Letter of Introduction

Hello, my name is Jahiem Carridice. I am an eighteen-year-old African American male that currently lives in the Bronx. To put it frankly, I have a secret that most people do not know about me, not my parents or my close friends. My secret is that I have extreme social anxiety. My friends and family do not notice that I suffer from it because I try my best to hide it. I act differently in front of them versus alone. While you may think that normal for many people, however, my family and close friends would think this behavior is out of character. Since they see me as the guy who is the life of the party. I’m usually the loudest, but I also stand out due to my large frame and deep voice. So nine times out of ten I am the loudest and biggest in the room. So having social anxiety is kind of preposterous for me, but I do suffer from it. Whenever I’m in public my hands start to sweat, my mouth starts to dry up, my eyes start to water and my hands start to shake uncontrollably.

I first suffer from social anxiety in middle school. Growing up in my neighborhood, I knew my group of friends for a long time. It was rare to meet new friends or people in general. When I graduated fifth grade my parents chose a middle school that none of my friends were attending. So I was going to start going to a middle school without my group of friends. This simple thought made my heart skip a beat. I started getting nervous. Even though this was happening to me, I didn’t tell my parents or anyone, I just thought it was a normal occurrence. On my first day in middle school, I could not help but shake in my father’s car. I tried to focus, but I could only think about how everyone would stare at me. When we finally reached the school I said goodbye to my father and rushed out of the car. I started to walk into the building to the cafeteria for the sixth grader’s orientation when I noticed the number of sixth graders and my heart sank. Instinctively I rushed to the table with the least amount kids in the back and put my head down. That’s when a group of boys joined me at my table, and they said “hi” to me. When I tried to respond with my own “hi” I choked up and a high pitch hi came out. I was embarrassed, so I got up and walked towards the bathroom. In the bathroom that’s when I noticed I could barely stand up straight and my hands were extremely sweaty. I used the sink to pour cold water on my face to clear my mind and stared at myself and told myself, “I’m stronger than this”. However, at the time I wasn’t, I walked out of the bathroom. As I joined with the rest of the students I blended in on the back for the rest of the day. I only talked when my name was called by a teacher. I would continue being quiet and fading into the background for the first two weeks until I met one boy, and he was extremely talkative, and we ended up becoming friends. He was my pathway to other people while I was still deathly nervous to talk to people. Being next to him made it easy to talk to people and by the end of the year, I made tons of friends. That’s when I got bad news from my parents, they told me that I had to transfer to another school for seventh grade and that the new school goes up to twelfth grade.

    Going into seventh grade at a new school I had a goal. This goal was to not be as nervous and to make friends as soon as possible. That was the plan, but the outcome was very different. The first day I stayed in the back far from everyone. While this tactic worked for most of the day when walking into my last class of the day I tripped and all the attention to me. This time I couldn’t run away to the bathroom. Instead, I just laughed it off and rushed to my seat. At my seat, a boy, and a girl came next to me, and they looked at me and asked why I hadn’t talked all day. I answer that I just don’t know anyone. They introduced themselves, and we became friends. While I struggled to talk to them, I ended up becoming comfortable in the school and made a lot of friends. Since I stayed in the same school I never had to make any new friends. My friend group was consistently the same people except for the few that changed. Because of this I never tackled my social anxiety, and it didn’t bother me except for presentations or when I was alone, yet I didn’t mind that, so I never addressed it or told anyone about it. That was until I applied to be a tour guide at the Museum of Jewish heritage.

    I started the museum job in the summer of the eleventh grade going into my senior year. At this point, I have gotten better at meeting people. I wouldn’t freeze up as much as I did when I was younger. During the selection process, I had to do a group interview with nine other students. We each took turns answering the questions being asked. At this point, I gathered a skill to help me talk when a group of people is staring at me. I would look at the ceiling and imagine that I’m just talking to my friends and family. When I talked it came out choppy at first and my legging was shaking I made an impression on everyone. After I got hired I promised myself that I would be dedicated to improving my public speaking and being nervous around new people. By the end of the summer, I made strides. It was easy for me to talk to new people. I was able to keep a consistent and articulate tone while talking in front of random groups of people. I wasn’t perfect, but I was better than I was at the beginning. Honestly, I was never diagnosed with social anxiety so I may not have the condition. If I do or if I don’t it doesn’t matter because either way, I improved myself, and every day that’s the goal I would like to complete no matter the roadblocks.

