...One of the hottest American singles in 2013 generated critical reaction towards the music business. The American production Blurred Lines by Robin Thicke, Pharrell Williams and T.I portrayed a “grey area” between consensual sex and assault. Despite a positive reaction towards listening to the music, an erotic content of lyrics and music video caused a controversy among followers of the song. As the title states “Blurred Lines”, is a genuine message of the “thin line” between what is or isn’t appropriate on a woman. Both the music video and lyrics depict a negative connotation and representation of woman integrity in society. Even though, this song can be considered a parody about “norms” the way it’s being expressed is not positive correct....
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... 2010 Lost Identity Literary works have been around for centuries to be enjoyed by its many readers, keeping them enthralled and mystified at the same time. Authors that write literature generally write with the intent of conveying a message to their reader. Not all messages are easily conveyed and many times readers develop their own interpretation of what the author’s meaning or the moral to the writing is. Literary works are written as short stories, poems, dramas and plays incorporating different elements, such as the setting, theme, characterization and conflict to tell their story. In the short stories “Shiloh”, by Bobbie Ann Mason, and “Story of an Hour”, by Kate Chopin along with the poem, “Lost Sister”, by Cathy Song a common theme is shared, a theme of women seeking individuality and later being met with a new freedom. Although, the literary works are not from the same genre or share common historical context the woman’s place in their society is exhibited. In this paper I will show the comparisons of how each woman is bound by a certain restriction which is released at the end of the writing. There is something special about every individual and that is their personal identity. It is hard to live a life when your personal identity is taken away from you to satisfy the needs of others. When one loses their identity at the hands of another they lose the connection to one’s self. When this connection is lost the anticipation of living through life experiences...
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...socially and politically conscious hip hop (SPC hip hop) during the civil rights movements to the mainstream music we hear on the radio today, the difference in message projected by today’s modern, hyper-masculine hip hop onto society compared with that of SPC hip hop has become a controversial subject criticized by American media such as Byron Hurt’s movie “Hip Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes” and Tricia Rose’s article “There Are Bitches and Hoes.” With regards to the negatives that hip-hop music could have on society, the songs “Let Nas Down” by J. Cole, “Come Get Me” by Jay-Z and “Bitches Ain’t Shit” by YG each respectively complicate, exemplify and extend Hurt’s claims that hip hop artists solely produce generic, hyper masculine mainstream music for the production of records; glorify violence and negatively portray women as sexual objects in order to prove their man hood. When the song “Let Nas Down” by J. Cole is analyzed through a historical context and compared to Hurt’s claim that hip hop artists solely produce mainstream music for their own benefit to the claim that is projected in the J. Cole’s lyrics, a complication between the two claims is illuminated. In the song “Let Nas Down”, Cole—who is a lesser known but reputable rap artist trying to produce SPC hip hop , expresses his shame on the negative response of his idol, Nas— a successful...
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...African Americans and looks down upon them, the only support African Americans can get is from their community. In the novel, Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison, Milkman, the main character, is searching for who he is and his identity. Through the help of people in his community and the lessons they teach, Milkman gains a sense of identity, knowledge of his background and roots, as well as pride for his race and community. Milkman lacks a connection to his family and his community and this causes him to have trouble loving other people. Milkman’s father is the only father figure present in the community but his presence is overbearing and dominant. Macon, Milkman’s father is overcome with greed and believes...
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...Music v. Society It is well known that American society preaches against sexism and inequality among the sexes and this standard applies to everyone, except our favorite singers. The media praises Feminists and infamies anyone who says or thinks against feminism, but will turn up the tunes on misogynistic songs. Although they may seem common terms now with media and our culture turning to the cause of feminism, let us define some terms. Sexism is prejudice, stereotyping, or discriminating, on the basis of gender. This means that sexism can be discrimination against any gender; this also means that objectifying is, by association, sexist (“Sexism”). Conversely there is feminism, which is “the belief that men and women should have equal rights...
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...poet who is categorized as a horror author, is one that is actually an iconic nursery rhyme poet with a target audience of babies and small children. Such a poet would be thought to write tales of kittens or rainbows rather than political taxation, overturned societies, the painful deaths of bubonic plague, or the murderous path of Bloody Mary. Mother Goose nursery rhymes such as "Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary," "Humpty Dumpty," "Ring Around a Rosy" and "Baa, Baa Black Sheep" are inappropriate for children and expose young minds to the horrors of the world that should not yet be their concern. The image of Mother Goose is a sweet-looking old woman who tells tails of wonderment. But, is this who Mother Goose really is? Many believe,...
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...affairs, quests, and kingship, that we just choose to believe such a staggering story. While the Camelot spoke about during the Renaissance might not have existed, there is an American ‘Camelot’ spoken about by one of America’s beloved first ladies, ‘Jackie’ Kennedy. And this ‘Camelot’ was lived out not to long ago by America’s own Kennedy family. In order for us to get an full understanding...
