Commonplace

The papers on Commonplace are different than those we had to write for class. They tend to be shorter and cut to the point. They were like excerpts from RAP papers but still had all the meaning. Just like the RAP they had facts to back up the ideas they presented, but the usage of the facts did not require a works cited page.
To make your RAP paper belong on Commonplace you must change your audience, from your teachers, to the average college student. You can drop most of the fancy, over the top language and use your everyday lingo. You should also try to make your argument more relevant. An example of this would be if you did a song from the eighties or nineties you could use more recent examples to make an argument timelier. This college student audience is the ideal audience for my RAP paper. This is because college students, I feel, listen to the most music. They walk to and from class listening to their music. They would be able to understand the stereotype that rap/ hip hop music has and how this stereotype is not always right. The hardest part of a paper is getting the ideal audience to want to read the paper. This can be done by having an interesting introduction. You can ask questions that they can relate to or give some interesting facts. Any good paper or article closes powerfully. This can be done by leaving a moving quote or asking a question that challenges the audience, such as “how will you make a difference today?”.
I believe my own work can bring something new to the Commonplace community. There was one article about music, specifically hip hop, on there. It spoke about how women are treated though, not about the need for social change. I, as many of you feel about your own papers, has a good message and I feel that I should share it with others. If any of you have any suggestions for rap/hip-hop songs from the last 6 years or so that speak of the need for social change it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks and good luck on getting your paper published.