Peer profile

He recalls the time when he was forced to come to be a man to be successful for his family. Greetings, my name is Jahiem Carridice and my partner is Kirkland creppy. He is an eighteen-year-old African American male that currently lives in the Bronx. When talking to Kirk, I picked up two things immediately. The First thing is Kirk is very charismatic even over the phone. I didn’t see Kirk’s face at all, but I was capable of capturing his full presence, and it felt like I talked to him a million times before. He talked smoothly and just because of him we were capable to connect both in the school work and our personal life. The second thing I notice is he is also very confident. He possesses a strong natural voice and communicates clearly which made it funnier to hold a conversation with him. Like I stated early the conversations with Kirk’s happen over the phone. Before we introduced our questions we started with a few icebreakers. After that, I asked him my first question. My first question was “Why did you choose your topic?”. I proposed this question to introduce to get to know Kirk and the way he thinks. This is why I knew the basics of whom he was as a person since the letter of introduction is supposed to be a way to introduce ourselves.

Kirk’s topic focuses on his way of seeing the world. When I asked him my question, he responded by saying, “I always had a distinct way of thinking, so I thought it would be a good way to show others my perspective of the world.” He felt this was significant because he stated that since he sees the world in such a blunt way it makes him indifferent to all situations. This allowed him to be the voice of reason in many situations. This allowed others around him to look up to him and constantly seek his advice. He further explained that the reason that he sees the world so differently is because he was forced to mature a lot quicker than most people. Kirk explained to me that going into high school he had to mature, or he was going failing. He saw his friends around him were going to hold him back. He had to leave them in the past and make better decisions. Kirk early in highschool struggled in math class. He stated it was always his weakest subject. So he started attending after-school tutoring to get extra help. His middle school friends started making fun of him. Kirk then stated that he stopped talking to these people and surrounded himself with other students that cared because he wanted to succeed. He then told me that his teachers praised him for this change because he became a better student and did not let others hold him back. This went a long way as Kirk chose not to look for validation from those around him since they would merely hold him back.

Next, I proposed Kirk more personal questions to perceive his way in life. My initial question was, “Who is your greatest role model”? I proposed this question because I know your role model can show what life plan you want to follow. Kirk responded, “ My greatest role model I would say is Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson.” This was a surprise at first because I thought he was more of an activist type of person. However, Kirk explained that Dwayne Johnson was his role model because he comes from similar situations. Dwayne Johnson grew up and had to come to be a man quickly to support his family. He embraced every opportunity presented to him. From starting from a small-time wrestler to a worldwide renowned movie star. After hearing Kirk answer my answer it demonstrated his extreme maturity he doesn’t just look up to anyone. Not a big-time rapper, any there he looks up to someone who is just like him and wants to follow a similar path to success. I next asked Kirk what his motivation since already knew his goal and who his role model was. Kirk told me his motivation to be better and to be successful was his family. This showed even more of Kirk’s character because he knows what he is fighting for, and he isn’t just saying he wants to be successful without a real plan or motivation to be successful. He even stated that his greatest strength was that he is determined to be successful for all the people in his life.

Towards the end of my conversation with Kirk, I ended with two questions that would enable me to recognize how he sees the world and his destination. The first question was about his major. I asked his major because he told me countless times that he wanted to be successful. However, I didn’t identify what field he wanted to be in. Kirk explained that during high school he became interested in film in high school. This also connected the dots on why he looked up to a movie star like Dwayne Johnson. He stated that his goal was that one day he would be able to make a film that can be an all-time classic over the world. I asked why, and he said that he would also like a movie that is merely internationally loved by people. That’s when I asked him what he wants his lasting impact to be on the world. To my surprise, Kirk said “ I want my imprint to be people knowing that I’m a nice person. All in all, I want people to think about me and say ‘Kirk was a cool guy.’”I was surprised since I thought he was going to say that he wanted to be known for his movies. This merely helps wrap it up for Kirk as his last answer indicated to me that Kirk didn’t care for fame or validation. Kirk just wants to be the best version of himself, and he isn’t going letting anyone else step in the way of that.

