Does Gangster Rap Increase Youth Violence?

Research Paper Instructions:

Popular Culture Research Paper
Assignment Guidelines
The term "popular culture" is used to describe the kind of literature, music, painting, architecture, and other cultural matter that is produced for mass consumption. Some popular culture turns out to be very sophisticated, but much more popular culture is designed to reaffirm and comfort popular attitudes and tastes, not challenge or examine them. Above all, popular culture usually aims to succeed in the market place. Examples of twenty-first-century popular culture include television programs, feature films, popular music of many kinds, video games, and many other kinds of media.
For this paper, choose one form of popular culture for analysis. When you choose a type or genre, be sure that it is a coherent genre; not “popular music” but, say, “sentimental love songs of the 1950s” or “goth rock of early 1980s”; not “comic books” but “Disney comics” or “monster comics” or “superhero-type comics.” Be sure to select a specific kind of popular culture. Huge genres such as "rap music" or "hip hop" are simply too large for this project. Even more importantly, be sure to select a form of popular culture that you find interesting to begin with. You can choose a topic from a wide variety of material—from comic books and horror movies to TV shows and bumper stickers and magazines, from Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys to 50 Shades of Grey, from plays by Neil Simon and Sam Shepard, to Hayao Miyazaki’s animated films and Haruki Murakami’s novels.
Your objective will be to explore the relationship between your chosen piece of popular culture and some social issue such as age, race, gender, class, religion, immigration, etc. You will be forming an argument about this relationship, a central thesis that will be supported by your evidence. Evidence for your argument will come from analysis or descriptions of the popular culture as well as from credible researched sources you select. One requirement of the paper is that you use at least five researched sources; at least three of those sources have to be peer-reviewed academic texts.
Please keep in mind that you are not writing a report. You are writing an argumentative paper that includes research and adds to a broader conversation about your chosen topic. You are to add to this conversation by making a claim about your chosen topic. Focus on the development of ideas rather than on the accumulation of quotes.
How to find topics
Read reputable news media (websites such as NPR, BBC, ABC, Time Magazine, The Guardian, NYTimes).
Think about how the popular culture (film, music, literature, radio, video games, etc.) you consume engages in some social issues.
Do some preliminary research to narrow down your topic to a particular piece of popular culture and a particular social issue.
Some sample research questions:
Do Breaking Bad and similar television crime dramas make people afraid of Latin American immigrants?
Are female rappers of the 2020s--for instance, Cardi B. and her associates--modern-day feminists, or just pornographers?
Do military-themed video games portray Middle Eastern people fairly?
Do "white trash" reality shows slander Americans who live in rural parts of the country?
Was "Gangsta Rap" in the 1980s and 1990s a valid form of protest against living conditions in the inner city, or did it simply celebrate violence, drug use, and sexism?
Here are some additional topics that you might be interested in researching:
1960s comic books and civil rights
Video games and climate anxiety
Horror film and gender issues
TV shows' depiction of LGBTQ+ experience
Celebrity culture in America
K-Pop and social issues
True Crime podcasts and Americans' fascination with violence
Portrayals of Italian-Americans in mafia movies
1970s Funk Music and the Black Power movement
Stand-up comedians and racial/ethnic stereotypes
Social media influencers
Sports and political activism
Requirements
A well-researched, academic argument that adds a new perspective to the existing conversation about your topic
A clear thesis statement that advances a specific, substantial, arguable point
Strong supporting evidence from your secondary research
In-text citation of at least five different secondary sources (at least three academic sources)
A careful evaluation of relevant counterpoints
A coherent organizational structure that enhances the argument and effectively portrays the research
A strong sense of audience
A clear ethos
4-6 double-spaced pages (1,000-1,500 words)
A Works Cited page in MLA style
Meticulous proofreading and proper MLA formatting
Don't Do It!
No dropped quotes (always provide the author’s name)
No more than one block quote
No changing topics at the last minute.
With a introduction with a good lead-in (multiple sentences)
This includes strategies such as quotes, analogies, anecdotes, surprising statistics, etc. The lead-in serves to introduce the topic.
B. Relevant background information, such as key concepts, definitions, controversies, etc. (multiple sentences)
Make sure that your reader understands the topic, which in this essay is the relationship between a form of pop culture and a specific social issue. If you are writing about a television show, for instance, introduce the plot, setting, characters, year of production, or any other “facts” that will help the reader follow your essay. Whatever your subject, explain your topic well enough that the thesis and ensuing paragraphs will make sense.
Also, you might mention why your chosen topic is relevant, such as whether your topic has been in the news (has it been "cancelled"? Was it the top music video of the summer?). Include other "basic facts" you think your readers need. For instance, don't assume I know what "Jordan Peele's African-American Horror Films" means. Don't assume I've heard of the music genre "Vaporwave." Explain the concept and give specific examples. In addition to this, make sure you introduce the social issue you wish to discuss. Are there any controversies I should be aware of? Any good quotes from your research? Have people been arguing about the value (or lack thereof) of your pop culture topic?
C. Give your thesis (one sentence)
The thesis should always be the last sentence in the introduction. It should be your claim about the subject/topic of the essay. For example: after you've told me in section "B" about several popular reality shows about beauty pageants and told me that some cultural commentators (especially feminists) hate them, you might offer your own claim about these shows: "Reality television shows about beauty pageants illustrate how many Americans still cling to traditional, old-fashioned definitions of femininity and ideas about what it means to be female."
At least three of the sources must be acceptable academic sources you can find using the GSU Library. And the other 2 are just reliable websites.
The topic I chose was Does gangster rap increase youth violence

