Lost Dictionary ? I have it. It's in my office on the box under by computer. You can ask someone in the Writing Center to get it for you, or ask me for it Monday.

Oh, classes are cancelled 10/1 and 10/2. I am at a conference. See you Friday at the play. Study hour at 12-1:30 is still happening in L-235.

Field Trips

Friday at Laney College there is a panel discussion on Entrepreneurship in the Performing Arts: "the Music Industry" at Laney College Theatre, 10 a.m. to 12 noon. If you go and write about it, you can have extra credit. This could take the place of one of the field trips. Remember, do not let money keep you from attending a play or the film.

If you were not here and want to attend the play on Friday evening, or Sunday afternoon, or the play next week, there are descriptions outside my office on the ledge by the window and under the bin. If the door is locked, ask Ms. Sachell (Open Lab) to unlock it for you to get the handout. You can just show up and you can be a part of the party. Email me your preferences and how many people are in your group. The theatre tickets are about $10 for both events. You can volunteer at the MacB and get in free. Call the theatre for the details. For Ebony and Johnny, I don't know if there are any volunteet opportunities, so let me know if you are short on cash.

Cyber-post for Hip Hop Pioneer Essay

Today we looked at Hip Hop Pioneers. The list was expansive and extensive and covered the older hip hop generation like Afika Bambaataa and DJ Kool Herc, and their little brothers: Russell Simmons and groups like the Fugees, sisters and daughters like MC Lyte, Lauren Hill, Queen Latifah.

Think about the artist's presence in the world and what role their craft has been used to shape public policy and change society for the disenfranchised and the oppressed. Perhaps the artist's role was more economically viable, in that their entrepreneurial skills developed jobs and set a new standard for their peers and those that follow their lead.

I mentioned the film, starring Jimmy Stewart, "It's a Wonderful Life." In the film a man feels that his life is meaningless and has had no impact on society. An angel shows him how deprived the world would be without his presence.

Look at your artist and in an introductory paragraph talk about the community or world that grew them into the personality they are. Was their a problem the wanted to articulate with their art? Was their a constituency they wanted to give voice to? Was their a problem they wanted to address or offer a solution or answer to?

A lot of the early hip hop music gave the ghetto a visual presence in popular culture. Music and rhymes and spoken traditions are old. All societies have such. It is the more primal of all the arts--poetry, rap or talk: storytelling.

We spoke about procrastination. Think about the urgency of the situation that gave rise to hip hop culture, all the major elements. It was an outlet, it was a way youth expressed their disgust and anger or rage towards the "powers that be." Until these artists started making noise, writing their names on trains, taking over corners with their cyphers--convening meetings with other writers and artists to collaborate and make bigger and more powerful statements, no one really cared or noticed.

It was a quiet movement that grew and grew and grew until now, it is a world culture and a world-wide movement that has its problems and its successes like all other movements and cultures. But look at the roots, these pioneers, and what it took for them to address and redress the social ills in the society with art.

I want you to use 1 direct citation, 1 block quote and 1 paraphrase from Chang's Can't Stop, Won't Stop. See Hacker pp. 401-437. 438 is the MLA table of contents. The essay is due Friday, October 3, by 12 midnight.

Continue reading Chang and keeping a writing log for each chapter and a vocabulary log.

Cyber-Essay 2 Post: Themes of Sexism, Violence, Misogyny, and Hyper-Masculinity in Hip Hop Culture

Post your essay and the planning sheet, along with the outline, here. Include peer reviewer comments summarized. Use the preview key before posting to make sure the formatting is not lost.

The essay is due today; however, I gave students an extension yesterday. If you need it. You can turn the paper in by Monday, Sept. 29, 11 AM. The essay assignment is listed below.

What I am looking for in this essay is the student's ability to incorporate citations into their writing, use of signal phrases will be noted. I will also look to see if a student can paraphrase, use in-text citations and know how to cite block quotes.