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...this tradition includes folktales, myths, legends, songs, riddles and any other form of verbal communication. Different aspects of the tradition has been used in various ways, including for entertainment, education, providing histories, or to bring awareness to societal ills. While each country/society have their own oral traditions and folktales, there are those folktales that are shared by several different communities. However, even though different communities may share the same stories, inevitably, those stories will be changed based on the specific community’s culture, language , history and geographical location. The effects of location and history on the folktales within the community can be seen very clearly in the texts An Evening in Guanima by Patricia Glinton Meicholas, and Mules and Men by Zora Neal Hurston, respectively. ***You need a very strong thesis here*** In “Talkin Ol' Story: A Brief Survey of the Oral tradition in the Bahamas”, Patricia Glinton Meicholas describes the Bahamian ol' story as existing “in a dream time landscape where human beings exhibit a fluid morphology…”(Meicholas 10). Much of Bahamian oral tradition , like that of the African Americans, has been influenced by what has come before, during and after the trans Atlantic slave trade. The enslaved African brought with them a culture rich in oral traditionthat included songs, riddles, proverbs and stories. Many of these songs, games and stories have been passed down from generation to generation...
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...The origin of rap can be traced back thousands of years ago to African slave story-telling, known as Griots (Lommel). In the seventies Griots offspring’s included disc jockeys (commonly known as DJ’s) from the Bronx and Blondie songs, such as “Rapture”(Lommel). As the new rap faze grew in popularity the first rap recordings were released, introducing the disco era to a new and strange form of music that society would not necessarily approve of. Tupac Shakur was one of the most popular and astounding figures of the rap industry, even today. Although he was a notorious artist for his gang and drug affiliations, he also had an inner beauty that any aspiring rapper would wish to one day achieve. Through personal experience he developed a kind of intelligence that could not be taught by any book. Tupac would demonstrate this wisdom in countless songs based on controversial issues of the time period which gave his music an interesting twist to the already reputable beat. If it was not for the blatant gangster lifestyle Tupac lived, he would be more appreciated for his admirable personality. Tupac was the kind of person to showed respect to everyone and had solid morals that he would try to teach to others, mostly through songs and poems. Tupac Amaur Shakur is a legendary figure because of his amazing talent, his greatly admired personality, and the unbelievable wisdom that he would preach to everybody. One of the reasons rap is abhorrent by many people...
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...rights in a society dominated primarily by men. Feminism arises from the inequality of gender and power; feminist activists focus on issues that mainly affect women such as, domestic violence, sexual harassment, discrimination, among others. Womanism goes by the hand of Feminism; Womanism advocates for rights of black women who face gender and racial oppression. In our class text book, Women Images and Realities: a Multicultural Anthology by Suzane Kelly, Gowri Parameswaran and Nancy Schniedewind, there are several articles, poem, songs and short stories that talk about and explain in detail both, feminism and womanism. “La Princesa”, “With No Immediate Cause”, and “Whose Body Is It, Anyway?” are three of the articles that I believe express well the concepts described above. B. 1st body paragraph: “La Princesa” by Latina Anonima is a short story in which the author talks about her experience of living in a violent home. Latina was a well-educated woman living under the oppression of a violent man who seemed to give her everything but love. “I opened package after package of clothes he had picked out for me. Meanwhile I lost count of his drinks. Later that evening, I soaked the sleeve of my new coat, stained with blood from the busted lip he had...
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...Roderick M. Thomas Jr. American Popular Music October 25, 2013 Personal Selection Paper I decided to do my paper on Ray Charles because he is a staple in music history. He was always a very influential person in music and revolutionized music by mixing the sound of gospel with blues. Personally, my favorite song to listen to preformed by Ray Charles is “Hit the Road Jack”, which is a part of the blues genre written by Percy Mayfield. The reason I enjoy this song is because it explains a story of a woman who is fed up with a good-for-nothing man who tries to get her back but she does not fall for his deception. I enjoy songs that explain a situation that is going on or a song that is telling a story. You can really get into it with the song when you listen because you get wrapped up in what is happening. Ray Charles Robinson was born September 23, 1930 in Albany, Georgia. He was born to the parents of Aretha (Williams) Robinson, a sharecropper, and Bailey Robinson who was a railroad repairman, a handyman and mechanic. When he was still a baby, his family moved to a poor black community on the west side of Greenville, Florida. He became interested in music at young age when he was at Mr. Wiley Pit’s Red Wing Café. He would watch Pit play the piano while he was the café. Mr. Pit would often watch Ray and Ray’s little brother, George. Ray started to lose his sight at the age of five and became completely blind by the age of seven from glaucoma. From then he began attending...