Rhetorical Analysis first draft

The essay “Sabbath” is Oliver Sacks’ last essay that caps off an extraordinary life as a writer. The essay itself follows life through his childhood to his late adulthood. Oliver Sacks was a doctor and book writer that spent most of his life helping the world with sacrifice research and book writing to become one of the greatest writers in the modern age. The theme of “Sabbath” can be easily missed if it’s read at face value; however, if a deeper dive is taken, you’ll find the true meaning. In a day and age where people struggled to find themselves, Oliver Sacks uses rhetorical methods to create a compelling story about his life.
Oliver Sacks’ essay tells the story of his life in an Orthodox Jewish family in London, a childhood that was brutally interrupted by WWII. He then discusses how his difficult life at that time frame influenced him to become an atheist. However, he maintains the memories of a religious upbringing. He starts by explaining how his mom, one of the first female surgeons in the UK, would practice Shabbat while he was a boy. His Shabbat was calm and essentially ritualistic. He remembers his family as well as his neighborhood’s Jewish community. He mentions the shul and culture after WWII, when London was bombarded with bombs and the Jewish presence in the city disintegrated, with many emigrating to Israel, the United States, Canada, and Australia, where he used to flee from his parents.
First, Oliver Sacks has a strong ethos throughout the passage and gives the reader a look through his lens and his personal experience. “, I find my thoughts, increasingly, not on the supernatural or spiritual, but on what is meant by living a good and worthwhile life —achieving a sense of peace within oneself. I find my thoughts drifting to the Sabbath, the day of rest, the seventh day of the week, and perhaps the seventh day of one’slife as well, when one can feel that one’s work is done, and one may, in good conscience, rest.” This is significant to the rhetorical element ethos because the author is showing his character. At this point in the essay, Oliver was reflecting on his life in his older age. The life he was living was to find his inner peace and finally found it at the end of his life, accepting who he was. “I had felt a little fearful visiting my Orthodox family with my lover, Billy —my mother’s words still echoed in my mind —but Billy, too, was warmly received. How profoundly attitudes had changed, even among the Orthodox, was made clear by Robert John when he invited Billy and me to join him and his family at their opening Sabbath meal.” Furthering Oliver’s character, he comes out as gay, and this was a sensitive topic as this was the first time he started anything about his sexuality. Showing an exposed side of himself allows him to connect with the reader.

Rhetorical Analysis

The essay, “Sabbath”, is Oliver Sacks’ last essay that caps off an extraordinary life as a writer. The essay itself follows life through his childhood to his late adulthood. Oliver Sacks was a doctor and book writer that spent most of his life helping the world with sacrifice research and book writing to become one of the greatest writers in the modern age. The theme of “Sabbath” can be easily missed if it’s read at face value however if a deeper dive is taken you’ll find the true meaning. In a day and age where people struggled to find themselves, Oliver Sacks uses rhetorical methods to create a compelling story about his life.

    Oliver Sacks’ essay tells the story of his life in an Orthodox Jewish family in London, a childhood that was brutally interrupted by WWII. He then goes on to discuss how his difficult life at that time frame influenced him to become an atheist. However, he maintains the memories of a religious upbringing. He starts by explaining how his mom, one of the first female surgeons in the UK, would practice Shabbat while he was a boy. His Shabbat was calm and essentially ritualistic. He remembers his family as well as his neighborhood’s Jewish community. He mentions the shul and culture after WWII, when London was bombarded with bombs and the Jewish presence in the city disintegrated, with many emigrating to Israel, the United States, Canada, and Australia, where he used to flee from his parents.

