paper

550 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Song lyrics analysis essay

There are many times when feminism is incorporated into song lyrics to give a sense of women’s empowerment in an audience. Alicia Keys is an American Hip hop and R&B songwriter and singer who wrote the song “Girl on Fire” that was released in her fifth studio album in 2012 (Girl on Fire (song), 2014), and was inspired by her son, Egypt. This song is about a lonely girl who is starting to be comfortable in her own skin. It says how everyone is staring at her as she goes by because everyone can see the flame burning and glistening in her eyes. In my paper, I will talk about how the lyrics in this song are very bold that can be applicable to all girls. I will analyze “Girl on Fire” using a method that was developed by Kenneth Burke called cluster analysis (Foss, 2009). Through this method, I can identify key terms in this song and put them into clusters to discover the meaning behind the key words explained: girl, hottest, and on fire. Three key terms characterize “Girl on Fire” are girl, hottest and on fire. The quote “This Girl is on Fire” is repeated to show its importance in the s...

Show More
Related

  • Analysis Of Joan Morgan's 'From Fly-Girls To Bites And Hoes'

    701 Words  | 2 Pages

    In his most recent album, Kanye West raps, “Now if I fuck this model/ And she just bleached her asshole/ And I get bleach on my T-shirt/ I 'mma feel like an asshole.” He suggests that it is the girl’s fault for getting bleach on his tee shirt, which she only did to make herself more sexually appealing. This misogyny in hip-hop culture is recognized to bring about problems. For instance, the women around these rappers believe they can only do well in life if they submit themselves to the men and allow themselves to be cared for in exchange for physical pleasure. In her essay, “From Fly-Girls to Bitches and Hoes”, Joan Morgan argues that the same rap music that dehumanizes women can be a powerful platform for gender equality if implemented correctly.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Joan Morgan From Fly Girls To Bits And Hos

    945 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the article “ From Fly to Bitches and Hoes” by Joan Morgan, she often speaks about the positive and negative ideas associated with hip-hop music. Black men display their manhood with full on violence, crime, hidden guilt, and secret escapes through drugs and alcohol. Joan Morgan’s article views the root causes of the advantage of misogyny in rap music lyrics. In the beginning of the incitement her desires shift to focus on from rap culture condemnation to a deeper analysis of the root causes. She shows the hidden causes of unpleasant sexism in rap music and argues that we need to look deeper into understanding misogyny. I agree with Joan Morgan with the stance that black men show their emotions in a different way that is seen a different perspective.

    Read More

  • The Lady in the Pink Mustang

    1003 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...es her. The imageries of pink Mustang signifies her social class, while “Road” indicates her location as nowhere within a community. The commodification of her body means it can be touched in ways derogatory to her dignity whether she likes it or not because it is a saleable commodity that doesn’t belong to her. Her silver painted nipples identifies silver coins. Silver coins represent monetary value put on her body. Silver painted nipples also mean the attractive way in which a product is packaged. The poem also depicts the defiance of women against how she has been treated. She identifies man as the one that kisses away himself piece by piece till the last coin is spent. However, she cannot change the reality of her location, and temporal placement.

    Read More

  • Critical Analysis on Edwidge Danticat’s A Wall of Fire Rising

    1223 Words  | 3 Pages

    “A Wall of Fire Rising”, short story written by Edwidge Danticat, presents one man’s desire for the freedom and also, the gap between reality and fantasy which is created by the desire. Two different perspectives of evaluating the life bring the conflict between the Guy and Lili who are parents to the little guy. Throughout the story, the Guy implies that he wants to do something that people will remind of him, but Lili who is opposing to the Guy, tries to settle the Guy down and keep up with the normal life that they are belong to. The Guy is aggressive, adventurous and reckless while Lili is realistic and responsible. The wall of fire is the metaphorical expression of the boundary where divides two different types of people. One is for the people who accept their position and try to do the best out of it, and the other for the people who are not satisfied with the circumstances and desires to turn the table. Through this essay, I am going to reveal how the contradiction in an unwise idealist’s attitude and his speech, and also how it drove the whole family into a horrible tragedy as well.

    Read More

  • paper

    986 Words  | 2 Pages

    What are the main components of the criminal justice system? How do they interrelate? How might they conflict?

