How Hiphop Has Changed the Youth in Society Essay Example for Free

How Hiphop Has Changed the Youth in Society Essay Throughout the past 30 years, there has been much speculation about how negative hip-hop music truly is, and how it actually affects the youth. The hip-hop music of recent years has been the foundation of many controversial issues and has been illustrated negatively by the media countless times. Issues such as gun and knife crime which has escalated heavily within younger age groups in the last 15 years, especially in the USA and UK and also drug abuse, the use of marijuana being used openly within the younger generations. Hip-hop has been accused of influencing the youth to become more misogynistic towards women by constantly having explicit content, such as racist and sexist lyrics in their music. Hip-hip has always been stereotypically associated with violence and black crime. Due to this, older generations have always had an antagonistic outlook on the entire hip-hop genre of music. Although hip-hip music is considered negative in the eyes of many people, there is to consider various questions to have a better understanding and point of view on the controversial issue. Today we speak, dress and drive what the stars do. Where we shop and eat even the types of homes we buy is dictated by what we hear the celebrities are doing. That is a powerful influence over an individual adult but only imagine what type of influence this has over an impressionable pre-teen. Due to the fact that hip-hop/rap music appeals to the thirteen to eighteen year old audiences and the artists performing come from very similar backgrounds of the listeners, rap music is able to control the way that youth think. Teens and pre-teens are using their part-time job pay check to buy grills (a form of jewellery worn in the mouth) and other types of jewellery and even weapons such as knives and guns are seen as metaphorical fashion accessories for the youth, as these things are incorporated into the lyrics of hip-hop and rap music. What is hip-hop music? In order to understand the hip-hop phenomena one must first create a foundation of knowledge through learning its history. Hip-hop began from a mixture of spoken word poetry, jazz drumming, and jazz instrumentations. Hip-hop is one of the most popular genres of music out today and has been steadily growing in popularity since its rise in fame from the late 1970s. With the rise of MTV in the early 1980s, early hip-hop music was constantly being shown with TV shows such as ‘Yo! MTV raps’ and since then has been known to be one of music’s most successful art forms and has remained popular to this day. With over forty years of being around, hip-hop has grown and matured and most importantly expanded from its origin of the south Bronx in New York, to worldwide. The genre and sub culture originated in the early 1970s when a Jamaican immigrant by the name of Clive Campbell aka DJ Kool Herc, first hit the scene in the Bronx. Campbell started DJ-ing his own parties, playing soul, funk as well as RB records on his turntable set. Herc also brought his know how of the sound system and the popular dancehall/block party scene. Graffiti art had also begun to take shape in the subways of Philadelphia in the mid 1960s. A black teenager by the name of Cornbread began tagging the subways in hopes of attracting a girl he had found feelings for; from this form of youth expression came Graffiti. Fab 5 Freddy, one of the original DJs of Hip-hop, began an art from known as scratching and popularized DJing. Hip-hop consists of four elements, ‘B-boying’ or also known as break dancing. ‘Djing’, ‘Emceeing’, and street art or more commonly known as ‘graffiti’. Djing, also known as the first element of hip-hop began when disc jockeys created beats on two turntables. The way DJs created their beats was simple yet revolutionary in an essence. The DJs would first find a portion of a song that emphasized a percussive pattern, and then looped a portion of the song to form a rhythmic pattern. This procedure is now more commonly known as sampling. With the beat or instrumental now developed, the DJ decided the music needed some accompaniment to the music such as singing or poetry. This procedure is known as rapping or Emceeing. From hip-hop spawned the sub-genre ‘Rap’ in the early 1980s. More and more artists became interested in the new form of music out of New York. In 1981, Rap gained a lot of exposure through popular shows such as 20/20 and Saturday night live. The 1990s saw even more change in the hip-hop industry. Early in the decade, artists fought for permission to sell their albums since most authorities deemed them ‘obscene’ due to the explicit content within the music. A lot which expressed sexual references towards women and talked about the use of drugs. Hip-hop music also spoke strongly about politics and poverty, artists such as Tupac and Public Enemy spoke about such issues. In the 1990s the tension that had been gathering between the west coast ‘Gangsta’ and the East coast artists has exploded and resulted in the shooting deaths of Christopher Wallace and Tupac Shakur. In the present day Hip-Hop is one of the largest and fastest growing sources of capital and has a great influence on its fans. The roles that Hip-Hop and Hip-Hop artist play in America require responsibility, however, many of the performers and labels take none. By using television and other various sorts of visual media Hip-Hop portrays less than positive stereotypes and all but influences the youth to accept these stereotypes as normal behaviour. The detrimental effect that popular Hip-Hop has doesn’t stop at the visual level. Lyrical content in songs have been dumbed down and filled with violence, sex, and drugs. For example the song â€Å"Hate Being Sober† by Chief Keef condones the use of drugs at all times and gives the impression that it is ok and cool. â€Å"While many Hip-Hop songs contain messages about alcohol, tobacco and other drugs, few provide an accurate portrayal of the negative consequences of substance abuse† Negative accusations and harsh criticism has always been an issue for the hip-hop genre of music. Some of these accusations include how hip-hop influences the youth to become more misogynistic towards women by constantly having explicit content, such as racist and sexist lyrics in their music. Because of this, Hip-hop music has been criticized greatly by the media accusing the music of affecting the youth that sexism and other such forms of oppression are acceptable to society. Although the media has a major impact on how Hip-hop is viewed by the masses, their is some people who view Hip-hop differently. Famous civil rights leader Al Sharpton was asked on what he believed on this particular issue and said, The hip-hop culture is just like electricity, it can be used negatively or positively. The same electric current that lights up your house can also electrocute you. It is the misuse of hip-hop culture to attack our women and promote violence. We must encourage the proper use of hip-hop culture. We are all influenced by the hip-hop generation. (Is hip-hop culture, 2000) On a survey done to twenty-five people in the 17- 60 yrs of age range, twenty people know someone that is exposed to the Hip-hop culture and twenty-one of them believed that Hip-hop isnt a negative art form. In Figures 1, 2, and 3 show the results from the survey done. On Figure 2, it shows that most of the people surveyed do believe that Hip-hop music has the most influence on the youth. Rap music generally depicts the lives and souls of many under privileged youths, citing depression and violence during upbringings. The youth of today’s society and in the past, take this music as a way of expression, a way of overruling everything they believe is corrupt and in their own way become corrupt themselves by not caring about the rules. Rap music can be transparently seen as a striking negative influence on today’s youth just by listening to certain songs which praise violence and the use of drugs. Take rapper Wiz Khalifa for instance. This artist is a prime example of being a huge negative influence to today’s society by the extensive amount of marijuana use, portrayed within his lyrics. The artist mentions marijuana in his songs and speaks about it in a positive way, speaking about the stimulating effects it has on him and almost making the drug sound ‘cool’ to the younger generation, making them think that smoking this drug is cool and acceptable as rapper Wiz Khalifa openly smokes it and mentions it. The number of drug references in rap music has raised six fold since the genre revolutionised pop music. Researchers who analysed the lyrics of hundreds of songs say rap has been transformed from one which warned against the dangers of drug abuse to one that routinely glorifies it. And because many of the references are coded, many parents are unaware what their children are listening to.

