Write these papers like any other academic paper, with full explanations and resources. Follow the rubric and demonstrate a scholarly knowledge of the topic as well as show writing competence. You are not just talking; you are discussing academic perspectives as you provide your own analysis. You can be more informal in your response. See the discussion guidelines in the contents section.
Discussion/Essay 1 is due September 7, before midnight, in the assignment dropbox. The same essay must be posted in the interactive discussion forum. A response to to another student’s essay is due on or before September 8.
Note that this module is different from the others in that two discussions are offered. In all other modules, only one essay discussion will be offered, and it will be at the end of the module. A minimum of 600 words is required, but you can always write more, as long as the additional words are analytical and useful for your analysis.
Submit to assignments dropbox and then post in the discussion forum. You will not get credit unless you do both. The required ebook is Understanding African American Aspects of Hip Hop Cinema, see the content section for purchase information. The assignment is below:
1. Identify one African American hip-hop song from the provided list and provide a link to it so that your group members and graders can listen to the song. A few links are below to help you get started selecting a song. Pick out specific lyrics from the song and develop a thesis about your song and its lyrics that relate to ideas in the ebook reading how they fit into one or more of the three-step processes of the blues or the three-step process associated with the gospel. Focus on processes of one genre, either the blues or gospel. Quote from the ebook. These processes are identified in Ebook Chapter 1, Understanding Black American Aspects in Hip-Hop Cinema. Highlight or underline your thesis so graders immediately know what your argument will be. Read the writing guidelines and the rubric to make sure you are structuring your paper correctly.
List of Artists that can be used for Essay 1. YOU WILL NOT GET CREDIT IF YOU USE SONGS THAT ARE NOT ON THIS LIST!
*These are the artists, make sure you research and choose a song from one of the following:
Queen Latifah
o Evil that Men Do
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five
o The Message
Brother D with Collective Effort
o How We Gonna Make the Black Nation Rise?
Run DMC
o Its Like That
o Proud to be Black
Kurtis Blow
o If I Ruled the World
o The Breaks
Boogie Down Productions
o South Bronx
o Blackman in Effect
2. In this case, you will ALSO reference the chapter in Representing: Social Conservatism and the Culture Wars in Hip-Hop Culture and the Production of Black Cinema by S. Craig Watkins. What additional insight does this chapter give to your understanding your song? A thoughtful inclusion is significant in terms of this assignment grade. The Watkins reading is required for this module.
3. Be focused, detailed and use short quotes. Yes, you can and will probably need more than 600 words in your original essay. Remember the essays should contain in-text citations. See the discussion guidelines in the content section and the Course Rubric. You will be graded by the Rubric. Post your original discussion essay in the discussion area and submit to the assignments dropbox before midnight on the deadline date.
4. . Respond to at least one of your group members’ essays and/or to the comments of others who respond to your post. before midnight on the deadline date. This is NOT a peer review. Your comments on style and how well they wrote are not part of this assignment. I am looking for a scholarly consideration of ideas and analysis. You are to address ideas and consider how they apply or don’t apply compared to the scholars and the experts. You are to consider how your classmate’s ideas take the discussion to a deeper or appropriate level. Make sure that your response is meaningful and continues a conversation. The response counts for 20% of your grade