    Read More

  • Paper

    1498 Words  | 3 Pages

    One of the most misunderstood characters in Jean Rhys’s Wide Sargasso Sea is Christophine. Christophine was a wedding present to Antoinette’s mother, and she was a slave in their family since then. The reason that she comes off as so misunderstood is because it is never revealed explicitly in the text whether she is “good” or “bad”. Her involvement in the practice of obeah adds to the mysterious air about her in the novel. Obeah is a practice that is not an official religion, but there is a community who are involved in the practice that has “a wide variety and range of beliefs and practices related to the control or channeling of supernatural/spiritual forces” (Bilby 153). The practices are done “by particular individuals or groups for their own needs, or on behalf of clients who come for help” (Bilby 154). The practice has gone from having an acceptable reputation to a negative one. As the years went on in times of slavery, and especially during post-emancipation times, obeah gained more of a reputation as witchcraft or sorcery and it was said that it was used to bring harm to people (Bilby 153). The positive aspects of obeah were soon paid minimal attention, and the negative aspects and disapproving stereotypes were on the rise. The negativity was so prevalent and contagious that some West Indians who were involved in the practice began to have a pessimistic view as well (Bilby 153). This negative view followed obeah into the novel Wide Sargasso Sea. The practice was shown in a very negative light in the novel, especially through Christophine. Christophine is a representation of obeah in the novel. Throughout many points in the story, the fact that Christophine is involved with obeah practices is portrayed as the m...

    Read More

  • Robyn Rihanna Fenty: The Game of Fame

    1685 Words  | 4 Pages

    In today’s world, celebrities are often misunderstood, especially singer/songwriter Robin Rihanna Fenty, referred to as Rihanna. Rihanna’s sexual behaviors in her videos have been talked about in negative ways for some time now, but what [eople do not understand is that it is all for fame. Celebrities will do anything to keep their career going strong. If one really took the time out to take a deep look at Rihanna, they will notice how humble she really is. After going through the abusive relationship with Chris Brown, Rihanna has struggled with gaining that strong confidence with who she is. Her critics believe that she is still trying to discover herself and figure out who she really is as a person. Rihanna is often given two choices, to do what she is being asked to do, or throw her career out the window. She either gives the crowd the sexual acts they want or let her career die down. In the song “S&M,” Rihanna was really exposing herself to the crowd, as well as “Good Girl, Gone Bad.” She is basically telling the crowd that this is the person she is, but is it really? For my original piece I will be creating a journal, expressing the feelings Rihanna felt as she overcomes her struggles. Rihanna’s sexual behaviors in her videos are really all for fame and therefore, are easily misunderstood.

    Read More

  • Paper

    1001 Words  | 3 Pages

    Everything was handed to her, but then it all got taken away. After marrying prominent general Nathanael Greene, and giving birth to his five children, Catharine Littlefield Greene thought her life was perfect. But after a few money mishaps, it all went downhill. She lost absolutely everything but her five children. But after giving birth to an idea for an invention, the cotton gin was born, and also finally Catharine’s new start.

    Read More

  • paper

    1075 Words  | 3 Pages

    It is very rare that a book can be so compelling that it changes the way you think. Daniel Kahneman achieved this in his groundbreaking book Thinking, Fast and Slow. In his work, Kahneman challenges common notions of human psychology by offering a unique perspective of why we make certain decisions. Based off his contributions throughout his career, Kahneman compiles his experimental findings on human behavior into a complete manual to the human mind. The book delves into human nature and cognition, how we process our decisions and in what frame of mind do we create our perception of the world. More specifically, Kahneman deals with the irrationality of the way we think that leads to biases, mental shortcuts and defense mechanisms. His findings not only acts as an informative self-help but questions the very nature of everyday life.

    Read More

  • Paper

    812 Words  | 2 Pages

    Social Security is a major social program that provides benefits to multiple groups of people within the United States. These benefits include payments for pensions, disability, and unemployment compensation just to name a few. The majority of social security beneficiaries are retired workers and the remaining are pension recipients, disabled workers, dependent spouses, and children of retired or deceased workers respectively (Hyman, 2011). Social Security is financed through a taxpayer payroll tax, in addition to an employer’s portion that is matched and paid directly to the government on a quarterly basis. The employer portion of Social Security is usually not transparent to employees, but is a requirement for companies by law. In addition, self-employed individuals are also required by law to pay their own portions of OASDI and Medicare. Overall, the eligibility requirements for Social Security benefits are based on paying a tax through a place of employment and can be collected once workers have reached their assigned retirement age or become disabled. The employee and employer contribution rate is 6.2% (7.65% include FICA), up to the maximum wage base of $113,700.

