CWP 101

4 September 2013
Push Yourself
Weve gotten our hands dirty, and we wont stop now; words I live my life by
every moment of every day. When Im feeling low my thought process kicks in
decrypting this statements meaning; you started something, see it through or else it will
always be unknown. These lyrics came from a song that I heard when I was a senior in
high school, just beginning to understand metal and the existence of its powerful
significance that really struck me in a time of need. I was intimidated of the world
outside of school; where should I go to college? What should I major in? Should I join
the Navy? Full or part time college? Should I work full time?..... The world was throwing
questionable matters at me every day, I felt lost; But through it all I made clear decisions
and always triumph through with a determination to accomplish all my endeavors firstrate.
The realm of metalcore music was shown to me by a band mate and great friend,
Mark, in the form of a CD from a band labeled Within the Ruins. Their debut major label
CD, Invade, had just weeks prior been released. The sound was alien to my ears; the
music opened a door in me that I still currently reside. The Riffs Hit hard, the drums
pounded your heart rate up twofold, and the tough guy lyrics that conveyed wisdoms of
anger spoke to the eighteen year-old version of me. The feelings this song drew from
me, were ones that I thought were previously absent; I felt triumphant, powerful and
most of all an overall outlook of the world as a place where I could become something
was now visible.
I based my outlook on my work ethic on these feelings; the once loafer, Tom was
now a train moving forward towards his ultimate life goals. My grades increased, my
then boss gave me more responsibilities, and I took all opportunities to largely better
myself. I began to take everything in a more serious way and took every chance to
learn I could
From a lyrical standpoint one thing stands out, the simplicity of this song drives it
deeper into your ears, and more importantly your heart. Digging through trenches still
but our work is not done yet. Forcing ourselves through all who oppose. The shear
power behind the voice that sings these words is ridiculous (he could make the wheels
on the bus into a hard-hitting song); But the meaning is clear to me; Always try hard
until your task at hand is complete, and triumph over anyone (or anything) that gets in
your way. We are not afraid to get our hands dirty, not afraid because we were always
filthy. Knee deep in what we love, but our work is not done yet. We've got a job to do.

Again these words reinforce the last statements meaning but with a small variation;
always love what you do, even if you have to do some of the grunt-work and get your
hands dirty. I take a stance on these statements with an emotion that the best way to
prevail is to work hard, keep going, and never stop until you have accomplished
everything you ever wanted.
As you can see I take a very literal view on lyrics, and I feel that the band actually
wrote this song in honor of their music careers and how they have made theyre way to
the top of an underground genre of music. I feel that getting your hands dirty may refer
to theyre times when gigs didnt go as planned, but they got it done in the end. The
glamorous side that is portrayed by most large scale artists is unknown to small-name
bands like this; working a lot of times with odds-and-ends house equipment, sleeping in
a van on the road night after night, and sometimes playing small shows where no one
shows up. This song portrays the hardships of a traveling band before theyre big break,
loving the music but the toll it can have on a personal level, Knee deep in what we love,
but our work is not done yet, weve got a job to do.
But as with any song, differing perspectives and diverse culture can cause a
message that is seen in one view to be seen in a whole dissimilar way in the ears of
another listener. What I see as triumphant music, another may see as an abomination to
the human life, devil music some may say. These closed minded listeners can stay in
their bubbles that they put around themselves and their families while I enjoy my music,
ride my motorcycles, and otherwise live my life knowing it was all my making; stemming
from my perseverance and work ethic.
The styling of the song alone was in itself, enough to change my perspective on
life, in a time where I was feeling discouraged the music helped me find the answers
inside of myself that I had been too blind to see. To me this song (and album) serve as a
reminder of a time in my life where my coming of age is very well demonstrated. I to this
day think this styling of music made me who I am, and helped me plant my feet for what
so far has been a great start through this journey known as life.

Project Considerations
- In my paper my point that I am trying to bring across is the fact that the song has

helped shape who I am today.

- a) The conclusion of my essay was somewhere I feel was strong, because it
directly states my reasons and does so in a somewhat fluid way.
b) At the end of paragraph 1 I feel that the lines of endless questions helps get my
confused point of view across
- I want my audience to get a sense of who I am just by reading this short essay. My
language and intellect are kind of portrayed well (I believe)
- a) I feel that my transition into the final paragraph of this essay needs refinement,
the way it rolled off my tongue just didnt feel right.
b) paragraph 2 of my essay also seems as though it is not fitting, I cant pick out if
its my wording, or if it is just a tad off topic.
- My intended audience is my class, people I see but really dont know, I want them
to get a sense of me for who I am and I feel as though I have done just so. But I
could always use some more personal notes from experiences past.
- As it goes for my peer review, I feel that my partner gave it a quick once over, said
how good it was, and wanted to leave ASAP. I think the fact is that we as students
dont have a clue of how to constructively criticize someone elses work and its a
skill that almost seems unnatural to me. I took the advice that he liked my wording
with some of my earlier paragraphs and reread some of the later ones and tried to
give them the flow that was so likeable in the first.
- As far as effectiveness of a paper goes, I think it gets the job done. It is as
persuasive as it can be being it is only arguing an opinion about a song and not the
same old controversial issues were used to writing about.
- As for the rhetorical meaning, one of the main aspects of this piece was pathos, or
the emotional appeal. I tried to write in a way where there was an allure to the
compassionate side of the audience by opening up my mind and letting you see
some things that have troubled me.
- If I did this project again I believe I will do it with a lot more setup with a lot of
emphasis on the rhetorical areas to help get my points across with ease. The way I
write now is just to start writing until Im near the completed size, then reread and
organize into sections of similar groups.