American Writer and Musician, James McBride has written multiple books and has voiced his opinions in magazines as well as newspapers. In this particular essay, which appeared in National Geographic in 2007, he talks about how hip-hop has influenced the world and how he realized that he has missed an important part of his life. There are many rhetorics used in this essay, -“Irony, Metaphors, Hyperbole and Allusions. ”- are some of the more notable ones. While talking about his biggest nightmare, a feeling of disjoint comes into his mind, “It is no longer…hip-hop planet.”
In this extremely controversial work, Glenn C. Altschuler takes aim on the government’s accusations, the prejudice from the police, and the affect that rock ’n’ roll made in America through the late forties and fifties. Glenn makes many accusations of his own through the way he shifts the momentum of the story from time to time. Through the years back then and now, music has caused many racial and gender controversies. In this book, Glenn explains all these problems and what rock did to start or get of them.
The first half of the book, Dr. Glenn Altschuler, largely focused on how rock ‘n’ roll and those who wrote and produced it stirred up topics such as race and sexuality. As with any new social or cultural shift, rock ‘n’ roll faced an almost immediate resistance from both religious and fundamentalist extremists. In most cases, it was the same types of people that opposed rock ‘n’ roll also opposed other major social reforms such as racial integration.
Altschuler discusses media commentator Jeff Greenfield’s opinion about the influences of Rock and Roll on American youth. Greenfield states, “Nothing we see in the counterculture [of the 1960’s], not the clothes, the hair, the sexuality, the drugs, the rejection of the reason, the resort to symbols and magic – none of it is separable from the coming to power in the 1950s of rock and roll music.” He continues with “Brewed in the hidden corners of black American cities, its [Rock-n-Roll] rhythms infected white Americans, seducing them out of the kind of temperate bobby-sox passions out of which Andy Hardy films are spun. Rock and Roll was elemental, savage, dripping with sex; it was just as our parents feared.” (Altschuler, 8) Rock and Roll stood as a powerful alternative to the conformist ideals Americans had valued.
He presents the idea that styles that are deeply rooted in one culture, such as Rhythm and Blues, which originates in black culture, will in close proximity to another, such as white American country music, generate a sort of cross-fertilization of ideas that may eventually lead to a new style such as rock and roll. Lipsitz presents several of the earliest examples of Rock and Roll and states “like previous variants of black music, rhythm and blues displayed an interaction with country music,” and continues to explain how these interactions eventuated in the style we call rock and roll (Lipsitz 211). Lipsitz makes similar observations with Spanish and European influences on American Jazz. From this it is clear that Lipsitz seems cultural blending as the main source of change and innovation of musical styles particularly in the 20th century. However, in the view of critics like Ian Chambers, these interactions are not always sanctioned by both
Critical Response 4 Within his article, Simon Frith asks a question that caused me to stop and think: “The question we should be asking is not what does popular music reveal about ‘the people’ but how does it construct them? (137)” As he states, music is an individualizing form that creates an identity or self-definition that we use to give ourselves a particular place in society. The hip hop movement aided in constructing the Puerto Rican identity in New York City, allowing artists to experiment with language and race relations while challenging the traditional notions of Latinidad.
Early Rock & Roll and the Racial Divide If you were to look through your music playlist, what is the most prominent genre that you’d find? If you said rock & roll, I’ve got news for you. Rock & roll is known as the musical byproduct to American’s greatest revolution.
This change in tone is a reflection of the cultural values that are upheld within the educational system. This serves as an excellent illustration of how the power of communication can be used to convey our sense of identity as well as the cultural values that we uphold to other people. This also demonstrates that we pick up new aspects of culture through the process of communicating with one
Every day we use our culture. Whether it be to argue claims, express opinions, or make decisions, culture plays a part in each area. Culture is who we are, one’s identity, its extent is enormous over our views and actions. A person grows up surrounded with culture at a young age. This can affect how they learn and what they learn.
The Tragedy Of Romeo and Juliet By William Shakespeare is a tragic love story about two star crossed lovers written in a play. Romeo and Juliet fall deeply in love and end up dead after a short marriage--whose fault is it? Friar Laurence, because he gave Juliet the potion, failed to inform Romeo that he gave Juliet the potion and married Romeo and Juliet after one day. The Fault of the Friar Firstly, Friar Laurence gave a poison to Juliet, a huge mistake he could’ve avoided if he only thought of a better plan.
For my culture’s observation I took John to Little Italy, which I thought was the most Italian area I would think of. I enjoyed the fact that John was relying on me to know where to go and what to do. We walked around Little Italy for a while and I pointed out the Italian people from the tourist, because like the museum Little Italy was filled with people of all different ethnic backgrounds. What I liked most about being observed was the interest that John took in learning about my culture. I also liked the fact that I was the one holding the knowledge and it was my job to teach John what I knew.
At first I wrestled with where my identity lay. The strong values and traditions of the Indian culture sometimes made it difficult to fit in with the crowd. As I grew older, I began to understand that I was not part of an individual culture, but a fusion of two rich and colorful histories. I recognized that there is remarkably more to an individual than where she comes from, and more to her than where she currently lives. Importantly, being from two cultures allows me to incorporate the best qualities of both.
According to Dalton Conley Ethnocentrism is the belief that one’s own culture or group is superior to others, and the tendency to view all other cultures from the perspective of one’s own (Conley, 2013 77.) By discussing the difference between ethnocentrism, cultural relativism, and along with the position that I favor most. Cultural relativism is taking into account the differences across cultures without passing judgement or assigning value. (Conley, 2013 82.)
The British Invasion marks a historical time in the world of music. Society was rapidly changing and means of what was “socially acceptable” played a huge part in music how we know it today. Starting in the 1060’s bands like The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, and The Animals were just the people to start a revolution of music in the United States. According to Kenneth Olwig, author of “The ‘British Invasion’: the ‘new’ cultural geography and beyond”, “It took a British group to teach American musicians about the vitality of American Rock and Roll as a contemporary, largely urban, phenomena” (Olwig 2010). This statement brings to attention the British attitude towards the situation.
Culture Shock-One of Common Problems in Intercultural Communication. Cross-Cultural Communication, 11(8), 71-74. INTRODUCTION Do you think studying in a different country is something that sounds very exciting? Are you like many young people who leave home to study in another country thinking you will have lots of fun?
