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Francesca Lazaro

Molly Clementz

Writing 2

11/21/17

Poppin Those Doses, and Downin Those Mimosas

Genre Translation: lyrics to satirical news article

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.
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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,

specifically those into partying.

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

communicate the original topic and points to my intended audience.

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
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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

Kim Kardashian (Cherub).

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.
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I learned that my primary source, substance abuse, is more effectively discussed in a

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

analyze its lyrics.

When writing my translation, I referenced Kerry Dirks Navigating Genres because it

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

effectively convey the topic to my audience.

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
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type of article I was creating, while still being able to effectively reach my new audience and

conveying the same message.

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

epidemic of substance abuse.

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Doses & Mimosas - Cherub

Don't get me started love

I've had too much to drink

Had too much time to think

So leave me alone oh oh

Cryin' when you're by yourself,

'Cause of what they think

About you ooh ooh

Makes time go slow, slow, slow, yeah

(Makes time go slow, slow, slow)

(Slow)

Something's gotta give soon

Or I'm gonna lose it

Substance abuse it

And never come down, down

Fall off the deep end

And forget my English

What's the point of language,

If you don't say what you feel ha ha huh

So with that being said huh oh

To all the bitch ass hoes,

That hate me the most

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Oh yea I hate you too, (uh)

To all the punk ass fucks

That just wanna talk shit

I hate you too uh

To all the high class ass,

That's too hard to pass

Oh yea I hate you too (eh)

Doses and mimosas

Champagne and cocaine

Help to get me through (uh)

Ten in the mornin'

And I'm skipping breakfast

And 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

Uh huh hmm

So with that being said oh wow

To all the bitch ass hoes,

That hate me the most

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Oh yea I hate you too, (uh)

To all the punk ass fucks

That just wanna talk shit

I hate you too uh

To all the high class ass,

That's too hard to pass

Oh yea I hate you too (eh)

Doses and mimosas

Champagne and cocaine

Help to get me through (uh)

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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 .

Dirk, Kerry. Navigating Genres. Parlor Press, Vol. 1, 2010.

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Writing 2 Cover Letter

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.

Two specific writing choices I made when writing WP3 include:

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
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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