Welcome to Mr. Kirby's AP Euroblog. This site is for all CHS students and guest to comment on topics relating to AP Modern European history.
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Rap Canterbury Tales???
Share your thoughts on Baba Brinkman's Preface to the Rap Canterbury Tales. Do you feel his arguments have academic merit? Does he make Chaucer more accessable to 21st century students?
Baba Brinkman’s comparison of rap to the Canterbury Tales was very interesting to read. When I think of rap and Canterbury Tales the two don’t go hand in hand. Baba Brinkman does have academic merit because he has come up with a lot of similarities that are backed up by research and fact. Baba Brinkman came up with a lot of similarities that wouldn’t have ever crossed my mind. Both rap and Canterbury Tales are focused around an audience. Both are trying to get the audience to like the they are seeing. It’s a never ending battle to please the audience. In rap and Canterbury Tales there both is a competition that drives the rappers and storytellers. Rappers will battle against other rappers in a freestyle battle, while the audience gets to decide who the better rapper is. In Canterbury Tales everyone gets to tell their story each storyteller is trying to make their story better than the other person’s story. Which the reader or listener can decide which story is the best. Baba Brinkman brought up an interesting point when he talked about censoring. In the 14th and 15th century when poetry became very popular poets had to cater to what the audience wanted, not to what they felt needed to get across. When rap artist get a record deal; they have to cater and censor to what the record producer wants. Overall Baba Brinkman brings up many similarities that make people realize how two different worlds have more in common than it seems.
I believe Baba Brinkman makes Chaucer more accessible to 21st century students. He makes learning the tales much more interesting. Instead of reading the story, we get to hear a voice to Canterbury Tales; a voice that is filled with the excitement that the story teller has. When you listen to Baba Brinkman you began to understand to Canterbury Tales in a different way rather than reading the book. The words Chaucer wrote down come alive when Baba says them. When Baba tells each story it’s as if he really was the character. Baba Brinkman is a great story teller because of this many people enjoy Canterbury Tales more and they are more accessible to 21st century students.
Baba Brinkman’s Preface to the Rap Canterbury Tales is extremely detailed and not only informs the reader of his purpose for rapping the Canterbury Tales but also provides specific connections from hip-hop culture today and Chaucer’s poetry. His research shows that Chaucer employed skills such as dramatizing a story by using a live performance and unique choice of language style. Baba imitates these ideas by bringing them back to life in his raps. I feel Baba’s arguments do have academic merit mainly because he has solid research and is able to relate and analyze this research to both Chaucer’s work and his own work. For example, he connects his research on rap battles to Chaucer’s overall plot in the Canterbury Tales. He shows that rap battles include people competing to tell a better story by being more entertaining and trying to “top” the previous rap. This is just like the pilgrims in the Canterbury Tales who use humor, rhymes, and wit to gain the audience's approval. Finally, Brinkman relates the mediator in a rap battle who judges for the best rap to the “Host” in the Canterbury Tale who judges for the most entertaining story. I think Baba definitely makes Chaucer more accessible to 21st century students. First of all, he puts Chaucer’s words into a context that we can actually understand without having to put much extra effort. In contrast, his original work forces the reader to strain to understand each line because the language, although containing historical merit, may confuse us as to what is really happening with the plot. Also, Baba’s raps help put into perspective how Chaucer’s work was viewed in his time. This is because during Chaucer’s time, his work was seen as crude and was looked down upon by the higher society and seen as entertainment for the lower class. As discussed by Brinkman in his Preface, rap today is also a source of entertainment and contains subjects such as sex and violence that are frowned upon by a large part of society who deems it unworthy of being associated with. So instead of looking at it through a historical point of view as a primary document meant for learning purposes only, Baba puts it on a level that is relatable to the level it was actually on when Chaucer wrote it. Finally, Baba animates Chaucer’s words and ideas and grabs his audience’s attention and entertains them from the very beginning to the very end each character’s story.
Baba Brinkman's preface compares rap to historical poetry and how Geoffrey Chaucer was a perfect candidate to compare his stories to rap because he was known as the father of poetry for centuries. Baba Brinkman proves that he has academic merit by stating that a freestyle battle is like the storytelling of all of the people on the pilgrimage to Canterbury because a freestyle battle is when two or more people use punch lines to outwit their opponents. In the Canterbury Tales the host tells the pilgrims that whoever creates the best story wins a free meal at the tabard when they get back from their pilgrimage. Also the stories told by the pilgrims represent a kind of freestyle rap because they are improvising on the spot to outwit each other to win that free meal. Rappers do the same thing by rapping in order to win the rap battle. Another example that Baba has academic merit is when he mentions the idea of the MC and the host. Basically the host in The Canterbury Tales is like a MC because they mediate the rap battle or in The Canterbury Tales' case storytelling. The objective of a MC is to pump up the crowd about the upcoming battle, also in the the Canterbury Tales the host's job is to mediate the contest just like the MC. Overall Baba Brinkman has academic merit due to the similarities between rap and the Canterbury tales that is stated above.
I believe that Baba Brinkman does make Chaucer more accessible to 21st century students because his translating The Canterbury Tales to a more modern language to the 21st century students enables them to understand it in a way that is natural to them. Also it enables the students to listen to the rap that is said in a way that still has the main story of The Canterbury tales just in a more modern way. In conclusion Baba Brinkman knew that connecting rap and historical poetry would make students in this century understand it more.
Baba Brinkman's Preface to the Canterbury Tales rap was a very enlightening read for me, as it revealed the correlation between Chaucer's Tales and today's hip-hop scene. While at first glimpse this seems like another college student's attempt at a thesis paper for a college course, it is more than meets the eye. Baba reveals both his journey to enlightenment and how we can apply Chaucer's theories and practices today. It is impossible to say that Chaucer was the trailblazer for rap and hip-hop, but Baba makes some valid arguments stating that he unknowingly started the movement.
Some of the similarities between the two mediums are not so obvious on the surface. Both are written or created on the spot in order to appeal to an audience, which can either end the performance or story early or let it run its course. They also are spurred on by the cheers or jeers of the audience, as either action will lead the rapper or storyteller to fail more spectacularly or excel. On the most basic level, a rap or the written word are composed in order to tell a story that will please its intended readers or listeners, or even to sometimes terrify or frighten. While Baba's claims that current hip-hop artists are modern day "Chaucer's" is a little ridiculous, he did bring up a valid point on the levels of hip-hop that exist. There is both the underground and the mainstream, and both sides ridicule each other for both selling out and for not supporting their fellow artists. However, without the other, neither side could exist, so they live in their own kind of harmony. The same could be said about Chaucer's literature and his "competition" that existed during his time period. Though there are no records that can confirm this claim, Chaucer is viewed as the most influential and important literary figure of his time, and so he must have had his share of criticisms and claims of "selling out." This is just one example of Baba's reasoning.
While some of his claims are a little extraneous and exaggerated, when viewed as a tool to improve the understanding of Chaucer's work, it is very valuable. He discards with the iambic pentameter that Chaucer primarily used and replaced it in rhyming schemes that make it accessible to the high school student.
Baba Brinkman makes several good statements on the performance of Canterbury Tales as a Rap. And all of his comments seems to be backed by pretty solid research. Brinkman believes that by rapping out the lyrics to this poem, it makes it more accessible for today’s students as well as better represent the style of Geoffrey Chaucer. His first argument is that since Geoffrey Chaucer wrote his narrative as a poem to translate it into modern prose would cause it to lose its substance. He feels that by rapping out the story, it offers a modern view on the Canterbury tales without sacrificing the iambic pentameter style writing. Being able to Rap out a classic story like the Canterbury Tales also helps back his support for Hip-Hop and show that it is not all bad and does not have to be frowned upon as a “corrupting influence.” Hip-Hop also has several other connections with Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales. Both of them are normally oral traditions that are not written, but passed down by word of mouth. The story-telling contest between the characters can also be compared to the freestyle battle performed by MC’s. These performers have to improvise raps that show their style and background, just like the different characters in the Canterbury Tales battled each other for the best story they knew told each in their own styles. The pilgrims of Chaucer’s tale may be telling stories they have heard before, but they are improvising with their own rhymes and phrases in this dramatized story-telling. Rappers and Pilgrims alike brought competition to their storytelling. Hip-Hop originated from poetry, it is true poetry. Brinkman feels that poetry cannot be felt through the words on a printed page and that Hip-Hop allows us to truly hear the ingenious rhyme of the poem. By performing the Canterbury Tales in Rap it not only allows us to get the full feel of the poem, it also makes it far more interesting for students today. I know from personal experience of reading through the “Prologue” and then the “Knights Tale” was difficult, even in the modern English translation. When I listened to the rap version of the “Millers Tale” however, the story was much more alive. Rap is something students are more familiar with the transposed lines into the modern slang helped to better understand what each story was basically trying to say. And I would further think that a student would more rather listen to a rap than have to read a classical English story. Rapping this classical story helps to create a medium where modern kids can learn to appreciate classics without being bored to tears.
I feel that, while the Canterbury Tales in rap format is a creative and innovative way to get kids in the twenty-first century interested in what they think of as ‘dead literature’, it really pales in comparison to just reading a modern English translation of the book. Brinkman has a lot of very interesting ideas, and the way he compares the way the travelers take potshots at each other through their tales to how M.C.s will have freestyle battles with each other is both intriguing and rooted in logic. However, I still feel like it’s modernizing the tales too much. In the same way that email obliterated the general feeling of handwritten correspondence, I feel that putting these stories to rap makes them much more modern and puts out a bad message regarding old literature. While I don’t expect children to jump at the chance to read Chaucer, there’s something to be said for truly teleporting yourself back in time to that era and stepping into the shoes of those Pilgrims. Without the deafening rap backbeat, it’s much easier to get into the feeling of the middle ages and picture yourself there. While the rap is certainly more entertaining and will probably attract more of a younger generation, it will still be the generation that frowns on reading and prefers mindless corporate music to quality literature.
That’s not to say that I find Mr. Brinkman uneducated. He’s a very intelligent man, and his ideas and connections between the Canterbury Tales and rap music are fascinating. However, I much prefer books to be books, and music to be music. Our generation is already all too eager to shrug off classic old things for the newest, shiniest version, when the old version works just as well. Rap versions of Chaucer may be exciting and entertaining, but I still feel like in comparison to the original, they just don’t measure up.
Baba Brinkman’s Preface to C.T. was very interesting for me to read. It showed an interesting correlation between hip-hop and C.T. There are many similarities between Chaucer’s tale’s and mainstream rap. Basic rap is written words composed to tell a story and entice the audience, and please them. They are both created in order to appeal to the audience of their time. In both their times they were consider vulgar language. Chaucer’s tales were written in English not the proper Latin, also they were written with crude jokes, embracing the audience, and also used language that maybe some person of nobility would chose not to. Rappers use vulgar language too, swears and profanity that to some of the older generation are offensive, there are crude humor and jokes. By Baba rapping these tales he makes it easier for today’s generation to understand. Baba also feels that by rapping the tales they do not lose their poetic meaning.
Baba Brinkman’s insight into the Canterbury Tales to me is amazing. To translate it’s meaning as you read is in itself a feat but to take it a step farther and renew the Canterbury Tales in a modern art form is astounding. Brinkman’s academic merit is shown through his research. Tracing lineage of rap in poetic form back to the middle ages while realizing it’s connection to Europe, Africa, and South America proves older stories can be traced to modern day artists. Brinkman’s Reasoning is historically accurate. The Canterbury Tales are in a way the first rap battle. A group of people get together to be judged on their story telling skills. These pilgrims belittle and fight for attention while their stories which happen to be poetic are oral. This, as Brinkman says, is like a rap contest where MCs have rap battles rhyming lyrics and fighting for attention while the audience judges them. For Brinkman to create a rap of the Canterbury Tales he must have had a complete understanding of the stories in the Canterbury Tales, as well the ability to translate the poetic verses into lyrics. This means he not only needed background in history and European culture he also needed background in music and poetry. mixing this knowledge and creating the rap version of the Canterbury Tales which are similar in structure and meaning to the original creates a modern work of art. The academic merit of Brinkman’s rap of the Canterbury Tales is shown through his accomplishment and his connections. It’s popularity in school also shows it as recognized as an art form of the Canterbury Tales.
Brinkman definitely made the Canterbury Tales more assessable by today’s students. Students of current society prefer hip hop and rap to any other genera. Brinkman’s rap puts what would be boring medieval literature into easily comprehended modern day rap. Normally students would find reading the Canterbury Tales a aggravating task due to the fact you must translate to find meaning as well as think to identify purpose and understand the context. This makes reading the Canterbury Tales for the average person extremely difficult. Brinkman’s rap puts the Canterbury Tales into a more understandable form that is easily comprehended and even liked. Youth will listen to the rap and instead of instantly disliking it will familiarize with it and listen.
Baba Brinkman effectively converted the “Canterbury Tales” into how they would be presented in modern society - as a form of entertainment. In the 21st century, poetry has faded as a source of popular entertainment, and is more emphasized in academic pursuits or in literary circles. In Chaucer’s time, oration of poetry was an exciting form of entertainment. In the 21st century, hip-hop music and rap is the form of entertainment that appeals to the masses and is more appreciated by the common population. Brinkman took the poetry that was a trend in Chaucer’s time and transformed it to the type of poetry that is the current trend.
In doing so, Brinkman certainly makes Chaucer more accessible to 21st century students. Reading through a Canterbury tale is very tedious and it incorporates vocabulary and phrasings that are irrelevant to modern times. Brinkman allows students to appreciate the stories for their true purpose, versus wasting time trying to figure out what Chaucer was saying. In doing so, students can come to the realization that stories told hundreds of years ago can still be interesting today; stories with themes of love, sex, and violence have always appealed to people. Understanding parallels and differences between today’s pop-culture and pop-culture hundreds of years ago is essential to a student’s understanding of history.
In a traditional sense, Brinkman’s arguments in the preface to the Canterbury Tales do not have academic merit. A common perception is that the study of hip-hop and rap is not an academic pursuit. The logical argument that follows is that Brinkman’s renditions of the Canterbury Tales have no academic merit. However, this parallels how Chaucer’s work was viewed when first published - as trash with little scholarly value, written in the “vulgar tongue”. However, Chaucer’s work started a trend that revolutionized literature and its study. In this way, perhaps Brinkman can be perceived as a forerunner for how literature will be studied.
