Gangster Rap

I am really interested in the rap/ hip-hop genre of music. My favorite rapper is Tupac and even though he is dead and gone I feel his music still helps to change lives and help get people through rough times in their life. The album feature many relevant rap artists that also had a lot to say about the times. He is still one of the most talked about rappers of all time and has been named the *6th greatest artist of all time by Rolling Stone Magazine. The album was produced by Death Row records which was owned by Suge Knight. It was his best selling album, with many singles making it to the Billboard Hot 100. It sold 566,00 copies in the first week that it was released. It also won the 1997 Soul Train Rap album of the year. It was 5x platinum just after two months and was later certified as 9x platinum in the United States. It was one of the most talked about albums mentioned by many credible music magazines such as: Rolling Stone, Spin, Entertainment Weekly, Q Magazine, Musician, Rap Pages, and NME. Also many of the songs from this album were put on Tupac’s greatest hits album after he passed away. Other gangster rap albums of the time were OG: Original Gangster by Ice-T, The Chronic by Dr. Dre, Pretator by Ice Cube and other albums by his friend turned enemy Biggie Smalls. My basic claim would be Tupac’s All Eyez On Me is a good gangster rap album. A more developed thesis for my paper could possibly be Through his raw and truthful lyrics about the so called “thug lifestyle” the songs on All Eyes On Me successfully engage social and political dilemmas to reach out to through the use of gangster rap. 

Writing Assignment 2

Writing assignment 2 was a lot easier than writing assignment 1. Not because of content but because we were actually allowed to write about something that interested us rather than write about something that we do not care about at all. It also was a learning experience for me. I knew that I wanted to know more about drugs and how they play a role in professional sports but I probably never would have took the time to actually look more into the topic. This paper required a lot of research but it was all helpful. At first I was a little confused on why we wrote our thesis before we had any part of our paper due but then when it came time to write my paper it made it a lot easier. Because the thesis basically lays out what you are going to discuss in the paper I knew exactly what to say and when to say it. In your future classes I would continue to use the format you did because not only did it help with the layout but it also helped with he sources we had to put in our paper. Hopefully, my paper was as interesting to read as it was to write. I was informed of many things I did not know before hand, like the influential people that supported cocaine before its effects were known. I like how you left the topic pretty much open for our choosing. Out of all the research papers I have completed in school I think I got the most out of this one because I was finally polished enough to wear I could put the information I found together in the appropriate way and I was able to argue without attacking the opposing side. Overall, this was a good assignment to have.  

Counter Argument Paragraph

In my opinion testing for cocaine use in high-intensity sports should be increased and required in order to prevent growing rates of use amongst college athletes, establish a “performance enhancer” free league, and increase the health/well being of athletes at all levels, but there are some people that would disagree. Authors such as Goodwin, Morris, and Murray have completed a significant amount of research on cocaine use in sports. They do agree that cocaine is a problem, but their opinion on testing is quite opposite. Goodwin takes a more bold stance stating that "cocaine is not the problem, it is behavior." By focusing on behavior Goodwin overlooks the deeper problem of the effects cocaine have on a persons behavior. As for the others, they know cocaine is bad but they would rather not waste money on testing when they say cocaine will still be around. I'm of two minds about the subject. On one hand, I agree that it will take awhile before we even see any progress being made. On the other hand, I'm not sure if not testing would be a solution. 

Responding to Articles from the Bibliography

The topic of my paper is cocaine use in sports. I found one of the articles that I will use for background to be very interesting because it focused mainly on cocaine and its origins. Cocaine comes from the coca plant that is native to the eastern slopes of the Andes. The leading producer is Colombia, which is currently producing 80 percent of the world’s cocaine. Cocaine increases the levels of dopamine, which is associated with pleasure and movement. The excess amount of dopamine is responsible for cocaines effects. Long term effects include loss sense of smell; nosebleeds; problems with swallowing; hoarseness; and a runny nose. The stimulating effects of the drug increase breathing which increases oxygen intake. This allowed the native workers to perform their duties in thin air at high altitudes, and in time science figured out how to maximize strength and the effect of the drug in the coca leaves. I found it interesting that Sigmund Freud, a famous psychologist, was an advocate for the drug in the beginning. He thought it could cure depression and sexual impotence. Also, John Pemberton used cocaine as the main ingredient in Coca Cola in 1886. Other famous people that promoted the drug were Thomas Edison and Sarah Bernhart. Because the drug was positively promoted it was accepted by the general public as well. People began noticing strange behavior in people that abused cocaine for long periods of time. Coming down from the drug causes depression for the person and they can become desperate for the drug and will do just about anything to get it. Once the dangers of cocaine became known prohibition set in and it was outlawed in 1920 by the passing of The Dangerous Drug Act of 1920. And here we are today with the drug still creating problems especially in sports. 

