Reflective Blog

I came into winter term knowing almost nothing about Poetry. All i knew was that Mrs. Lewis was an awesome teacher and really helped me in the library on papers. The first day I walked in the class I knew that this class was going to be awesome. I didn't know what Poetry was at all, I even wrote a poem that i explained that I didn't even know how to write a real poem yet. On workshop days I always remember asking "how long does it have to be." Mrs. Lewis just said it didn't matter, which was awesome because i didn't know exactly what to write and i could focus more on content. In the end, Mrs. Lewis is a completely awesome teacher, along with my classmates. We worked together a lot and Mrs. Lewis got graphs and charts out to show how to work together. After I took the class, I can now recall information about many poets (I even recognized one in a movie), and realized that poetry is more than just words, but a culture.

Origins of Hip Hop

Hip hop is a musical genre which developed alongside hip hop culture, defined by key stylistic elements such as rapping, DJing, sampling, scratching and beatboxing. Hip hop began in Bronx, New York in the 1970s, primarily among African Americans,and Jamaican Americans. The beginnings of hip hop are found in African-American music and ultimately African music. The griots of West Africa are a group of traveling singers and poets who are part of an oral tradition dating back hundreds of years. Their vocal style is similar to that of rappers. The African-American traditions of signifyin', the dozens, and jazz poetry are all descended from the griots. These African Americans greatly influenced our hip hop culture of today.

Reflective Blog

After winter term, I will never forget Ms. Lewis' poetry class. It was the best class I've ever taken in my 4 years. This class was full of laughter and smiles. I entered this class not knowing anything about poetry. All I knew was that each of the lines had to rhyme or It could be written in a haiku style. After taking this class, i learned alot of different literary styles such as parallelismus memborum, Brooks style, free verse, unusual typography and using metaphors in poetry. My favorite poem was the one where we had to go to walgreens and choose an object and write about it. After writing one poem, we also had to write a boiled down version. This made me realize that poems with the same meaning can be written in a short form and still sound good! My poem of "don't be silly, wrap your willy" really taught me how to write poetry. Boiling down my poem was a difficult task, but I managed to keep it the same scructure but just less words. My perspective of poetry had changed alot. When i stepped into the classroom, i thought all we would do was workshop day poems but instead, we learned alot about different poets and used their style to write a new poem everyday. My favorite was definetly E.e Cummings because her style of writing was really interesting and humorous! Overall, I really enjoyed this class alot! :)

Reflective blog

Throughtout this class in the winter term my approach on poetry completely changed. I entered the class having very little experience with poetry and not knowing what to expect. All I knew is that I had Mrs. Lewis as a teacher, the greatest teacher in all of Seminary. When we first began writing our own poetry I was sticking to the same style. The standard, rhyme at the end of each line style of poetry. Then my approach on writing flipped when we spent a class period writing about our childhood unerneath the tables. I then realized that writing poetry came from your inner feelings, not what your teacher assigned. No other class has given me the oppurtunity to learn about rap artists in the early 80's and how the rap industry began. Learning about the earlier poets in America helped me understand the more modern poetry being released now. Poetry is more of a lifestyle than a subject to learn, and I thank you Mrs. Lewis for helping me to understand this.

ICE-T

He goes by the name of Tracy Marrow, but is better known by the name Ice-T. He began rapping in the 80's and greatly affected the hip-hop world. What made this talented artist speqcial is because he was also an actor along with his rapping career. He began to act in the mid 80's and realized he had much underlying talent on camera. Many of you have also heard the term "OG" or "original gangster. This trend actaully came from Tracy Marrow himself. Ice-T is not only famous for his terminology trends but also greatly influenced the style of dressing. He helped begin the trend of baggy clothing and such for a new approach to rapping. Ice-T put forth a new style to rapping and included a political stance with in his lyrics. You may still hear of this notorious man today in new rap releases and movies.

BIGGIE!

His name of birth is Christopher George Latore Wallace, but if you've heard of this historical legend you do not know him by that name. He became known as several different names such as Biggie Smalls or Notorious B.I.G. Many critics refer to him as the savior of east coast hip-hop. The majority of hip-hop artistd were coming from the west coast and it was unheard of to see a succesful eastern hip-hop artist. This all changed when Biggie entered the rap game. Since Notorious B.I.G's death his albums have been consistently selling for years. Wallace began rapping when he was just a young teenager and would make money on the streets by exploiting his talents. He had an extreme talent to rap and began the largest feud in the rap game between the west and east. There is no doubt that Biggie Smalls in one the most famous and historical rappers to ever live. There's no telling what he'd being doing if he were alive today. R.I.P

Miles Davis

Miles Davis is considered as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century. He was an African American Trumpeter and was at the forefront of jazz music. In 1944 he moved to New York City, the heart of the Harlem Renaissance. Davis is known as having the "birth of the cool" which has the objective was to achieve a sound similar to the human voice, through carefully arranged compositions and by emphasizing a relaxed, melodic approach to the improvisations. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Davis greatly influenced acid rock (example here) and funk artists such as Jimi Hendrix. Rolling Stone's Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll noted that:

Miles Davis played a crucial and inevitably controversial role in every major development in jazz since the mid-'40s, and no other jazz musician has had so profound an effect on rock. Miles Davis was the most widely recognized jazz musician of his era, an outspoken social critic and an arbiter of style - in attitude and fashion - as well as music