From fly girls to bitches and hos

From fly girls to bitches and hos

Author: Joan Morgan

Date: 10/26/12 published 1999

Topic: the background on why girls are referred to bitches and his in rap music.

Exigence: brothers need to learn to love their "sistas" but the males are having depression problems themselves.

Intended audience: I believe this message can go to everyone, but it seems primarily geared towards the younger generation that listens to rap music.

Purpose: to inform our younger generation how rap music effects out society and how the lyrics effects the rapper, women, and the people who listen to the rap music now.

Claims: "The leading cause of death among black man ages fifteen to twenty-four is homicide." (602) "Women are the unsung victims of black on black crime."(602) "What passes for 40 and a blunt good times in most of hip-hop is really alcoholism, substance abuse, and chemical dependency."(603)

Audience: There are two main audiences that I can see this writing being geared towards. The  younger generation that is listening to rap music  is being influenced by this and also the rappers that are writing the lyrics and singing them. I believe that the audience expects to listen to the same type of music and the rappers know what type of music that is. The rappers know more than the author because they are the ones who are talking about and to women in this degrading way, such as bitch and ho. Also the rappers are the ones feeling the pain and depression that's causing them to rap those things. This pain is evident the author gives suicide rates including "Big Poppas" suicide.

Purpose: furthermore I believe that the purpose of this writing is to inform people on why rappers act and talk the way that they do to women and what listening to rap music promotes. I also feel that this piece of writing is here to convince women who are being abused both mentally and physically that its ok to love someone like that "...but from a distance that's safe."(604) as Morgan states.

Context or situation: This writing was written in 1999, by Joan Morgan who is a black feminist, analyzing rap and hip-hop. She knows that this music has had bad connotation to women, but she still has a passion for it. This passage is meaningful to black women, the young generation today, and all rappers. The people who recognize the names Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, and Notorious B.I.G are going to relate to this text. This is a very opinionated piece of writing, so it's usually written by one person particularly a feminist in this case.

Style: The style that Morgan uses in this piece of writing is formal, where as I would have thought it to be less formal because of the audience that it appeals to. On the other hand the terms such as bitch, ho, and “sistas” relates more with the younger generation on a personal level. The main points are in the introduction paragraph followed by evidence and then another main point and more evidence.

Throughout the text, the author uses ethos, logos, and pathos to give evidence to the claims she is making. She establishes her credibility as a music writer, a fan of hip-hop, and a black feminist. She tells sad stories of abuse, depression, and suicide to evoke emotions, and final she uses facts and logic to explain the background information and statistics.

"Bros before Hos" : The guy code

    In this writing by Micheal Kimmel called "Bros before Hos": The guy code, masculinity characteristics and values are determined and analyzed. Kimmel asks a variety of girls and guys different questions to determine attitudes, values, and traits of guys and why they are the way that they are. The three main topics discussed in this passage are where guys begin to act manly, what
their influences are, and what happens if they don't obide by this guy code.
     According to Kimmel, there are "four basic rules of masculinity"(609), that were create by a social psychologist in 1976, named Robert Brannon. The first rule is "Don't be a sissy". This is a classic thing that is said to guys and now a days would also be stated as "Don't be a pussy". Basically this is an important rule for masculinity for a couple reasons. First of all guys are competing with eachother and If one guy gets hurt and is crying, while the other guy who got hurt is sucking it up, his boys or homies are going to respect him more. Also, if a lady sees a man being a sissy or a whimp she's not going to want him because a lady needs a man who can defend himself and her as well. Girls on the otherhand can act like whimps or sissys because they need a man to comfort them.
     Furthermore, our second rule of masculinity portrays that a man should have "wealth, power, and status"(610) the rule "Be a big wheel". The most obvious idea that corresponds is by abiding by this rule , you will have a lot of money. Money may not be able to buy you happiness, but it can buy you a lot of things that you need and want in this world. Following back to the idea that guys are in competition with eachother. So if Ted is making more money than John then Ted is probably a cooler guy. Subsequently, John isn't going to be a ladies man either, because women need a man that can support them and their needs or at least themselves. She isn't your mother and probably doesn't want to take care of you.
    The next rule is "Be a sturdy oak". This refers to being reliable in any given situation, which in context means being there when needed. This reminds me of a scene from many movies where something goes wrong and the guy shows up at the very end and it looks like he fixed the problem when it was just fixed itself or by the dog. This rule could also come in handy with the ladies. If they had a bad day, or there car broke down, or they need help connecting thier t.v. Just by being there and pretending to listen or to help, you will become a hero very quickly.
       Finally, the last rule of masculinity is "Give 'em Hell". Don't care what others think of you, do things that people wouldn't do normally, live, and be daring while taking risks. A lot of times when I see  guys practicing this rule I think they are being cocky and show offs. Other girls might perceive this being brave or coregeous. It probably also goes back to the idea of being better than other guys and "hey man, look what I can do" type of attitude.
     In conclusion it must be a lot of pressure to be a guy. When Kimmel states "In truth, the guy code fits as comfortably as a straight jacket"(615) he is being quite sarcastic. A straight jacket never fits right and is uncomfortable. It has a lot of belts and loops to make it tight. In society there are probably many guys who don't like these rules but follow them because that Is what they were taught and surrounded by. Society expects men to be masculine, therefore that it what is performed by them.
 

