Author: Emmanuel Williams
Emmanuel Williams Research and Audience assignment
Emmanuel Williams
English 1101
Professor Jewell
November 23, 2019
More Solutions Than Problems
The problem that I am presenting is on how the YouTube company wants to censor the amount of violence that some games present. Such as fighting games that have blood and gore in them, but the only reason that YouTube trying to censor those games being easily accessible to watch is because the sponsors who support YouTube wants to keep the split between what is considered adult content and what is considered kid content. So to keep the content under control YouTube decides to keep the game from being streamed by gamers accessible to everyone unless they meet the age requirement. Additionally, this may affect society to have a domino effect may occur. Where fewer views for YouTubers means less pay for them and fewer views means that people won’t know about certain games coming out which then means those games will get sold less and eventually that company selling the game will go out of business. So ultimately, the censoring can have a lot of really bad effects on gamers, youtubers, and the economy for gaming companies.
Gamers are facing danger of having certain games being available for them. Especially games that contain blood and gore inside them. For example, YouTuber Upper Echelon Gamers made a video on how the censorship of violent games might affect him and other gaming broadcasters. From his point of view, he sees that this will actually create a problem with how gamers will get information on games coming out or even updates on a game that is already out. (https://youtu.be/JBOVAh3Fb4A). Upper Echelon Gamers goes further on to explain that the effects of how games are priced and what this does to the economy for companies and games together seems detrimental. But he also brings up a point that the widely played game of Fortnite, which is just as violent but without blood, doesn’t make it easier for his argument because he is at a disadvantage to bring in a rebuttal.
Another source would be an article talking about how Youtube is the biggest source of gameplay for a lot of gamers. There was at least 850 million people who watched YouTube for game play in 2018. With big numbers like that Youtube should promote more gameplay rather than take away, even if it is on bloody content. The source that I found was also explaining that MortalKombat11 the hot new fighting game out for the year wasn’t selling as good as it was supposed to due to most gamers not even knowing about it first hand, and with that, the game didn’t make as much profit as it should have. (https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.newsweek.com/mortal-kombat-11-youtube-content-algorithms-rules-1400525%3famp=1).
An additional source of information that I found seems to show that video games being censored by Youtube won’t solve the problem of how violent kids are or even how other kids may buy the game. The article proves that there are other factors of people that can cause young gamers to be violent, which seems to be their environment and their IQ level. Also, people can purchase other violent content other than video games, and according to the article, it can also have the same effect on young kids so censoring games won’t actually help the matter because it will simply transfer over to other content. And that will leave game creators at a disadvantage because they won’t be about to figure out games in their platform that will be good enough to get out there in the media of Youtube to get sold. (https://techcrunch.com/2012/12/20/violent-video-games-do-cause-some-violence-but-censorship-wont-help/).
Dear Youtubes’ chairmen,
I know that you aren’t trying to take away gamers right to watch what they please but with the more regulations you have it can actually have an effect on some YouTube gaming channels. Some channels can’t post anymore of their gaming content and other channels are getting shut down because of this censorship. The censorship can also put those YouTubers out of business since they are getting either lower views or no views at all. If that’s the case then the channels can’t make as much money as they used to. Being that you guys are supported through sponsors there are rules that you have to follow as well, for one the free will to watch what you want should be one of them. If you want to make sure the split between adult content and kids’ content is kept separate then there are other ways to do that rather than regulating everyone’s content. First off, I do have evidence that there are YouTube channels and YouTubers from an article called the verge, and it explains how YouTube has been damaging some people channels and their livelihood. (https://www.theverge.com/2016/9/1/12753108/youtube-is-over-party-advertising-monetization-censorship). That article speaks a lot on the effects YouTube censoring certain content really can have horrible effects on multiple channels, which is unfair to those YouTubers because some have taken a while to make them reach the point they’re at. Now, all that hard work and dedication is down the drain for some of them. Another source that I have found additionally shows that parents are the ones who can tell their child or teenagers what they can and can’t play. If they seem to get out of line that shouldn’t be anyone else’s fault since it’s between the parent and the child. The source also uses the first amendment right to prove their point. (https://www.firstamendment.com/game-censorship/). Lastly, I would like to propose that you provide an option where there are just parental controls to regulate the censorship, so the parent and child can have more control over what content they are allowed to see. Also, there should be an option where you get to choose for yourself if you can watch the video or not.
