Francesca Lazaro
Molly Clementz
Writing 2
11/21/17
Going through life sober is no way to live. All the best things in life come as a result of
substance use. Unprotected sex leading to children, drunk Vegas weddings, and car accidents
leading to much needed nose jobs are just a few of numerous examples. Once you hop on that
bandwagon, its almost guaranteed youll never want to get off. In a world filled with constant
prejudice, drugs and alcohol help get the juices flowing and increase the socialization among the
classes and multitude of personalities each and every one of us is always surrounded by. Drunk
words are sober thoughts. Its a clich for a reason. Drugs and alcohol increases brain activity
and verbal output. Words arent useful if you're not going to speak your mind. A great example
of the benefits of substance use is Kim Kardashians recent leap into a pool of doses and
mimosas. After an interview, it was found that she is so much more upbeat and oblivious to what
is happening around her. Kim Kardashian tells reporters while intoxicated, There is no such
thing as too much alcohol. She has reported way fewer breakdowns and tears since she's began
binge-drinking and heavy drug use. Kim has also stopped replying to all the derogatory tweets
from her haters. She was previously having an issue telling all of her haters to F off on social
media. Her substances of choice are currently cocaine and champagne. We should all be so
proud of Kim Ks new lifestyle choice. She has come over to the bright side.
2
Analytical Essay
The new audience being addressed in the satirical translation of Doses & Mimosas is
college students and liberals. Satirical news forums such as The Onion aim for the moral reform
of society. The key to a successful satirical piece is to comfort the afflicted and afflict the
comfortable. If this fails, the piece will come off as offensive. In order to understand the satire,
the reader must understand the current political and social era. Satire highlights the absurdity in
situations that isnt superficially noticed. The audience for this satirical translation differs in that
my primary source doesnt target a political orientation. It targets the age group of young adults,
I chose satire as my new genre because of a paper I wrote in my AP English class. It was
a satirical piece about gays. The paper pointed out how absurd homophobia is and any reader
would be able to see how horrible it is. Sometimes people need to hear the worst-case scenario to
see the severity of a problem. The song Doses & Mimosas points out a worldwide epidemic. In
America in 2016, there were more than 64,000 substance related deaths. It doesnt seem like a
prominent issue until you or someone you know is struggling with this illness. The satirical news
article points out the way drugs and alcohol can affect a life; therefore, it is an effective way to
Vulgar language is thrown around in song lyrics more than in most written texts and
lyrics occasionally include words that spell out a specific sound like Uh huh hmm and ooh
ooh. I chose to emit that song content from my translation. I used one direct phrase from my
primary text, Doses and mimosas, champagne and cocaine because people recognize those
specific lyrics. The other important information was more general and made more sense when
adapted to the context. I took the lyrics, To all the high class ass, that's too hard to pass, oh yea I
3
hate you too (eh), doses and mimosas, champagne and cocaine help to get me through (uh)
(Cherub) and translated it into In a world filled with constant prejudice, drugs and alcohol help
get the juices flowing and increase the socialization among the classes and multitude of
personalities each and every one of us is always surrounded by, putting the desired message into
more straight forward terms. I also put a satirical twist on each piece of information and made
them stand out by the absurdity of the newly created phrase or text. I added background
information on substance abuse and added the character of Kim Kardashian, a very well-known
public figure. The lyrics drinking a beverage to ignore it all huh oh, 'Cause ignorance is bliss
and I've come to embrace it, it's all overrated except drugs and alcohol ho ho ooh were utilized
in creating, A great example of the benefits of substance use is Kim Kardashians recent leap
into a pool of doses and mimosas. After an interview, it was found that she is so much more
upbeat and oblivious to what is happening around her, displaying where I used the character of
The challenges I faced with the genre translation included remembering how to write a
satirical piece and figuring out how to incorporate data from the song lyrics into the context of
the life of Kim Kardashian. It took me a few tries to switch the mode of my brain from academic
to satirical where youre bashing on a topic. Since I was using song lyrics, it had simple, short
phrases that I had to first analyze for an alternate, deeper meaning and then translate them into
the accounts of a persons life. I used trial and error to make them fit in correctly with the style
of a satirical article. When writing a satirical piece, you have to use hyperbolic facts and wording
and you cant be afraid of saying things too far out of the box. As long as its within context and
makes sense, there are no boundaries as far as what can and cant be said.