Today, we had the last Library Information Systems workshop in the library with Professor Jane McKenna. Homework is the complete the essay. You can post it at the new link here. The assignment is posted below.

I moved the rest of the field trips to the comment section, since the post was so long. If you go to an event and write about it, you can get extra credit.

Field Trips

Speak The music
Butterscotch, Icebox, Maximillion & more!
Thursday September 25, 2008

$8 gen. (All Ages!) - 8 PM (I think this is wrong. I will check.)
La Peña Cultural Center, 3105 Shattuck Avenue, Berkeley, CA 94705 USA
510-849-2568 info(at)lapena.org

From the website


Beat Boxing like you never knew existed. This show will move you and blow you away with its ever changing variety of artists. Performers include Butterscotch, Soulati and Infinite from Felonious, Syzygy, Eachbox, Monkstilo, Constant Change, Cornbread, D.C., Icebox, Tim Barsky, The Genie, Maximillion & more.

Ever since the creation of the Vowel Movement in 2003, beatboxing has exploded in the Bay Area. For the past 5 years, San Francisco and Berkeley have been home to beatboxing, and the demand to see more keeps rising.

Speak the Music is a new organization in the Bay Area that was created by Ian Canright and Mike Tinoco. The organization is dedictated to supporting the art of beatboxing by providing an outlet for up-and-coming and professional beatboxers alike to be heard; our goal is to reach out to the community and bring in new faces.

Many beatboxers at Speak the Music use the stage as a means to tap into new creativity; some incorporate different elements into their performances, such as digital effects, live looping, musical instruments, collaborations, and more. Our monthly showcases not only feature beatboxers, but musicians, poets, and emcees as well.

Our mission is to support local beatboxing and speak the music from within! But our bigger vision is to do youth outreach and spread the word about our positive means of expression.

If you would like to get involved with our organization, please feel free to contact us at SpeakTheMusic@gmail.com.

Interviews...cyber-post

Yes, I know it's late, so if you don't see it until tomorrow post your summary then :-)

We interviewed each other today and then students introduced their peers to the class. We will continue with the oral part of the presentation Wednesday, Sept. 24.

Homework is to bring in a draft of your papers. Everything is a draft, some you turn in because it's due, but for all intents and purposes, a writer can always see the work in a new light. The final draft can be posted with planning sheet, and outline by Friday at 12 noon. You can turn it in on Thursday, Sept. 25, but you will not be penalized if you turn it in the next day.

Please let me know if you are planning to attend the Beat Box event at La Pena on Thursday, Sept. 25. You can respond at the post or call me.

Don't get lost and don't get behind. Keep reading Chang; however, Dyson isn't going away. You need to read the article from Know What I Mean, the chapter with him and Hurt--Track 4. I gave it to you over a week ago, and demonstrated how to read it. We can do more of this, but ultimately it's on each of you to read the essay. He is accessible. Get a tutor, go to the lab and read it there and ask questions, when you get stuck.

The essay was due today. The assignment is posted below. We shared thesis sentences last week. Tomorrow bring in the Initial Planning Sheet. Tomorrow you will develop an outline. Bring your notes and again read Dyson. Bring in music or an artist profile that illustrates your point.

The essay is due Wednesday, Sept. 24. Bring in a paper copy to class. The final draft is due Thursday, Sept. 25 or Sept. 26 by 12 noon. Post the essay and the planning sheet and outline at the assignment link below.

Library Literacy 2
Today we had the second of three Library Information Literacy Sessions or workshops the Professor Jane McKenna. Next Thursday, Sept. 25, is our last class. These classes are not optional and today there was an assignment, a graded assignment. Students turned them into Professor McKenna and she graded them and returned them to me. If you missed the session, the other two librarians also offer this series. You can check and see when they are offered and make up Session 2.

Students were confused over the research project for the semester: Women and Hip Hop and the essay that is due next which takes its theme from Bryon Hurt's Hip Hop Beyond Beats and Rhymes. That essay, a draft, is due next week for a peer review. Bring in a paper copy along with planning sheets.