Acceleration Within the School System Essay -- essays research papers

Papers on the topic, acceleration within in the school system, have had two very distinct arguments. There are those who believe that accelerating students, enhances their psychological welfare and academic achievements. On the other hand there are those who raise concerns as to whether, accelerating students does negatively affect them in some dimension. The aim of this paper is to give an overview of acceleration in relation to the educational setting, and to discuss the impact (both negative and positive) that acceleration has on the lives of students. I will discuss how and why students are identified as gifted and or talented, and what consequences arise from this label, if any. The essay will then proceed to offer types of programs available for gifted and or talented students in schools. This paper will focus on the various impacts acceleration has on students. Some discussion will be rendered as to the effect on the parents of accelerated students. My conclusions will be deri ved from the various arguments and research that will be presented throughout the essay. From the introduction we are led to the question, of what actually is acceleration? Davis and Rimm (1994) state that â€Å"any strategy that results in advanced placement or credit may be titled as acceleration†(p. 106). Acceleration is the act of advancing students into grades higher than their year of enrolment allows. The Board of Studies guidelines for accelerated progression (1991), define acceleration as involving, â€Å"the promotion of a student to a level of study beyond that which is usual for his/her age† (p.3). Rice (1970) has also defined it as a â€Å"rapid acquisition of knowledge and skills† (p. 178). These definitions of acceleration, especially the one offered by the Board of Studies, closely align Harrison (1995) who describes a gifted child as: One who performs or who has the ability to perform at a level significantly beyond his or her chronologically aged peers and whose unique abilities and characteristics require special provisions and social and emotional support from the family, community and educational context (p. 19). This definition takes into account the socio-emotional support that gifted children require when identified as gifted or talented. Harrison (1995) further recognises that this support does not come solely from the parents or the school but the community as ... ... &   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Davis, G.A. (Ed.), Handbook of Gifted Education (2nd ed.). (pp. 27-42).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Massachusetts: Allyn & Bacon. Thomas, T.A. (1993). The achievement and social adjustment of accelerated students:  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The impact of the Academic Talent Search after seven years. California:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  California State University. (ERIC document ED 368146). VanTassel-Baska, J. (1986). Acceleration. In C. June Maker. (Ed.). Critical issues  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  in gifted education: Defensible programs for the gifted. (pp. 179-195). Texas:  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  PRO-ED. VanTassel-Baska, J. (1997). What matters in curriculum for gifted learners: Reflections  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  on theory, research and practice. In Colangelo, N. & Davis, G.A. (Ed.),   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Handbook of Gifted Education (2nd ed.). (pp. 126-135). Massachusetts: Allyn   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  & Bacon.