    First Oliver Sacks has a strong ethos throughout the passage and gives the reader a look through his lens and his personal experience. “, I find my thoughts, increasingly, not on the supernatural or spiritual, but on what is meant by living a good and worthwhile life —achieving a sense of peace within oneself. I find my thoughts drifting to the Sabbath, the day of rest, the seventh day of the week, and perhaps the seventh day of one’slife as well, when one can feel that one’s work is done, and one may, in good conscience, rest.” This is significant to the rhetorical element ethos because the author is showing his character. At this point in the essay, Oliver was reflecting on his life in his older age. That the life he was living was to find his inner peace and that he finally found it at the end of his life accepting who he was. “I had felt a little fearful visiting my Orthodox family with my lover, Billy —my mother’s words still echoed in my mind —but Billy, too, was warmly received. How profoundly attitudes had changed, even among the Orthodox, was made clear by Robert John when he invited Billy and me to join him and his family at their opening Sabbath meal.” Furthering Oliver’s character he comes out as gay and this was a sensitive topic as this was the first time he started anything about his sexuality. Showing a sensitive side of himself allows him to connect with the reader.

    Through Oliver’s essay, he uses Logos to show the reader his purpose. His purpose in this piece is to show that you can’t let others define yourself and to find yourself.  Oliver Sacks talks about his travels, especially in his early years. “In 1955, as a 22-year-old, I went to Israel for several months to work on a kibbutz, and though I enjoyed it, I decided not to go again. Even though so many of my cousins had moved there, the politics of the Middle East disturbed me, and I suspected I would be out of place in a deeply religious society”. The author gave an example of a place he visited on his way to self-discovery. However, the middle east wasn’t the place for him because he already disconnected from his religious side and he knew that already. However, the trip to the middle east allowed him to confirm that he moved away from this part of his life. Forevermore Oliver explains what turned him away from his religion and started his journey. “I gradually became more indifferent to the beliefs and habits of my parents, though there was no particular point of rupture until I was 18. It was then that my father, inquiring into my sexual feelings, compelled me to admit that I liked boys”. Here Oliver opens up not only to his dad but to the readers and shows his dilemma. He was questioning his sexuality and there was no one he could talk to so the first chance he had he ran away from the community to find himself.

    In the essay, there is a lesson but that lesson wasn’t for the reader. When writing this essay the audience was Oliver himself. Oliver talks about his return to his family. “I had felt a little fearful visiting my Orthodox family with my lover, Billy —my mother’s words still echoed in my mind —but Billy, too, was warmly received. How profoundly attitudes had changed, even among the Orthodox, was made clear by Robert John when he invited Billy and me to join him and his family at their opening Sabbath meal”. Oliver looks back and reminisces how he was warmly welcomed back into his family as times changed. That his fear of being rejected by his mom again and that he was happy for that. Next Oliver asks himself a series of questions. “The peace of the Sabbath, of a stopped world, a time outside time, was palpable, infused everything, and I found myself drenched with a wistfulness, something akin to nostalgia, wondering what if: What if A and B and C had been different? What sort of person might I have been? What sort of a life might I have lived?”. This is strong evidence that this essay’s audience was Oliver himself. As he is the only person that could have even thought of an answer even though they are hypothetical. All in all, this was a personal essay where Oliver was reflecting on his life while he was on his death. He thought of every major thing that led him down the road he was on.

    Oliver Sacks’ last essay “Sabbath” was a good send-off and an amazing essay that can be used in multiple facets of life. However, he was able to use the three elements of persuasion to make the reader see his world and to see how he became the man that he was before he passed away.

Researched Argument

Growing up in the south Bronx for the last few years has been a great experience seeing all different types of culture and nationality blend together to make one great community of people that share who they are with each other. One of the more prominent cultures spread throughout the Bronx, especially the southern part, is Hispanic culture. It is mainly focusing on Dominicans and Dominican subculture, which is Latin Trap. Latin Trap has roots in Puerto Rico and New York, primarily the Bronx. The rise of Latino music in mainstream music helped raise Spanish pride and representation in today’s society, and it is vital to continue to highlight the increase in Spanish music genres like Latin trap to increase Hispanic representation in mainstream media.