Homework is to continue writing your essay. Remember to use the Dyson essay, a selection of music and the film as your sources. The paper needs to be minimally 3 pages, the 4th page would be the works cited page. Each paper needs to use a paraphrase, direct quote and a block quote.

Additional Assignments with no extensions to post
I forgot to put an extension last week for students to post their freewrites for the Nas song: We're Not Alone," so post it here.

Also, I forgot to create an extension for the freewrite on Literature Circles, so post that here also. The freewrite on Lit Circles considered of your reflections on the process. In case you haven't noticed my pedagogy is based on the reflective teaching model, where we think about what we do, and write about it so that we can improve based on what we learn in the process of doing.

Hip Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes

We watched the beginning of the film this morning. Before this, we shared thesis sentences developed from the topics: machismo, sexism, homophobia, violence, misogyny. Some of the writing was outstanding like Mathew's elegant sentence on masculinity, Derek's complex statement about sexism, and Tariq's thesis on machismo. Everyone please post your thesis sentences here.

Visit the website for background information on the film: http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/hiphop/

You will be responding to the film in an essay, due for peer review, Monday, Sept. 22. The final draft is due Wednesday, Sept. 24. You will be posting the essay at the prompt I will set up for you next week.

I will put the assignment here, FYI. I have students who saw this film last fall; you can critique the Dyson/Hurt interview. Have a dialogue with them on paper. I also want students to pull in examples from the lyrical content of the songs and lives of the artists.

Each student should chose a focus: sexism, homophobia, violence, misogyny, masculinity, media literacy, develop a thesis and go from there. You are either agreeing or disagreeing with Hurt (and Dyson).

I'll have your essays to return tomorrow morning. Sorry for the delay. If you didn't get a C or better, you have to revise the essay. You also need to see me or another teacher or tutor to talk about how to approach the revision. I have a handout (photocopied from Hacker) to guide the process. The revision and narrative are due by Friday. Email it to me with the first draft attached. Paste it, just in case I have trouble downloading it.

The second essay, already mentioned below takes it's topic from the Byron Hurt film. It is due next week, Thursday, Sept. 25, for a peer review. Bring in a paper copy. The final draft is due Monday, Sept. 29 electronically. You will post it at the assignment link, both drafts and peer comments.

Today in class we read Track 4 in Dyson. In this chapter he is interviewed by Byron Hurt, director of the critically acclaimed Hip Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes. Our freewrite was to look at the terms: sexism, violence, homophobia, and machismo and define them in our own words. We then shared aloud as I made lists. Afterwards we read aloud, and stopped often to discuss what Dyson was saying and compare this to Chang's Can't Stop, where apropos.

Homework was to develop 3-5 thesis sentences from the freewrite themes. Students could focus all of them on a specific theme, like "violence," or choose a few, let's say, "violence," "sexism," and "homophobia."

Bring them in the morning to share. We'll watch the film either tomorrow or Wednesday. Keep reading Chang and writing a reading log per chapter. It's better to read ahead than to get behind.

Back to the Basics
Bring in your grammar/style books tomorrow. We will look at invention strategies this week, practice developing thesis sentences using a variety of methods: topical invention, the three part thesis formula, and other strategies. We will also look at effective ways to begin and end essays, that is, write introductions and conclusions. "Chang" and "Dyson" will give us material to draw from for topics.

We will also practice using in-text citations. Continue reading "Can't Stop." We have completed Loop 1. This week we will try to get through Loop 2.

You have to see a tutor or writing teacher (in L-234) or me and get help on your revision of the Change essay, if required. We're still trying to figure out the study hall time. Let's discuss this again in the morning.

Please include a narrative. The narrative let's us know your process in reviewing the essay and why we should read it again, in other words, what changed and why?

