Reference no: EM133328269
Assignment:
(1) Identify a song that addresses some of the moral issues involved in mass incarceration. include a playable link to the song.
(2) Explain the central moral claims and moral point of view elaborated by the song. This should be the heart of the essay. In addition, answer the following questions in your essay
(3) What is the artist claiming?
(4) How does the music/instrumentals contribute to or detract from (or otherwise interact with) the message?
(5) How would you describe the tone of the song?
(6) Is there, in your song, profanity, epithets or other offensive language, negative stereotypes, violent images,pornographic images, celebration of violence or street crime, xenophobia, misogyny, homophobia, transphobia, endorsement of heteropatriarchal norms, celebration of power or celebrity?
If so, does this compromise its moral-political message? Or more broadly, what is the relation between ostensibly objectionable elements of the song and its valid moral content?
(7) "Inflection concerns the tone of the message. It has to do with whether the content includes elements that are, say, conciliatory, polite, respectful, and diplomatic or vulgar, abusive, offensive, and irreverent. The content, taken in the abstract, may be unproblematic, but the language or images used to express that message might have impure elements. Much of political rap is criticized for its inflection rather than its substantive content" (Tommie Shelby, Dark Ghettos 258). Is this a valid critique of your song choice?
(8) Does the artist want us to do something? What?
(9) How would you describe the emotional tone of the performance?
(10) How would you describe the narrative perspective of the song? (If the song is not narrative, obviously you do not have to answer this one)
(11) If there is a dimension of trauma in the song, how does the traumatic content interact with the musicality?
(12) What is the song's perspective on the misdeeds (criminal infractions) of the imprisoned?