Methaphors

“Bathing in beauty”- BBC

“Birds of Paradise”- National Geographic

“Unchained melody”- Elle Magazine

“Run the World”- You Tube

“No bottles to break just hearts” Arpege perfume

“Flying machines”- New York Times

Development of Rap and HipHop

The history of rap music, goes back to the African people (tribesmen) because of the rhythm and meaning they added to their music. When the slaves were brought to America, the slaves mixed the American music with the African beats they remembered.

 Also Jamaican Folk stories called “toasts” were poems that told stories in rhyme. They started in the 1970’s which could be spiritual; schoolyard rhymes, and beat poetry which made an influence to the further development of rap.

 

The rap music was starting to develop among black young teens, in New York City, Washington D.C and Philadelphia. Parties around 1974 in New York were featuring the early ways of rap. The song “Rappers Delight” by the Sugar Hill Gang was one of the major noticeable labels recorded in 1979. As time went on, rap music started to grow . 

In the 80's many raps were mainly opinions about the difficulties faced from the ghetto life, warnings about drugs and about teenage love or lust.

The earliest forms of expression that the music can be traced back to was the sounds, and rhythm created by tribesmen in Africa and the Caribbean. 

The key ideas explored in rap music are drugs, love, crime and sexual related things. 

An example of what rap was in a quote by DMX: “For two years keep it real, hold back all tears, face your fears. Become a man before your time. Rap, but live out your rhymes. Let ‘em know what’s on your mind, then you’ll get your shine.”

Hip Hop music originated from the African American communities during the 1970's in NYC.Hip-hop is believed to have originated in the Bronx by a Jamaican DJ named Kool Herc. Herc by putting toguether rhymes over instrumentals. Kool Herc and other block party DJs helped spread the message of hip-hop around town and increased popularity of the style.

Slick Rick:

Richard Walters, "Slick Rick" was born on January14th 1965. He is known as "Slick Rick, MC Ricky D and Rick the Ruler. He was nominated to the Grammy's as a British American rapper. His career began in 1983, with hip hop. One of his admired recordings are, "Children Story" and "Hey Young World". 

He has two children, Lateisha and Ricky, from two different mothers. He is originally from Wimbledon in London, England. 

He moved with his Jamaican British family to the bronx in 1975. He got his characteristic eye patch from a broken glass accident when he was a child. 

He spent five years in prison after being charged for attempted murder and immigration. He recorded whilst he was charged the album "The Ruler's back". Also when he was in prison, his album "Behind Bars" was released.

  

Opinion:

I personally do not like rap music because, I feel it is mostly aggresive and I do not like the rythm because of the continuous pauses. I do not listen to rap music because of what it's normally expressed on the song, like drugs, sex, criticism and swear words.Also most of rap song videos and lyrics relate to sex, or are sex related. 

Bibliography:

-http://www.mademan.com/mm/10-inspirational-rap-quotes.html#ixzz2QxIPldKd

-http://rap.about.com/od/rootsofraphiphop/p/RootsOfRap.htm

-http://www.bet.com/music/photos/2011/09/50-most-influential-rappers.html#!042511-music-soulja-boy-album

-http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2007/04/hip-hop-planet/mcbride-text

-http://hiphopcomeup.com/the-hip-hop-story/

-http://www.allsands.com/music/bio/historyofrapm_xrw_gn.htm

-http://www.starpulse.com/Music/Slick_Rick/Biography/

-http://www.jango.com/music/Slick+Rick/_pictures?l=0

Island Man Analysis- Grace Nichols

Island Man Analysis

Island man is a poem written by Grace Nichols; she was born in 1950 in Guyana and is still alive today. In 1977 she migrated to England. Just like John Agard the author of the poem “half-caste” they both are of mixed cultures, and they try to show this mixture on the language in their poems.

The themes explored in Island man by Grace Nichols are Cultural identity, the difficulty of belonging to 2 cultures, feeling separated from home and not being able to distinguish dream from reality. Cultural Identity is shown when she describes the island and London, emphasising her description of beauty on the island, to show she would never forget her identity. The phrases, “comes back to sand” and “dull North circular roar” describe both setting in which the poem is set, and shows both cultures in which the man lives.

The difficulty of belonging to 2 cultures is shown when the author writes at the start “morning” showing how she does not use “the”, maybe showing how her dialect removes the articles from sentences, and how she just starts the whole stanza with one word, states her seriousness and maybe confusion. At the end of the poem, when she uses “Another London day”, shows us how difficult her life and her day is, since she just sees it as another extra thing which is not important to her.

Feeling separated from home is shown on the first stanza in the last line when it says, “the steady breaking and wombing” this could be referring to his island, where his was born which is shown through the use of motherhood imagery. This positive image shows us how he “in his head” stills keeps the memories about his island, and how now he feels his day is just “another London day”.

Not being able to distinguish between dream and reality is shown at the start of the poem when the author says, “and island man wakes up/ to the sound of blue surf/ in his head”. “In his head” shows us how it is all a dream the man is having. Also the line “an island man wakes up” suggests how he is not native to the place he is in, since he could’ve just been described as “a man”, this shows us the feeling and images the man keeps in his head about the “island” he is from.

Nichols helps us picture the island, and London trough visual imagery. The author at the start of the poem starts by telling us what time of day it is by using the word “morning”. The use of sensorial language lets us visualize the island itself. We can visualize and imagine to the sound of the sea when it says, “sound of blue surf”.  

Natural imagery is also used to describe the island. Nichols in the second stanza describes the animals, people and atmosphere of the island. She uses sibilance in the phrase “and fishermen pushing out to sea”, we can relate the “sh” to the sound of the sea, and imagine the waves crashing against the shore and the overall peacefulness. We can see how the poet tries to emphasize the beauty in the island by saying “the sun defiantly”, by using personification it lets us imagine how hot it might be, and how radiant the sun’s rays are. We can see how the island is precious and valuable to Nichols because she describes the island as an “emerald island”, we can see the comparison between such an expensive object like a gemstone and an island lets us focus on how maybe the island is rich in culture and nature and memories for the author.  

In the third stanza the author says, “comes back to sands/ of a grey metallic soar”, this is a metaphor that could be comparing London to a grey and unattractive beach, which people won’t want to go there. Also the word “grey” shows sadness and depression, which could show how the author feels about London. The use of juxtaposition between the colour “grey”, which is a dull and opaque one, creates a contrast between the “blue” description of the ocean, and its brightness, making us realize the completely different life style the man was having. We can see how the use of juxtaposition between the “emerald island” and the “north circular roar” shows us the total differences between both places. The “metallic soar” can be related to factories and industries which shows a harsh environment comparing it to the nature of the Caribbean. Also the line “to surge of wheels/ to dull North Circular roar” is a juxtaposition that describes a busy London road and shows the contrast between the island and London, and the calmness against chaos.

The poet uses different literary techniques to describe what she feels about London and the Island. The words “muffling muffling” are an alliteration to show the hesitance he has about his new home, “London”.  When the poet says, “island man heaves himself” she is using the verb “heaves” to show how unwilling the man is to get out of bed. Both repetitions of the words “muffling muffling” and “groggily groggily” could have been written by the author to show the change in mood of the island man as he moves from his dream to reality, it is turning point. This could relate as well to the change he had to face of moving from the island to London.

Enjambment is used in the poem to give the poem flow, and make it seem like a dream which flows in your head. Also at the end of the poem, the author does not end with a full stop to show how his life seems endless, and how the same feeling of unhappiness towards London would keep going on forever. It also shows how the Caribbean language is not standard English or formal, showing her cultural dialect.