Brinkman correlates the style of Chaucer’s story telling to a rapping competition. He also explains how the modern relationship between an entertainer and his audience is like a poets relationship with his audience in Chaucer’s era. In doing so, Brinkman effectively communicates how Chaucer was perceived in his time, which is essential to an academic understanding of the Canterbury Tales.
Brinkman makes Chaucer not only relevant, but interesting to an academic study of Chaucer’s work, by addressing how we would perceive Chaucer if he were an artist today.
In Baba Brinkman’s Preface to the Rap Canterbury Tales, I found a rare passion for a subject. Through his writing, it becomes evident that Baba Brinkman truly believes in his project and wants to share The Canterbury Tales in a new and exciting way. The argument of whether or not his new methods will be accepted by the academic community however has me hovering on a fence. Baba Brinkman presents information as to the merit of his Rap Canterbury Tales in the Preface to his book, and his reasoning is both well-thought out and solid, Baba highlights the fact that prose would not do justice to the rhythm of The Canterbury Tales and contemporary iambic pentameter would almost be as boring as reading Middle English. According to Baba, the only logical solution to presenting The Canterbury Tales in a new form is to rap Chaucer’s immortal words, and I can’t help but agree with him. After listening to the Rap Canterbury Tales, I was able to gain a much better understanding of the story’s content than I got from reading The Canterbury Tales; and I found the Canterbury Tales much more enjoyable after hearing them being rapped. Brinkman’s rap was much easier to understand and it is therefore much more accessible to 21st century students. As Baba said, rap is the perfect medium for The Canterbury Tales today because it can hold an audience’s attention and effectively tell a long and complicated story. Rap is also familiar to most 21st century students; it is a language they know and speak. The fact that The Rap Canterbury Tales is more easily accessible to students does not however give Brinkman’s argument for their value more academic merit. I feel that Baba Brinkman will have a much harder time winning over scholars with this theory. Although Brinkman’s ideas make sense to me, scholars who revere Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales might have difficulty seeing Brinkman’s side. Brinkman also bases much of his argument off of opinion and without fact, academic merit is hard to obtain. Brinkman also seeks to reverse the misrepresentation of hip-hop, but for those who only know of hip-hop’s negative image, it is very hard to accept that rap has a place in the class room. Brinkman must give real evidence of a student’s increased understanding of The Canterbury Tales after listening to his rap in order to gain solid academic merit.
Baba Brinkman's theories behind the Rap Canterbury Tales are interesting. His approach towards using rap as the medium of expression is surprisingly apt. In addition to rap providing a regular meter, rhyme, and a flowing, musical tone (all characteristics of Caucer's epic), the cultural connatation of rap suits that of the Tales. Caucer's work was a highly controversial publication at its time; it was crude and crass, and frowned upon by the gentry and Church leaders. Its use of the vernacular was also a liberal feature, agian disliked by a world where Latin was the superior tongue. Rap music embodies many of these characteristics; rap is often an incredibly crude form of art, stunningly frank in its depictions of sex, violence, drugs, and other demons. Those of an older generation, and even many of this current generation, think of rap as a lowly and disgusting form of music, and find it far too explicit. The crude humor of the Canterbury Tales was similar to this baser substance, as was the critical reaction to it. Furthermore, rap is built upon colloquial language and slang, and thus appeals to the masses. Many condemn rap because of its informal language, and would go so far as to say it does not even constitute a genre of music due to its use of slang. In an analogous manner, the use of vernacular Middle English in the Canterbury Tales, and the criticism of the language by the upper classes, issimilar to the colloquialism of rap. Therefore, Brinkman's use of rap in his recitation was an incredibly effective tool with a strong academic base, for both its application of poetic devices, and its liberal appeal.
I believe Brinkman's Rap Canterbury Tales will have some influence on a younger generation. Its presentation is certainly more inviting and less intimidating than the Middle English poem, insofar as understanding. Thus, those who are not well versed in Middle English, or even a poetic translation of the work, can easily comprehend the stories. The popularity of rap, not only in America but worldwide, gives new life to an archaic source, hence making it more "cool" to listen to. Those who would normally be turned off by such an old work might be more disposed to look at it. By seeing much of its crass humor, which honestly has not changed much in 700 years, a connection can be made to the old work, giving it an appeal to a younger crowd. However, there are some drawbacks to the work; I cannot see many rap enthusiasts in this modern age, no matter how good the piece may be, being attracted to anything even associated with The Canterbury Tales. I fear the connatiation surrounding the Tales is so antiquated, it does not have much appeal left, in any form. Still, other than this problem, I feel it does have potential to revive, at least to some extent, Caucer's classic work.
I feel that Baba Brinkman’s interpretation of The Canterbury Tales as a form of old English rap was a very valid argument. I feel that his argument that, The Canterbury Tales and poetry back in the Middle Ages was what rap has a lot of scholarly merit. From my point of view the English spoken back then was a version of slang most likely and The Canterbury Tales was like a compilation of stories and ideas of that time, much like rap is today. The rap of today, in most cases, tries to tell a story, does it always have a good moral, no, but neither did most of the stories in The Canterbury Tales. Rap is sung in a more slang way than traditional music just as The Canterbury Tales was written “in the vulgar tongue” as Francesco Petrarca put it. The comparison that Baba makes is very well supported in many ways. For one rap is seen as a less than appropriate form of music now just as The Canterbury Tales were then. Also rap uses a slang that many find offensive much like written works in the vernacular was back in the middle ages when Latin was the standard. Brinkman’s views are like comparing an old car with a new car. The old car looks much different on the outside compared to the new car but both do the same thing they get the owner from point “a” to point “b”. Rap and The Canterbury Tales are the same way though they may sound much different both essentially to the same thing, tell a story. I feel that Brinkman’s work with Chaucer’s literature makes it much simpler for the modern student to understand what was happening and give the listener a better respect for it by comparing the culture of The Canterbury Tales and similar works to a more current culture like rap.
I find that Baba Brinkman’s Preface to the Rap Canterbury Tales definitely shows that he really thought about what he wrote. I thought it was really interesting how he found something that, in essence, really needed to be done and it was what he loved to do. I think in his preface he really shows the amount of work he put into writing the raps. I also thought it was really cool how he realized he could “dismantle the widespread prejudice against hip-hop culture” with his raps. I believe that his arguments do have academic merit. He talks about the effect that the iambic pentameter would have on the raps. He seems to be very aware of the aspects of poetry and their effects. The conclusions Brinkman comes to are not without academic backing. And it is easy to see how dedicated he has been to hip-hop as an art form throughout his life. I think Brinkman really shows with his raps that there are many connections between today and late 14th century. He points out how the actual tales were based around the audience as is his raps. He recognizes how much the audience matters to the performance and works off of that. The fact that the Canterbury Tales were intended to be read aloud made his transition to a rap make a lot more sense too, especially the freestyle aspect. Also his discussion of things like censorship relate to today’s record companies. It was really interesting how Brinkman points out “Chaucer employs the competition as a unifying principle”, talking about the pilgrims going to Canterbury together and competing to tell the best story. This is so similar to rap battles today. Rappers get together and battle and it keeps hip-hop and rap moving.
Baba Brinkman definitely makes Chaucer more accessible to 21st century students. Most students do not want to sit down and fight their way through Middle English. Brinkman has revived the tales by putting them into a form that students can understand and want to listen to. Brinkman’s enthusiasm about the Canterbury Tales definitely contributes to students interest and I think he has definitely kept the tales alive in a very different society.
I find that Baba Brinkman’s Preface to the Rap Canterbury Tales definitely shows that he really thought about what he wrote. I thought it was really interesting how he found something that, in essence, really needed to be done and it was what he loved to do. I think in his preface he really shows the amount of work he put into writing the raps. I also thought it was really cool how he realized he could “dismantle the widespread prejudice against hip-hop culture” with his raps. I believe that his arguments do have academic merit. He talks about the effect that the iambic pentameter would have on the raps. He seems to be very aware of the aspects of poetry and their effects. The conclusions Brinkman comes to are not without academic backing. And it is easy to see how dedicated he has been to hip-hop as an art form throughout his life. I think Brinkman really shows with his raps that there are many connections between today and late 14th century. He points out how the actual tales were based around the audience as is his raps. He recognizes how much the audience matters to the performance and works off of that. The fact that the Canterbury Tales were intended to be read aloud made his transition to a rap make a lot more sense too, especially the freestyle aspect. Also his discussion of things like censorship relate to today’s record companies. It was really interesting how Brinkman points out “Chaucer employs the competition as a unifying principle”, talking about the pilgrims going to Canterbury together and competing to tell the best story. This is so similar to rap battles today. Rappers get together and battle and it keeps hip-hop and rap moving. Baba Brinkman definitely makes Chaucer more accessible to 21st century students. Most students do not want to sit down and fight their way through Middle English. Brinkman has revived the tales by putting them into a form that students can understand and want to listen to. Brinkman’s enthusiasm about the Canterbury Tales definitely contributes to students interest and I think he has definitely kept the tales alive in a very different society.
I find that Baba Brinkman’s Preface to the Rap Canterbury Tales definitely shows that he really thought about what he wrote. I thought it was really interesting how he found something that, in essence, really needed to be done and it was what he loved to do. I think in his preface he really shows the amount of work he put into writing the raps. I also thought it was really cool how he realized he could “dismantle the widespread prejudice against hip-hop culture” with his raps. I believe that his arguments do have academic merit. He talks about the effect that the iambic pentameter would have on the raps. He seems to be very aware of the aspects of poetry and their effects. The conclusions Brinkman comes to are not without academic backing. And it is easy to see how dedicated he has been to hip-hop as an art form throughout his life. I think Brinkman really shows with his raps that there are many connections between today and late 14th century. He points out how the actual tales were based around the audience as is his raps. He recognizes how much the audience matters to the performance and works off of that. The fact that the Canterbury Tales were intended to be read aloud made his transition to a rap make a lot more sense too, especially the freestyle aspect. Also his discussion of things like censorship relate to today’s record companies. It was really interesting how Brinkman points out “Chaucer employs the competition as a unifying principle”, talking about the pilgrims going to Canterbury together and competing to tell the best story. This is so similar to rap battles today. Rappers get together and battle and it keeps hip-hop and rap moving. Baba Brinkman definitely makes Chaucer more accessible to 21st century students. Most students do not want to sit down and fight their way through Middle English. Brinkman has revived the tales by putting them into a form that students can understand and want to listen to. Brinkman’s enthusiasm about the Canterbury Tales definitely contributes to students interest and I think he has definitely kept the tales alive in a very different society.
I find that Baba Brinkman’s Preface to the Rap Canterbury Tales definitely shows that he really thought about what he wrote. I thought it was really interesting how he found something that, in essence, really needed to be done and it was what he loved to do. I think in his preface he really shows the amount of work he put into writing the raps. I also thought it was really cool how he realized he could “dismantle the widespread prejudice against hip-hop culture” with his raps. I believe that his arguments do have academic merit. He talks about the effect that the iambic pentameter would have on the raps. He seems to be very aware of the aspects of poetry and their effects. The conclusions Brinkman comes to are not without academic backing. And it is easy to see how dedicated he has been to hip-hop as an art form throughout his life. I think Brinkman really shows with his raps that there are many connections between today and late 14th century. He points out how the actual tales were based around the audience as is his raps. He recognizes how much the audience matters to the performance and works off of that. The fact that the Canterbury Tales were intended to be read aloud made his transition to a rap make a lot more sense too, especially the freestyle aspect. It was really interesting how Brinkman points out “Chaucer employs the competition as a unifying principle”, talking about the pilgrims going to Canterbury together and competing to tell the best story. This is so similar to rap battles today. Rappers get together and battle and it keeps hip-hop and rap moving. Baba Brinkman definitely makes Chaucer more accessible to 21st century students. Most students do not want to sit down and fight their way through Middle English. Brinkman has revived the tales by putting them into a form that students can understand and want to listen to. Brinkman’s enthusiasm about the Canterbury Tales definitely contributes to students interest and I think he has definitely kept the tales alive in a very different society.
I find that Baba Brinkman’s Preface to the Rap Canterbury Tales definitely shows that he really thought about what he wrote. I thought it was really interesting how he found something that, in essence, really needed to be done and it was what he loved to do. I think in his preface he really shows the amount of work he put into writing the raps. I also thought it was really cool how he realized he could “dismantle the widespread prejudice against hip-hop culture” with his raps. His arguments do have academic merit. He talks about the effect that the iambic pentameter would have on the raps. He seems to be very aware of the aspects of poetry and their effects. The conclusions Brinkman comes to are not without academic backing. And it is easy to see how dedicated he has been to hip-hop as an art form throughout his life. I think Brinkman really shows with his raps that there are many connections between today and late 14th century. He points out how the actual tales were based around the audience as is his raps. He recognizes how much the audience matters to the performance and works off of that. The fact that the Canterbury Tales were intended to be read aloud made his transition to a rap make a lot more sense too, especially the freestyle aspect. It was really interesting how Brinkman points out “Chaucer employs the competition as a unifying principle”, talking about the pilgrims going to Canterbury together and competing to tell the best story. This is so similar to rap battles today. Rappers get together and battle and it keeps hip-hop and rap moving. Baba Brinkman definitely makes Chaucer more accessible students. Most students do not want to sit down and fight their way through Middle English. Brinkman has revived the tales by putting them into a form that students can understand and want to listen to. Brinkman’s enthusiasm about the Canterbury Tales definitely contributes to students’ interest and he has kept the tales alive in an ever changing society.