    Latin trap is relatively new to the music genre, and it has influenced other current music genres. Latin trap is a subgenre of trap music that originated in Puerto Rico, and Trap music is from the southern part of North America that relies heavily on the uses of synthesized drums, tuned kick drums, atmospheric synths, and lyrical content that focuses on drug use and urban violence. While Latin Trap has all of these elements, it is also a fusion of reggaeton elements. Reggaeton is one of the more popular music genres in the Spanish-speaking Caribbean, especially in Puerto Rico, Panama, the Dominican Republic, Cuba, Colombia, and Venezuela, where it is popular. While Latin started in the early 2000s, it did not gain mainstream traction until the 2010s. The author of an article explains why Latin Trap started to gain its platform. “Latin Trap music has been on the rise since the early and late 2010s with artists like Bad Bunny and Anuel AA dominating the trap scene, and collaborating on songs with well-respected rap artists such as Drake, Meek Mill, Cardi B and many more… but the sound of Latin Trap music has evolved immensely over the years” (Chihuahua)  With the help of famous American trap artist Latin trap as a genre rough out its edges to make the sound that is listened to now. “Many trap artists have debated where the origins of Latin Trap came from because of how many artists define their sound of Trap. In 2007, the song “El Pistolon” or the “Pistol” in English by Arcángel & De La Ghetto marked the beginning of Trap according to trap artist Ozuna in a Billboard interview” (Chihuahua).

Ozuna, a famous trap artist and one of the faces of the genre, and getting the recognition of the beginning of the genre puts the weight on to it. ‘”Messiah El Artista” is whom many Latin Trap artists consider being the pioneer of what started as Latin Trap music in New York City. They bring both reggaeton and southern trap sounds together into one dynamic genre. When listening to Latin Trap music, it has a similar sound to what actual Trap is in the south. However, in more vulgar and explicit lyrics” (Chihuahua)—comparing regular reggaeton, the fusion of Trap and reggaeton with the different lyrics bring a new wave to the Hispanic community similar to the American Trap. This helped the Latin trap gain traction as it gave Hispanic countries a taste of American music and gave them a new voice. “Bad Bunny and Anuel AA are the most commonly known trap artists in the Latin Trap scene. Both artists have different flows that significantly influence what Latin Trap music is about.

Nevertheless, if you listen and look at how many of these artists dress, you can see the integration that American rappers inspire the Latin Trap Artists. The lyrics and lifestyle that trap artists in the United States rap about in their songs are what many countries like Puerto Rico use to develop their authentic Trap style while keeping their cultural identity. (Chihuahua)”. To continue the conversation of the history of Latin Trap, the faces of this genre set culture waves in their communities, not just Dominicans and Puerto Ricans but all of the Hispanic countries in the Caribbean and the Hispanic people in America today.