    Read More

  • paper

    667 Words  | 2 Pages

    "Never hang your head down. Never give up and sit down and grieve. Find another way. And don't pray when it rains if you don't pray when the sun shines"(Richard Nixon). Nixon believes if you always look at the negative side of things, you'll quickly forget all the positives. Obesity is all around us and people are not doing much about it, mainly because the obese themselves give up trying. The rates of obesity are steadily increasing every year and the reasons are fast foods, advertising and lack of exercise.

    Read More

  • Self-Image, Katy Perry Style

    1152 Words  | 3 Pages

    Katy Perry has something to say to the more than 70% of young people in America who are suffering from the effects of low self-esteem: “Believe in yourself and you can be anything” (Katy Perry: Part Of Me). She accomplishes this through uplifting music and videos aimed at the very population most affected by serious feelings of inadequacy, doubt and inferiority. Acceptance issues are not a new problem in our society; as a matter of fact, they are growing at an alarming rate that is not restricted to one gender or the other. Disillusioned by the inability of their parents, teachers and even peers to relate and guide them through these issues, many teens turn to music and the artists for understanding and guidance; consequently problems may become more pronounced if the right message is not heard. This is not an issue with Katy’s music, which is full of inspirational messages, peppy pop beats and more than a little enthusiasm; as a result, it is the perfect conduit for giving a boost to anyone’s self-esteem. Her song, “Firework,” aspires to uplift the listeners and inspire them to see the uniqueness inherent in each individual. It is accompanied by a genuinely caring video that follows the song and gives moving examples of the message. Everyone can agree that many young people experience problems relating to low self-esteem; therefore, “Firework” is a fantastic resource for troubled individuals because it provides a supportive understanding of their problems along with guidance to achieve self-acceptance and confidence; furthermore, it gives the audience an empowering command to believe in themselves and show the world their inner beauty.

    Read More

  • paper

    524 Words  | 2 Pages

    American Airlines utilizes a hub-and-spoke system to better serve the small communities. Many flights that are offered through American would require a connection through one of their hubs. American has placed it footprint in 5 great locations, John F. Kennedy, Chicago O’Hare, Dallas/Fort Worth, Los Angeles, and Miami International, to offer the best viable solution to any one traveler’s needs (Horton, 2013). By using the hub-and-spoke system, American can offer an exponential amount of locations to travel to for a reduce cost (Combs, 2003). Although this may save time and money for the consumer as well as the business, the negative aspect would be the extended duration in travel for the customer.

    Read More

  • Degradation of Women in Caribbean Music

    1764 Words  | 4 Pages

    As one moves past the initial onslaught of rhythmic beats that calypso has to offer, it is difficult to miss the way in which it reverberates with negative and demoralizing images of women to their male counterparts. Whether it is within the lyrics of Sparrow’s “Drunk and Disorderly” or Square One’s “My Ding-a Ling”, an ample number of verses are often dedicated to making lewd comments about the female body and the suggestive body language described through thinly veiled rhymes and puns, can be offensive depending on the listener. The half naked models being displayed on the various album covers of calypso, soca and rap mix tapes further reinforces these negative connotations. This bandwagon has been jumped upon by many, including the rap genre in the last two decades, wanting to capitalize on a marketing strategy that generally purports to flag consumer attention, playing on their sense of eroticism. The sections titled “Music, Sex, Sexism” and “Woman Rising” within Peter Manuel’s text: Caribbean Currents, dive into the many issues surrounding gender within music as well as female portrayal specifically in calypso. Observations can be made simply by reading through the textual comparisons. Many aspects of this subject area allude to the fact that the issue of gender portrayal in music can be construed differently depending on who the critical listener happens to be. With the increased awareness and heightened sensitivity to the way in which females are portrayed in popular media, it is important to reflect on the impact these lyrics have on male-female relationships within the communities who most often enjoy this music genre.

    Read More

  • Sexism in Dancehall Music

    1534 Words  | 4 Pages

    The lyrics of music play an important part of interpreting the meaning of the song. The roles which women have been allowed by the society to embody have changed drastically. Women may question their roles because of what they see portrayed by popular culture or media. Change in female’s identity can be seen in how women are viewed or how they portray themselves in popular culture specifically through music. In general, music continues to...

    Read More

More about paper

Open Document