Baba Brinkman’s reason for writing and creating a rap version of The Canterbury Tales has academic merit. By remaking the tales into a rap form, it allows Brinkman to express almost the same passion that was in the original text. Brinkman wanted to keep the emotions of the original Canterbury Tales. He can rap each tale without sacrificing important plot points. Brinkman makes a convincing argument for his choosing of rap. A prose version of The Canterbury Tales would only “stifle the lyricism in Chaucer’s narrative voice” and that “translating them into a contemporary iambic pentameter would still feel archaic to the modern ear” (Brinkman Preface). Brinkman’s goal with the rap version of The Canterbury Tales was to allow more people to read and understand Chaucer’s tales. Brinkman gives another argument for his decision in creating a rap form of The Canterbury Tales. He explains that because of the rhythmic verses of the tales, The Canterbury Tales was meant as an oral story. Brinkman says that by having a rap form, he fulfills the original meaning of Chaucer’s tales. He has academic merit because he retells the tales with the intention of educating; in his preface, he said he has been traveling around the nation for six years retelling his rap to thousands of people. With The Canterbury Tales in rap form, Brinkman can tell the tales in the same sense as Chaucer did while writing his tales; in rap, most songs are written like a story. With Brinkman’s comparison of The Canterbury Tales and 21st century rap, one can see his inspiration and desire to create his own version of The Canterbury Tales. He makes a valid point in suggesting that The Canterbury Tales has the same traits and principles as freestyle rap; the characters within the book were trying to tell the best tale and have the Host declare them the winner of the contest. This is similar to freestyle rap because the Master of Ceremonies (MC) is competing against other MCs to be the best and win the vote of the audience. Brinkman does successfully make The Canterbury Tales more accessible to 21st century students by creating a rap version. Rap is one of the major music genres of the 21st century and by having The Canterbury Tales in rap form, it attracts more students who are willing to listen to the tales. To a student of the 21st century, Brinkman’s songs are easier to understand than reading the translated Middle English version of The Canterbury Tales. The students find a connection with the hip-hop song and they listen to Brinkman’s songs as if it were by any modern day rap artist. By converting Chaucer’s tales into relatable songs, Brinkman prevented the tales from declining even more in popularity among readers and students. For some instances, literary classics must be adapted in to more modern versions to intrigue modern-day students. In this example, Baba Brinkman successfully adapted The Canterbury Tales into a form that is more accessible to 21st century students and has done so with academic merit.
Baba Brinkman’s concept of comparing rap to the Canterbury Tales most certainly has its academic merit, and he uses some very compelling examples to make his point. He showed in his article that the Canterbury Tales (or any form of storytelling for that matter) and modern day rap is not all that dissimilar through several key similarities. Both have to keep the audiences attention in mind, the whole objective of both is to please the crowd. He also shows that freestyle story telling and freestyle rapping also have the same competitive edge to one up the previous performer. However one of the most important similarities to me was the content in both forms of entertainment. Both always contain what the average person expects from entertainment, sex and violence. As far as whether or not the Rap Canterbury Tales helps the modern day person trying to understand something written about 600 years ago, I think Brinkman definitely accomplished his goal. Not only does he convert the Canterbury Tales into a language we can all understand, but he puts a rhythm and flow to it that keeps people engaged. Listening to Brinkman rap his way through the tales is a lot more engaging than reading the text or listen to someone read it out in a droning monotone. I personally understood the tales that we listened to him rap far better than the bit of summer reading that we had to do from the same material.
I believe that Baba Brinkman’s Preface in The Rap Canterbury Tales has a lot of standpoints, which support his idea of the similarities between Hip Hop and Chaucer’s poetry. Some of these similarities are actually very unique. Baba found that stories in medieval times were basically told person to person or to audience by song or poetry. This is how Chaucer writes his book the Canterbury Tales, by poem in a constant rhythm and in a setting where people are telling stories to others. Baba, trying to replicate this mode of story telling, found that rap is a happy medium in which it includes a steady rhythm in which a story is told. Another similarity is that Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, in its time, were viewed as unsophisticated, full of vulgarity, and not proper. Today the same goes for rap, people view rap as unsophisticated and full of vulgar. Though one major connection with the Canterbury Tales and modern day rap is the competition to tell a better story through song. The Canterbury Tales are basically a bunch of stories within a story of a story telling competition. Today the same thing still goes on between rappers, trying to tell better stories, show their cleverness with words, and using witty terms for insults basically just like Shakespeare. So in this case Rap was the perfect mode for Baba to re-present The Canterbury Tales in such a way that is ironically similar and in our era. Baba, through his talent to translate and transcribe Middle English, successfully found a way to present the stories that once entertained us centuries ago, to entertain us now through rap. What I find actually very interesting is that Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales were written in the vernacular language because of the rise of universities and more of the common people becoming educated, therefore being able to read his stories through the vernacular language. Well what Baba Brinkman does for us is put The Canterbury Tales into another, more modern vernacular (present day English) that is in a understandable and entertaining form. In conclusion, I believe that yes Baba Brinkman has deciphered The Canterbury Tales and reformatted them in such a way which makes them publicly available for the modern 21st century man.
First of all, after reading the preface, Baba Brinkman far surpassed my first impression of him as a literary figure. I judged him after seeing his website and listening to his recording of The Miller’s Tale, and in this judgment I underestimated the thought and research that was put into the Rap Canterbury Tales. I was surprised to discover all of the background information that was used for such a seemingly simple project of translating The Canterbury Tales into a new literary form. I now more easily understand the thought process behind connecting oral traditions that are hundreds of years old with hip-hop culture. That being said, I believe that his arguments do indeed have academic merit. The connection he made that had the greatest impact on me was that of Shakespeare and rap music. As soon as I read the initial connection in Baba’s Word, I began making many more connections within my own mind. For example, rap music is typically associated with urban areas that also carry connotations with gangs, sex, and violence. In Shakespeare’s time, the theater was confined to the same shady areas of town as pubs and brothels. Yet today, Shakespeare is one of the most esteemed writers in history, whose plays are performed in grandiose theaters that seep sophistication. After reading the passage about the connection between rap and Shakespeare, it dawned on me that we may be experiencing the growth of an art form that will be hailed by just as many professors and linguists that study Shakespeare today. If this is true, Brinkman’s idea to translate The Canterbury Tales into rap should be viewed as an innovation, and Brinkman was the first one to take the step toward a whole new field of literary novelty. I learned first-hand the effects of listening to Brinkman’s rap versus reading The Canterbury Tales. After reading The Knight’s Tale over the summer, I couldn’t remember what it was about on the first day of school. This was partially because it was a Greek/Roman story which blended in with The Aenied in my mind, which I also had to read over the summer, and partially because the modern English version felt translated and was still difficult to understand. The natural flow that the work had as poetry in its Middle English form was disrupted. However, Brinkman successfully recreated some of the rhythmic feel in his rap. I heard the rap of The Miller’s Tale, which sticks with me much more than The Knight’s Tale because it was in a more easily understandable yet still comfortable form. Through his raps, Brinkman definitely makes The Canterbury Tales more accessible to people who would otherwise not connect to the stories.
At first thought or glance, the Canterbury tales as written by Chaucer has little to do with the “rap” that is prevalent throughout our society. However, as Baba Brinkman pointed out in his preface, the main purpose of both the Canterbury tales and rap today is to entertain an audience. I would completely agree with what Baba Brinkman writes about in his preface in terms of converting a collection of tales that are waning in popularity due to the fact that they were written in at form of English that is difficult to read to anyone except a high school student who needs to read the tales or a Chaucer scholar. What I appreciated about Baba Brinkman’s preface was his dedication to remake the once widely popular tales into a form that would spark an interest in a wider audience in a modern setting. I also value how Baba Brinkman sought a form of literature would both entertain and that would capture the fact that an intended rhythm pattern was needed to fully give his audience the best possible rendition of the Canterbury Tales.
While arguing that Chaucer was a father figure of modern English, he also alludes that the works of Chaucer could make him the father of rap even though the term started in New York City in the 1970s. I do believe his arguments have a fair amount of academic and can be connected without much second thought. For example, Baba stated that Chaucer was a pre-curser to modern day MCs in the sense that they both gave “performances” without writing down the results and therefore must be passed down by word of mouth. This improvising of both the characters in the Canterbury Tales as well as the fact that Chaucer is making up these stories with a definite rhythm is an easy connection to make between modern day MCs and Chaucer.
Overall I would say that Baba Brinkman had a good intention (and was very successful in creating a modern representation of the Canterbury Tales) but personally I couldn’t stand his rap of the Tales. I have no hard feelings towards all the effort that Baba Brinkman put into his rendition of the tales and his research and I admire his thinking out of the box and the fact that he was able to prove that Chaucer created an amazing example of a timeless classic. However, when it comes down to it I couldn’t stand his voice while he was rapping. I would much rather read the Canterbury tales then have to listen to him rap but that’s what the purpose of art (and therefore literature) is, to make the audience think.
Baba Brinkman introduces The Rap Canterbury Tales as a solution to a problem. The problem is that The Canterbury Tales were losing popularity this time in age. This is true. The Canterbury Tales has lost popularity since the 18th century in which it was most popular in Great Britain. The Canterbury Tales now only retains its popularity with historians, for the most part. It sparks debates that young people are no longer interested about. Its main purpose is now to show middle English literature, and some history of the 14th century. I would not have know about this book had it not been my individual research on the Mongol Empire. The Squire’s Tale writes about Genghis Khan, but Chaucer has a different name because Genghis Khan’s name was not translated into English until the 15th century. It also shows and validity issue in the Canterbury Tales, but my response will not focus on that. Next we must see if his solution actually solved the problem. Baba Brinkman has made a substantial amount of money from performing “dozens of tours around the world.” So one can assumed he has raised the awareness of The Canterbury Tales. I think that Baba Brinkman’s arguments do have academic merit because from what he describes the poetry of Chaucer does closely assimilate to hip-hop and rap. I does seem that both have similar attributes. Of those includes: rhyming, beat, and freestyle. From those attributes hip-hop can be related to The Canterbury Tales. So I do believe that his arguments from first glance prove to be convincing. If more research is done I believe he could make his argument stronger by providing deeper detail of the writing of The Canterbury Tales. Baba’s raps helps show how Chaucer’s work was looked upon when it was first written. This is because during Chaucer’s time, his work was looked down upon by the aristocracy and seen as entertainment for the lower class. As discussed by Brinkman in his Preface, rap today is also a source of entertainment and contains subjects such as sex and violence that are frowned upon by a large part of society who deems it unworthy of being associated with. In the end Brinkman makes The Canterbury Tales more accessible by students and has relative academic merit.
After reading Baba Brinkman's explanation as to why he wrote/recorded the Rap Canterbury Tales I was actually surprised at the thought that went into them. At first I was surprised that there was such a thing because I am definitely not a fan of rap or hip hop just because I thought it was unsophisticated and thought that a text like the Canterbury tales could not be compared to rap. However, I changed my mind after I read his preface, his proposed reasons for altering the Canterbury Tales was to allow those not well versed in Middle English to understand the text while attracting younger crowds with a modern musical medium. He also reminded me that the Canterbury Tales were meant to be read and were designed to entertain. I feel like his arguments hold some academic merit because he reawakens the meaning and excitement of a text that most students would groan over having to read. Despite this not being the exact text, I feel like student would learn more from the rap version because it is more interesting due to its modern feel, while not abandoning essential aspects of the Canterbury Tales like the rhyme, rhythm, and content which absolutely makes the 600 year old Canterbury Tales more accessible to modern students.
Baba Brinkman’s preface to his rap of the Canterbury Tales was very interesting to read and very logical. Brinkman says that hip-hop is similar in both syntax and as a form of expression as Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales. Academically speaking Brinkman’s argument does hold water because he describes in great details how each relates to each other. The most interesting thing to me about Brinkman’s comparison is how both hip-hop and the Canterbury Tales are mainstream but are not widely accepted by older audiences and somewhat inappropriate. This is a fair comparison as most older adults do not like or listen to rap.
Brinkman’s translation of the Canterbury Tales to rap allows more people to experience and enjoy these great tales. Often students struggle reading Middle English and outdated stories of first person literature that is crucial to understanding time periods. The conversion of the tales to modern language and story lines allows the reader, or listener, to connect with the tales which is important for understanding and enjoyment. One example of this is in the Miller’s Tale when Brinkman adds a modern object, Miller Beer, which allows the reader to connect with the story as you can actually picture a bottle of Miller Beer. This allows more people to understand and enjoy the tales making them more accessible to students of today.
Brinkman's preface to the Rap Canterbury Tales completely amazes me. When Brinkman explains the similarities between Chaucer and modern rap artists I feel surprised its never been thought of before. Both the Canterbury Tales and modern rap are forms of poetry that are meant to be preformed orally. Chaucer wrote his poetry in the vernacular, which Boccaccio referred to as the vulgar language. Also Chaucer wrote some seedy tales that many disapproved of. Similarly, modern rap artists write using slang and are disapproved of by many of the older generation. The academic merit in Brinkman's work is easily apparent. Analogies and similarities between The Canterbury Tales and modern rap are numerous. As Brinkman discusses in his preface, these are both historical and in the organization and reactions to the poem. For example, The Canterbury Tales, strongly resemble a freestyle battle. As to Brinkman's success in making Chaucer more accessible to 21st century students, its not not a question whether he made it more accessible, but rather to what extent. This summer I attempted to read the non-translated version of the Canterbury Tales. Quite soon, I gave up and turned to the translated version. Still the poem loses many of its qualities that made it so popular in the first place. Making the Canterbury Tales, not only makes it easier to understand but also more entertaining to our generation. However, the fact that it is the Canterbury Tales and at all educational may deter some people, who otherwise would enjoy the rap. I personally think the rap captures the true feeling of Chaucer's original poem, which was written as if to be passed on orally. At least, if anything the rap is very entertaining, seeing as I am listening to it now!
Baba Brinkman’s Preface to the Rap Canterbury Tales was a very well written explanation of his reason for creating the Rap Canterbury Tales, with sold research backing up his arguments. He wrote about the history of rap and also a lot of history about poetry during the time Chaucer wrote The Canterbury Tales. He described poetry of the time as being much spoken word oriented and centered on rhyming which is much different than the free-verse poetry that dominates books today. Brinkman says that the poetry of today would have been considered more of a prose than an actual poem because rhyming was so important to the story line and flow of a poem. In his preface, Brinkman compares the travelers in the tale telling their different stories to a rap battle, because in both cases the people try to embarrass the others and come up with better stories. Also, he says that the host in the story acts as the audience because he gives different reactions to the stories that either lift or break down the spirits of those speaking. Often in his preface Brinkman tries to defend the rap and hip-hop industry as more than just a bunch of rappers talking about scandal and sex. He says that they try to talk about things that will intrigue the most attention from the audience, which is the same thing that Chaucer did in The Canterbury Tales. During his time his tales were considered rude and like trash when now they are shown as important works of literature. He believes that one day the rap music of today will also be seen that way because they could have ideas ahead of their time, like Chaucer. I believe that Baba Brinkman’s arguments do have academic merit because he compares 21st century ideas to those of the late 14th century with his knowledge of rap music and literature. He supports all of his ideas with research and well thought out arguments. Brinkman makes Chaucer very accessible to students today because he makes his old, forgotten tales into a rap that everyone can understand. The listeners not only get to hear the famous stories Chaucer wrote centuries ago, they are also entertained by them, which was the original intention of the Canterbury Tales.