4
satirical news article than in song lyrics. When the lyrics are paired with the upbeat music, the
listeners think its just another song to get down to, so they sing along, but dont listen to what
the song is talking about. The purpose of the lyrics of this song are to show how alcohol and
drugs are abused heavily and are seen as a way to numb feelings and block out outside forces
like all the fake, superficial people that the artists are surrounded by. It shows that many people
arent mentally there as a result of intense substance abuse and need their preferred substances to
get through a single day. You don't know what Doses & Mimosas is talking about until you
talks about what makes a genre successful and how to reach an intended audience. Dirk writes
multiple ransom notes in order to find out which one is the most effective, which is similar to the
process I had to use when writing my genre translation. I wrote my translation using different
word choices and bridging information in order to land on a final translation that would most
Mike Bunns How to Read Like Writer talks about how readers should use their
knowledge of being a writer to get the most out of the piece theyre reading. In this course
reading, Bunn asks what is the authors purpose for writing this? and Who is the intended
audience?, telling his readers to think about the purpose and audience before and while youre
reading something (Bunn 79). These were the most important pieces of information I needed to
know about my original source in order to translate it into a new genre. I found the purpose
behind the song Doses & Mimosas, and then was able to translate it into a satirical news
article. While translating it, I had to make sure that I was following the genre conventions of the
5
type of article I was creating, while still being able to effectively reach my new audience and
When translating the song Doses & Mimosas into a satirical news article, I discovered
that my original genre did not effectively portray the severity of substance abuse. The lyrics were
paired with upbeat instrumentals, straying the listeners attention away from the meaning of the
song. A satirical news article is blunt and to the point. Although it is primarily constructed of
hyperboles and abstract ideas, it uses reverse psychology to point out a societal issue. The song
Doses & Mimosas appeals to its audience, but does not convey the accurate message its lyrics
are sending. The satirical news article is a more effective way to talk about the worldwide
So leave me alone oh oh
(Slow)
Substance abuse it
Uh huh hmm
Works Cited
Bunn, Mike. How to Read Like a Writer. Parlor Press, Vol. 2, 2011, pp. 71-86.
Cherub. Doses & Mimosas. Year of the Caprese, Columbia Records, 2012.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/doses-mimosas/850542066?i=850542079 .
DearMolly,
I really enjoyed WP3 and Unit 3 in general. It was my favorite of the units. Even though we had
freedom with our topics in the first two units, I felt that I had more freedom with this unit. I
enjoyed that I was able to explore other genres that werent strictly academic and that I got to
create something original of my own. My favorite part was the actual genre translation. I really
enjoy writing satirical pieces and I love that you can just make it as appalling as you want. I also
really agree with the purpose of a satirical piece which is to promote the moral reform of society.
Your in-class example with Peter Pan and Ruth B.s song Lost Boy was what inspired me to
use a song. I also used to do lyric presentations in my English class in high school and they were
always my favorite oral presentations, and I got lots of experience analyzing song lyrics. I used
Dirks Navigating Genres and Bunns How to Read like a Writer when constructing my
genre translation. They reminded me to identify the audience and purpose first, in order to
effectively find what the source is saying. Youll get maximum understand if you understand the
perspective of the piece. I also used trial and error and explored word choice and tone like Dirk
when I was turning song lyrics into a satirical news article.
The two genres I chose. They were very different and I chose a song that I listen to a lot at
parties and didnt even notice that it was about a bleak topic. It gave me a chance to explore
what I was actually listening to and in the past week Ive brought it up to my friends what the
song is actually about.
I didnt quote a lot from my original source. I didnt feel like I needed to quote too much of the
actual lyrics. Because it did contain profanity that didnt seem necessary to contain in my
translated genre, and it was repetitive I chose to paraphrase the information when discussing
the evidence, I used in my translation.
I find genre construction primarily liberating. You get to take information and convey it in the
way you see fit. Also depending on what genre you choose, you are already making a statement.
The restrictive side of genre construction that is mostly helpful is that you have some style
guidelines already set once you choose a genre. Occasionally this can make it a little hard to say
exactly what you want to say, but its usually helpful.
My strengths from this project lay in my ability to analyze song lyrics thoroughly and my ability
to write a good satirical piece. I credit my high school AP English teacher with my abilities in
11
both of these areas. Between his classes, and your class, I also very confident in determining
genre conventions and identifying the rhetorical devices an author uses.
I feel like I did a good job on this Writing Project, so for next units revision I definitely would
choose between WP1 and WP2 to revise. This paper isn't perfect, but I feel that it is complete, so
Im not sure what I would add. My goal for next unit is to improve on my citations. I also want
to go back and work on my analysis of the concrete data I have been putting in my project
builders and writing projects.
Sincerely,
Frannie Lazaro