Research related to Writing Assignment 2

1. This article from the New York Times is helpful because it is a current example of cocaine in sports. I would use this as evidence.
Receiver Denies Selling Drugs to Fellow Players
The Associated Press
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/17/sports/football/nfl-football-roundup.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

2. This is an article I found with the database JSTOR, it offers an opposing view on cocaine in sports.
Banning Drugs in Sports: A Skeptical View
Norman Frost
http://www.jstor.org/stable/3563105

3. Another article found using JSTOR
The Coercive Power of Drugs in Sports
Thomas H. Murray
http://www.jstor.org/stable/3561718




4. Central Nervous System Stimulants and Sports Practice
Multiple Authors 
http://web.ebscohost.com.ezproxy1.lib.asu.edu/ehost/detail?vid=3&hid=10&sid=9240b5f9-24b2-48a8-8485-a191801f28e4%40sessionmgr15&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=aph&AN=21601834


5. Views of Sports; To What Are Athletes Entitled? Not to Cocaine
Silias L. Warner 
http://web.ebscohost.com.ezproxy1.lib.asu.edu/ehost/detail?vid=3&hid=10&sid=9240b5f9-24b2-48a8-8485-a191801f28e4%40sessionmgr15&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=aph&AN=30559986

Writing Assignment 2- Topic Proposal

http://www.nytimes.com/1987/05/03/sports/in-sports-cocaine-s-here-to-stay.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm

I wanted to write my paper on something that interests me, like sports. Drug use in sports has been heavily publicized over the years but with one main drug as the problem, steroids. In my paper, I would like to focus on that same issue but with a different drug, cocaine. Cocaine is a (CNS) stimulant to the central nervous system. It typically comes in a white powder form and is snorted through the nose or rubbed on the mouth and lips. Other central nervous system drugs include amphetamine and caffeine.This recreational drug in particular has recently been the new drug of choice in athletes because when the high is present in the body, the athletes feels a sense of increased performance and decreased fatigue. It has also been said that in small doses it can increase a persons tolerance to intense exercise. The effects are actually the opposite, but that does not change the fact that use of this drug is on the rise. As of right now cocaine is banned in professional and school sports teams. In the past public sports figures like Walter Davis, of the Phoenix Suns, Tony Collins of the New England Patriots, and Dwight Gooden of the Nets have all been in headlines and entered rehabilitation centers for cocaine use. In a recent survey done by the NCAA mens lacrosse players abuse cocaine the most. The survey found that 9.7% of lacrosse players used cocaine compared to 3.8% of ice-hockey players and wrestlers, and football players were at 2.3% and basketball players were among the least with 1.2%. Many athletes are testes through urine samples. Cocaine is usually present for up to 5 days after use. In my paper, my central question would be Should illegal drugs in sports be taken more seriously, or something along the lines of testing athletes more for these types of drugs. 

Rhetorical Analysis Reflection

I enjoyed this assignment because in my everyday life when I watch movies I critique the movies I watch. This assignment allowed me to use my critiquing skills with my academic background knowledge. The biggest challenge I had writing the rhetorical analysis was critiquing one element even though my overall statement was that the rhetoric was strong. I found it hard because I thought I was contradicting myself because if the movie was a strong piece of rhetoric then why would one element be weak? I found it to be a challenge to find the actual purpose of the movie and then relate the rhetorical elements back to it but in the end I think I did okay. Another challenge I faced while writing this paper was I was not interested in my movie. When I watched it the first time I fell asleep, and I had to re-watch it. I should have changed mine to something that I had more interest in like Food Inc. but I stuck with my movies so I had to deal with the challenges that came with my movie. Overall, the assignment was easy to understand and the directions were clear. I also liked that from the beginning we had choices. You gave us 4 movie choices as opposed to jus giving the class as a whole one movie to critique. I also liked the peer review we had with classmate who picked the same movies as us because it gave me a different viewpoint on the movie. In the future I would teach this the same way. I felt like the pace was good and we took steps to get to our final draft. The individual conferences are helpful and offer insight into what you really was out of this paper. This assignment is a good way to start the semester off.