Baba Brinkman’s Preface to the Rap Canterbury Tales is an excellent source of explanation into how the Canterbury Tales were viewed in the Middle Ages. The arguments that Brinkman brings up are academically merit when you considered the similarities of the Canterbury Tales to that of rap. The vernacular languages of the Middle Ages were considered impolite and informal to the upper classes, much like how rap is viewed today. Brinkman is showing that these two different modes of communications are actually very similar. Rap is simply an artistic way to express oneself, much like Chaucer’s writing style in the Canterbury Tales. As Brinkman points out, both the original and his version of the Canterbury Tales need “a live performance mode rich with wordplay and lyrical nuance, with a technique that could grab a live audience’s attention and hold it long enough to tell a complex story.” The iambic pentameter of the original version was enough to keep the listeners interested in the Middle Ages, but in modern times, something more substantial in the way of rhyme and rhythm was needed. Brinkman chose rap, because it was the new medium for communication across the world. Rap was created as an oral presentation of ideas, and seeing as most people of the Middle Ages could not read, so was the Canterbury Tales. The similarities between Brinkman’s and Chaucer’s versions of the same stories prove that Brinkman had academic merit in his arguments. Brinkman also made Chaucer more accessible to students in the 21st century because he translated it into a mode that kids will actually listen to. I am not a fan of rap music, and I enjoy a good book, but I was still much more impressed and interested when listening to the rap version than I was reading the original text. I dreaded having to read a book written in the 14th century, but listening to the modern version actually entertained me.
Baba Brinkman’s arguments supporting the use of rap as a device to tell the Canterbury Tales is interesting. At first I could see little connection between the two, but after reading his arguments carefully I came to understand the similarities he saw. I can only think of one real problem with his theories, which is that the original messages of the story may have been changed in the process of the conversion from Middle English to rap. It is impossible to make a perfect translation even into Modern English, and the more someone tries to modernize old texts, the more they change.
Other than this, I would have to say that most of Baba’s theories are solid. For me, his strongest argument was that the Canterbury Tales was originally made for oral recitation. Baba argues that writing the story down instead of speaking it makes it loose its original effect and destroys its lyricism. Simply reading the story out loud doesn’t restore this effect, because very few people can understand it. At the time, listening to something in the vulgar tone, especially something with crude themes, must have been much like listening to rap today. Therefore the logical solution to this problem is to convert the Canterbury tales into a rap form.
I found his comparison of the story of the Canterbury Tales to a modern rap battle interesting. The story is told in the context of travelers having a story telling contest on their way to a pilgrimage site. The winner will be the person who tells the best stories. This is similar to how rappers compete to come up with the best rhymes, and the crowd decides whose lyrics are better.
Baba also says that modern rap fills the same niche that works like the Canterbury tales filled in their time. Today, the Canterbury Tales is seen as important historical documents. However, at the time, it was looked down upon by the learned because the proper and intellectual language was Latin. Similarly, many modern intellectuals condemn rap because it is profane and improper. Rap and the Canterbury Tales are also similar because they entertain the masses, and because they contain a unique creativity that is missing in other works of the time. This is another logical connection between The Canterbury Tales and rap.
The conversion from Middle English to rap definitely makes the Canterbury Tales more accessible for the modern student. It is difficult to understand the Middle English, and students will have far less trouble understanding the rap. This allows the students to focus on the actual story rather than the language. After reading the Knight’s Tale multiple times, and listening to the Miller’s Tale once, I found that I retained more of the story from the Miller’s tale because the rap was so much easier to understand. Rap is a much more exciting medium than the original language. The rap is able to capture student’s attention better than the original English. It students find the stories more interesting, they will be more motivated to learn about them.
Baba Brinkman’s arguments supporting the use of rap as a device to tell the Canterbury Tales is interesting. At first I could see little connection between the two, but after reading his arguments carefully I came to understand the similarities he saw. I can only think of one real problem with his theories, which is that the original messages of the story may have been changed in the process of the conversion from Middle English to rap. It is impossible to make a perfect translation even into Modern English, and the more someone tries to modernize old texts, the more they change.
Other than this, I would have to say that most of Baba’s theories are solid. For me, his strongest argument was that the Canterbury Tales was originally made for oral recitation. Baba argues that writing the story down instead of speaking it makes it loose its original effect and destroys its lyricism. Simply reading the story out loud doesn’t restore this effect, because very few people can understand it. At the time, listening to something in the vulgar tone, especially something with crude themes, must have been much like listening to rap today. Therefore the logical solution to this problem is to convert the Canterbury tales into a rap form.
I found his comparison of the story of the Canterbury Tales to a modern rap battle interesting. The story is told in the context of travelers having a story telling contest on their way to a pilgrimage site. The winner will be the person who tells the best stories. This is similar to how rappers compete to come up with the best rhymes, and the crowd decides whose lyrics are better.
Baba also says that modern rap fills the same niche that works like the Canterbury tales filled in their time. Today, the Canterbury Tales is seen as important historical documents. However, at the time, it was looked down upon by the learned because the proper and intellectual language was Latin. Similarly, many modern intellectuals condemn rap because it is profane and improper. Rap and the Canterbury Tales are also similar because they entertain the masses, and because they contain a unique creativity that is missing in other works of the time. This is another logical connection between The Canterbury Tales and rap.
The conversion from Middle English to rap definitely makes the Canterbury Tales more accessible for the modern student. It is difficult to understand the Middle English, and students will have far less trouble understanding the rap. This allows the students to focus on the actual story rather than the language. After reading the Knight’s Tale multiple times, and listening to the Miller’s Tale once, I found that I retained more of the story from the Miller’s tale because the rap was so much easier to understand. Rap is a much more exciting medium than the original language. The rap is able to capture student’s attention better than the original English. It students find the stories more interesting, they will be more motivated to learn about them.
Baba Brinkman’s arguments supporting the use of rap as a device to tell the Canterbury Tales is interesting. At first I could see little connection between the two, but after reading his arguments carefully I came to understand the similarities he saw. I can only think of one real problem with his theories, which is that the original messages of the story may have been changed in the process of the conversion from Middle English to rap. It is impossible to make a perfect translation even into Modern English, and the more someone tries to modernize old texts, the more they change.
Other than this, I would have to say that most of Baba’s theories are solid. For me, his strongest argument was that the Canterbury Tales was originally made for oral recitation. Baba argues that writing the story down instead of speaking it makes it loose its original effect and destroys its lyricism. Simply reading the story out loud doesn’t restore this effect, because very few people can understand it. At the time, listening to something in the vulgar tone, especially something with crude themes, must have been much like listening to rap today. Therefore the logical solution to this problem is to convert the Canterbury tales into a rap form.
I found his comparison of the story of the Canterbury Tales to a modern rap battle interesting. The story is told in the context of travelers having a story telling contest on their way to a pilgrimage site. The winner will be the person who tells the best stories. This is similar to how rappers compete to come up with the best rhymes, and the crowd decides whose lyrics are better.
Baba also says that modern rap fills the same niche that works like the Canterbury tales filled in their time. Today, the Canterbury Tales is seen as important historical documents. However, at the time, it was looked down upon by the learned because the proper and intellectual language was Latin. Similarly, many modern intellectuals condemn rap because it is profane and improper. Rap and the Canterbury Tales are also similar because they entertain the masses, and because they contain a unique creativity that is missing in other works of the time. This is another logical connection between The Canterbury Tales and rap.
The conversion from Middle English to rap definitely makes the Canterbury Tales more accessible for the modern student. It is difficult to understand the Middle English, and students will have far less trouble understanding the rap. This allows the students to focus on the actual story rather than the language. After reading the Knight’s Tale multiple times, and listening to the Miller’s Tale once, I found that I retained more of the story from the Miller’s tale because the rap was so much easier to understand. Rap is a much more exciting medium than the original language. The rap is able to capture student’s attention better than the original English. It students find the stories more interesting, they will be more motivated to learn about them.
Baba Brinkman’s arguments supporting the use of rap as a device to tell the Canterbury Tales is interesting. At first I could see little connection between the two, but after reading his arguments carefully I came to understand the similarities he saw. I can only think of one real problem with his theories, which is that the original messages of the story may have been changed in the process of the conversion from Middle English to rap. It is impossible to make a perfect translation even into Modern English, and the more someone tries to modernize old texts, the more they change.
Other than this, I would have to say that most of Baba’s theories are solid. For me, his strongest argument was that the Canterbury Tales was originally made for oral recitation. Baba argues that writing the story down instead of speaking it makes it loose its original effect and destroys its lyricism. Simply reading the story out loud doesn’t restore this effect, because very few people can understand it. At the time, listening to something in the vulgar tone, especially something with crude themes, must have been much like listening to rap today. Therefore the logical solution to this problem is to convert the Canterbury tales into a rap form.
I found his comparison of the story of the Canterbury Tales to a modern rap battle interesting. The story is told in the context of travelers having a story telling contest on their way to a pilgrimage site. The winner will be the person who tells the best stories. This is similar to how rappers compete to come up with the best rhymes, and the crowd decides whose lyrics are better.
Baba also says that modern rap fills the same niche that works like the Canterbury tales filled in their time. Today, the Canterbury Tales is seen as important historical documents. However, at the time, it was looked down upon by the learned because the proper and intellectual language was Latin. Similarly, many modern intellectuals condemn rap because it is profane and improper. Rap and the Canterbury Tales are also similar because they entertain the masses, and because they contain a unique creativity that is missing in other works of the time.
The conversion from Middle English to rap definitely makes the Canterbury Tales more accessible for the modern student. It is difficult to understand the Middle English, and students will have far less trouble understanding the rap. This allows the students to focus on the actual story rather than the language. After reading the Knight’s Tale multiple times, and listening to the Miller’s Tale once, I found that I retained more of the story from the Miller’s tale because the rap was so much easier to understand. Rap is a much more exciting medium than the original language. The rap is able to capture student’s attention. It students find the stories more interesting, they will be more motivated to learn about them.
Baba Brinkman’s arguments supporting the use of rap as a device to tell the Canterbury Tales is interesting. At first I could see little connection between the two, but after reading his arguments carefully I came to understand the similarities he saw. I can only think of one real problem with his theories, which is that the original messages of the story may have been changed in the process of the conversion from Middle English to rap. It is impossible to make a perfect translation even into Modern English, and the more someone tries to modernize old texts, the more they change.
Other than this, I would have to say that most of Baba’s theories are solid. For me, his strongest argument was that the Canterbury Tales was originally made for oral recitation. Baba argues that writing the story down instead of speaking it makes it loose its original effect and destroys its lyricism. Simply reading the story out loud doesn’t restore this effect, because very few people can understand it. At the time, listening to something in the vulgar tone, especially something with crude themes, must have been much like listening to rap today. Therefore the logical solution to this problem is to convert the Canterbury tales into a rap form.
I found his comparison of the story of the Canterbury Tales to a modern rap battle interesting. The story is told in the context of travelers having a story telling contest on their way to a pilgrimage site. The winner will be the person who tells the best stories. This is similar to how rappers compete to come up with the best rhymes, and the crowd decides whose lyrics are better.
Baba also says that modern rap fills the same niche that works like the Canterbury tales filled in their time. Today, the Canterbury Tales is seen as important historical documents. However, at the time, it was looked down upon by the learned because the proper and intellectual language was Latin. Similarly, many modern intellectuals condemn rap because it is profane and improper. Rap and the Canterbury Tales are also similar because they entertain the masses, and because they contain a unique creativity that is missing in other works of the time.
The conversion from Middle English to rap definitely makes the Canterbury Tales more accessible for the modern student. It is difficult to understand the Middle English, and students will have far less trouble understanding the rap. This allows the students to focus on the actual story rather than the language. After reading the Knight’s Tale multiple times, and listening to the Miller’s Tale once, I found that I retained more of the story from the Miller’s tale because the rap was so much easier to understand. Rap is a much more exciting medium than the original language. The rap is able to capture student’s attention. It students find the stories more interesting, they will be more motivated to learn about them.
By comparing rap with old literary works like The Canterbury Tales, Baba Brinkman definetly brings a new and well supported argument to the table. His preface shows just how much time and effort he has put into this thesis and he does bring up some valid points. I am not a huge fan of rap music, but after reading this I now look at it with more respect. The fact that he compared it with Shakespeare's writing shows just how much rap relates to poetry. They are both forms of entertainment with rhythm and they both convey many messages through their verses and lines. He brings up the fact that both forms of writing depend on the audience's reaction. He even found the comparison between Chaucer's own story plot of a competition of tale telling and the freestyle rap competitions that are help today. Both outcomes are based on the audience's reaction and they both have competitor's and a "host" or an "MC". The fact that Chaucer even had the concept of a competition of entertainment in the form of stories told with rhythm is proof that poetry back then correlates with today's modern rap. And considering how things like the Roman's gladiator competitions in a colosseum gave rise to our forms of entertainment such as professional soccer in an arena, early forms of English poetry such as the Canterbury Tales most certainly could have given rise to modern day rap. As cultures change and technologies change so does the way in which we as humans express and entertain ourselves. However, the main concepts still remain such as telling stories in an interesting way. Seeing that Baba Brinkman supported his arguments with these reasonable explanations, his thesis does deserve academic merit. However, his argument about the correlation between the canterbury tales and Charles Darwin's theory of evolution did not really make sense to me. There just isn't that much supporting evidence for that conclusion to persuade me into believing it.