Final polish Proposition 30 op-ed

Genevieve Vandeutekom

October 14, 2012

Professor Knapp

Proposition 30

Save Our Schools!

California's education system is facing a serious crisis due to the budget cuts that have occurred and will continue to if we don't do something about it. According to the Independent Voter Network, Mark Reynolds states that "California has the second lowest credit rating in the union due to its high rate of debt compared to the Gross Domestic product.”  Governor Brown, who took office in 2011, has come up with a proposal to help fix our lack of money for education and public safety. If this proposal, Proposition 30, passes this year, there will be an increase in taxes for people making $250,000 as an individual a year or a couple making $500,000 or more. There will also be a temporary 1/4 cent sale taxes Increase. If Proposition 30 does not pass we will be faced with more budget cuts up to $6 billion which will cause devastating results to our education system. In order to continue our education as a society we need to vote yes on Proposition 30 this November.

 When Californians' hear that there is going to be an increase in taxes, which will affect them in any way, they automatically become skeptical, and most likely will vote against the proposal, shutting the rest of the information down. But, in this case, as well as most cases we need to look at the bigger picture. First of all, Proposition 30 will only cause a raise in income taxes to people earning over $250,000 a year or more as an individual or couples earning $500,000 a year as a joint. This temporary tax raise will only be between 1-3% and be continued for the next seven years. Also sales taxes will increase for everyone, and it’s only a ¼ cent sales tax for four years. This would amount to .25 cents per $100.

 I’m sure you're wondering where all this money will go if the Proposition passes. Well, 89% of it will go for education for K-12 and 11% will go towards community colleges, so you know your money is being used for good purposes. Californians that are making $250,000 a year or more, think about how you got the job or position you are currently in and now have a significant income. This opportunity was probably available to you because of your extensive educational background. Everyone deserves the same opportunity to succeed in life.

As a student at a Community College, who has been effected by these budget cuts and will continue to, I feel that I have the right to argue for Proposition 30 to pass. The people who are opposed to Proposition 30 might make some of the following arguments. There’s no guarantee in the way that the Proposition is written that the money will be used for schools. Why should we (people making $250,000 a year or more), have to support other peoples families? According to the voters’ guide, “The Governor, politicians, and special interests behind Proposition 30 threaten voters. They say ‘vote for our massive tax increase or we’ll take it out on schools.." Why are they trying to incorporate two issues as big as education and public safety into one proposal?, and what if we don’t want more money going towards supporting the jail systems?

 Although these arguments are well recognized and good arguments, it is crucial that Proposition 30 passes. My school, Cabrillo College, has suffered greatly already from budget cuts. With the possible $6 billion more that has to come if Proposition 30 doesn’t pass, Cabrillo will face losing space for 780 full time students, cutting 1 in 13 classes and eliminating, five averaged- sized programs or majors, which in context will cause the loss of at least one students future. I know that for me with the class prices rising, it is extremely hard to make it by. I rarely get into the classes that I need and struggle to even buy textbooks for my classes.