You can email the revised essay and the narrative to me. Identify yourself and the assignment. You have until Friday, Sept. 19. Send it to professorwandasposse@gmail.com. Send the first draft with the revision. Label everything.

The next essay is due in a week and it will be based on a film I will show you either Monday, Sept. 15 or Tuesday, Sept. 16, "Hip Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes." The essay assignment will be due next week, Friday, Sept. 26.

I will post the assignment later. There is also a companion website.

Today we had our first session (of three) in the Information Literacy course at COA with Professor Jane (there were handouts). Homework is to continue reading Chang. Write summary responses for each chapter; students will not have to post all the summaries; however, you will have writing for each chapter.

Prepare for a discussion --Chang, Wednesday, Sept. 17, in your Lit. Circle. We'll watch the Byron Hurt film, "Hip Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes," Monday, Sept. 15, and then meet in L202E to write the essay response the following day. Students will use the article from, "Know What I Mean" and the film to respond to questions posted here next week. We will be practicing using signal phrases for in text citations. Read the section in Hacker on "Research," especially the section on paraphrase, summary, signal phrases, and works cited pages.

We will also practice citing sources in Works Cited pages. Students will be required to include in each short paper, 250 words minimum, 3 citations, including direct quote, paraphrase and a block quote.

Keep a lookout for information about a study hour. It's open to all Sabir composition students this semester. The sessions are held, unless specified otherwise, in the smaller Writing Lab (ESL).

EXTRA
Students are encouraged to bring in music illustrating the period discussed in Chang that week. Right now we're in Loop 1. We want to get through Change by early October. We will augment Chang with music and lyrics, along with other supplemental materials representing hip hop culture.

This semester our research will look at women in hip hop. Students will choose a woman in the industry, who lives in Northern California who uses hip hop culture as a tool for social justice. Of course, the writer will have to define "social justice," and then find evidence to support the thesis.

More on the research essay will be forthcoming.

Today in class we continued with our presentations for Hip Hop Culture. The students who presented were three: Elesha Martin and Sal. Elesha's presentation was on natural hair and braids; Sal's shared a song by an Afro-Peruvian rap artist, "Immortal Technique."

Post a response to the presentations this week, either today or yesterday. Homework is to complete the reading in Can't Stop up to Chapter 4. Post an analysis here, not here literally, but at the link, for Loop 1. Bring in music next week that reflects the culture per Chang.

Future Assignments
Next week we'll start Loop 2. We'll also look at misogyny and women in hip hop, the early stages to now. I will give you an interview between Dyson and Byron Hurt to read. Perhaps we'll have a debate?

Our topic for the group research project is women in hip hop. Each group will profile a female MC, rap artist or woman who is using hip hop culture as her economic, social, political and spiritual voice.

What is she saying? Do you agree? Has the message changed over time as the artist matured or circumstances shifted for the better or worse in her life or in the world?

We continued with our presentations today on hip hop culture. Over half the class hadn't read the assignment, so they caught up on the reading while the six or seven students who'd read chapter 1-3 had a discussion. Homework is to read Chapter 4. Wednesday we'll listen to some music from the period we've read about and maybe watch a little YouTube. Next week we will look at Chapters 5-7. If students want to bring in music for the era for extra credit, that would be great. Send me a link to the lyrics and I can run copies in advance. Call me on my cell and let me know the day before you need the copies.

Remember Sept. 11, 18, and 25 we will meet in the library for an information literacy workshop. There are three parts. If you miss one, you have to make it up next month.

We will be researching women in hip hop. This is a group project. There will be an essay and an interactive presentation. If you want to work alone, this is okay.

Who are the early women in hip hop? How do they avoid the more negative aspects of the more commercialized forms of the genre? I'm speaking of the blatant misogyny, violence and exploitation themes--American values in the marketplace certainly--hip hop is just a more recent manifestation, or do they participate?

I will hand out the rest of Dyson's book, Know What I Mean, tomorrow so you can read ahead if you like.