Research Paper Sample Content Preview:

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Does Gangster Rap Increase Youth Violence?
The rise in violent and other anti-social conduct among young people has been attributed to the rise of gangster rap. Gangster rap has had a negative impact on the youngsters who have been exposed to it. There are others who think that this view is exaggerated because there are numerous other reasons that induce human wrongdoing. Many things contribute to crime in contemporary culture. Michael Moore, the Oscar-winning filmmaker and author of Bowling for Columbine, believes that the criminal justice system is set up in such a way that it serves to attract and sustain criminal activity (Moore 7). Gangster rap is one of the most violent and misogynistic genres of music ever created. The song’s savage and homophobic content has spawned a mindset that is prone to violence, and in many instances, the ripple effect may be observed all around the world.
One of the reasons is the high percentage of gun ownership; the United States has an alarming record of gun-related deaths. A great deal of anxiety is instilled in the public. According to Moore, the present wave of homicides is not the result of economic hardship, unemployment, or racial diversity. The media can be held responsible for the current state of affairs. It is in charge of imparting the idea that violence is acceptable in society. The rise in gun violence can be attributed to the rise in gun culture. In the United States, obtaining and owning a firearm is quite simple. Armed self-defense has been made possible by the system. Moore states that, in contrast, other countries have relatively easy access and ownership of weapons, but they do not witness the high incidence of homicides that the US does (5). Action movies, gangster rap, and video games may all be blamed, but this is a problem in other cultures as well. Additionally, Black guys who are affiliated with gangster rap continue to commit suicide by firearm. Family and marital troubles, employment and economic difficulties, mental illness and drug abuse, as well as stigma around getting treatment are all variables that increase the risk of suicide. Drug overdose epidemics may also directly or indirectly impact the risk for kids, either via their own substance use or through the predominance of traumatic childhood experiences, according to Kegler (17).
The second rationale for increased youth violence through gangster rap is the inability of young people to tell the difference between fact, and fiction encourages them to participate in criminal or anti-social activity. Human beings should be able to recognize the ramifications of their actions on society as a whole. In some gangster rap songs, women are portrayed as the inferior sex, only fit for prostitution or as sexual objects for the guys listening to the song. Some artists, but not all, can be a detrimental influence. Women have historically been thought of as possessing attributes like gentleness, nurturing, constancy, closeness,’ according to Larsen et al. (35). These characteristics do not define African American masculinity. Commitment is vital in this respect, as the daily struggle for survival in ghetto suburbs is challenging, and being a single mom is ev...

Updated on January 26, 2024

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Does Gangster Rap Increase Youth Violence?

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