Sincerely,
Emmanuel Williams
Work Cited
https://youtu.be/JBOVAh3Fb4A. Upper Echelon Gamers. 2019 YouTube. April 22, 2019.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.newsweek.com/mortal-kombat-11-youtube-content-algorithms-rules-1400525%3famp=1. Steven Asarch. 2019 Newsweek. April 18, 2019.
https://techcrunch.com/2012/12/20/violent-video-games-do-cause-some-violence-but-censorship-wont-help/. Gregory Ferenstein. TechCrunch. December 20, 2012.
https://www.theverge.com/2016/9/1/12753108/youtube-is-over-party-advertising-monetization-censorship. Adi Robertson. The Verge. September 1, 2016.
https://www.firstamendment.com/game-censorship/. Lawrence G. Walters. Walters Law Group. Walters Law Group 2001-2019.
Emmanuel Williams Annotated Bibliography
Emmanuel Williams
English 1101
Annotated Bibliography
Genre: R&B Music
10/ 29/ 19
R&B music has a deeper meaning behind the lyrics than people think it does. Different from Hip-Hop, R&B is more about love stories or even relationships between a special person and the singer that is built up or broken up because of a certain situation. “The memory’s stalking me, uh. It’s getting hard for me, uh ‘.Cause you’re a part of me, uh. And I know we can’t get caught up”. (https://genius.com/Her-couldve-been-remix-lyrics). The lyrics here from Tone Stith represent a deep connection that he has to a partner, but he can’t let himself or the partner to get too close with each other because they can both get into deep trouble with their original partners. And the verse where ”The memory’s stalking me” shows that he can’t ever forget the memory of them being together the night that they were hooking up. The artist here is getting at how much they miss the person they were with because he knows that they can become a good couple or even have a good relationship, but they both have separate lives to get back to. This connects to R&B listeners who also may have had this kind of issue at least once in their lifetime while in another relationship. The artist’s decision to choose those words specifically about the situation was to come off as something that was just deeper than just having a good time. He was having one of the best moments of his life, but he knows the costs of what he’s doing so he doesn’t want to actually go through with it.
Another R&B song that shows that R&B music has a deeper meaning to it than people think is ”Medicine” by Queen Naija. This song was made based on a situation that she personally experienced in a relationship, and she put her pain through the beats of music. She also mentions that she wants to change ”perspectives and letting them know they’re not alone in whatever they’re going through, ” (http://www.iamqueennaija.com/about/). She wants to let people, who listen to R&B music, to know that they aren’t ”alone” as much as they think they are. The point of the song was to also to show the audience that men are not the only ones who can make one person in the relationship feel less than the other, but women can do it also. This is ultimately to get at the emotions not only to provide sympathy but it can also provide courage to other women that there is still hope for them to keep their pride.
