Assignment One

Rap Genius: Wikipedia for Hip Hop Lyrics

For those who don’t know, Rap Genius began as a Wikipedia for rap lyrics. The site has since grown far beyond hip hop to include other genres of music and literary and historical texts. As with Wikipedia, the website is moderated by a staff, but most of the content is created by users who sign up for accounts. (For this class, you will have to sign up for an account at Rap Genius. It's easy: all you need is a "nickname"--try the Wu-Tang name generator; that's how Donald Glover got his rap name--and an email address--don't forget your password!)

Rap Genius in English Class?
We will be using Rap Genius both to explore and annotate F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, as well as to collectively annotate other related texts.

A major component of Rap Genius's mission is to “critique rap as poetry." Thus, you will be utilizing your literary critical thinking skills as you "explain" various parts of the novel and "suggest improvements" to existing explanations of texts on the website.

Moreover, annotating a text in detail, whether a novel or a song, is a step towards developing larger analyses, and can be thought of as part of the essay-writing process. You might end up using a brief close reading of the novel as an idea for a journal entry for the class.

The 411 on Rap Genius
Rap Genius allows users to select text from a novel or any other text and annotate, or as they say, "Break it down," in a pop-up bubble. White lines need annotating. Yellow lines already have an annotation.

Users can also “Suggest an improvement” to existing annotations by clicking on the yellow lines and adding a suggestion. Editors on Rap Genius like myself can then “accept” changes and further edit bubbles to provide users the best explanations possible.

Within bubbled explanations, it’s easy to embed images and video simply by pasting in the image URL or YouTube URL.

Editing Guidelines (But What Do I Say?)
Again, our goal here is to annotate texts, to provide analyses of textual meaning. Here are some questions to consider:

What literary and poetic devices like imagery, metaphor, and symbolism are at work in the novel?
How does the theme in the novel connect to the themes of other literary texts?

What relevant historical events are referenced in the text or could be helpful to understand the meaning of the words?

The first "Commandment" of Rap Genius reads as follows:

1. If you don't know whether a line should be explained, ask yourself: "Is this interesting"? If not, skip it or find a way to make it interesting** (THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT RULE OF RAP GENIUS!!! DONT EXPLAIN IT UNLESS ITS INTERESTING!)

And here are a few more specific suggestions about how to make an interesting explanation from the Rap Genius Editors:

- Go factual
- Go funny (especially good for obvious lines)
- Analyze [sic] the syntax
- Break down the multiple meanings
- Compare and contrast themes with other texts from that author, region or genre
- Rap Genius Style Guide, or, "Styles Upon Styles Upon Styles"
- There is an etiquette for the formatting and style of RG just as there are with formal English essays.
- While the writing at Rap Genius is relatively informal, proper grammar is still expected.
- Just as in more conventional paper-writing, songs should be in quotes and other titles should be appropriately formatted.

You cannot simply copy and paste from Wikipedia and other reference sites—that’s plagiarism anywhere you are writing. The fun thing about Rap Genius is that you can be rewarded for using your own voice!

As in conventional English essays, arguments need to be backed up with evidence. This is easier to do than using MLA format; simply link to a website that supports your point.

Digital writing requires a dynamism lacking in traditional paper writing. Be sure to include images, videos, or links in your posts to fully engage the online composition format.

Lastly, as with all digital writing, be sure to double-check, AKA proofread, your "published" explanations and suggestions to make sure links work and images and video are properly embedded.

For More Help
Check out the resources created by Rap Genius Editors and Rap Genius Educators, including:
A Student's Guide to Genius

Rap Genius for Beginners (a DO's and DON'Ts list)

Rap Genius Contributor Guidelines (some formatting tips and a 10 commandments list")

BEFORE YOU COMPLETE YOUR FIRST ASSIGNMENT, JOIN THE class roster.

Your First Rap Genius Assignment and Extra "Street" Cred(it):
Your first assignment is to add at least one annotation (or "suggest an improvement") to the first chapter of The Great Gatsby.

Your explanations or suggestions should be substantial and at least one should include a link and an image or video. Linking to another "lyric" or song within Rap Genius is extra credit and then explaining how it connects to The Great Gatsby is extra credit. Here is an example.

You will also receive extra credit throughout the term for explanations on Rap Genius that relate to course themes. For example, there are a wide selection of songs that relate to the topic of the American dream that you might work on annotating. I will be able to monitor your contributions via the point system and your profile on the site.