By: Ahad Khatri

The song “Immigrants (We Get The Job Done)” is an interesting adaptation of “Yorktown (The World Turned Upside Down)”, incorporating some of the lyrics (“Black and white soldiers wonder alike if this really means freedom”) as well as, notably, a recurring sample from the original song (“Immigrants: We get the job done”). The text is a unique take from the original song, which recounts the Siege of Yorktown, which was perhaps the last major battle in the American Revolutionary War.

To give some more context regarding the end of the Revolution, marked by the Battle of Yorktown, Alexander Hamilton and Marquis de Lafayette, who represented America and France, fought hard to force Lord Cornwallis, who was the British Army General during this battle, to surrender. The argument of the song “Yorktown (The World Turned Upside Down)” was the foundation and construction of America on immigration and culture, not on authority.

The song “Immigrants (We Get The Job Done)” keeps the theme of power and strength, derived from a mixture of different colors and creeds coexisting in America. It’s diverse style, stemming from a diverse range of artists, like K’Naan (Somali), Snow Tha Product (Mexican), Riz MC (British and Pakistani), and Residente (Puerto Rican), parallels the different voices on “Yorktown (The World Turned Upside Down)”, such as Hamilton (Caribbean) and Lafayette (French), to give more credibility to the idea that immigration was and continues to be a movement in America. The adaptation was released in 2016, during the Trump campaign, and provided emotional and situational context for immigrants, as they are now being separated from their families near the U.S.-Mexico border.

Such feelings are conveyed by a cadre of outspoken artists, some of who are living in America, so the adaptation makes the original song more personal to the people who are struggling with today’s immigration policies. According to the Genius.com annotation of the original song, the lyrics “Immigrants: We get the job done” remind people that the values on which America was found were “intended to apply to men who look like the actual Hamilton and Lafayette and to modern men and women who look more like Miranda and Diggs”, which could refer to, song-wise, the different artists on the adaptation. For more information regarding both songs, follow the links below:

https://genius.com/Knaan-snow-tha-product-riz-mc-and-residente-immigrants-we-get-the-job-done-lyrics

https://genius.com/Lin-manuel-miranda-yorktown-the-world-turned-upside-down-lyrics

Finally, because I am also Pakistani and Canadian, both songs remind me of how I have changed in an environment like America, and how, by working hard, and reminding myself of where I came from, I can become a more open-minded and strong individual. This perspective might help me write my own thoughts and values into my remix of “Alexander Hamilton”, as I can potentially talk about my roots and my understanding of America, as Lin-Manuel Miranda did so with Hamilton.

By: Ahad Khatri

What I hate about my relationship with writing is my tendencies to procrastinate on assignments, even though I tell myself countless times to finish an assignment ahead of time. Procrastination is a skill only the many college students have mastered. What I love about writing, however, is the final product, after much effort, polish, and organization.

I think my ideal writing practices are dedication and hard work; if this weren’t the case, then a lot of the assignments I usually turn in would be unreadable! Even though I continuously try and instill values of dedication and hard work into my mind whenever I write, these ideas have been results of stress and procrastination. Without stress and procrastination, I would not be a student equipped with the necessary tools and skills to convey my thoughts formally and fluidly. I would not be a person who enjoys writing today!

I recall staying up the entire night fatigued and anxious about a written exam I had to take for my IB Higher Level Math class, near the end of my senior year. A score of four was required to pass the class and earn credit towards an IB diploma. I was constantly practicing late night, mentally telling myself that I could ace the exam I had to take in the afternoon. After a lot of mismanaged time and lousy preparation, I barely passed the class, getting the four that I needed. However, as I write this blog entry and look back to my senior year, especially to that May of 2017, I feel that with proper time-management skills, rest, and confidence, I could have aced that Math paper.

I feel as though my past experiences, such as the one outlined above, have really pushed me to become a writer. This year, I have turned in chunky lab reports, completed meaty group assignments, and have annotated an incredibly informative document. I can say that my writing and time-management skills have really evolved and have made me into someone who enjoys and appreciates the writing process, someone who enjoys editing, fixing, and manipulating bits and pieces of a sentence to try and produce a vivid paragraph, and a unique essay.

As a final note, a lot of what has made me into a better writer has been the environment and mindset I have put myself into. Whenever I put on white noise, have my favorite tub of ice cream on my table, or sit in either the CULC or my house, I feel like nothing can stop me from completing, revising, and turning in my finished work. I hope that my relationship with my paper, pen, printer and PC will continue to blossom, as it has during my first year in college.

By Ahad Khatri

While listening to the musical “Hamilton”, a rising sophomore at the Georgia Institute of Technology was able to form a relationship between Alexander Hamilton’s uncanny ability to write rapidly, as if he was “running out of time” (“Non-Stop”), and the student’s own ability to progress through a specific midterm, as if he had very little time to waste. One could call this student Habib; however, one could also think of Habib as a procrastinator on the day before his exam, because he waited until he had as little time left as possible to study.

Hamilton’s ability to write and act impulsively ruins the lives of the people, such as Eliza, central to his life. To elaborate, Hamilton does have an affair with Maria Reynolds, the events occurring in “Say No To This”. Eliza discovers the happenings behind this scandalous event in a pamphlet and chooses to erase herself “from the narrative” (“Burn”). Even though Hamilton had gained so much popularity and support from his friends, one mistake was enough to lead to his disastrous end.

After listening to these songs, Habib can only think of the BMED 2210 midterm he had the day before, the one time he woke up and showed up late for his exam, when he had perfect attendance and a high A in the class. He took the test as if he was trying to write his way out of it; he just wanted to go home. A few days later, Habib was woken up to screams from his mother and father, showing him the 70 that he received on his midterm. He came back to Georgia Tech the day after with a feeling of despair, a feeling that he had just ruined his own life (his GPA, in reality), and not necessarily the lives of the people around him.