Baba Brinkman definetly makes Chaucer more accessable to 21st century students because we are so used to and entertained by hip-hop music. As stated before, our ways of entertainment change and the way in which Chaucer wrote the Canterbury Tales just doesn't interest today's students like it may have back then. So, by Brinkman assimilating his stories into todays modern entertainment system, Chaucer does indeed come alive again in a fun, amusing, and exciting way.
By first impression, one may be apprehensive of the significance of Brinkman's work in relation to Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. Just by hearing the name, one may be lead to believe that it is merely a parody of the historical work, a project undertaken solely for personal gain or entertainment. But in reality, through extensive research, his work draws out numerous parallels between Chaucer's literature and modern day hip hop and it is these that vindicate the work's academic merit. Some of these similarities are more obvious, such as their uses of rhyme scheme and rhythm. Others are more insightful such as his claim that Chaucer's writing style was "the hip hop of the middle ages" and the comparison of the storytelling competition in the Canterbury tales to a freestyle battle in hip hop, where the participants try to outdo their opponents in order to make personal gains for themselves. In addition, the parallels drawn between Chaucer's characters and modern day Mcs brings out certain topics of importance during the middle ages and makes them more obvious. This includes the tension between the different classes in the Canterbury Tales and the fact that people in general desire dominance. In summation, these correlations support the one of the basic ideas of human history, that as times and cultures change, some aspects may remain the same.
In terms of accessibility to today's students, Brinkman does a phenomenal job of providing. By setting this historical work to a modern day, mainstream medium, he makes the work easier to understand and more enjoyable to listen to. Chaucer's original work was in Middle English which some people find difficult to understand and even more difficult to sit through. By modernizing the work, it can understood better because it is told in a way that is familiar during this time period and students would be more apt to pay attention to it because of the style and beats characteristic of the familiar musical genre. As a result of the provided ease, a student can better extract the key ideas that provide insight into the time period, which is the ultimate goal of reading the work as a historian.
The way in which Baba Brinkman sought to present The Canterbury Tales for new audiences was a peculiar yet interesting interpretation. Brinkman did not want the Canterbury Tales to disappear, so he strived to spark an interest in Chaucer's tale that many were able to relate to. This was done through rap, which is very accessible for people of the 20th and 21st centuries because rap is so prevalent in society today. Brinkman made it so rap and The Canterbury Tales were very close to one another. This made me think of the roots of rap, and how there are major similarities between old literature and the young rap. Brinkman's arguments about the rap of The Canterbury Tales do have some academic merit. In the rap, he uses rhyming related to that of the actual story, so there is some structure to what is being said. He also talks about how The Canterbury Tales were meant to be read out loud as a story, similar to how rappers tell their point of view. The plot of the Canterbury Tales was followed in a precise and clever manner, which is another aspect of the academic merit. He was able to cause somewhat of a recovery in the works of Chaucer as well as the frowned upon rap. This was achieved through entertainment and the need for helping today's students understand past works in a much easier manner. The way of transforming The Canterbury Tales into rap was amusing, allowing for help and involvement in old works that would have been foreign to many students.
After reading the preface to The Rap Canterbury Tales, I can appreciate its merit much more. Behind the façade of a vulgar rap lies a deeper reason for creating a hip-hop version. In the rap version, just the use of a more modern meter rather than iambic pentameter adds to the accessibility of the text. Brinkman also notes how the rap version resurrects Chaucer's work from the realm of scholars and Middle English students to the everyday person. Of course, as with any translation of a work, some of the original meaning may be lost, and it is also true that the rap version seems inappropriate as an academic work. However, the truth is that the original Canterbury Tales was extremely vulgar for its time period as well. Additionally, exact meaning and historical accuracy are sacrificed for allowing the average person to understand and enjoy the work.
Personally, I think that the rap version is definitely worthy of merit. Reading through just one tale of The Canterbury Tales is hard enough even though it was translated to Modern English, let alone reading the whole thing in indecipherable late 14th century English. Furthermore, audio versions of the original Canterbury Tales are worse than the book, accompanied by a disembodied, monotonous voice. By giving us a narration in 21st century English with renewed vulgarities to entertain the reader/listener, I believe that Brinkman was very successful in creating not only an accessible and understandable version of an otherwise very obscure but notable work in history, but he does it in a way that also restores the entertainment value of the story for the modern day reader. Yes, it may seem inappropriate and silly at times, but at least there is an option now for those wishing to learn about the Tales while having fun at the same time.
Baba Brinkman’s Preface shows his thoughts on the connection between rap/hip-hop and The Canterbury Tales. His primary introduction gave great insight on Baba’s first realization of the similarities, such as how both the stories in the Canterbury Tales and free-style rapping are almost the same. His connection definitely has academic merit; one cannot deny the close relationships. Prior to reading Baba’s Preface, my view on the similarities between rap and The Canterbury Tales was only that the rhythm and rhyme were the same. Now, The Canterbury Tales seems to almost embody everything that a rapper has. The rap battles between the MC’s easily compares to the conflicting characters in The Canterbury Tales, such as the tales of the Miller and Carpenter. The Canterbury Tales, as told by each of the pilgrims, were completely spontaneous, just rap battles. In the end, both do not yield a high prize; the winner of the story telling in The Canterbury Tales wins one free supper and MC’s usually do not win a large prize too. All of these have great academic merit because many modern, young adults are able to understand rap much more clearly than the original old English.
Apart from the direct relationships of both pieces of literature, Baba Brinkman’s Canterbury Tales rap is very successful. His primary objective of rapping the Canterbury Tales was to translate the hard-to-read Canterbury Tales into something for modern students. Similar to the Canterbury Tales, rap is not regarded to be purely academic. The cultural connection surely must be foreshadowing the results of Brinkman’s efforts. While it is impossible to exactly connect the meaning of each word and every rhyme, Baba Brinkman’s Canterbury Tales rap is the closest anyone has ever gotten to connecting pre-renaissance literature with the 21st century. Albeit, Baba’s rap only reaches to a certain extent; his rap, while extremely related, still sacrifices some of the original fluidity and textures of The Canterbury Tales. His revival of a 600-year-old piece of literature, however, will still definitely assist students understand the basic storyline.
Baba Brinkman’s preface to his rap of the Canterbury Tales was both interesting and enjoyable. In his preface and prologue, Brinkman ingeniously connect hip-hop and rap with Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. Brinkman claims that hip-hop and the Canterbury Tales are similar because they both are popular during the time period the works were created, but despite popularity, were rejected. Because the Canterbury Tales was written in the vernacular, the "vulgar tongue," it was not appreciated during the late Middle Ages. Likewise, hip-hop today also causes much controversy and is rejected by some of the older generations. Baba also draws the comparison of competition between rappers and the story tellers during the pilgrimage. He continues to connect these two seemingly different things throughout his preface. His arguments, which were well-researched and well thought out, have much academic merit, for his accomplishments have proved him to be accredited.
Brinkman’s translation of the Canterbury Tales actually caused me to become more curious about the rest of the tales. Through using modern methods of art and expression, Brinkman is able to open the doorway of an otherwise boring topic to younger generations. While students struggle to read Middle English and decipher the Canterbury Tales, Brinkman clarifies using a more modern translation with an up beat. However, although his rap versions were well thought out and seductive, they could never replace the original piece Chaucer wrote.
Baba Brinkman offers arguments that are truly worthy of academic merit. He correlates The Canterbury Tales with the art form of today’s rap and hip hop. He makes many connections based off of valid research. Chaucer’s work of poetry in The Canterbury Tales is seen as a storytelling competition, somewhat similar sounding to today’s freestyle battles. Brinkman compares both storytelling and rapping in relation to the feedback of the audience and how important their input is. The pressure of the audience determines the ability and skill of the competitors to outwit one another, something that is clearly seen in the way the pilgrims’ stories progress in The Canterbury Tales as well as the way freestyle rapping is judged. The way in which Chaucer would twist and play around with the words to form rhythm and rhyme can be reflected in the manner by which rappers use polysyllabic rhyme. One thing that was very interesting was how Brinkman formed a link between literature and science regarding poetic techniques in the way they were passed down from generation to generation, varying in producing success; this was a conclusion that was somewhat like the way Darwin’s theory of natural selection worked.
Baba Brinkman really makes Chaucer much more accessible to 21st century students. Brinkman brings forth a new way of educating and understanding the words of a poet who aimed to entertain, exactly what Brinkman is doing by making Chaucer’s work easier to comprehend. Brinkman allows today’s students to really grasp the meaning behind the stories of Chaucer through a modern outlet, letting students appreciate the value of an old historical document.
Baba Brinkman presents good ideas about the emergence of rap from poetry. He argues that rap is poetry just as the Canterbury Tales are. They are both meant to be listened to and are supposed to entertain. He speaks about the similarities of the ideas and of the humor, which can be quite parallel to modern situations. Basically rap is today’s “vulgar language”, depicting many ideas considered social evils, so it is a perfect modern translation. Brinkman understands the importance of Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales and its influence on modern language, and believes that they are becoming more and more unappreciated. By comparing it to something most people today can relate to, which is rap, he makes them more accessible. His thoughts are backed up by a significant amount of research about the emergence of rap and about the Canterbury Tales. His arguments do have academic merit and he argues them with a lot of support. I feel that not only are his arguments intelligent and well thought out, but he does succeed in making Chaucer’s works more accessible to the modern student. There is no time to sit and translate the Middle English of all of Chaucer’s works for the average high school student. Brinkman makes the ideas and basic story line easy to understand while still maintaining Chaucer’s original main ideas and formats. He succeeds in his goal of making the Canterbury Tales easy to understand while still preserving the original Tales.
I have little love for the subject material of modern rap, or at least the ideas commonly associated with it. Whether or not the rhythms and form were pleasant was something I never considered, until I heard Brinkman’s rendition of the Canterbury Tales. It was a new experience, and catchy if I must say. I was appreciative that Baba took the time to develop something contemporarily digestible out of something decidedly archaic. Reading Brinkman’s preface, however, added an entirely new level of depth to my consideration of his work and talents. He was right to presume that people would develop opinions of the rap after listening which conflicted with his original intentions. For the first time, I was also able to view Brinkman and an intellect, and his works as more than a clever game of words. He wrote them to fulfill a purpose, and out of appreciation for an art largely dismissed by today’s youth as ‘stuffy’ and ‘unnecessary.’ Rather than a hip-hop bigot naively opposed to everything the ‘old guard’ represents, Brinkman saw the similarities present in Middle English poetry and present day rap, and sought to mediate the gap. His devotion to his passions, both hip-hop and English, is commendable. Where many today might see complete opposites, Brinkman saw what he loved in both and displayed them to their advantage. The care he took in expressing his motives added the dissection needed to fully appreciate the Rap Canterbury Tales. Whether Brinkman’s arguments have academic merit is largely a matter of how much ‘opinion’ the judge can suffer in a piece before they dismiss it. Brinkman was quite obviously biased in favor of hip-hop, and in his arguments sought to express it in the most positive light possible. From his point of view, hip-hop is the pinnacle and center of today’s creativity. He even went as far as to reference it as “the preferred medium of expression for the first-ever globally connected generation.” It is impossible for this to be stated and the argument to remain objective. The true question, on the other hand, is whether Brinkman needed to remain objective for his argument to receive academic merit. As he was discussing his personal work and passion, there was bound to be a bias influencing his thoughts. To write about a subject he felt so strongly about without vesting his true feelings in it would be to deprive his analysis of the life and meaning it deserves. His feelings about rap and old poetry were what fueled the Rap’s development in the first place, and as such it could be considered natural to see them resurface in the analysis. Regardless of any academic opinions, I do believe retelling the Canterbury Tales as a rap makes it more readily accessible to today’s students. Whether it is more easily understood than the non-translated versions is practically out of the question. Middle English is understandable at best, but it can never convey the same meaning to us today that our modern diction can. Some would say that putting the Canterbury Tales into modern language detracts from its significance as a historical piece and a symbol of the early English vernacular. Those people would be right, if that had been Baba’s intention in writing the Rap. Brinkman developed his own version of the Tales not to preserve the ‘dust of history’ on the volume’s cover, but to offer modern students the chance to appreciate the creativity Chaucer vested in the plot itself. He wished to highlight the similarities between rap and the vernacular, rather than convert one to the other. The Tales were likely written to be heard. Chaucer chose the vernacular over French or Latin so that everyone could appreciate them, not just the scholarly or upper class. In much the same way Brinkman chose to give the Tales to today’s students not in the stuffy prose of direct translation, but in a live performance with the effect Chaucer dreamed of so long ago.
After reading the preface to Baba Brinkman’s Rap Canterbury Tales, I had to really rethink my opinions on rap music. Never a fan, I’ve always seen the genre as generally crude and having no real musical merit. One thing I have definitely valued, however, is the importance of live performance; there’s a certain magic to seeing someone tell a musical story in person, and you always leave with a better understanding of or respect for the meaning behind the songs, poems, or play. Brinkman argues that poets, such as Chaucer, relied on live performance to captivate the audience with their poems, and to impart other themes and messages. As The Canterbury Tales were very successful at this, they have been preserved for posterity. Rap is simply a continuation of this oral tradition; much like The Canterbury Tales, rap songs feature a rhyme scheme designed to quickly fire lyrics at the listener. More broadly, he argues that the frame tale of an unlikely group of pilgrims is like a giant “rap battle”, with “rappers” of all different backgrounds drawing on their roots and influences to create the best “rap.” At the same time, they each managed to convey a message about society (ie The Wife of Bath’s Tale talking about the female role in a marriage). Furthermore, Brinkman is right when he says that the Middle English used in the poems’ original forms is outdated, and students today are hard-pressed to understand the importance of the tales. By reconciling the medieval stories with modern rap, he makes it much easier to understand the themes Chaucer imparted, and, for that matter, the actual story he was telling. I have come out of this reading with a whole new perspective on rap music, and for the first time have understood how archaic poetry (and literature as a whole) has a direct connection to modern styles. I feel Baba Brinkman has a powerful argument to back up his radical new way of looking at the evolution of the creative world. Therefore, The Rap Canterbury Tales has considerable academic merit, and makes Chaucer’s classic works more readily accessible to modern students.
