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Kati Vaughan

Clementz

WRIT-2

22 March 2018

Translating Genres: School Shootings

Overlooking the little things in life is what humans do best; whether that be the small

triumphs in the day or the logistics behind a complicated system, people tend to look at the big

picture. Focusing on the big picture even applies in the realm of genres. People have a tendency

to disregard the logistics behind what they are reading, listening to, or looking at; naturally they

focus on the meat of the piece in which they are reading. In everyday life, individuals do not

realize how one piece of literature can perfectly exemplify its genre but can also fulfill the

conventions and “guidelines” of another genre just as well. Think of a headliner on CNN that

fulfills all of the criteria that an article entails. The same ideas could be presented in a recipe with

very different intentions, appealing to very different audiences, and utilizing very different

syntax and tone which changes the presentation of the article. A writer’s creative side can run

wild in genre translations; deciding what stays and what goes, which genre to translate to, the

decision rests in the palm of their hands. The song “Pumped Up Kicks” by Foster the People,

addresses the unusual topic of gun violence and school shootings by following the “guidelines”

associated with a song. However, when translated into a news article, the whole premise of the

piece is changed to fit under the “guidelines” of this new genre. Both tackle the same topic with

different intentions which, in turn, leads them to utilize different stylistic conventions and

elements to appeal and persuade their own audiences.

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When glancing over a piece of work, the conventions and structure stand out, allowing

the reader to easily define what type of genre it falls under. For example, it is evident that

“Pumped Up Kicks” utilizes repetition which is common considering this convention is used

throughout all of music. Unlike a song, one will not find a news article containing any repetitive

information because that does not fall under the “guidelines” of this genre. In the translation

“Parkland, Fl. School Shooting” facts are presented in a short and informative manner. They

state, “he fatally shot 17 and wounded 14” (“Parkland, Fl. School Shooting”) getting to the point

quickly by blatantly laying out facts. Noticeably, stylistic conventions in “Pumped Up Kicks”

drastically changed in order to follow the “guidelines” of its new genre. Despite the article and

song both containing short choppy sentences, the information in the news article lays out plot

points based upon facts unlike the song which describes a story. For example, Foster the People

continuously state “You better run, better run, outrun my gun” (Hook line 2) where they are

acting as if they are the person holding the gun and advising the kids to “outrun my gun.” These

lyrics tell a story rather than explaining the shooting as the article “Parkland, Fl. School

Shooting” does. Lyrics in all music utilize conventions that draw upon the listeners emotions; so,

when translating to a genre that is supposed to remain unbiased and neutral, it was crucial to

recall events from numerous perspectives.

Word choice is a key factor in defining a genre. It is evident that the word choice in each

source had to be altered to fit under their genre’s “guidelines”. Vivid language and imagery are

commonalities all throughout music and is apparent in “Pumped Up Kicks”. Foster the People

are very descriptive in their words and make that the audience feel as if they were at the scene.

With phrases such as “he’s got a rolled cigarette// hanging out his mouth, he’s a cowboy kid”

(verse 1 lines 3-4) it further sets the scene for the listener and conveys the emotions of the
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shooter. However, the author in the news article refrained from using “flowery” language and

“fluff” so the public could avoid reading between the lines and rather get straight to the point.

This is evident in the article “Parkland, Fl. School Shooting” where descriptive phrases of what

the active shooter looked like were omitted. However, description such as “he was expelled” or

“he was a considered a loner” were necessary in order to help the audience gage the situation.

The story behind the words in “Pumped Up Kicks” are still found in the article, however

presented with much less detail and much more brevity. Stating “cause dinner’s in the kitchen

and it’s packed in ice” (Verse two line 4) is not a vital phrase in a news article. Instead, it could

state “he had a tough home life” which in turn, gets the same idea out to the audience but in a

more direct way and fulfills the goal of the piece. Just as stated in chapter one of Scott

McCloud’s book, Making Comics, “you need to learn which elements of a work can persuade

your audience to stay with you” (p. 9) which reinforces the idea of having to omit or even add

elements when translating in order to get the audience “to stay with you.”

The function of conventions and specific word choice in a genre are to appeal to their

intended audiences and contribute to the overall purpose behind the piece. So, when “the

audience changes, your message has to change, sometimes drastically” (Reid pg. 9). “Pumped

Up Kicks” falls under the genre of alternative music which directly appeals to a wider audience,

typically aged 10-30, who is attracted to this style of music. This song highlights the very heavy

topic of gun violence and school shootings which seems to be hidden by the upbeat rhythm and

light-hearted tone. Many kids, including myself, would sing this song in the car with no worries

and were oblivious to the true meaning and reference to school shootings; However, that was the

intention, to have a song that someone will listen to over and over again, a song that will inspire

their audience to gain a liking for that groups music; it’s purpose is to entertain. Foster the
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People were not directly looking to warn the public about school shootings unlike the article,

however they were still able to insert this topic into society in a creative way.