The Critique of “Advertising’s Fifteen Basic Appeals”

Advertisements are part of our daily lives and they are inextricably linked. Since we were young, the world was at our fingertips, bombarded with a society that has been shaped by advertising. Advertisements make a great impact in our lives that influence our decision-making and buying habits, even changing our perception of certain products or services. â€Å"Advertising’s Fifteen Basic Appeals† is an informative and educational article, which is written by Jib Fowles, a professor of Communication at the University of Houston Clear Lake. This article first appeared in Etc.39:3 (1982) and was reprinted in the college textbook – Advertising and Popular Culture (1996). In the â€Å"Advertising’s Fifteen Basic Appeals†, Fowles provides readers with a set of information that discusses how advertising contains certain unconscious emotional appeals which fall into fifteen distinguishable categories. Besides that, he also explains how advertisers try to in fluence consumers through various physiological and psychological levels. This article educates advertisers and college students who are majoring in advertising on how to make effective advertisements.Also, Fowles analyzes tactics that advertisers use and gives readers his opinions and suggestions on how to make an advertisement more effective (539-556). To provide a good source of information, the author himself should be credible in order to make readers believe that his article contains credible and valuable information. Not only is the credibility of the author important, but also the content of the article should be thorough and detailed so that it can help readers get good quality information. Finally, Fowles did a great job organizing his article.It was easy for readers to follow his steps throughout the whole article because of the sub-tittles he provided for each appeal. Based on these criteria’s, I believe Fowles’ article is a good source of information for r eaders and the information and general knowledge of advertising that he provided might be helpful for advertisers and students in the future. Jib Fowles, who is a professor of Communication at the University of Houston Clear Lake, has been working in the social science field for over 30 years.Fowles has written an abundant amount of articles and books on popular media; such as Mass Advertising as Social Forecast: A method for Futures Research (1976), Why Viewers Watch: A Reappraisal of Television’s Effects (1992) and The Case of Television Violence (1999)(539). All of his articles and books have appeared in publications, proving that Fowles has the ability to gain exposure of his articles to the public. Besides that, Fowles, used to work with Henry A. Murray who is a psychologist at the Harvard Psychological Clinic where Murray and his colleagues conduct the full taxonomy of need (Fowles 543).As Fowles has demonstrated his expertise in the social science area and provided rea ders with his teaching and working experience as a supportive point, it helps him establish his trustworthy image. As an informative author, Fowles provided thorough and detailed information in order to make sure his readers understood his points easily. He listed out all of the fifteen basic appeals of advertising, described the individual appeals and gave examples from contemporary print and broadcast ads that might occur to readers (542-56). It made the ads more relevant so that it could be applied in the daily life of readers.For example, the definition of the need to achieve, which according to Murray is an admiration to accomplish something difficult, to overcome obstacles and to attain a high standard, to excel one’s self, to rival and surpass others (548). Fowles gives his readers several examples of certain products that advertise themselves in the best way by trying to make contact with consumers needs to succeed (549). Besides that, advertisers are trying to implem ent messages, both hidden and apparent, in which these needs stir wants, indirectly manipulating consumers’ decisions.In this article, Fowles also shares his opinions of the tactics that advertisers use and discusses the different styles of advertisements. He clarifies the general concept of how effective advertisements work and how does it effect consumer perception of certain products (542-56). The information that is provided by Fowles stirs up interest in readers, making them want more. In addition to the above, well organized â€Å"Advertising’s Fifteen Basic Appeals† article is also a main reason why it is a good source of information.Fowles organized this article systematically by using bold heading, a small title for every appeal and a list that stated the appeals that he was going to discuss (540-556). All of these make a reader follow his messages easily and makes digestion of information easier. Instead of putting all the appeals in one paragraph, Fow les separates the fifteen appeals into individual paragraphs by following the needs of different titles (543-53). At a glance, readers can find the information they want easily by searching titles, which interest them. Having a good title draws a reader’s attention and does not let the content mislead the reader.On one hand, these criteria can support this articles claim as a good source of information, but on the other hand, the information might be outdated and invalid. Since this article has existed over 30 years, even the advertisements platform and society has changed. The examples that Fowles provided might not be related to the reader’s current life. It would be a hard task for readers to understand the outdated information. Even though advertisements might be nugatory and possibly readers will not be familiar with the examples given, basic human needs are still the same overtime (542-53).Readers can still understand the concept of the appeals and set a new exam ple for themselves. Outdated information might not be an issue big enough to make Fowles’ article invalid. However it makes readers think further on how to apply the advertisements that they are familiar with in order to meet their needs. â€Å"Advertising’s Fifteen Basic Appeals† is a timeless article that provides useful references for the public, especially for advertisers and students who are majoring in advertising.By analyzing Fowles’ article, I realized that we are confronted daily by hundreds of advertisements, only a few of which can actually attract our attention. That is the message Fowles’ article is trying to transmit, how â€Å"Advertising’s Fifteen Basic Appeals† make an effective advertisement. I believe that Fowles article is a good source of information, not only does it contain valuable information, but also he shares his opinions of his general knowledge of advertising that we, the readers, can apply to our future.

