Welcome back from Winter Break and mock exams. It's time to switch gears to the skills pertinent to both Paper 1: Language and the Individual, Paper 2: Language Varieties, and life. We will begin with an overview incorporating aspects of text analysis (Chapter 11 in Cambridge Elevate), academic writing, and independent research.
Before we focus on something more in-depth, let's start simple: Pick one of your favourite songs and analyse a verse of its lyrics in terms of rhetorical devices, grammatical content, and semantics. Link these to the songs overall message. Post your response below.
Here's an example of how you might lay it out:
The genre of the text is lyrics. The text is in written mode and
received through the eyes. When performed, it is spoken, transmitted orally and
received through the ears, with associated attributes such as incomplete
sentences and repetition. In both modes, it is planned and durable. The
intended audience is fans of the metal band “Tool” - typically Americans in
their 30s and 40s. The purposes of the text are to entertain and to describe
human conditions such as violence and war. These are framed using a religious
lexis and conventions of a narrative discourse structure. Ultimately, the
intended message of the song is to portray mankind’s greed and aggression as
innate and meaningless.
The song begin with lyrics providing the orientation in the narrative
discourse structure:
“Angels on the
sideline
Puzzled and amused.
Why did Father give these humans free will?
Now they're all confused.”
The noun “sideline” (here abstract) is used colloquially to convey being
a passive observer – mirroring early American “Deist” beliefs of a God that
does not interfere in human affairs. We picture “angels” as spectators
entertained (as indicated by the adjective “amused”) but perhaps already a bit
worried (conveyed through the predicative adjective “puzzled”) by the antics of
human beings. “Father” as synonym for “God” belongs to a Judeo-Christian lexis,
and the noun phrase “free will” alludes to the central theme of Book of Genesis:
that humans have to ability to choose evil as well as good. The use of the
plural demonstrative “these” provides rhetorical distance for the speaker,
showing that the angels are dismissive of creatures that they view inferior (as
one might say, “These people who leave their rubbish everywhere…”). Further
dismissal of the new species is shown through the interrogative sentence “Why
did Father…?”, emphasizing their disbelief. The predicative adjective
“confused” suggests that human beings do not know what to do with their ability
to choose. “All” could be serving two functions: as an equivalent for the
intensifier “very” or “completely” (“You’re all wet!”), or as a universal
pronoun (“All pies are delicious”). The idea of human absurdity is furthered in
the subsequent five lines:
“Don't these
talking monkeys know that
Eden has enough to go around?
Plenty in this holy garden, silly monkeys,
Where there's one you're bound to divide it.
Right in two.”
Before we focus on something more in-depth, let's start simple: Pick one of your favourite songs and analyse a verse of its lyrics in terms of rhetorical devices, grammatical content, and semantics. Link these to the songs overall message. Post your response below.
Here's an example of how you might lay it out:
“Right
in Two” by Tool
Puzzled and amused.
Why did Father give these humans free will?
Now they're all confused.”
Eden has enough to go around?
Plenty in this holy garden, silly monkeys,
Where there's one you're bound to divide it.
Right in two.”
The lines begin with an interrogative sentence, sustaining the theme of
the angels’ disbelief. “Eden” and “holy garden” complete a semantic field of
“Creation” or “Genesis”. This reference to the oldest story in Western
literature reinforces that the song is a narrative, and the writer (Maynard)
introduces the complicating action, namely that greed begins to cause conflict.
The noun-phrase “talking monkeys” serves as a sort of pejorative or diminutive
to lessen the sophistication…
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ReplyDeleteThe Times Are A Changing
ReplyDeleteCome mothers and fathers
Throughout the land
And don't criticize
What you can't understand
Your sons and your daughters
Are beyond your command
Your old road is rapidly aging
Please get out of the new one if you can't lend your hand
Cause the times they are a-changing
The genre is song lyrics in written mode and is received through our eyes. When the song is performed live it is in spoken mode and we receive it through our ears. The songs and musical genre that is associated with Bob Dylan are normally directed towards people in their 30’s and 40’s. Especially since the purpose of this text is to highlight the change of old traditions and the uncertainty of the future for some which certainly was the case for some in the sixties, when this was written.
