Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Writing Project 1
Writing Project 1
Song 1
Justin Song
Professor Johnson
WRIT 2
15 June 2018
Testimony
Translating one genre into another is quite difficult, because it requires understanding the
conventions, purpose, and intended audience. I will be translating “Ultralight Beam” by Kanye
West into a man’s testimony of surrendering his life to Jesus. “Ultralight Beam” and a testimony
are very similar because they share the topic of surrendering to Jesus Christ, but one is in a form
of a song and the other is in a form of a speech. Translating a song into a speech was difficult,
but the helps of a Pastor, who has given many testimonies, helped me get a better understanding
of the conventions of a testimony to make the process a lot smoother. The conventions, purpose,
and audience are the three key factors that I learned to help translate a genre into another.
“Ultralight Beam” basically has three different portrayals of Christ: “a bright light”,
“without weight, not heavy”, and “pale, hard to see”. The triple meaning all points towards to
faith. “A bright light” describes faith through a light that it is so extraordinarily bright that it can
shine in darkness. “Without weight, not heavy” depicts the idea that faith is without weight and
has no physical substance to it. It is like the feeling of warmth of the rays of the sun which we
can feel but cannot touch. “Pale, hard to see” illustrates the trials and tribulations of life
constantly battling the doubt of faith, forcing many believers to question their own faith.
Understanding the purpose of the song will allow a better a translation into a testimony. I will use
these three triple meanings to help describe the life of Kanye and his testimony and his struggles
Song 2
of surrendering himself to the One of Above. Not only that, I learned when translating a genre
into another, the purpose is kept, but the writing style and conventions are changed to fit the
other genre. I was able to incorporate the three portrayals of Christ in “Ultralight Beam” into a
testimony, while the writing conventions and style changed according to the genre.
Through the process of translating “Ultralight Beam” into a testimony, I realized how
important it is to understand the audience, purpose, and writing conventions. According to “How
to Read Like a Writer” by Mike Bunn, “you must carefully examine the things you read, looking
at the writerly techniques in the text in order to decide if you might want to adopt similar (or the
same) techniques in your writing” (72). I had to analyze every small detail to make sure the
translation goes right. I went over the lyrics multiple times by reading verse by verse to fully
understand the meaning of what each verse signifies. Another essential part of translating a genre
into another genre is fully understanding the conventions, writing style, and intended audience of
both genres. In “Navigating Genres” by Kerry Dirk, Dirk states, “And by studying the genres
that we find familiar, we can start to see how specific choices that writers make result in specific
actions on the part of readers; it only follows that our own writing must too be purposefully
written” (254). Translating one genre to another genre is not possible without understanding the
conventions of both genres. Every genre has a different audience, purpose, and set of writing
conventions. I was able to fully understand both genres through the help of friends and
professionals. For the rap song, I was able to meet a group of my friends who love rap and who
helped break down rap songs. I found that rap had certain word choices such as derogatory
words and ghetto terms in which certain audience members understands. These audiences are
generally teenagers that live a life of wanting to be a thug or in these days they call it “hard”. For
Song 3
the testimony, I was able to get aid and advice in writing a testimony by multiple Pastors that I
knew. Getting help allowed me to understand the conventions I would have not been able to see
on my own. I learned that testimonies are more intentional and vulnerable than sermons because
of how personal a testimony can get.
Translating rap into a sermon was quite intense because rap is often identified as the
devil’s worship, while testimonies are identified as holy. These genres have different word
choices such as rap using a lot of negative words and cuss words, while testimonies deliver
positive and affirmative words. The audience of rap is different from the audience that listens to
sermons. People who listen to rap are generally of young adults or teenagers that love being
reckless, getting loose, and that are less intelligent. On the other hand, people who listen to
sermons tend to be midadults or older, wise, and Christians. From the lyrics of “Ultralight
Beam”
You know that a n**** was lost
I laugh in my head
Cause I bet that my ex looking back like a pillar of salt
Ugh, cause they'll flip the script on your a** like Wesley and Spike
I was not able to incorporate every line of the song because of the cynical word choices that are
not displayed in testimonies. Clearly these genres are distinct, but it was possible to translate
from one to another through understanding both genres and carefully analyzing everything
needed to know to translate the genre into another. Understanding how testimonies were more
personal and intentional, while rap was more aggressive and common allowed a better translation
of “Ultralight Beam” to a testimony.
