Reasoning & Writing in the College:

CAS 105 Summer 2005

Gangstas, Sistas, and Activists: A Brief History of Rap
Amy Fenstermaker, Department of English
MWR 10:00 – 1:00pm  CRN 10574

This course will focus on the lyrical content of rap music, as well as the political and social conditions to which rappers are responding. While early rappers like Run DMC and LL Cool J seem, at least initially, content with simply bragging about their lyrical prowess, rappers like Grand Master Flash suggest that social commentary has always been an important part of the music. It is this attention to social commentary that we will explore in the lyrics of NWA, Public Enemy, and Queen Latifah, to name a few. Students will be asked to do in-class presentations, as well as informal/exploratory writing. Students will be asked to write a total of four formal papers; the first two will be about a particular rapper or prominent theme in rap discussed in class, but topics for the other two will be determined by students themselves. The last of these four papers will be an 8-10 page research paper. In the writing and revising of each of these papers, peer-feedback and self-assessment will play a prominent role.