Baba Brinkman created The Rap Canterbury Tales to make Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales more accessible to 21st century students. The Canterbury Tales, in its original form, is accessible mostly to only scholars studying Middle English. Chaucer wrote the stories so they could be easily recited orally because the printing press had not been invented yet. As a result, the stories were difficult to read. In order for an author's work to become popular, it must be understandable by its readers. Most 21st century students are more interested in the stories' content rather than the medium through which they are told. For example, students often find the sex and violence in The Miller's Tale more interesting than the way Chaucer used iambic pentameter. Although Chaucer was popular while he was alive, he did not have any patrons. The content of his stories were chosen by himself. It was mostly the content of the stories, not the way they were written, that made Chaucer popular.
Baba Brinkman replaced 14th century Middle English poetry with rap to communicate Chaucer's stories to modern people. Rap was a suitable replacement because both mediums communicate stories orally. Like 14th century poets, rappers competed with each other in "battles" for the audience's attention. Rap made Chaucer's stories easier to understand. Like all translations, Baba's rap version differed from the original stories. These differences had a very small impact on the stories. The rap version still told most of Chaucer's original story. Some of Chaucer's writing style was sacrificed to make the stories easier to undertand. Baba Brinkman succeeded in making Chaucer's stories more accessible. He went on tours and performed his rap version to large audiences. Many of these people would not have been exposed to Chaucer's stories if they had to read them in their original form.
Baba Brinkman's arguments do have academic merit. His rap version of The Canterbury Tales was the result of a lot of research. Brinkman identified similarities between the oral reciting of poetry during the 14th century and modern day rap. Brinkman also understood that not all of Chaucer's stories would be approriate in rap form. Brinkman argues that Chaucer's literary importance depends on his popularity. He shows that by making Chaucer's stories understandable by more people, more people wouldappreciate Chaucer's literary work. What started as a college thesis grew into a work that exposed common people to Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales.
Baba Brinkman’s Preface to the Rap Canterbury Tales reveals that there is academic merit behind his reasoning. There were many sound arguments, all of which revolve around making Chaucer more accessible to 21st century students. Brinkman said, “The problem, as I saw it, was that Chaucer’s literary importance has always been a function of his popularity, and his popularity was waning.” That claim has a solid basis because The Canterbury Tales’ intended audience was not the educated clergy; Chaucer wanted everyone to read and enjoy his book. While it is respected as one of the earliest forms of vernacular literature, The Canterbury Tales was appreciated more for its stories than its writing. However, modern day students cannot appreciate The Canterbury Tales because they cannot see past the Middle English. Thus, its literary significance was diminishing. If someone made it easier to read for students, they could welcome the stories, and The Canterbury Tales would maintain its value as a piece of literature. Baba Brinkman is trying to create that situation by using rap as his medium. His argument for this also had academic merit. Brinkman did not want to write in something that “would still feel archaic to the modern ear,” which is not uncommon amongst translators. Some English translators of Roman poetry, such as The Aeneid, have also opted to write without the traditional meters used by the original authors, stating that modern day English is faster, and thus the lines should include fewer syllables. Therefore, he chose to look past iambic pentameter. Instead, Brinkman used rap, which actually has a few parallels to The Canterbury Tales, including the fact that both of them are/were being looked down upon by contemporaries. In addition, choosing rap makes sense because of “its simplicity and accessibility, since rhyme, rhythm, and storytelling are such universal human instincts.” Almost everyone can listen to the rap version and understand the gist of the Chaucer’s stories. Furthermore, more people would be willing to listen to rap as opposed to a tape of someone reading the Middle English version of Chaucer, because rap is something many people listen to on their own, not just for school. Baba Brinkman is taking advantage of something modern students enjoy and using that form to introduce The Canterbury Tales to them. It is the best of both worlds because he is bringing Chaucer to the younger generation and bringing rap to literary fans.
The preface to The Canterbury Tales written by Baba Brinkman was unique and enlightening. His comparison of hip-hop and modern day rap to the Canterbury Tales of old at first blush seems like a twisted and paradoxical comparison, and yet, it has some real academic merit. It was a strange comparison, yes, but one that once thought through, actually made sense. At the time, in Middle English, as Baba says, the Canterbury Tales was meant to be orally recited like most other books of its time period. If read in Middle English, only the most scholarly students would be able to understand it; if translated into modern English, then the rhyming and meter is lost entirely. The main goal of the Tales is to entertain an audience. It is my opinion that Baba's arguments as to the similarities between rap and the Canterbury Tales has real merit. His arguments are solid backed with information that seems well researched and thoroughly analyzed, not only the historical parts, but also the modern tie-ins as well, such as a freestyle rap battle which he himself seems to be an active member of. He makes comparisons that are unique but backed up very well. For example comparing the MCs in rap battles looking to please the audience to the characters in the Canterbury Tales telling stories to win a prize. Overall the research just seemed very legitimate and made his overall argument that much more believable. I believe that Baba's arguments should be taken as arguments that contain true academic merit.
I feel that the rhyming rap of the Canterbury Tales by Brinkman makes the Canterbury Tales significantly more accessible to students everywhere. As I mentioned before, the Middle English is impossible to fully comprehend unless one is a student of Middle English. That hardly makes it widely acessable Even when translated into English, it's not the most enjoyable book to read. Sure, the stanzas are understandable and the students understand the symantecs of the book, but they don't enjoy reading it. What use is it to read a book you don't enjoy? Not much. Baba Brinkman however, made the Canterbury Tales into a form of entertainment that most teenagers patronize: rap. By doing this, Baba has made the Canterbury Tales not only understandable, but even enjoyable as well. Therefore I believe that The Canterbury Rap does make the Tales more accessable to students in the 21st century.
I believe Baba’s motivation for transforming Chaucer’s work in Canterbury Tales speaks to how much of an impact the Canterbury Tales and the author have had even hundreds of years later. Today, unless learning about it in school, people will never be exposed to such writing, and will never get a chance to appreciate such forwardness in a very backwards time. Regardless of this fact, Baba still felt it was crucial to get this story and message out. As I read about the different ways he could have transformed this piece I noted that my reactions were very similar to Baba’s interpretations. While a prose or iambic pentameter approach would have made the modern work very accessible and pretty much understandable to all, it would not have been the proper outlet he was looking for. Baba instead, was able to enter the minds of young people and scholars. He uses his motivation for expressing the words of Chaucer to compensate for the lack of motivation young writers and readers experience when entering the topic of Middle English. Those words alone can automatically turn people off from exploring more into the category. However, with the modern twist that the rap offers, it once again brings to light the relatable stories of human nature. But there is a bit of a trade off when it comes to academic merit. While we look at Canterbury tales as a primary source and an in depth look at life in that time period, Baba interpretations of that source can differ from another interpretation, and go off Chaucer’s path completely. Everyone can look at it many different ways. And because of the varied conclusions that come from the original Canterbury Tales, questions can always be raised.
Baba Brinkman makes excellent points when talking about his rap of The Canterbury Tales. This piece of fiction was written centuries ago in a form that was able to be deciphered by most literates. Times are always changing and evolving, and in our present day Chaucer’s book is not as easily understood as it may have been in the fourteenth century. If one were to give a children’s book of today to a man of the fourteenth century, it is certain that man would have a very difficult time, no matter how educated. It just goes to show that Baba Brinkman’s rap takes classic stories and puts them into a language that most students are able to understand because rap is overwhelmingly present in our society. Brinkman does this in a way so as to not change the nature of the story. While the words may be different, the various themes and ideology of the story is still present. The use of rap definitely allows students to become more aware of the icon that is The Canterbury Tales. Baba Brinkman is definitely brilliant to think of rap to express the stories of Chaucer, but I must disagree with a statement in his preface. He refers to rap as being more creative and expressive than literature. I beg to differ seeing as how many rap artists just use the same line over and over again until the listener gets sick of the song. This is what most rap is nowadays, repetition; it certainly does not exceed the creativity of current authors. Also, Brinkman states that the media misrepresents rap so as to create a negative connotation on it. While the media may exaggerate to create more compelling articles, they are not completely unjustified in doing so. Brinkman states that he would like to celebrate rap, how can he when a huge portion of artists talk little more of sex and violence? Baba’s work still has much merit when discussing The Canterbury Tales but his view of rap on its entirety is misunderstood.
As I read Baba Brinkman’s Preface, I thought that he brought up many interesting points. As a student, I never really thought about how influential this piece of literature was to the civilians living in Chaucer’s time period; and because of the language barrier, people’s interests in The Canterbury Tales have diminished almost completely. Every tale written by Chaucer has underlying themes which are still prevalent in society today. For example, the Pardoner’s Tale is essentially about the consequences of greed. I believe that Brinkman brings up a good point in that Chaucer’s literature should be praised to this day, which is possible through his raps. I feel that Baba Brinkman’s arguments do have academic merit, because essentially, all Brinkman is doing is translating Chaucer’s couplets into modern tongue. The translations published are no different that Brinkman’s raps, for both are an interpretation of the translator. During the time of Chaucer, entertainment consisted of reading poetry, and listening to musical instruments. In my opinion, the parallel of a poet in the Renaissance period would be a modern day song writer. Brinkman makes Chaucer more accessible to 21st century students because a large part of our culture is rap music, just as poetry was to Chaucer’s era. Reading and writing poetry is not a prevalent part of current culture, whereas young individuals already have a strong understanding of music. Instead of learning the original dialect, students can listen to Brinkman’s raps, and instantly understand what Chaucer was trying to convey and enjoy it at the same time.
Recognizing the age in which The Canterbury Tales were written, I figured it would be difficult to convert them into a rap that was both entertaining and withheld the meaning of each tale. However, Baba Brinkman successfully created a rap covering both areas. To a person in this century, The Canterbury Tales really has no meaning, aside from the occasional Chaucer scholar. Brinkman found a way to take stories written hundreds of years ago and bring them to life with a relatable and accessible performance. Compared to the summer reading, Brinkman’s rap is much more interesting to many people. Yet, he does not lose its academic merit. The Canterbury Tales plot was closely noted, for Brinkman had structure and rhythm in each rap.
I was surprised at the amount I learned after listening to each rap, compared to the reading. And of course, it’s much easier for any person in this age to understand rather then reading an Old English text. He was able to show how similar new age rap can be, compared to older literature. That is, primarily the entertainment factor. Both were created to entertain and appeal to a wide audience. Designed to be main streamed disregarding the acceptance factor. To people of the 21st century, older literature may not be as well liked as newer literature. Same goes with hip-hop and rap music, for elder people deem this style of music to be inappropriate. However, to a young adult, hip-hop and rap is more appealing. So it is easy to say how Baba Brinkman’s preface to his rap The Canterbury Tales was much more relatable and less complex to the majority of current students. It maintained the tales academic merit and drew in a popular form of entertainment. After all, Brinkman said that The Canterbury tales were meant to be read loud and to entertain, which is exactly what he did.
Baba Brinkman’s Preface seems extremely knowledgeable and backed by research. This can be seen about the comments about the structure and style of the tales. He himself has a Master’s in Medieval and Renaissance literature, which makes him somewhat an expert on literature like the “Canterbury Tales”. He also have a s reverence for Chaucer, which can be seen by the line “desire to resurrect Chaucer’s brilliant stories from their vellum mausoleum by giving them a new form that would once again delight and edify live listening audience…” He seemed dismayed that Chaucer’s writing was only accessible and connectable to the limited scholars and student so Middle English. That is why he searched for a new way to represent it. His use of knowledge and reasoning in the Preface illustrates his historical merit. He explained in the preface that the original language is too different form our own and translating it will still feel archaic. He also understood that his tales were meant for oral citation due to its rhyme, rhythm and lyrical quality. For all these reasons he felt that rap was the best medium to accomplish this. Not only because the rap is meant for performance and has the same rhythm and rhyme but there are many parallels between the feeling towards rap now and Chaucer writing in the 1300’s Chaucer use of English to write his stories at the time was considered vulgar and amateurish because books were generally written in the vernacular. The same way rap is seen as corrupting and vulgar. Rap is also the most effective method of translating Chaucer’s works because the themes are very similar to those in contemporary times like sex and violence. Baba Brinkman remain live to the original work which upholds its historical merit while also making it accessible to people of this day and age. I had to read the “Canterbury Tales” in middle old English and I did not understand or enjoy reading it. After listening to Brinkman’s’ translation I enjoyed the performance and understood the story. From this and all the literary backing to the rap translation I believe that Baba Brinkman certainly accomplished his goal of finding a new medium of sharing Chaucer’s tales with people of today that is very enjoyable and gives a good historical insight to the medieval time period.
I do think that Brinkman’s rap of The Canterbury Tales has some academic merit. I think that it is better for students to listen to Brinkman’s rap than to sparknote the story. While I personally do not care for his singing I do find it more enjoyable to listen to Brinkman than to read Chaucer. Also I do believe that Brinkman’s version of The Canterbury Tales makes the story more accessible to twenty-first century students. It is the same story but the translation from High Middle ages English to modern English that appears in Chaucer’s version does take away from the story a little. However because Brinkman has totally reworded the tale it fits into modern English much better than the translation does. Because of these reasons I believe that Brinkman’s version of The Canterbury Tales has both academic value and is more accessible to the twenty-first century student than the original The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer.
I believe that Baba Brinkman's rap version of the Canterbury Tales was very interesting, and gave the story a modernized look. The approach he took was unorthadox, turning a piece of historical writing into a series of raps. Some people may find this crude, but, in fact, the Canterbury Tales were crude themselves. They were written in a crude manner. Chaucer told the stories of the people he talked to as accurately as he could in the way they told him. This left his book full of vulagirities and suggestive topics. But, like rap does, it told stories. This made Baba's idea genius. Changing into a more modern version of the same basic meaning. That makes me believe that his arguments do have merit and that just because he re-wrote them and turned the stories into lyrics, does not take away from its academic merit. All it did was change it from a primary source, to a secondary source. And by changing the stories into rap songs, it makes the stories much more accessible to 21st century students. It made it much easier to read by changing it into modern english.
