Live Your Life to the Fullest

Writing 2- Roberts WP 1- Final “Living your life to the fullest” takes nothing more than stepping out of your comfort zone and living your dreams. Unfortunately, a large portion of society struggles with this concept, for they are fearful of losing an unfounded sense of security they have found through building mental boundaries around themselves. Many people search for relief, turning to songs and blogs with messages pertaining to their troubles. Messages, such as living your life to the fullest, tend to shift for certain audiences depending on the genre. Through the genre of song, this message is exhibited by the band AWOLNATION, through their use of lyrics, repetition, and melody in “Kill Your Heroes.” The main points of this song urge listeners to shed inhibitions and irrational fears, and instead embody the spirit of carpe diem, experiencing all the greatness life has to offer and eventually become a hero in their own eyes. The concept of seizing one’s full potential remains also through genre of blog, in Celestine Chau’s “101 Ways to Live Your Life to the Fullest.” Although the same message exists in both of these genres, the choices made within them regarding tone, and the writing conventions they utilize to reveal their point to their respective audiences differ, thereby altering the conveyed message. AWOLNATION uses powerful lyrics and an electrifying melody to get the message across to its listeners in the song, “Kill Your Heroes”. AWOLNATION, as a band, falls into the indie-rock genre of music, thereby satisfying specific writing conventions that categorize it as such (Willschick). To be indie-rock, a song must be influenced by experimental or otherwise “unpopular” music styles. Generally, an unpopular music style has not been heard by a majority of the public. Unpopular music styles include: Electroacoustic Improvisation, Ambient Techno, or Dark Psytrance (Willschick). An indie-rock artist

Cited: AWOLNATION. "Kill Your Heroes." Megalithic Symphony. Los Angeles: Red Bull Records, 2011. AWOLNATION. "Sail." Sail. Los Angeles: Red Bull Records, 2011. Baker, John. Origins of "Blog" and "Blogger". 20 April 2008. 28 November 2011 <http://listserv.linguistlist.org/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0804C&L=ADS-L&P=R16795&I=-3>. Chau, Celestine. 101 Things to do Before You Die. 10 August 2009. 28 November 2011 <http://personalexcellence.co/blog/whats-on-your-bucket-list-101-things-to-do-before-you-die/>. Chau, Celestine. 101 Ways to Live Your Life to the Fullest. 21 August 2010. 28 November 2011 <http://personalexcellence.co/blog/101-ways-to-live-your-life-to-the-fullest/>.