Kearns 1

Montana Kearns
Matt Wilson
Writing 2A MW 11-12:50
18 November 2015
WP3: Conjugate It Up
Have you ever wondered how a written work would fit into a different genre? Or what it
would be like to sing along to an academic article that you were told to read, as opposed to just
reading it? Its been said that things we have to do arent always fun -- which is usually true,
otherwise we would do them without being told to do so. But what if we could make these
boring to-dos fun? When boring activities become fun, theyre usually accomplished in a
more efficient and beneficial way. I would like to try taking something dull, and making it into
something that I need to learn that is fun. To do this, I will start with an academic article from a
peer-reviewed journal, Dealing with Verbal Inflection in Natural Language Selection: Resources
for Minimal Requirement by Juan Rafael Zamorano-Mansilla, take the main points, and match it
to Mark Ronsons chart-topping pop song, Uptown Funk (translation attached). Using this, I
plan to argue that all academic information can be made into something that is easy to
understand as well as enjoyable to learn.
Generally, academic articles are unpleasant and boring to read when youre not interested
in the topic. Sometimes, even when the topic is known by and interesting to the reader, articles
are still a drag. The usual conventions of academic articles are that they have an abstract, an
introduction, didactic sections on the subject, examples, and a conclusion. They are usually
written in third person, and include diction related to the topic. Articles are characteristically
straightforward and, unfortunately, somewhat dry. The audience for this academic article is most

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likely comprised of professionals in the Spanish field who are practicing and reinforcing the
language -- teachers, professors, those that need to know proper Spanish for work, and any others
that might be associated with this group. This article might show up if someone is researching
how to conjugate already known verbs in Spanish, how to teach certain concepts, searching a key
topic in an example given in the text, or is even looking up how to deal with verbal inflection in
the Spanish language. Most times, the internet will bring up an academic article when one is
researching an academic topic because, even though its boring, its proven to be effective. On
the off chance that something like a song comes up in that type of search, the reader would most
likely be taken by surprise, and may even be excited to see it!
A song, on the other hand, is very different than an academic article. Song genres have
the conventions of verses, a chorus, pre-chorus, bridge, often rhyme, and have beats to the
words. They are often written in first and second person, include colloquials such as lemme,
and popular phrases like straight fluent. Songs are typically interesting and relatable to a wide
range of people; even when the listener isnt necessarily interested in the subject matter, they
tend to still be enjoyable to listen to. Audiences of songs are not all the same; they change on a
sub-genre -- or, song genre -- basis. For example: country, rap, alternative, and rock are all subgenres. They are often related to what is aurally appealing and what lyrics provoke a connection
between the listener and the song. People choose to listen to music that makes them feel
something, especially if it matches their current or intended mood.
My translation of the academic article Dealing with Verbal Inflection in Natural
Language Selection: Resources for Minimal Requirement to the song Uptown Funk was very
enjoyable! I chose to translate the song into a popular chart-topper that many people like and are
familiar with because humans are creatures of habit -- we like and feel safe with what we know.

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Uptown Funk has a large fan base mainly because of its rock-out feel that is easy to memorize
and sing along to. The current audience of Uptown Funk is the general public of North
America that likes popular music, upbeat jams, catchy rhythms, dance vibes, Mark Ronson,
and/or Bruno Mars. Furthermore, since this is a song that should be interesting to people who
dont know about the topic, I couldnt include all of the information in the academic article
because I would lose my audience as the more difficult concepts go right over their heads. In my
translation, I incorporated what I deemed most important from the article into the song. An
example of that would be my inclusion of the present tense verb endings -- O, As, A, Amos, An
-- which are necessary components of the language because if left out, other verb tense endings
wouldnt make sense and the listener would be unable to use the most common tense. I then
added the next most common tenses, past and future, so that people who learn from this song
will have the ability to hold a basic conversation, as that is pretty standard for general
communication. I chose to put the tense endings in the choruses because they are the most
important information to know and it is more likely for someone to remember the catchiest part
of a song, which usually is the chorus. In addition to the common tenses, I found it necessary to
include irregular verbs -- verbs that dont follow the same pattern -- along with their examples to
follow when conjugating -- poder becomes puedo -- so that the basic communication can
keep a flow of correct grammar.
My new audiences, those intended to listen to the translation of Uptown Funk, are
comprised of those of the current songs audience in addition people who care about learning
Spanish. As I mentioned before, this is a very popular song that most people -- from children to
adults -- on the North American continent find catchy, fun, and easy to memorize and sing. It is
very common for popular songs to be widely known, as our world is constantly sharing

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information, and I expect this case to be no different. I have hopes that all of the people in my
target audiences will hear the translated song on their radios, sing along, learn the lyrics, then
eventually learn the content. This song should be popular and have the general public -- as most
people own and listen to a radio -- become familiar with it. In addition to that audience, I also
hope to reach a second audience comprised of people who are trying to learn the Spanish
language. Spanish students may be having trouble with conjugations and basic concepts, search
these concepts on the internet for a better understanding, find this song, then use it as a memory
aid in learning. Or, a Spanish teacher could give out the lyrics and sing with his or her class of
students who most likely know the song and will enjoy making these new connections. How
would those who dont listen to the radio or have a teacher/class to give it to them encounter this
song? Music is global and odds are that they will hear about it at some point, whether it be
through social media, friends, or if they hear it playing somewhere in public.
From the readings that weve done in class, Dirk helped me a lot in understanding what a
genre is. Now, I can easily identify different genres -- in this case, an academic article and a song
-- and have no problem translating from one to another. I know that I can follow examples in the
song for the reason that genres develop because they respond appropriately to situations that
writers encounter repeatedly, meaning all songs should be somewhat similar and that I can use
one to format another (Dirk). Thanks to Dirks Navigating Genres, I can feel confident that my
song will correctly fit into the song genre because I, as a writer, am encountering what other
songwriters encounter; having something to say and wanting to say it in a way thats catchy and
popular. Another reading that helped me was Carrolls Backpacks to Briefcases. This reading
reminded me that people who are not the main audience of the [genre] might also be able to

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respond to the exigence, meaning people who are not interested in Spanish, but like music and
are cultured may end up learning from my song (Carroll).
More often than not, required reading, especially academic reading, isnt always the most
exciting thing; however, Ive learned that when turned into something familiar and enjoyable,
even the dullest of things can be accomplished efficiently and even in a fun way! I translated an
academic article about the basic rules of the Spanish language -- an article that is most likely
viewed as a bit of a drag to read -- into an upbeat song thats catchy, easy to memorize, and fun
to sing. With this, I hope that even people who arent interested in Spanish, as in those who
would never even go near the academic article, may learn the same content with much less
hassle.

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Works Cited
Carroll, Laura Bolin. Backpacks vs. Briefcases: Steps toward Rhetorical Analysis. Web. 18
Nov. 2015. <http://www.parlorpress.com/pdf/carroll--backpacks-vs-briefcases.pdf>.
Dirk, Kerry. Navigating Genres. Web. 18 Nov. 2015.
<http://www.parlorpress.com/pdf/dirk--navigating-genres.pdf>.
Zamorano-Mansilla, Juan Rafael. Dealing with Verbal Inflection in Natural Language Selection:
Resouces for Minimal Requirement." 2008. Web. 18 Nov. 2015.
<http://web.a.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail/detail?sid=b7347ce9-f8a5-4964-bd7034919a83ed55@sessionmgr4002&vid=0&hid=4112&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2
ZQ==#AN=37806446&db=a9h>.