It was very interesting to see how Baba Brinkman compares rap to “The Canterbury Tales.” I feel that his arguments do have academic merit. He discusses how “The Canterbury Tales” are important. They were written in the fourteenth century but now, in the 21st century they can only be available to scholars and students of Middle English. Well, someone can translate them but Brinkman did more than that. He wanted the young generation to appreciate Chaucer’s work. That is why he took it a step farther and used rap to rejuvenate Chaucer’s amazing stories. He translated them in a way that the audience could enjoy Chaucer’s stories and also hip-hop music. Rap also goes along with “The Canterbury Tales” because of the language that Chaucer used then. He used violence, sex, and drugs in his stories. That goes hand in hand with rap music. The language used then could be slang, just as Brinkman used rap which is also a form of slang but he makes sure that Chaucer’s work does not lose its meaning. “The Canterbury Tales” are like a rap battle. The hotel owner is basically the judge and the people are the rappers who are in competition with each other to win the free meal. They are making up the stories on the spot. He brought these stories back to life but in a different way to grab the audience’s attention.
Brinkman does make Chaucer more accessible to 21st century students. He translated the stories in a form which we will understand and will interest the young generation. Most of the teenagers in this century are interested in hip-hop and rap music. They mostly listen to that genre of music, so when they listen to Brinkman’s Rap Canterbury Tales, they will actually understand the story and appreciate Chaucer’s work. Brinkman’s use of hip hop connects this generation to the past in a very modernistic way. It gives a new life to archaic literature because in today’s world, the young generation is becoming apathetic, not paying attention to history, but Brinkman found the perfect way to deliver Chaucer’s message. In conclusion, Brinkman’s “The Rap Canterbury Tales” is a very interesting piece of literature that holds the interests of readers and entertains them in a modern way.
Baba Brinkman’s Rap Canterbury Tales made an impression on me as I was introduced to his work in class. As I listened to the rap version Brinkman made of The Knights Tale, I immediately understood the seemingly endless Middle English version of The Knights Tale I read over the summer. Like Brinkman mentioned in the Preface to the Rap Canterbury Tales, the language of the Canterbury Tales is too different from our modern English today to retain its original impact. Also, the Canterbury Tales is designed for oral recitation. Seeing his performance and listening to his rap on the Canterbury Tales, it really brought the stories back to life. The Rap Canterbury Tales is far more comprehendible and captivating to the 21st Century students. I believe that Brinkman’s argument has academic merit. The Canterbury Tales was written in the vernacular tongue, which was considered low class and crude to its audience. Rap, likewise, is also perceived to be low class in the 21st century. Brinkman saw rap as the perfect medium for him to spark the interest of 21st century students in Chaucer’s work. Brinkman is essentially translating the dry and boring text of the Canterbury Tales in Middle English to a more modern language that any 21st century man would understand. Brinkman’s arguments provided a variety of connections of his rap and the Canterbury Tales, including the structure and the rhyming of the text. Although the stories are in a much more modern language, the nature of the Canterbury Tales—which is to entertain, is retained, along with the themes and underlying jokes by Chaucer. Therefore, I think Brinkman’s Rap Canterbury Tales does posses some academic merit, as it may help and spark the interest of 21st century students all over the world in Chaucer’s works.
Baba Brinkman definitely does embody some academic merit in his comparative preface interpretation. As Chaucer was denounced for such vulgar language and subject usage in the Canterbury tales, so Brinkman does by using a controversial medium of hip hop/rap to present the ideas of T.C.T. Chaucer is considered one of the most influential writers on the common use of the vernacular during his time, so choosing a similar path of presentation was an intelligent choice for Brinkman.
Though scholars may not agree with translating a classic such as T.C.T. into rap lyrics, I believe it was a smart course of action for Brinkman because more of the new generations will relate and understand the works much better in this fashion. The normal set up in prose or poetry would not do the stories justice and would leave them still incomprehensible to the new age of students. Rap is becoming a national, if not universal mode of entertainment and relaying of cultural information. Also, rap lyrics are still similar to the patterns and rhythm poetry holds in diction. It is therefore acceptable in my eyes for this format to be used. Personally, hearing the tales in rap form (especially The Miller's Tale) made them more intriguing to hear, and even humerous! I retained much more of what Chaucer was writing about with Brinkman's interpretation.
All in all, Brinkman incorporated Chaucer's tales in a style relate able to our age, and also used a format similar in flow and delivery to the original poetry/prose created. These together make his versions of academic merit, and acceptable to 21st century students.
I believe that Baba Brinkman’s Rap Canterbury tales provides a new and interesting method to teach students about the Canterbury Tales. Brinkman stated that his goal was to resurrect Chaucer’s brilliant stories that could entertain more modern audiences which I believe he is very successful at. The raps that Brinkman creates are modeled off of the Canterbury Tales and provide the listener with the same themes as the Tales but are presented in a much more modern way. After attempting to read the Canterbury Tales without the modern translations, I felt very little connection to the story because of its difficult language and set up. However, I could understand Brinkman’s raps much greater and felt that I was learning the Tales all over again. Brinkman’s raps do have academic merit and provide a new method of learning the Canterbury Tales for students. The Canterbury tales were written by Chaucer in the last two decades of the fourteenth century. Since then, the English language as evolved greatly which has caused The Canterbury tales to get more and more difficult to read, especially to students who do not feel a connection to the author or the stories being told. However, Brinkman’s raps are written in a very modern way which allows students to understand the meaning behind the tales better. Brinkman heavily researched and prepared the raps well so that they may be historically significant and still carry over the original meaning the Chaucer had intended for. Because of this, I believe that the raps do have academic merit and can allow for Chaucer to be better understood by students everywhere.
At first thought, the Canterbury Tales and rap music couldn't be farther apart. They seem to be on two completely different sides of the literary spectrum. But after thinking for a bit, they are quite similar, as Baba Brinkman stated in his Preface to the Rap Canterbury Tales. Both the Canterbury Tales and the Rap music were meant to entertain live groups of people through lyricism and story telling. In this regard the Canterbury Tales and rap music are identical, as they were both created for those purposes. Some might argue that the Canterbury Tales is a historic document and could not be compared with the crudity that is rap music, but those people have neglected to acknowledge the crude nature of the Canterbury Tales themselves. For these reasons I do believe that his arguments have academic merit.
Baba Brinkman definitely makes Chaucer more accessible to 21st century students. Very few students can understand the archaic language that the Canterbury Tales uses and the themes that it conveys, much less enjoy them. Using rap music, a very popular means of entertainment with the new, younger generation, many more students would have access to and enjoy the Canterbury Tales, thus keeping Chaucer's work alive.
Students and teachers are always looking for new interesting ways to learn and teach subjects. The subject Baba Brinkman would like to make more interesting by using rap is the Canterbury Tales. This innovative thinking created a very good supplement to the actual Canterbury Tales. Despite the fact that Baba Brinkman’s raps do show the basic stories of the Canterbury Tales it does not show some other very important things well enough making it have the better use as a supplement. Baba Brinkman modernizes the Canterbury Tales too much for his raps to have full academic merit to be used completely by teachers. The reason that the Canterbury Tales is studied in classrooms is to better understand that era not just for the actual stories. One aspect of the Canterbury Tales that cannot be studied through Baba Brinkman’s rap is the language used by Chaucer in the tales. Another thing that cannot be thoroughly studied through Baba Brinkman’s rap is more historically relevant details in the Canterbury Tales, for Brinkman changes some historical details into a more modern thing that is easily understood by a modern student. Due to the fact that his raps do not give the whole Canterbury Tales experience it cannot be viewed with high academic merit, but should be viewed as a supplement to the actual Canterbury Tales readings. The Canterbury Tales rap does have its flaws when looked at for academic merit but it also has many aspects that are good. The Canterbury Tales raps are better than almost all modernized translations, because it does not take the poetry out of the readings while still giving a modernized version of them. Brinkman has definitely created a better way for 21st century students to connect and understand the Canterbury Tales, but while doing so he has taken out some advantages to reading the original stories in the original older language, which is why I believe that the Canterbury Tales raps is a great way to help teach students, but should be used as a supplement to the readings and not as a replacement.
Baba Brinkman has made major steps in laying the foundation for a new medium of interpretation of antiquated literature. He figured that because the phrases and language of old/middle English is so inaccessible and even boring to the masses, and translation into prose may alter the meaning of the work, why not express it in a way that is familiar and entertaining? Brinkman uses rap to portray Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales with much fervor and enthusiasm. Not only is his delivery key in engaging the audience, but the way in which he chooses only to rap the tales containing certain underlying themes that are interesting to people such as sex and violence. With this, Brinkman is enticing the younger masses and aiming to prevent them from growing apathetic to archaic literature. I agree that rap is a more modern approach to analyzing Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales, and that it should make his tales easier for students to comprehend without losing their original meaning. Brinkman conducted much research concerning the relationship between hip-hop and the work of Chaucer, and was successful in finding many arguments supporting their significance to one another. Brinkman found that much of Chaucer’s style is expressed through rap today, for example using rhymes based on sounds rather than spelling. Chaucer’s work was also intended to be read aloud in iambic pentameter, in a way that was engaging to the audience for his time. Rap is also about feeding off of the response and intensity of the audience and following a rhythm. Brinkman also noticed that the freestyling of rap was much like what transpired in The Canterbury Tales where the characters told their stories back and forth, each trying to out-do the other. However, the major connection between Chaucer and hip-hop that Brinkman discovered was the way they were both received during their time period. Chaucer’s work was seen as crude and a bit more taboo during his time, but it is now seen that he has greatly impacted the works of succeeding poets and the vernacular in which he wrote (which was frowned upon) eventually became accepted as the written standard. Brinkman sees rap in the same way, it is viewed with a negative connotation by many now, but perhaps in the future will be viewed as valid and important in the literary world. He claims that rap is the progression of literature and its adaptation to modern society, and that similar characteristics can be seen in Chaucer’s work, “I would even argue that Chaucer anticipates hip-hop in a number of important ways, by dramatizing live performance and competition explicitly in his content, by drawing attention to different stylistic choices, and by raising questions about the poet’s place in society at large, all within the playful context of a fictional game.” In all, I do support Chaucer in pioneering his findings in the relation of Chaucer to hip-hop. Although, in order to gain academic merit, I believe he will need to have collected supportive data and results to prove that it is a more effective teaching method as opposed to the original text or a prose translation of Chaucer’s work before the negative connotations that are associated with rap can be overlooked.
Baba Brinkman has made major steps in laying the foundation for a new medium of interpretation of antiquated literature. He figured that because the phrases and language of old/middle English is so inaccessible and even boring to the masses, and translation into prose may alter the meaning of the work, why not express it in a way that is familiar and entertaining? Brinkman uses rap to portray Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales with much fervor and enthusiasm. Not only is his delivery key in engaging the audience, but the way in which he chooses only to rap the tales containing certain underlying themes that are interesting to people such as sex and violence. With this, Brinkman is enticing the younger masses and aiming to prevent them from growing apathetic to archaic literature. I agree that rap is a more modern approach to analyzing Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales, and that it should make his tales easier for students to comprehend without losing their original meaning. Brinkman conducted much research concerning the relationship between hip-hop and the work of Chaucer, and was successful in finding many arguments supporting their significance to one another. Brinkman found that much of Chaucer’s style is expressed through rap today, for example using rhymes based on sounds rather than spelling. Chaucer’s work was also intended to be read aloud in iambic pentameter, in a way that was engaging to the audience for his time. Rap is also about feeding off of the response and intensity of the audience and following a rhythm. Brinkman also noticed that the freestyling of rap was much like what transpired in The Canterbury Tales where the characters told their stories back and forth, each trying to out-do the other. However, the major connection between Chaucer and hip-hop that Brinkman discovered was the way they were both received during their time period. Chaucer’s work was seen as crude and a bit more taboo during his time, but it is now seen that he has greatly impacted the works of succeeding poets and the vernacular in which he wrote (which was frowned upon) eventually became accepted as the written standard. Brinkman sees rap in the same way, it is viewed with a negative connotation by many now, but perhaps in the future will be viewed as valid and important in the literary world. He claims that rap is the progression of literature and its adaptation to modern society, and that similar characteristics can be seen in Chaucer’s work, “I would even argue that Chaucer anticipates hip-hop in a number of important ways, by dramatizing live performance and competition explicitly in his content, by drawing attention to different stylistic choices, and by raising questions about the poet’s place in society at large, all within the playful context of a fictional game.” In all, I do support Chaucer in pioneering his findings in the relation of Chaucer to hip-hop. Although, in order to gain academic merit, I believe he will need to have collected supportive data and results to prove that it is a more effective teaching method as opposed to the original text or a prose translation of Chaucer’s work before the negative connotations that are associated with rap can be overlooked.
Baba Brinkman has made major steps in laying the foundation for a new medium of interpretation of antiquated literature. He figured that because the phrases and language of old/middle English is so inaccessible and even boring to the masses, and translation into prose may alter the meaning of the work, why not express it in a way that is familiar and entertaining? Brinkman uses rap to portray Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales with much fervor and enthusiasm. Not only is his delivery key in engaging the audience, but the way in which he chooses only to rap the tales containing certain underlying themes that are interesting to people such as sex and violence. With this, Brinkman is enticing the younger masses and aiming to prevent them from growing apathetic to archaic literature. I agree that rap is a more modern approach to analyzing Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales, and that it should make his tales easier for students to comprehend without losing their original meaning.
Brinkman conducted much research concerning the relationship between hip-hop and the work of Chaucer, and was successful in finding many arguments supporting their significance to one another. Brinkman found that much of Chaucer’s style is expressed through rap today, for example using rhymes based on sounds rather than spelling. Chaucer’s work was also intended to be read aloud in iambic pentameter, in a way that was engaging to the audience for his time. Rap is also about feeding off of the response and intensity of the audience and following a rhythm. Brinkman also noticed that the freestyling of rap was much like what transpired in The Canterbury Tales where the characters told their stories back and forth, each trying to out-do the other. However, the major connection between Chaucer and hip-hop that Brinkman discovered was the way they were both received during their time period. Chaucer’s work was seen as crude and a bit more taboo during his time, but it is now seen that he has greatly impacted the works of succeeding poets and the vernacular in which he wrote (which was frowned upon) eventually became accepted as the written standard. Brinkman sees rap in the same way, it is viewed with a negative connotation by many now, but perhaps in the future will be viewed as valid and important in the literary world. He claims that rap is the progression of literature and its adaptation to modern society, and that similar characteristics can be seen in Chaucer’s work, “I would even argue that Chaucer anticipates hip-hop in a number of important ways, by dramatizing live performance and competition explicitly in his content, by drawing attention to different stylistic choices, and by raising questions about the poet’s place in society at large, all within the playful context of a fictional game.” In all, I do support Chaucer in pioneering his findings in the relation of Chaucer to hip-hop. Although, in order to gain academic merit, I believe he will need to have collected supportive data and results to prove that it is a more effective teaching method as opposed to the original text or a prose translation of Chaucer’s work before the negative connotations that are associated with rap can be overlooked.