But like Hamilton, Habib was always a man of willpower, so he knew that one single midterm was not going to let him get in the way of three more years of potential success, and a diploma he wanted to hold in his hands in 2021. Likewise, Habib thought of Hamilton’s dreams of rising from the bottom, rising from a world of apparent failure to success and support.

Even after the death of Phillip, Eliza forgave Hamilton (“It’s Quiet Uptown”), because Hamilton was regretful for his actions, for the one time that the story he wrote for himself was not perfect. Habib took inspiration from this story, and connected it to his present state; he was confident that his parents would forgive him, and that he would forgive himself if he did better on his next midterm. So Habib, like Hamilton, decided to take his failure as a lesson, improve his writing skills, build a stronger relationship with the time he has, and move on to a better place.

By: Ahad Khatri

I decided to research the Articles of Capitulation by George Washington, published in Yorktown, Virginia during October 1781. The surrendering of General Charles Cornwallis during the Siege of Yorktown by the combined forces of George Washington and Comte de Rochambeau preceded this treaty and was one of the key factors that led to the end of the American Revolutionary War.

The articles were pivotal because they boosted the American morale, and undermined political support for Great Britain. The articles are interesting because I wish to know how leaders such as George Washington empowered their people during this war and showed their willingness to fight.

One of the effects of this capitulation was the signing of the Declaration of Independence, a document which has outlived Americans today; I wish to delve into the minds of the strong-minded people who made the success of the Articles of Capitulation, the Revolutionary War, and the Declaration, a reality.

As I was skimming the article, I immediately noticed that a lot of confusing terminology, such as “accoutrements”, “redoubts”, “Anspach”, was present! Trying to understand the definition and usage of these words has been challenging. For example, a question I have asked myself is whether the word “Anspach” is a surname or a city, and how it fits into the phrase “A field-officer from each nation, to wit, British, Anspach, and Hessian” in the Articles of Capitulation.

Furthermore, research regarding these articles has led me to find other information regarding articles of Dutch and Canadian origin. To overcome the challenges of making sure I do not confuse any of the time periods present in my research, and my sources, I should be very consistent and organized moving forward. I should create a Word Document with one source, and its description underneath, for example, to make it easy for myself to process every bit of information thrown at me.

Being detail-oriented will increase the areas where I can research and connect my sources. The Articles of Capitulation are so rich with text and detail that the British, Americans, and French  must have adhered to very comprehensive guidelines. Thus, a skill I need to work on is being as specific as possible with my annotations and my sources. I feel a good place to begin my analysis will be moving from more generalized information through sources like Wikipedia, where I can acquire an overview of the descriptions of each article, to analyzing specific information through, for example,  Washington’s diary entries during the premise of the signed treaty, a primary source.

Finally, I should also be as open-minded as I can with my sources, because there is no telling what kinds of information I will find. The pursuit to and effectively annotate my document continues!

By: Ahad Khatri

        The way the cast members of “Hamilton” say their words aloud gives Miranda’s writing the power it needs to have the success it has. Specifically, cast members like King George, and Marquis de Lafayette use their different voices to heighten the importance of their characters, emotionalizing their audience song by song.

        First, the audience hears King George portray a somewhat eerie and playful ruler in “You’ll Be Back”; even the idea of singing a letter to American colonists makes the audience curious in what the King has to say. It is sung in a very childish tone, with repetition of sounds like “Da da da dat da dat…” as well as “Forever and ever and ever and ever…” to make it appear the King is playing with his audience  (https://genius.com/Lin-manuel-miranda-youll-be-back-lyrics). As Hamilton is a tale regarding the life of an ambitious writer during the Revolution, a very serious time, an audience member would likely question the very seriousness of this song, and thus, be confounded at King George’s lightheartedness. However, the King uses the same tone and figuratively makes a threat to the audience (“I will kill your friends and family…”), which puts them in shock (https://genius.com/Lin-manuel-miranda-youll-be-back-lyrics). The audience now knows that King George is very crafty with his words, and they do not underestimate his power in the songs to come, such as “What Comes Next?”, where he uses an identical tone. The way Miranda makes King George use his voice transforms his character from jubilant to fearful through just a few lines of writing.

        A plethora of songs later, and the audience hears Lafayette, who once struggled with the English language, (in “My Shot”, for example, he incorrectly says “’onarchy” and “panicky”), spit twenty words in about three seconds (https://genius.com/Lin-manuel-miranda-my-shot-lyrics),  during “Guns and Ships”. Clearly, Lafayette’s use of his own voice emphasizes the time it takes for his character to develop, as he progresses from a young revolutionary to an excellent military commander, with English almost as powerful as anyone in the show. When the audience hears “And I’m never gonna stop until I make ’em drop and burn ’em up and scatter their remains…”, they begin to appreciate the level of complexity that Lafayette has, as his fast-paced style of talking compares to the fast-paced style of the play itself and transforms his anxiety into eloquence (https://genius.com/Lin-manuel-miranda-guns-and-ships-lyrics). Again, the audience members feel that Lafayette is talking directly to them, which also emphasizes the immense role they have in developing his character, through their interpretation of his tone of voice. The audience further empowers Lafayette due to his character transformation, which gives Miranda’s writing more acclaim, in that he is able to morph a seemingly unimportant character, at first, into the focal point of a song!

        Overall, the way characters like King George and Lafayette are heard signify the power that tone of voice has in a play as successful as “Hamilton”. No matter how excellent the writing may be, the audience must be persuaded by the way that the writing is conveyed, which is why tone of voice matters! Miranda successfully and meticulously delivers his writing to an ecstatic audience, putting the emotions that he experienced while writing into the different voices of the cast and the overall audience.