H.E.R and Daniel Caesar made an R&B song together called ”Best Part” and that song has a lot of metaphors and deep meanings that were included. In one verse H. E. R was singing about how her partner to her, as she said, ” You’re the coffee that I need in the morning” (https://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/danielcaesar/bestpart.html). Another line, including Daniel Caesar, with a deep meaning, would also be ”You know that I see it I know you’re a star”. The meaning behind both of those lines lies deep within the certain words that were chosen to represent their partners, such as ”coffee” which was used by H. E. R was meant to represent the great importance that her partner is. Because coffee is used to re-up someone’s energy she is then comparing her partner to the coffee to send the message that he is her re-up. And the part where both singers said that their partners were a ”star” shows that they both take in how bright their partners shine on their lives. Because a star is a shining light in the night, the singers want their partners to know that they are the brightest person in their lives, showing the comparison between the star and their partner is how bright they are. For the audience, this creates an emotion where they feel to take their partner seriously towards how far they can go in their relationship it’s built on beautiful metaphors that adore each other
Another R&B song that had a lot of meaning inside of it was a song by Usher called ” There Goes My Baby”. In this song, he is singing about women that he\\\ has a real connection and vibe with, as he explains that, ” The feeling of it is if you have a true connection with somebody, no matter what happens in life, it will always come back” (https://www.songfacts.com/facts/usher/there-goes-my-baby). The meaning behind the song is to show that there is a ”real connection” with the person that you’re with and that it won’t go away from each of them. Because the song is showing that there is a real connection that you can find with someone, then that can give the audience hope that they can also find a connection that they have been missing for a while with someone who will be special to them. This also creates an emotional breakthrough for audiences who are in relationships that seem to be broken because now those people in the broken relationship can take a deeper look at their connection and see that no matter what they will come back to each other.
The second to last R&B song that has a lot of meaning behind the verses is a song called “Busted” by the Isley Brothers. In this song, the meaning behind the verse there is a deep metaphor that goes beyond just emotion, but more on how a girl tried to play him like he’s a fool. Based on the line where he said, ”Trying to slick a can of oil who you think you fooling”(https://genius.com/The-isley-brothers-busted-lyrics). Based on that line the metaphor that Ron Isley sang, he wanted to compare himself to a ”can of oil” that JS was apparently ”Trying to slick”, all to show that she was playing with him and taking him for a fool. Little does she know that he is smarter than he may seem to her, which makes her look worse in the situation where she cheated on him. This can also create a means for men to know how to handle their emotions when their partner cheats on them, which is to make their partner look more foolish about what they committed, especially when they’re caught.
Finally, one more song that has a deeper meaning based in the verses is a song called “When a Woman’s Fed Up” by R.Kelly. In this song, he sings about how it looks when a woman has had enough of a man, and with this overall message, the verses in between the lines are to show the effects of how a man might react if he were to see that a women’s done with him. As sung in these few lines he said, “You can cry a river. ‘Till an ocean starts to form, yeah. But she will always remember. ‘Cause she’s a woman scorned”(https://www.lyrics.com/lyric/2332276/R.+Kelly/When+a+Woman%27s+Fed+Up). Based on that verse the deeper meaning behind the lines is that when women have been bruised then they don’t even want to be bothered by the man who hurt them. R.Kelly even says ”You can cry a river. Till an, ocean starts to form”, based on that line it shows how a man might react to losing their partner might actually react to their women being fed up with them. Because of how exaggerated the crying would be for men when a woman leaves them for being fed up then there is a deeper meaning towards why women will get fed up and how a man might react to that but the women won’t care too much.
Work Cited
https://genius.com/Her-couldve-been-remix-lyrics. Could’ve been remix. By H. E. R. 2019 Genius Media Group. February 1, 2019.
http://www.iamqueennaija.com/about/. Medicine. By Queen Naija. Iamqueennaija.com. March 29, 2018.
https://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/danielcaesar/bestpart.html. Best Part. By H. E. R and Daniel Caesar. Jordan Dc Evans, Matthew Burnett, Ashton Simmons, Riley Ian Bell, Gabriella Wilson, Ashton Simmonds. October 20, 2017
https://www.songfacts.com/facts/usher/there-goes-my-baby. There goes my baby. By Usher. Songfacts interviewer. February 9, 2019.
https://genius.com/The-isley-brothers-busted-lyrics. Busted. By The Isley Brothers. 2019 Genius Media Group. May 6, 2003.
https://www.lyrics.com/lyric/2332276/R.+Kelly/When+a+Woman%27s+Fed+Up. When a Woman’s fed up. By R. Kelly and released in 1998. Lyrics.com, Stands4 LLC 2019. Web. December 18, 2019.