This verse, as well as the song in general is about old traditions, old morals and politics changing and forming into something daunting that we have to come to terms with and begrudgingly have to accept as fact. This verse in particular focuses on the older generation having to come to terms with change and how their children have come accustomed to it. “Don’t criticize what you can’t understand” gives the connotation of the world becoming almost unrecognisable for the past generation. There are semantic fields of confusion and lack of control with words and phrases such as “cant”, “rapidly aging”, “get out” and “command”. “Your sons and your daughters are beyond your command” connotes lack of control for the “mothers and fathers” mentioned earlier in the verse. It also creates a sense of rebellion.
Originally, this text was written in relation to subjects such as the cold war and the introduction of nuclear weapons, trends becoming out of fashion and new technologies becoming mass produced. Without referencing these topics, the verse becomes timeless for other generations. Fears and uncertainties of the future are still relevant today, but for different subject matters. This verse is still relevant to this day. “Your old road is rapidly aging” connotes an upcoming death, out with the old and in with the new. This fits with “please get out of the new one if you can’t lend your hand”. This is all cemented with “cause the times they are a changing” as if this was all bound to happen since it’s a way of life. With every old tradition dying, a new one is born.
Tupac- Ghetto Gospel
ReplyDeleteThe genre of this text is a song lyric, which is written by Tupac. Although this is written, this text is spoken and heard through the ears as the musician sings it, as well as being looked at through the music video available on the internet. This song is on the internet and is archived, therefore it is very durable and is most likely going to last for a long time.
The general meaning and the purpose of this song is to highlight social injustice in society and how even though injustice doesn’t look the same e.g slavery, it still very much exists in society today. Tupac sings:
“If I could recollect before my hood days
I sit and reminisce, thinking of bliss and the good days”
Tupac here uses a conditional sentence as he says ‘if I could recollect’ suggesting that he can’t think back to before he was in the ‘hood’, giving us the impression that he can’t find peace and ‘bliss’. His use of the verb ‘reminisce’ tells us that he wants to think of the enjoyable moments of his past, but now he feels as though the young are under a lot of pressure and hardship.
We left em a world that's cursed
And it hurts
Cause any day they'll push the button
And all good men like Malcolm X or Bobby Hutton died for nothing
Don't it make you get teary
The world looks dreary
Tupac uses a semantic field of despair by using words such as; ‘cursed’, ‘hurts’, ‘teary’, ‘dreary’, to paint an image of hopelessness that the youth are left in today, and to really get the message across by making the audience feel guilt and so persuading them to change something in the world.
In his song he has the verse ‘’cause any day they’ll push the button and all good men like Malcolm x and Bobby Hutton died for nothin’ ‘’. By Tupac saying ‘they’ll push the button’ the message of this song is stating that if the black youth of today fall back on the stereotypical lifestyle of gang violence and drugs, the men who died for their freedom and rights, died for nothing.
This rap is fairly informal and uses shortened words such as ‘cause’ and informal use of ‘don’t’, as it Is trying to relate to an audience that is typically more ‘hood’ and so it would be easier for the audience to relate and understand.
Ayesha Namaji
Where is the Love – Black Eyed Peas
ReplyDeleteThe genre of this text is a song lyric, which is written by the Black Eyed Peas. Although this a written piece of text, it is spoken and heard through the ears as the musicians sing/rap it, as well as being looked at through a video on the internet. As it’s on the internet its archived meaning it’s long lasting.
People killin', people dyin'
Children hurt and you hear them cryin'
Can you practice what you preach?
Or would you turn the other cheek?
This songs is about all the hate and racism taking place in the USA. The first use the verbs ‘kill’ and ‘die’ to emphasise what exactly is going on because of the hate. The second line is talking about how children are joining gangs and are getting involved in things they should really be avoiding. ‘Hear them crying’ also means that you can hear the children cry due to the violence. The verbs ‘killing’ ‘dying’ ‘hurt’ and ‘crying’ are all under the semantic field of sadness and tragedy. ‘Can you practice what you preach?’ is an interrogative sentence, sending out the message to people to stop killing, and stop the hate, and poor importantly bring back the love and unity. America want to send out the message of love peace and unity however our actions often embody the exact opposite. The final sentence is also interrogative, however it makes the listener think as it is personalised, as both the interrogative sentences use the personal pronoun ‘you.’ This puts it more on the listener to think about what’s being heard and act upon it. In addition it implies that if someone does you wrong, don’t seek revenge, as 2 wrongs don’t make a right, ‘turn the other cheek’ and be the better person.