Learning Vocabulary With Word Forms

There are a wide variety of techniques used to learn vocabulary in English. This learning vocabulary technique focuses on using word forms as a way to broaden your English vocabulary. The great thing about word forms is that you can learn a number of words with just one basic definition. In other words, word forms relate to a specific meaning. Of course, not all of the definitions are the same. However, the definitions are often closely related. Start off by quickly reviewing the eight parts of speech in English: VerbNounPronounAdjectiveAdverbPrepositionsConjunctionInterjection Examples Not all eight parts of speech will have a form of each word. Sometimes, there are only noun and verb forms. Other times, a word will have related adjectives and adverbs. Here are some examples: Noun: studentVerb: to studyAdjective: studious, studied, studyingAdverb: studiously Some words will have more variations. Take the word care: Noun: care, caregiver, caretaker, carefulnessVerb: to careAdjective: careful, careless, carefree, carewornAdverb: carefully, carelessly Other words will be especially rich because of compounds. Compound words are words made up by taking two words and putting them together to create other words! Take a look at words derived from power: Noun: power, brainpower, candlepower, firepower, horsepower, hydropower, powerboat, powerhouse, powerlessness, powerlifting, powerpc, powerpoint, superpower, willpowerVerb: to power, to empower, to overpowerAdjective: empowered, empowering, overpowered, overpowering, powerable, powered, powerful, powerlessAdverb: powerfully, powerlessly, overpoweringly Not all words have so many compound word possibilities. However, there are some words that are used to construct numerous compound words. Heres a (very) short list to get you started: airanybackballroomdayearthfiregrandhandhomelandlightnewsrainshowsandsometimewaterwind Exercises for Using Your Words in Context Exercise 1: Write a Paragraph Once youve made a list of a few words, the next step will be to give yourself the opportunity to put the words youve studied into context. There are a number of ways to do this, but one exercise I especially like is to write an extended paragraph. Lets take a look at power again. Heres a paragraph Ive written to help me practice and remember words created with power: Writing a paragraph is a powerful way to help you remember words. Of course, it takes plenty of brainpower. However, by writing out such a paragraph you will empower yourself to use this words. For example, you might find creating a paragraph in powerpoint on a PowerPC takes a lot of willpower. In the end, you wont feel overpowered by all these words, youll feel empowered. No longer will you stand there powerlessly when confronted with words such as candlepower, firepower, horsepower, hydropower, because youll know that they are all different types of power used to power our overpowering society. Ill be the first to admit that writing out a paragraph, or even trying to read such a paragraph from memory might seem crazy. It certainly isnt good writing style! However, by taking the time to try to fit as many words made up with a target word youll be creating all sorts of related context to your word list. This exercise will help you imagine what type of uses can be found for all these related words. Best of all, the exercise will help you map the words in your brain! Exercise 2: Write Sentences An easier exercise is to write out individual sentences for each word in your list. Its not as challenging, but its certainly an effective way to practice the vocabulary youve taken the time to learn.