Prep
- DUE: Each INDIVIDUAL needs to submit a link to their Story Map by the end of the day, 12/10!
- Francesca Polletta, ‘Storytelling in Politics’, Contexts (2006)
- Homework: Polletta concludes by offering the example of great works of literature as a model for breaking with familiar storytelling templates (we like familiar templates, but we don’t want stories that conform to them in ways that are too predictable): ‘Great writers don’t write simple stories. They write stories that tap into our expectations and defy them. They tweak familiar plotlines, characters, and situations. They use tropes like irony, ellipsis, and shifting point of view to make what was familiar strange. They let us think we’re hearing one kind of story and then tell us another’ (p. 30). So which rap storytellers can we compare with the great writers? Which storytelling rap songs make good use of, say, irony, ellipsis, shifting point of view, or other devicesin order to make the familiar strange? Post your answers in the #discography channel on Discord.
In Class
- Attendance
- Q&A: When does hip-hop storytelling teach us to think better and see more clearly?
- Story Maps Troubleshooting
- Reading Notes for Next Time
- Oral Presentations for Extra Credit
