Akala - Shakespeare and Hip-Hop

• Engels
• MBO
• Studiejaar 1

Shakespeare and Hip-Hop, what do they have in common?

Akala - Rapper and writer

Hip-Hop & Shakespeare? 

Akala at TEDxAldeburgh

William Shakespeare, 1564-1616

Hip-Hop, since 1973

“Sonnet 18: Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?” In modern language.

Should I compare you to a summer's day?
    You are lovelier and more mild.
    In May rough winds shake the delicate flower buds,
    And the duration of summer is always too short.
    Sometimes the Sun, the eye of heaven, is too hot,
    And his golden face is often dimmed;
    And beauty falls away from beautiful people,
    Stripped by chance or nature's changing course.
    But your eternal summer will not fade,
    Nor will you lose possession of the beauty you own,
    Nor will death be able to boast that you wander in his shade,
    When you live in eternal lines, set apart from time.
    As long as men breathe or have eyes to see,
    As long as this sonnet lives, it will give life to you.

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Questions video (part 1):

• What does Akala ask the audience to do?
• Did you recognize any of the lyrics/lines from the quiz?
• Why is this quiz surprising?

Discuss in pairs (Dutch or English). 

Then answer the questions in the group (English).

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• What does Iambic pentameter help with?
• What did you think of Akala's version of 'Compare thee to a summer's day'?
  
• Can you try?
  

Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?

Thou art more lovely and more temperate:

Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,

And summer’s lease hath all too short a date;

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Questions video (part 3):

• What are misconceptions about the time of Shakespeare?
• What is a skill 90% of people didn't have?
• What are your thoughts?

Discuss in pairs (Dutch or English). 

Then answer the questions in the group (English).

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Questions video (part 4):

• What is the meaning behind the words Hip and Hop?
• What are the five elements of Hip-Hop?
• What does Akala mean by this:

Up until the mid-nineties, it was still normal for the most commercially successful rappers to boast about how clever they were. To talk about kicking science, dropping knowledge, spreading mathematics, while simultaneously talking about what life was like in the projects of New York City.

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Questions video (last part):

What does Akalan, and the Hip-Hop Shakespeare Company, try to teach?

What lesson do you take from the talk of Akala?

Extra: Schrijf een kort gedicht of rap van 4-8 regels

Thema’s (kies 1):

• Taal en macht
• Wie jij bent / jouw wijk / jouw school
• Iets dat oneerlijk is
• Wat jij belangrijk vindt

Eisen:

• Engels of Nederlands, jouw keus
• Gebruik minstens 1 rijm (ABAB of AABB)
• Je mag slang gebruiken, maar ook ‘moeilijke’ woorden – net als Shakespeare!
• Je mag het serieus of grappig maken.