 It has been guaranteed that the money rose by the tax increases, if Proposition 30 passes will go to education and the money will be available for the public to see where it goes to. Also the Legislature won’t have access to it, so you know they won’t try to use the funds for something else. If Proposition 30 doesn’t pass, K-12 gets cut $5.5 billion, cutting 3 weeks of school, CSU gets cut $250 million resulting in class cuts, layoffs of staff, and enrollment cuts. CSU students could face an additional $150 tuition increase for spring classes. Cabrillo College will face an additional cut of 7.3%. This would be very bad for our school systems, and our economy and our future.

 For all the people in California making $250,000 a year or more, and are feeling like they are forced to support others, consider this. If Proposition 30 didn’t pass and your taxes weren’t raised, they would eventually have to go up for something else anyway. $250,000 is a lot of money to not be able to share and contributing a tiny percentage for education will be worthwhile. Otherwise people making minimum wage won’t be able to get education and move up in life if this proposal doesn’t pass.

 The Governor is not threatening us on this Proposition, but simply informing us of the importance of this issue, and how our economy would fall apart even more if education wasn’t available. Public safety goes hand in hand with education. If we didn’t have education, there wouldn’t be as many jobs for safety, which would cause even more of a crash in our economy. Public Safety money would go towards programs such as law enforcement and prisons. The outcome would be focusing attention on departments that protect the community. As far as our jail systems go, the money that is needed to support them is going to come out of our taxes either way. So we need to look at all that we are really going to gain out of Proposition 30, because we’re either going to pay a little now, or a lot later.

California does need to do a better job at managing where its money goes. I understand the arguments against Proposition 30, and I’m not trying to shut them down because they are very solid points, but the bottom line is that our education system is really struggling. At this point, Proposition 30 is a really good choice to help save our schools. Also, if people don’t like how the Legislature budgets our money, they can vote them out of office when re-election time comes.

In conclusion, I am asking all of you voters to vote this November yes on Proposition 30. You will be able to help provide education funding and only where it can be afforded by Californians. Only people making $250,000 or more a year will have to contribute to the income tax increase and the sales tax increase that will affect everyone will only go up tiny amount. With support on this proposal California will gain about $6 billion to help our system and education bloom again. This is not only my future, but also yours.

Save our Schools

Genevieve Vandeutekom

October 14, 2012

Professor Knapp

Proposition 30

Save Our Schools!

California's education system is facing a serious crisis due to the budget cuts that have occurred and will continue to if we don't do something about it. According to the Independent Voter Network, Mark Reynolds states that "California has the second lowest credit rating in the union due its high rate of debt compared to the Gross Domestic product.”  Governor Brown, who took office in 2011, has come up with a proposal to help fix our lack of money for education and public safety. If this proposal, Proposition 30, passes this year, there will be an increase in taxes for people making $250,000 or more a year or a couple making $500,000 or more a year. There will also be a temporary 1/4 cent sale taxes Increase. If Proposition 30 does not pass we will be faced with more budget cuts up to $6 billion which will cause devastating results to our education system. In order to continue our education as a society we need to vote yes on Proposition 30 this November.

 When Californians hear that there is going to be an increase in taxes, which will affect them in any way, they automatically become skeptical, and most likely will vote against the proposal, shutting the rest of the information down. But, in this case, as well as most cases we need to look at the bigger picture. First of all, Proposition 30 will only cause a raise in income taxes to people earning over $250,000 a year or more as an individual or couples earning $500,000 a year as a joint. This temporary tax raise will only be between 1-3% and be continued for the next seven years. Also sales taxes will increase for everyone, but it’s only a ¼ cent sales tax for four years. This would amount to .25 cents per $100.

 I’m sure you're wondering where all this money will go if the Proposition passes. Well, 89% of it will go for education for K-12 and 11% will go towards community colleges, so you know your money is being used for good purposes. Californians that are making $250,000 a year or more, think about how you got the job or position you are currently in and now have a significant income. This opportunity was probably available to you because of your extensive educational background. Everyone deserves the same opportunity to succeed in life.