Hip Hop Archive Cyber-Posts

Students hadn't read the assignment for Can't Stop, Won't Stop, so we began our presentations on the Hip Hop Archives. The presentations were varied and quite impressive, from Dorothy's recommendation that Vibe and Giant magazines place in the tomes. Curtis agreed and said that though he was a white guy from the suburbs the issues hip hop artists address affect all Americans: justice, righteousness and economic, political and social parity.

Derek's whole look was hip hop but the singular item was "sneakers." He emphasized their versatility whether that was for dancing or escaping--they were both "flashy and functional." He said. Quyen looked at the human being's tendency to leave his mark, whether this was a caricature of an official or a tag on a column in a ruin. Glenn told us about a game called JetGrind Radio, which sounds really fun. We're going to get a demonstration tomorrow.

After the presentation, please post your narrative.

Homework was also to read Chapter 2 in Can't Stop. We are going to have a 3-part Library Information Literacy Class beginning Thursday, Sept. 11 for three consecutive weeks. We will meet Professor Jane, the librarian at the library desk, L-Bldg.

Great sites for Hip Hop

Bibliography: Hip Hop Studies
A guide to resources for undergraduate students
Prepared by Brendan S. Smart
LIS 603 Humanities Sources and Services, Spring 2005

http://library.nyu.edu:8000/research/perform/hiphop.html

Wikipedia entry on "Graffiti"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graffiti#External_links
An introductory articles with many links to other Graffiti websites.

More resources

http://www.daveyd.com/

http://www.rapdict.org/Main_Page

http://www.africanhiphop.com/

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=16853159

http://www.npg.si.edu/exhibit/recognize/

I found these sources at the Librarians' Internet Index (hip hop)http://search.lii.org/index.jsp?sm=ts12%3B0description7%3Bhip+hopx10%3B

Can't Stop, Won't Stop by Jeff Chang

We started reading Can't Stop today, and some students were lost initially; however, after we got to page 13, and stopped to reflect, I think it was clear that Chang was setting the stage for the birth of hip hop. His baseball illustration and the subsequent demise of a community: white flight, urban renewal--read: removal of affordable housing stock, the development of concentrations of low income housing projects, the influx of drugs and handguns, the structural isolation or geographic quarantine of certain people, built into the plan by developers like Robert Moses (not to be confused with Civil Rights leader, Bob Moses), was a recipe for disaster for all but the privileged.

DJ Kool Herc says, what architects of the resulting metropolis did was create a way to let society forget about the folks under the freeways, the ones passed over, left to drown in urban decay and squalor. The poor and often black and brown folks, were no longer in the game. Perhaps this is the analogy Chang is drawing with his emphasis on the first black baseball players to integrate the major leagues Jackie Robinson and his heir, Reggie Jackson. Integration went only so far for so long. The revolution stopped and with it came sabotage of all the gains, especially once key leaders were killed or defamed.

Even if you don't understand all the details here...don't get stuck in the specifics, ride the train to the end of the station. It will make sense by the time you get to the end of the chapter, certainly by the next chapter.

Read the preface and the introduction, before you write your analysis of hip hop culture and the complete the artifact assignment. We will start these presentations Wednesday.

Keep reading. Summarize the sections. It will help you understand what you read. Also, keep a vocabulary log and jot down questions in the text in the sections you disagree or don't understand. This is a history of hip hop and Chang received the American Book Award for this book.

We will read this book, supplemented by Dyson :-)and other texts, music and essays. We will start reading Elements of Style in a couple of weeks. Students should look to starting a discussion group. You can meet informally and I can host a discussion group; the best space though is right here, so engage one another in a conversation. If someone's points really clear something up for you, tell them so. If more questions are raised, which is a good thing too, tell the writer this too.

The on-line conversation is only as useful as you make it. This is a writing class, so the dialogue is helpful for us, because it is a way to get instant feedback and fine tune one's written communication skills.