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...The Blues: “Music that Reflects Our Ancestors Cry” Mable Osemwegie Table of Contents Introduction…………………………………………………………………..3 Congo Square(past and present)……………………………...……………...4 Story of Storyville/ The Chitlin’ Circuit…………………………………….5 Blues Personality Profile……………………………………………………..6 Words of Blues Song…………………………………………………………7 Blues Instruments…………………………………………………………….8 Jazz Personality Profile……………………………………………………..9 Words of Jazz Song…………………………………………………………10 Original Blues Song…………………………………………………………11 Afterword……………………………………………………………………12 Introduction Blues has its deepest roots in the work songs of the West African slaves in the South. During their back-breaking work in the fields of the Southern plantation owners, black slaves developed a "call and response" way of singing to give rhythm to the drudgery of their servitude. These "field hollers" served as a basis of all blues music that was to follow. Although the lyrics of many blues songs are soulful and melancholy, the music as a whole is a powerful, emotive and rhythmic music celebrating the life of black Americans. The lyrics of the songs reflected daily themes of their lives including: sex, drinking, railroads, jail, murder, poverty, hard labor and love lost. Congo Square (past) Congo Square was a market area where African slaves could sell their wares on “free days.” Though legally slaves were forbidden from owning any kind of property, gathering in large groups, or conducting...
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...some time. From Busby Berkeley and Fred Astaire to more modern like Arthur Freed and Judy Garland, the backstage musical genre will always have a place in Hollywood history. What makes the backstage musical different from the typical musical is that the plot usually revolved around the theater and therefore can lead to natural breaks into song and dance. For example in Easter Parade Fred Astaire says that he can get anyone to become a great dancing partner, therefore Fred and his dancing partner, Judy Garland can break out in dance and the logic would not be questioned. This specific type of musical is very important in the history of American musicals. Like everything else in life, things change and mature and this form of musical is no exception to this. A lot of the movies in this genre started like a straight forward love story with singing and dancing but as time went on the plots for more complicated and mature. They also experimented with different idea and themes as time went on. As time went on the backstage musical changed. While there was a lot of change, one interesting thing that doesn't really change are the people behind these movies. Fred Astaire, Busby Berkeley, Judy Garland, Arthur Freed, and many more seem to have been the go to people for these type of movies. Understandably, they are all unbelievably talented and great at what they do. Also it seemed like MGM was the production company of most of these types of films from that time. These are some of...
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...Hip Hop Thomas Taylor Cultural Analysis: Queen Latifah Queen Latifah is an African American female MC turned TV and movie actress. Her raps and or songs served different social purposes and her focus has remained unbreakable. Latifah’s values could and can be heard in her music. Latifah was skilled at her craft and was able to reach out and connect with her intended audience. It is a known fact that Queen Latifah’s music is deeply connected to the women’s empowerment movement. Latifah’s music served a plethora of social purposes. The term feminist refers to and individual that advocates for women's rights on the grounds of political, social, and economic equality to men. “I am someone with or without this man. I am someone with or without this job, with or without these tight jeans. I am a strong woman. I can survive," (Latifah, ABC News) said while explaining the importance of confidence in the lives of women.” We see that Latifah is what one may refer to as a feminist in her song, “Ladies First”. Points made within this song received a substantial amount of attention from the media because of its political standpoint. The song depicts how women come second in society and while the discussion of the topic is great, women and their place in society is a very controversial topic. Latifah stood her grounds and remained true to people of her gender (specifically African-American women) and she did so by repeating the phrase “ladies first” and then going further to explain...
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...also used as a symbol for Forrest’s life and the way he has come to look at the world. Although he had an IQ of 75, Forrest takes us on a journey through his accomplished life from the 1950’s to the 1980’s from being disabled as a child wearing braces on his legs to a wealthy businessman who ironically became involved in almost every major event in American history. The movie “Forrest Gump” is said to be a movie that makes you laugh, cry and think. In 1995, Robert Zemeckis, director of Forrest Gump won the Oscar for best achievement in directing and in his acceptance speech he thanks the “motion picture fans” by saying “In historic numbers you have embraced a film that at its heart offers a human life affirming hopeful story” as I agree that this movie has made a social impact on us all that have seen the movie. “Telling the story out of chronological order, jumping back and forth between the present and the past is in Non-linear order” (Goodykoontz, 2011). The movie begins with Forrest Gump played by Tom Hanks is sitting on a bench waiting for a bus. We don’t know why he’s sitting there but as he’s sitting, he is telling his life story to people who are waiting for the bus as well going from the time he was a young boy to an adult and he eventually gets to why he is waiting for the bus. Young Forrest played by Michael Conner Humphreys is stricken as a different child because he has an IQ of 75 and braces on his legs. Forrest’s mother Mrs. Gump played by Sally Field, is initially...
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