As a student at a Community College, who has been effected by these budget cuts and will continue to, I feel that I have the right to argue for Proposition 30 to pass. The people who are opposed to Proposition 30 might make some of the following arguments. There’s no guarantee in the way that the Proposition is written that the money will be used for schools. Why should we (people making $250,000 a year or more), have to support other peoples families? According to the voters’ guide, “The Governor, politicians, and special interests behind Proposition 30 threaten voters. They say ‘vote for our massive tax increase or we’ll take it out on schools.." Why are they trying to incorporate two issues as big as education and public safety into one proposal?, and what if we don’t want more money going towards supporting the jail systems?

 Although these arguments are well recognized and good arguments, it is crucial that Proposition 30 passes. My school, Cabrillo College, has suffered greatly already from budget cuts. With the possible $6 billion more that has to come if Proposition 30 doesn’t pass, Cabrillo will face losing space for 780 full time students, cutting 1 in 13 classes and eliminating, five averaged- sized programs or majors; which in context will cause the loss of at least one students future. I know that for me with the class prices rising, it is extremely hard to make it by. I rarely get into the classes that I need and struggle to even buy textbooks for my classes.

 It has been guaranteed that the money rose by the tax increases, if Proposition 30 passes will go to education and the money will be available for the public to see where it goes to. Also the Legislature won’t have access to it, so you know they won’t try to use the funds for something else. If Proposition 30 doesn’t pass, K-12 gets cut $5.5 billion, cutting 3 weeks of school, CSU gets cut $250 million resulting in class cuts, layoffs of staff, and enrollment cuts. CSU students could face an additional $150 tuition increase for spring classes. Cabrillo College will face an additional cut of 7.3%. This would be very bad for our school systems, and our economy and our future.

 For all the people in California making $250,000 a year or more, and are feeling like they are forced to support others, consider this. If Proposition 30 didn’t pass and your taxes weren’t raised, they would eventually have to go up for something else anyway. $250,000 is a lot of money to not be able to share and contributing a tiny percentage for education will be worthwhile. Otherwise people making minimum wage won’t be able to get education and move up in life if this proposal doesn’t pass.

 The Governor is not threatening us on this Proposition, but simply informing us of the importance of this issue, and how our economy would fall apart even more if education wasn’t available. Public safety goes hand in hand with education. If we didn’t have education, there wouldn’t be as many jobs for safety, which would cause even more of a crash in our economy. Public Safety money would go towards programs such as law enforcement and prisons. The outcome would be focusing attention on departments that protect the community. As far as our jail systems go, the money that is needed to support them is going to come out of our taxes either way. So we need to look at all that we are really going to gain out of Proposition 30, because we’re either going to pay a little now, or a lot later.

California does need to do a better job at managing where its money goes. I understand the arguments against Proposition 30, and I’m not trying to shut them down because they are very solid points, but the bottom line is that our education system is really struggling. At this point, Proposition 30 is a really good choice to help save our schools. Also, if people don’t like how the Legislature budgets our money, they can vote them out of office when re-election time comes.

In conclusion, I am asking all of you voters to vote this November yes on Proposition 30. You will be able to help provide education funding and only where it can be afforded by Californians. Only people making $250,000 or more a year will have to contribute to the income tax increase and the sales tax increase that will affect everyone will only go up ¼ cent. With support on this proposal California will gain about $6 billion to help our system and education bloom again. This is not only my future, but also yours.

Formal paper 1 Rough Draft

Save Our Schools!

“California has the second lowest credit rating in the union due its high rate of debt compared to the Gross Domestic product.”(Mark Reynolds) This horrible debt that California has created caused many education cuts all over California. Governor Brown, who took office in 2011, has come up with a proposal to help fix our lack of money for education and public safety. If this proposal, Proposition 30, passes this year, there will be an increase in taxes for people making $250,000 or more a year or a couple making $500,000 or more a year. There will also be a ¼ cent sale taxes raise. If Proposition 30 does not pass we will be faced with more budget cuts up to $6 billion and our education system will cut a devastating amount.

