital. Even then, he’d make sure to bring the Eucharist to the hospital for you. To this day, even when he’s on a business trip, I make sure that I go to Mass. He has always said that the father is the spiritual instructor in the household and he has held firm to that belief. As a child I remember him reading the Bible to me and saying nightly prayers every night. It appears that his religious instruction is working since my brother Glenn became a priest. Now I have two fathers that make sure I go to mass every Sunday, even though I don’t need their reminders. When I was in grade school, and even now, the extra religion “lessons” he would give me when we would read the Bible really helped me in my Religion classes. My Catholic background as well as good grades enabled me to get into St. Marks where I’ve met many good friends who share my faith. The reason that I feel I have such a strong faith is because of what my dad has done for me from my early childhood to now.
Marshall Mathers, A.K.A Eminem, is one of the greatest rap artists of all time. In my opinion, he is the greatest. In my Mom’s opinion, he is the devil because of his extreme use of profanity in his lyrics and songs. Like rock and roll used to be the “Devil’s music,” Eminem’s unique style of rapping causes many parents and critics to condemn him as a villain. In a way, Eminem kind of was a villain; he said whatever he wanted to in his songs and did not care what people said. He constantly would voice his opinion on his reputation in several tracks. On the Slim Shady LP, he released the tracks, “Just don’t give a f**k” and “Still don’t give a f**k.” These tracks were a detailed and comedic lyrical response to all the “haters” of his music. The song “Criminal,” in the intro of his song he says
” A lot of people think that, what I say on records
or what I talk about on a record, that I actually do in real life
or that I believe in it
Or if I say that, I wanna kill somebody, that..
I'm actually gonna do it
or that I believe in it
Well, sh*t.. if you believe that
then I'll kill you”
This is a perfect example of Eminem’s resistance to public opinion. He addresses he doesn’t actually mean anything by his lyrics and that it’s just comedy. He adds in that if you are stupid enough to believe what he says in his songs, the it’s your fault. Right after the intro, he releases one of the most politically incorrect/offensive songs of all time, and I love every bit of it. Eminem is one of the greatest storytellers in his songs. Listening to his music is like watching a cartoon; it has a catchy, funky rhythm and uses legendary imagery to describe extremely funny situations in his songs. As a kid, my parents said I wasn’t allowed to listen to music marked “explicit” on iTunes. However, once I heard Eminem’s “The real slim shady” I was hooked on his catchy and quirky lyrics. I downloaded every album and Eminem became my favorite artist. To this day, I can turn on an Eminem song and listen to the lyrics and it will make me belt out laughter. I suggest listening to “ White America,” because Eminem details the situation of all of is fans, and the situation he described in his lyrics was in direct relation with money. Eminem is the devil to my parents, but his temptation is too powerful for me to resist.. Slim Shady = GOAT
Fall from innocence into experience
Entering high school from grade school is a huge eye opener, especially as you enter your junior and senior years; however, going to college is even a bigger eye opener. In high school, you finally start to think and act for yourself, whereas in grade school, your parents sort of did everything for you. High schoolers are exposed to the temptations of underage drinking and smoking. They are forced to choose for themselves what they want to do and that choice will affect their future. As independent as high schoolers may think they are, college is when you truly enter the real world. You are possibly living on your own, forming your own schedule, and are responsible for everything that happens in your life. You start paying bills and are responsible for scheduling your own appointments. A few experiences I had have been where people think they are high and mighty above everyone else in high school, but if they have that attitude in college, they are in for a reality kick. People get so caught up in the drama of high school that they forget we are in our “own little world.” People need to learn how to handle the truth, because that is what the real world consists of. Mommy and daddy will not be there to preserve our innocence once we are out on our own, so practicing maturity and tolerance is a must for entering college.
Historically, music and media have had the tendency to promote what many constitute as immoral behavior or ideals. It often times gets dubbed as the “devils tool” because of its explicit nature and promotion of immorality. The first music group that came to mind when I was reading this prompt was N.W.A aka N****z Wit Attitudes. This was a popular rap music group that rose to fame in the late 80’s and into the early 90’s. They are synonymous with abhorrent and immoral behavior because of their vulgar lyrics. This group consisted of young African American males who were born and raised in Compton California. This young rap group rapped about their rough lives growing up in the hood. Sadly to say much of White America fought hard against their music because they simply did not understand where these young men were coming from. It is easy to say that they were promoting immoral and violent behaviors with lyrics from songs like “F**k The Police” or their repeated references to using and dealing drugs without understanding why they were writing these songs. They were writing about what they knew and where they came from not just to get a rise out of people or promote violence. Teenagers didn't just fall in love with N.W.A because of the sick beats that Dr. Dre was dropping. I strongly feel that people followed and supported them because of the fact that they were different and were expressing who they were and where they came from as an act to fight for their independence and that was something that teenagers all across the world could relate to in a way.
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