Assignments

Mondays 7.20 - 10.00PM Robinson B 205

Texts | Class Schedule | Syllabus | Experiential Learning | DTN

DIRECT LINKS:
Assignment 1| Assignement 2 | Assignment 3 | Final Paper

Click here for reference on how to cite papers in this class.

Common's "I Used to Lover H.E.R." (off his 1994 album Resurrection) is regarded as one of
the best songs ever written about hip-hop (along with KRS One's "Emcees Act Like They
Don’t Know" and Dead Prez' "Hip Hop" -- Let’s Get Free). Common's use of
metaphor, analogy, and simile, tell the story of a 'girl' he knew and how she grew up.
I offer this song's lyrics to you as a roadmap for this course. Although written in 1994 (or
earlier) it brings us close enough to the present (hip-hop has been stagnant since 1996) where
the reader can use it as a timeline as we read "Hip-hop America."

Your assignment is to write a 2 to 3 page paper describing your experiences with hip-hop. Please use SPECIFIC examples [places, songs, people] to back up your opinions. While an opinion paper, I will frown upon papers which do not come across as genuinely introspective in nature.

Alternatively, Erikah Badu and Common have teamed up on a new song called "Love of My Life (An Ode to Hip-hop)." After several listens, you will realize that it is an extension of "I Used to love H.E.R." with Erikah Badu describing her relationship with hip-hop and Common giving us some insight into post 1994 hip-hop. While there are several esoteric references which require prerequisite knowledge, as a challenge, write a 3 to 4 page paper breaking down the lyrics of this song and offering a critique of Common's final verse.

In class we have looked at the early stages of hip-hop and especially focused on the fact that there was very little 'supervision/control', as the culture began to emerge. Unlike the Harlem Renaissance and the Black Power movement, those in power did not embrace hip-hop, forcing the culture to find its own way. In the early 1980s, graffiti began to capture the ire of NYC officials and measures were adopted to slow down that element of hip-hop. Arguably, this was the inauguration of external forces attempting to clamp down on hip-hop.

Your assignment is to write a paper which describes the effect external forces had on the early development (up until 1982 with NYC's attempts to end graffiti on subways) of hip-hop. Be sure to describe the economic and social decisions made by NYC officials in the late 1960s and 1970s which spawned the birth of hip-hop, as well as any major events in the early years which had a great impact on hip-hop, but was not initiated by someone who was a practitioner of the movement.

Finally, decide (and thoroughly defend) if the external influences you describe helped or hindered the early progress of hip-hop. Would hip-hop have survived, or even evolved, if not for the 'black sheep' stigma which subsisted in its early years?

There is no page limit for this assignment. However, it is expected that you provide a succinct response to the above questions, without attempting to write a thesis on this subject. There are journals which are willing to accept such treatise on this topic -- I'll be glad to help you pursue such an undertaking.

Please hand in an introductory statement [2 or 3 paragraphs], which outline the goals of your paper. Expected in this statement are your thesis and the intended conclusion of your paper [i.e. "Due to the emergence of MTV, Hip-hop culture has been eroded beyond repair, leaving only the underground sub-culture to carry the torch MTV nearly extenguished."]

Also, include 10 references [FULLY CITED], with no more than 3 from the web, on your subject area.

We begin class each by "Droppin' the Needle." Here we take a snippet of a song, and examine its content for poetic approach (i.e. rhyme pattern), message, relevance, veracity etc. As we begin to look at the visual and audio elements of Hip-hop, I feel you are ready to listen to rap music on a broader scale. The following list of artists [I admit to using personal preference to some extent as I own all of the albums on this list] represents Hip-hop acts who pioneered some aspect of the genre. For example, Public Enemy took Hip-hop activism to a new level, A Tribe Called Quest fused jazz with Hip-hop . . .

· Public Enemy
· A Tribe Called Quest
· Eminem
· Gangstarr
· Outkast
· Goodie Mob (not World Order)
· Eric B. and Rakim
· Tupac Shakur
· Notorious BIG
· KRS One
· The Roots
· NWA
· Queen Latifah
· Redman
· Slick Rick
· Bahamadia
· Ghostface Killah

You must choose one album** by one of these artist and write a 3-4 page paper, focusing on the following points:

· Main theme of album
· Dominant rhyme pattern (you may need to download lyrics for this)
· Use of tone, inflection, speed (of delivery) in rhyme
· Beats used [samples heard, use of deejay, use of artificial tones -- honking horns etc]
· Historical relevance - does the album make reference to events of the day?
· Elements of Hip-hop evident in album or album cover
· Your thoughts on the album . . . does it stay true to the original doctrines of Hip-hop?

Please do not feel like you have to comment on every song. Take the album as a whole and reference songs as needed.

As always, please e-mail me <mailto:ajryan[at]gmu.edu> a copy of the assignment.

** You may not choose any albums which are greatest hits OR albums released posthumously.

While it is my normal practice to allow students the flexibility to write on any topic they wish, I have found that the expansive horizons of Hip-hop pose a problem for most. With that being the case, I will borrow (with permission) a list of Hip-hop subject areas from a recent conference held at the University of Michigan. I invite you to write a 10 page paper on one of the following topics [if there is an area you would like to explore which is not listed, contact me for approval]:

I have a STRICT format [Adobe Acrobat (.pdf)|MS Word (.doc)] which I expect ALL papers to follow. I will not accept a paper which does not meet these guidelines. Be sure to take advantage of the computer center for assistance on formatting. As college students, I expect that you are able to make the technology work for you.

As always, please send me an electronic copy of this paper. I will not grade ANY paper which does not have an accompanying soft copy by the DUE DATE.

NCLC 275

Fall 2002