            When Californians hear that there is going to be an increase in taxes, which will affect them in any way, they automatically become skeptical, and most likely will vote against the proposal, shutting the rest of the information down. But, in this case, as well as most cases we need to look at the bigger picture. First of all, Proposition 30 will only cause a raise in income taxes to people earning over $250,000 a year or more as an individual or couples earning $500,000 a year as a joint. This tax raise will only be between 1-3% and be continued for the next seven years. Also sales taxes will increase for everyone, but it’s only a ¼ cent sales tax for four years. This would amount to .25 cents per $100.

            I’m sure your wondering where all this money would go to. Well, 89% of it would go to education for K-12 and 11% would go towards community colleges, so you know your money is going to a good cause. People that are making $250,000 a year or more, think about how you got the job or position that you are in making that great of an income. It was most likely from going to school and getting a good education. Everyone deserves this equal opportunity to succeed in life and get to this place.

            As a student at a Community College, that has been effected by these budget cuts and will continue to, I feel that I have the right to argue for Proposition 30 to pass. The people that are opposed to Proposition 30 might make some of the following arguments. There’s no guarantee in the way that the Proposition is written that the money will be used for schools, Why should we (people making $250,000 a year or more), have to support other peoples families besides our own?, “The Governor politicians, and special interests behind Proposition 30 threaten voters. They say ‘vote for our massive tax increase or we’ll take it out on schools….”(Voters guide), Why are they trying to incorporate two issues that are as big as education and public safety into one proposal?, and What if we don’t want more money going towards supporting the jail systems?

            Although these arguments are well recognized and good arguments, it is crucial that Proposition 30 passes. My school Cabrillo College has suffered greatly already from budget cuts and with the possible $6 billion more that has to come if Proposition 30 doesn’t pass Cabrillo will face losing space for 780 full time students, cutting 1 in 13 classes and eliminating five averaged- sized programs or majors, which in context will cause the loss of at least one persons students future. It has been guaranteed that the money raised, if Proposition 30 passes will go to education and the money will be available for the public to see where it goes to. Also the Legislature won’t have access to it, so you know they won’t try to take some of the money for something else.

            For all the people in California making $250,00 a year or more feeling like they are having to support others, If Proposition 30 didn’t pass and your taxes weren’t raised, I’m sure that they would eventually have to go up for something else. $250,000 is a lot of money to not be able to share a tiny percentage for education, while people making minimum wage won’t be able to get education and move up in life if this proposal doesn’t pass. The Governor is not threatening us on this Proposition but simple informing us of the importance of this issue and how our economy would fall apart even more if education wasn’t available. Public safety goes hand in hand with education because if we didn’t have education there wouldn’t be as many jobs for safety which would cause even more of a crash in our economy. And as far as our jail systems go, really if wasn’t this money going towards them, it would through some other way. So we need to look at all that we are really going to gain out of Proposition 30, because I think it’s more than we would loose if it didn’t pass.

            California does need to do a better job at managing where its money goes. I understand the arguments that are against Proposition 30 and am not trying to shut them down because they are very solid points, but the bottom line is that our education system is really struggling and at this point, Proposition 30 is a really good choice to help save our schools. Also if people don’t like how the Legislature budgets our money, they can vote them off of office when re-election time comes.

            “Funding for education has been decline since 2008… California is now ranked 47^th in the country in per-pupil spending on education…”(Reynolds) AS the years have continued the numbers have gotten worse. For all you voters who are going to vote against this Proposition think about some of these facts. If Proposition 30 doesn’t pass K-12 gets cut $5.5 billion, cutting 3 weeks of school, CSU gets cut $25o million resulting in class cuts, and layoffs of staff, and enrollment cuts, CSU students could face an additional $150 tuition increase for spring classes. Cabrillo College will face an additional cut of 7.3%. This would be very bad for our school systems and also our economy.

            In conclusion, I am asking all of you voters to vote this November yes on Proposition 30. You will be able to help provide education funding and only where it can be afforded by Californians. Only people making $250,000 or more a year will have to contribute to the income tax increase and the sales tax increase that will affect everyone will only go up ¼ cent. Everyone deserves an equal opportunity and with support on this proposal California will gain about $6 billion to help our system and education bloom again. This is not only my future, but also yours.