Unlike the catchy alternative track, the news article appeals to an older audience rather

than a group of kids to young adults like the song ultimately does. The purpose behind any news

article would be to inform their audience about the events at hand by laying out the facts and

getting to the point straight away. Hence why short sentence structure and facts were presented

rather than catchy lyrics in this translation. The intended audience needs accurate, factual

information at the fastest rate possible which explains why the article “Parkland, Fl. School

Shooting” states “Information will be added and updated as it becomes available.” The audience

wants to know about events as they happen and be updated as information comes in. As stated

above, to fulfill the public’s needs, the news article aims to get information out at a fast rate so if

that means presenting a story that is not complete, so be it. They are still getting information out

to the public in order for them to remain updated and safe if need be.

When translating the alternative hit “Pumped Up Kicks” into a serious news article,

information found in the primary source were included and omitted. It seems like a daunting task

to translate a song which focuses on rhythmic language chock full of lyrics that require reading

in between the lines to an article which focuses on facts about an incident that recently occurred.

When boiling down the lyrics and ideas presented in “Pumped Up Kicks”, it is clear that Foster

the People are discussing the topic of school shootings which was very easy to present in an

article. In the song it never blatantly states that a school shooting is occurring, but it can be

inferred when it states, “all the other kids with the pumped-up kicks//you better run, better run,

faster than my bullet” (Hook lines 3-4). On the contrary, an individual does not have to infer

what is happening in the article because it blatantly states there was a school shooting in the first
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sentence. Or in the song it states, “He’ll look around the room, he won’t tell you his plan” (Verse

1 line 2) revealing that no one knows about the event that is about to occur versus the article

where it states “he proceeded to take out his rifle and shoot in the crowded halls and classrooms

according to witnesses at the scene”(“Parkland, Fl. School Shooting”). This presents the same

idea but in a very different way than the song. Another example is when the song states “Daddy

works a long day//he be coming home late he be coming home late//And he’s bringing me a

surprise” (Verse 2 lines 1-3) which at first sounds ordinary but in reality, the surprise would be

something like a beating, revealing troubles at home. The article presents this information in a

very different light by blatantly stating “he had a hard and troubled past” (“Parkland, Fl. School

Shooting”) which fulfills the “guidelines” of a news article. It is evident that the transformation

converts the same information from one source to another while simultaneously fulfilling the

“guidelines” of their respected genres.

This task appeared easy but quickly turned into one that took more time than intended.

The lack of content in a song was the biggest challenge and concern when trying to translate it

into an article. “Pumped Up Kicks” lacked plot points that were found in the article such as what

actually happened at the event rather than one repetitive line that stated, “they better outrun my

gun.” The alternative hit kept repeating itself and left me with little to work with other than the

three main ideas explained in the previous paragraph. In order to successfully translate this song

into an article, I had to add in more information and add more detail about the actual shooting

that took place. Since the article did not blatantly state which school shooting it was talking

about, I was able to talk about the Parkland shooting which had shocking similarities to the song

at hand. Furthermore, “Pumped Up Kicks” was very broad and left many details to be interpreted

by the listener, so I was able to run with it and create an article about the shooting that has been a
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topic of discussion in the past month. Despite changing the presentation of the content, I was

successful in preserving the ideas in the song by including the main points but adding more

factual evidence and events which, sadly, actually occurred.

Translating genres is a daunting task when considering that an individual has to change

the way the information is presented, the intended audience, and the overall purpose, however if

an individual finds the main points and meaning in one source it becomes much easier to

translate it to another. When just glancing at these two genres, it seems nearly impossible that the

same information can coexist in both of these, however it can. The idea of a school shooting in a

song is out of the ordinary so translating it to a source that would be more likely to present this

information was easier than anticipated. However, it further reveals that any topic can be

translated to another genre even if it does not seem like it can. At the end of the day, it boils

down to what topic was presented and what points were made about the said topic. Once some

individual figures that out, translating because an easy task and it is all about the context of the

piece. This is the formula of success; the author needs to keep the presentation and context in

mind and the translation will be successful.

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Works Cited

“Foster the People – Pumped Up Kicks.” Genius, Genius Media Group Inc., 14 Oct. 2010,
genius.com/Foster-the-people-pumped-up-kicks-lyrics.

McCloud, Scott. Making Comics: Storytelling Secrets of Comics, Manga and Graphic Novels.
Harper, 2007.

“Parkland, Fl. School Shooting” The Nightly News 11 Mar. 2018

Reid, Shelley. Ten Ways to Think About Writing: Metaphoric Musing for College Writing

Students. 2011.
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