From ignorance to a Learner
Emmanuel Williams
English 1101
Professor Brianna Jewell
From ignorance to a Learner
When it comes to reading, writing, and learning I wasn’t always the best at it. But I have come a long way to get better with all three categories, which made me a better person in general. When I was younger I never really liked the idea of understanding how to read because it was never really that interesting to me. As I grew up my reading and writing improved because my parents have pushed me to get better. My dad was the one who taught me how to write better, while my mom was the one that taught me how to read and comprehend work. During the week when I had finished my homework my mom will call me to read with her for 30 minutes before I went to bed. We were doing that for the 6th grade until I got better, and the weekends I had to read for 2 hours. My dad though taught me to write was when I was younger. He would sit both of us down and write out letters and sentences for the week until my writing became better. In school when it was time to read out loud it was a struggle to know when to pause and when not to, but as I dedicated to reading more the better I got at it. I had to make time for myself to read on the weekends with my free time to have a better understanding of reading. Meaning that I had to focus upon myself to become adequate in my pronunciation and the use of my punctuation as well. I also had to make sure I understood what was going on in the reading, so that meant I had to be asked analytical questions about the text and I had to be quizzed on. At one point I moved to a middle school where I was tested on my reading skills. I didn’t have any idea about how good or bad I was doing, but the results showed that I was actually pretty bad and needed a lot of work. Same thing with my writing because it had a large number of grammatical errors and it didn’t really make any sense what I was writing about. Learning for me took a ton out of me since I was a child who would rather play a lot, but I had no choice at this point in time I had to learn as much as possible and fast too because I had to catch up to the other kids in my class. Over time I grew in my skills in reading, and I even took it upon myself to actually read on my own time and start enjoying reading books. I took the most exciting-fictional books that were interesting to me and read for the joy of it. This ultimately made me a better writer, especially now that I knew more about grammar and how punctuations worked. Additionally, I became happier knowing that part of my potential was unlocked because of accelerated successes. I was able to get better grades, especially in my writing and reading classes.
Even though American charter schools helped me to get to the point where I am, there is still work to get done in the American education system. Not every school can give access to books and extra help for students to get better, and not every parent or tutor in America is able to teach a child how to get better in the English language. If there were more fun activities or maybe even challenges to get kids reading more, then there will be a promising education system in America.
Personal Experience
I remember when I was growing up in middle school I didn’t really have much of a taste for reading. Let alone writing, even though when I did write the ideas were great but my grammar was completely off. It was a time in my new middle school where we had to take reading tests to see what level of reading you are on. I was new to the school and the system so I didn’t have much knowledge on what I was reading and what the real purpose it was for. Unfortunately it turned out I wasn’t so great when it came to reading, and in that moment when I got back the results I didn’t think I was so bad. I kept making mistakes and I didn’t like myself for the time because how bad I was. The thoughts that came to my head was that I wouldn’t get much better in the future. In the school they would also test me on my writing skills during class and even then I was bad. I had so many grammatical errors in my sentences and I didn’t know how to make use of my punctuations like I should which ultimately didn’t even allow my sentences to make sense or seem interesting to readers. I had a lot of trouble making long sentences with no periods or commas or even having emotion in the sentence too. I was all over the place and that mainly stemmed from not reading. Ultimately, my experience reading and writing is one of the worst where I didn’t have much sense in it and I didn’t do so well in it thinking that I couldn’t get better. Until I did get better with the right motivation and right people along my side to help me get better.
Response to Malcolm X “Learning to Read”
Malcolm X “Learning to Read” is a piece of reading that can inspire others to make an effort to break down barriers. He does this by giving a introduction about himself and how he only had the education level of an eighth grader, but the work he produced was so exceptional and equivalent to the work of a college student. And he got up to that point just by reading a dictionary in jail, so not only was time not wasted but he also didn’t take his low education level as a sign of defeat but as a motivation to communicate better with others in ways he couldn’t imagine doing. Readers of this piece can find in themselves the courage to get up and make a change in their flaws. Once they have time and energy to get past their barriers they, like Malcolm X, can get through the the struggle and make something great of themselves.