To get a first-hand experience on why the Latin trap is so crucial to all Hispanic people, I asked two of my Latino friends. One of them is a Dominican immigrant who came to America at 12 years old named Luis Marte and an American-born girl of Puerto Rican descent named Valerie Rodguriez. I asked them similar questions just because they come from similar backgrounds in terms of community. First, Valerie as a female really asked her questions about Latina artists. My first question to her was, “Who is your Favorite Latina Trap Artist?”. “Because I like the way she develops herself not only as an artist but her image. She started as just a Disney star, and a lot of people discredited her, but she developed her sound and became a great artist. Ending up as an idol for all Latina Women.” Valerie made it clear how special Becky is to her and how she feels like Becky gives her fellow Latina Women a voice in the mainstream media. Next question was, “What is your Favorite song?”. Her response was, “My Favorite song at the current moment would be ‘Mayores’ by Becky G. I Like the song for the fact that she uses a lot of punchlines in the song. This was unusual for her, which I enjoy because it showed her growing in music which makes me want to change my style too.” The Fact that Valerie can appreciate the little things of this genre shows her genuine love for the music and how much it means to her. The next question was, “What is your First experience with Latino Trap?”. “Karol G is the first artist that I can remember. Hearing her on the beat felt so good because I felt as if I was represented not just as a female but with my culture. And I was able to play music indefinitely.” Here you can see how Valerie’s introductions to the music really impacted her as a Hispanic female. It brings her happiness that she can see other people appreciate the culture that she knows too well. My last question for Valerie was, “Does it feel like you have more pride because Latio music is mainstream?”. Her response was, “Yes, Because it introduced others to my culture, and it gives my people something to Claim as a group of people. Not only that, when we have a celebration with our families, the newer generation can teach the older generation our music while they teach us theirs, and it is like a tradition that helps fuel our pride.” All in all, hearing Valerie respond helped me understand while she loves Latio Trap. It not only makes her happy, but it also connects with her on a deeper level, and she feels one with the music. The first question I asked Luis was, “Who is your Favorite Latin trap Artist.” His response was, “My Favorite current artist is Bad Bunny. I love Bad Bunny because of his range as an artist and how outspoken he is. He is the leading voice for us Hispanic, and he uses his platform very well.” Luis’ response was different from what I expected, but he showed me the respect he had for Bad Bunny. My next question was, “What was your favorite experience with Latin trap?”. “The first experience that I can remember was Bad Bunny’s debut album in 2018. ‘X 100pre’ especially the track ‘Mia’ with Drake and Bad Bunny, which became one of the most popular tracks of 2018 as it didn’t just top the Latin billboards but the American Billboards, and it was heard everywhere. Everyone was singing it, even people who didn’t even understand the lyrics. They felt the vibes from the song.” This response blew me out of the water because of how accurate he was, this song was everywhere, no matter where you were, and I can only imagine how much it was played in Hispanic countries as this was their thing that can be claimed. My last question was, “Who is your favorite trap artist as of right now?”. He responded with, “My favorite artists in no real order are Bad Bunny, Anuel AA, and Ozuna are my top three. They all have different styles, but they have the same voice for my People. While many people would say the subject matter isn’t as good as other music, they make music that makes people smile and feel good and that we can call our own” Listening to Valerie and Luis answers, I can feel the pride that they have when listening to Latin trap.

The impact of Latin Trap is underrated and should be learned by all of those who are interested in learning about one of the growing subcultures in the Hispanic community. We have to start with the face of this growing community as of right now. Bad Bunny blew onto the scene and hasn’t cooled down. “Bad Bunny has gone from bagging groceries to shaping music culture as leader of the Latin trap explosion. In 2017, he landed an amazing 15 songs on Billboard’s Hot Latin Songs chart, and this year, he went mainstream in a big way, scoring a Hot 100 chart-topper with his feature on Cardi B’s ubiquitous summer jam “I Like It” Bad Bunny is quickly becoming an icon” (Partridge). Bad Bunny touched the scene and started to make hits and became a hometown hero first, and that led to his first experience in the mainstream. Once he started making tracks with American trap artists, his brand grew, and everyone supported him because his growth helped pave the way for more people to enter the mainstream. “Latin trap has been on the rise in recent years, starting to first reach widespread audiences around three years ago, when “La Occasion” by De la Ghetto, Arcangel, Ozuna, and Anuel AA hit the radio. But it was Bad Bunny’s “Soy Peor,” released in December of 2016, that landed the final blow and placed Latin trap in the Latin American music canon. Since then, it has been infecting the ears of Latino listeners and slowly creeping onto the global audience’s radar” (Kuryla). Here it’s a continuation to show how Latin Trap is just a part of modern life, and everyone has heard it even if they don’t know one of the artists by name. It is just so popular with the Hispanic communities and mainstream rappers supporting them. Therefore everyone should learn to understand the culture more and to respect the Hispanic communities as they have cultural traditions that are growing and are being seen in today’s society.

                Works Cited

Kuryla, Aleksei. “Beyond Despacito: Latin Trap Is Taking Over.” 34th Street Magazine, Oct. 2018, www.34st.com/article/2018/10/latin-trap-taking-over-music-reggaeton-entertainment.

Partridge, Kenneth. “Bad Bunny: How a Latin Trap Artist Is Changing the World of Pop.” Billboard, 1 Nov. 2018, www.billboard.com/articles/partner/8480619/bad-bunny-how-a-latin-trap-artist-is-changing-the-world-of-pop.