America in Lyrics

Though this song, "Mr. President" by Janelle Monae, was written in 2007 in the middle of President Bush's second term and dealt with many of the issues of his presidency, many of the problems still exist in America today. This is a clear, relevant song about the trials of many Americans and issues that America as a nation faces to this day. Although clearly frustrated, the song seems ultimately hopeful, and is not sung too grumpily, which again, I believe, is a good representation of the typical feelings of the American people.

Hey, Mr. President
Tomorrow I'm paying my rent
My fuel is running low
And I've got places to go
Quit slowing me down

Can we talk about the education of our children?
A book is worth more than a bomb any day
And remember a mirror to Africa
Who will bring the cure before it’s too late?

Don’t you see the hurt in their eyes?
So much disappointment in many faces
Use your heart and not your pride
We can’t go on and keep pretending, oh

How I Write

The way I write isn't particularly interesting, creative, or philosophical, unfortunately. I think about what I want to write and then I sit down and write. I edit and add details as I go, and often read over and make many more changes. I think revision is a good technique to get the best out of writing.

I often handwrite my rough draft so I'm forced to edit the entire thing as I type it again. It makes it difficult to skim over sections that may benefit from different phrasing, or may even need a complete renovation.

I think about what I write a lot after I've written it. I think about things that I've learned from writing that particular work, and think about things I could have done differently. I think it's interesting how much we grow and change in our writing.

I believe practice, revision, and second opinions make perfect, so I try to uphold these practices in my writing.

Inauguration Speech Word Cloud

There were a lot of patterns and commonalities in the word clouds of the 44 presidents. I was really surprised and amazed, considering this also spans more than 200 years, a variety of political climates, and an ever-changing English language. Of course words like nation, government, and America were popular throughout, but I was also happily surprised to see peace and world so often in speeches from both parties.

This was an insight into the leaders of America, and very interesting to see how similar their speeches were at times despite the Presidents being so different.