Song 4
Translating rap into a testimony was quite difficult. The countless support and aid of
understanding and writing a testimony was very helpful because I was not familiar with the
writing conventions. Unfortunately, I was not able to translate all the lines in “Ultralight Beam”
into the testimony because the sermon would have been overwhelming and redundant. I was still
able to get the authentic meaning of the song into the sermon without translating all the lines.
The three main components of translating one genre into another are the audience, purpose, and
writing conventions.
Song 5
Testimony
Can I get a hallelujah! We need Jesus! We need faith! This is a dream, a dream given by the one
above. You feel safe under his wings. This holy war has been victorious. My name is Kanye
West, and I’m here to tell you guys my story of how I surrendered my life to God and let Him be
the one in control. Let me just pray us in real quick before I get ahead of myself.
Dear Heavenly Father,
Father, this prayer is for everyone that feels they're not good enough.
This prayer’s for everybody that feels like they're too messed up.
For everyone that feels they've said "I'm sorry" too many times.
Let them know that all they need is you. Your Love can move mountains.
Your love is unfazed, unfailing, reckless, and neverending.
That’s why we need you. That’s why we need faith.
I pray this all in Your Name.
Amen.
God has a dream. A dream that will be fulfilled by everyone because he has plans for each and
every one of us. He will deliver. He delivers peace, serenity, and love. God sheds light upon
everyone. A term I love to use to describe about God’s presence is “Ultralight Beam”. “Ultralight
Beam” has a triple meaning to it. The three meanings are: “a bright light”, “without weight, not
heavy”, and “pale, hard to see”. I just love how a term has so many meanings behind it and they
all point towards to faith. Let’s talk about each meaning “A bright light” describes faith in a light
that it is extraordinarily bright that it can shine in darkness. “Without weight, not heavy” depicts
the notion that faith is without weight and has no physical substance to it. It is like the feeling of
Song 6
warmth of the rays of the sun but we cannot touch it. “Pale, hard to see” illustrates the trials and
tribulations of life constantly battling the doubt of faith, forcing many believers to question their
own faith.
I have been struggling with myself for quite a while because I was so stressed and filled
with anxiety with my music career, family, and my personal life because I couldn’t keep anything
in control. I looked towards to drugs to keep me away from all the stress and anxiety. Everything
was going out of place and I felt like I was lost, and I felt like if I was a baby. Brothers and
sisters, I was gone. I did not know what to do or who to look towards to. I was restless and
needed something to look up to. I felt as if the devil was on my back, whispering the words of
stress, heartbreak, and hatred. But one morning, I remember seeing a large beam of light splitting
the seas and clouds and at the end I saw a figure of a man. I believe that it was Jesus… Can I get
an Amen? I wasn’t high at all from the drugs during that time. I know what I saw. It was real.
And the light ended up coming closer and closer. Then the light covered me. It wrapped me. A
warm beam of light that felt as if I felt safe, comfort, and assured. The light gave me a glimpse of
why I was struggling. It’s because I did not surrender myself to the Lord because I had no faith,
not trust, no belief in the Lord’s doings. But I was foolish. Satan persecutes the weak because it
makes him feel so strong. We need to let go and let Jesus take the wheel. Jesus will make
everything alright. That is why I decided to put my life towards God and let him be the one to
direct and control my life. In Matthew 4:16 “the people living in darkness have seen a great
light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned,” it talks about the
light that is shed upon darkness. A light so great that no darkness can hide. You can’t run from it
Song 7
because God will continuously pursue you no matter what because he loves you. You cannot
escape from the “Ultralight Beam”. Let me just pray us out and y’all be on your ways.
Dear Heavenly Father,
Thank you, Lord. Thank you for just who you are!
A great light that cannot be hidden from. You provided
a new life for me. A new beginning with you as the center.
I pray for all the brothers and sisters here that they will encounter the light.
I pray this all in your name,
Amen.
Song 8
Works Cited
Bunn, Mike. “How to Read Like a Writer.” Writing Spaces: Readings on Writing, Volume 2.
Anderson, South Carolina: Parlor, 2011. Pp 72.
Dirk, Kerry. “Navigating Genres.” Writing Spaces: Readings on Writing, Volume 1. 2010. pp 250.
against. “Hero of War.”