When Baba Brinkman came up with the idea to rap the Canterbury Tales, he created a situation where he made these ancient and historically significant stories easily accessible to students. While experts in the field of medieval literature might think that rap has no place near these classic works, as a student, I find it an interesting and entertaining way to understand this literature. Written in modern vernacular, Brinkman’s raps are automatically easier to read or listen to and understand. Rap as a medium is common and popular throughout the Country and the world, which creates a way for Brinkman’s interpretations to be presented in a cool way. I find that rap was a good medium for a modern Canterbury Tales because it is a popular form of lyrical storytelling based on a rhythm pattern. As Brinkman says, the Canterbury Tales rhythm pattern is very old and sort of confusing to read but a translation into prose would not do full justice to the work. Rap is a way to present a story in a way that grabs a listener attention long enough to tell a story. Some people might not agree with using rap because of the crude and inappropriate language and content discussed today. However, this makes The Canterbury Tales perfect to be done into a rap because they were inappropriate themselves. They told stories about sex and violence, much like modern raps and described tabooed things in polite society with stunning detail. Chaucer’s wrote his stories for the common man to be able to read, not the wealthy. He discussed things that pertained to the common man. When Brinkman turns these archaic stories into modern language he makes them pertain to the common student. I believe that Brinkman’s rap does have academic value. Brinkman did not change the basic storylines of Chaucer’s Tales. He may have turned the words into modern vernacular but the basic storyline is the same. The rap is no longer a primary source of the time period because Brinkman unavoidably had to alter some things to make it work in his new format but the story stills displays and emphasizes the beliefs of the medieval society. Brinkman may have turned an ancient story into a modern rap but the Canterbury Tales are still the Canterbury Tales, just with a new face.
It was interesting to read about why Baba chose to combine music with The Canterbury Tales. It is a creative and effective way to help students understand Chauncer’s story. Baba Brinkman’s arguments do have academic merit. They get students more intersested in the stories because it is put into music and words that they recognize. Baba Brinkman stated in the Preface, “What I needed was a new medium that would capture the same ethos as Chaucer did for his age: a live performance mode rich with wordplay and lyrical nuance, with a technique that could grab a live audience’s attention and hold it long enough to tell a complex story.” By combing music with the stories Brinkman achieved this goal; the stories are more engaging and exciting to listen to. Also, Brinkman does make Chaucer more accessible to the 21st century because the stories are put in words that the younger generation and understand so they can enjoy the stories. If students had to only read the book they would most likely have a hard time understanding what is going on and, in turn, become bored. Therefore, Baba Brinkman’s style of telling the stories that makes up The Canterbury Tales is an innovative and interesting way to help younger generations understand and get more involved in the stories.
Baba Brinkman's Preface to the Rap Canterbury Tales was quite interesting. Brinkman provided evidence that showed the similarities between The Canterbury Tales and modern rap music. His arguments definitely have academic merit. He discussed how rap and poetry have evolved over the centuries, and how even six centuries ago, Chaucer wrote about a storytelling contest that could be compared to a freestyle rap battle. Brinkman's use of rap to retell the Canterbury Tales does make Chaucer more accessible to 21st century students. The Canterbury Tales are challenging to read for most modern students. Because of this, students cannot fully appreciate the Canterbury Tales. Brinkman's use of rap music allows anyone to understand Chaucer's work. The music makes it more entertaining and students are more likely to listen to hip hop than read the actual book. However, I do feel that Baba Brinkman modernizes the Canterbury Tales too much. Rap music takes away from their significance as a historical document. While Brinkman does not change the actual tales, the way he tells them with rap music is too modern and lessens their historical merit. The Rap Canterbury Tales makes Chaucer more accessable to 21st century students, however rap music detracts from the historical value of the Canterbury Tales. Baba Brinkman's version is excellent for helping students fully comprehend what they are reading, it is always better to read the book.
In the Preface, Baba Brinkman identifies relationships between the “Canterbury Tales” and modern rap music based on extensive research on the topic. Before reading this, I would have never thought that poetry written by William Shakespeare or Chaucer’s tales could be so closely related to rap. Brinkman argues that both rap and the tales are meant to entertain live groups of people using rhythm and through telling a story. Also, the tales and rap both describe crude topics such as sex and violence. Rap isn't widely accepted in society and neither were the tales because they weren’t written in the vernacular. Brinkman was able to transform the tales from Old English text into rap music that is entertaining and still retains the message of the tale. By proving numerous similarities between the two works, I can agree that his rhymes retain historical merit.
When exploring the idea that Brinkman makes Chaucer more accessible to 21st century students, the answer is undoubtedly yes. Students can learn the same tales that were written centuries ago, through the rhythm of rap. Students already listen to this genre of music, and through this music are able to identify to Chaucer’s work. The rap version of the “Canterbury Tales” is easier and more enjoyable to listen to for students, which allows them to actually appreciate the 13th century work. Brinkman’s rap connects our generation to the medieval lifestyle in an extremely unique way. He makes the characters come to life with his voice and actions on stage. The fact that he is able to make the tales of paper come to life on stage intrigues a younger audience. Brinkman is able to make Chaucer’s “Canterbury Tales” entertaining, which makes them very accessible to 21st century students.
As rap has gained popularity in the past decade, it has been brought to the center of debate and has become a very controversial topic. Therefore, depending on the person and their personal view of rap, some people will believe Baba Brinkman’s rapping of The Canterbury Tales has academic merit while others will not. Baba Brinkman has effectively ‘translated’ The Canterbury Tales into a modern day form of entertainment. Today, people around the world enjoy rap, no matter what class they are in. In Chaucer’s time, The Canterbury Tales, among other orations of poetry, was something that also appealed to all classes and people. Thus, Baba Brinkman has been able to bring back the tradition of reading aloud The Canterbury Tales but with a unique twist called rap. Baba Brinkman’s rapping of The Canterbury Tales is a good supplement to Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales. However, nothing can or should replace such an important book. I believe that students would benefit by reading The Canterbury Tales first and then listening to Baba Brinkman’s rap after, to clarify aspects of the stories they did not fully understand. Personally, when I read The Canterbury Tales I actually understood the story. Yet, after listening to Baba Brinkman rap the “Preface” and the “Miller’s Tale” I got more out of the story and enjoyed it more. So I think Baba Brinkman brings back the entertainment aspect of The Canterbury Tales that has not been experienced probably since the Middle Ages. Rap is something students are familiar with; most students probably hear it in the car every day. Therefore, students are more familiar with the modern slang of rap than the old English, so they most likely understand the stories better. And most students would prefer to listen to rap than read old English any day. Rapping this classical story only adds to students understanding. Reading is one thing, but listening to Baba Brinkman makes the words of Chaucer and his characters come alive. He even acts out the different characters! Overall, Baba Brinkman does make Chaucer more accessible to 21st century students because he makes Chaucer relevant while still managing to maintain Chaucer’s original story. For more traditional people or historians, Baba Brinkman’s arguments in the preface do not have academic merit. However, to a 21st century student, such as me, Baba Brinkman’s arguments in the preface do have academic merit. The Canterbury Tales was originally written in iambic pentameter, Baba Brinkman argues that translating it into modern prose would causes it to not have the same rhythm and lose some of its value. Rapping is almost a medium; it gives The Canterbury Tales a modern feeling with out it losing the iambic pentameter. Surprisingly, Hip-Hop and The Canterbury Tales do have a lot in common although Hip-Hop is often branded as corrupt. Both were passed down by word of the mouth or oral traditions. The story telling competition between the characters in the book can be compared to the battling of MC’s each trying to top each other. Recently, rap has been considered more and more as a form of poetry. Hip Hop actually originated from poetry. Lastly, it may be hard to believe such old English was once considered vulgar, but The Canterbury Tales was. And today rap is considered vulgar. Therefore, yes Baba Brinkman’s rapping of The Canterbury Tales does make it more accessible to 21st century students. However, depending on the person, some people will believe Baba Brinkman’s arguments in the preface do have academic merit and some will not. I personally think it does.
While reading Baba Brinkman’s Preface I found his arguments comparing Hip Hop to the Canterbury tales interesting and compelling. Brinkman brings up the issue of the Canterbury Tales being inaccessible to modern audiences because it’s written in Middle English, which only people who study the language can actually comprehend. Therefore to solve this issue Brinkmann decided to use hip-hop as a way to translate the Canterbury Tales into a modern form that can be understood and enjoyed by all modern audiences. His arguments comparing the Canterbury Tales and hip-hop do hold academic merit, as he shows that the two do have a lot of similarities. He argues that through rhythm and beats, hip-hop can be written to tell a story orally. The Canterbury Tales is similar to this because it too was written to tell a story that could be recited orally. Both are also written to entertain the audience. Brinkmann even goes as far as to explaining the parallels of the storytelling contest that is written in the Canterbury Tales to the freestyle rap battles that are associated with hip-hop.
Brinkman also makes Chaucer’s work much more accessible to today’s students. By using hip-hop, a medium that is familiar and popular with the younger generation, Brinkman makes Chaucer’s work much more enjoyable and understandable then its Middle English counterpart. Through his rapping, Brinkman has allowed Chaucer’s work to remain relevant with today’s audiences.
As rap has gained popularity in the past decade, it has been brought to the center of debate and has become a very controversial topic. Therefore, depending on the person and their personal view of rap, some people will believe Baba Brinkman’s rapping of The Canterbury Tales has academic merit while others will not. Baba Brinkman has effectively ‘translated’ The Canterbury Tales into a modern day form of entertainment. Today, people around the world enjoy rap, no matter what class they are in. In Chaucer’s time, The Canterbury Tales, among other orations of poetry, was something that also appealed to all classes and people. Thus, Baba Brinkman has been able to bring back the tradition of reading aloud The Canterbury Tales but with a unique twist called rap. Baba Brinkman’s rapping of The Canterbury Tales is a good supplement to Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales. However, nothing can or should replace such an important book. I believe that students would benefit by reading The Canterbury Tales first and then listening to Baba Brinkman’s rap after, to clarify aspects of the stories they did not fully understand. Personally, when I read The Canterbury Tales I actually understood the story. Yet, after listening to Baba Brinkman rap the “Preface” and the “Miller’s Tale” I got more out of the story and enjoyed it more. So I think Baba Brinkman brings back the entertainment aspect of The Canterbury Tales that has not been experienced probably since the Middle Ages. Rap is something students are familiar with; most students probably hear it in the car every day. Therefore, students are more familiar with the modern slang of rap than the old English, so they most likely understand the stories better. And most students would prefer to listen to rap than read old English any day. Rapping this classical story only adds to students understanding. Reading is one thing, but listening to Baba Brinkman makes the words of Chaucer and his characters come alive. He even acts out the different characters! Overall, Baba Brinkman does make Chaucer more accessible to 21st century students because he makes Chaucer relevant while still managing to maintain Chaucer’s original story. For more traditional people or historians, Baba Brinkman’s arguments in the preface do not have academic merit. However, to a 21st century student, such as me, Baba Brinkman’s arguments in the preface do have academic merit. The Canterbury Tales was originally written in iambic pentameter, Baba Brinkman argues that translating it into modern prose would causes it to not have the same rhythm and lose some of its value. Rapping is almost a medium; it gives The Canterbury Tales a modern feeling with out it losing the iambic pentameter. Surprisingly, Hip-Hop and The Canterbury Tales do have a lot in common although Hip-Hop is often branded as corrupt. Both were passed down by word of the mouth or oral traditions. The story telling competition between the characters in the book can be compared to the battling of MC’s each trying to top each other. Recently, rap has been considered more and more as a form of poetry. Hip Hop actually originated from poetry. Lastly, it may be hard to believe such old English was once considered vulgar, but The Canterbury Tales was. And today rap is considered vulgar. Therefore, yes Baba Brinkman’s rapping of The Canterbury Tales does make it more accessible to 21st century students. However, depending on the person, some people will believe Baba Brinkman’s arguments in the preface do have academic merit and some will not. I personally think it does.
I feel that Brinkman does have academic merit. He is educated and his studies are backed by research. If someone had told me that one could rap a middle english novel i would have been rather skeptical. but both target their audience and do it very well. The similarity made between the storytellers competition and rappers in a freestyle battle made a lot of sense when you thought about it. All are just trying to tell a story/rap better then the last.
Baba definitely makes The Canterbury tales more accessible to 21st century students. He relates more difficult text into a fun to listen to rap. Rapping it also puts on another twist. Rap is relatively new as music goes, just as writing crude comedy was new in Chaucer's day and age. The enthusiasm that Brinkman uses makes it more appealing as well. When you here someone getting into what they are doing, its more enticing then a monotone reader, or a difficult text. His fun approach attracts the youth of today.
The Rap Canterbury Tales opened new doors for the centuries-old piece of literature. Baba Brinkman is able to convert middle English to rap, and offer the same entertaining stories in a much more contemporary and accessible manner. Twenty-first century students are no longer singularly subject to Chaucer’s often confusing stanzas, and have the option to hear the tales in a tongue they are well-versed in. In a way, Brinkman followed in Chaucer’s footsteps by producing a piece of work in a medium that is not entirely socially acceptable, in order to pique the “common man’s” interest and garner a wider audience. Chaucer chose the vernacular when Latin was the norm, and received his fair share of slandering and disrespect, but for the same reason was able to sell thousands of copies. Brinkman chose the form of rap, which in this day and age is not generally accepted as a legitimate form of education, and was able to offer insight into the world of The Canterbury Tales to those who won’t read a book, but will listen to rap any day. In addition, Brinkman’s style of performance is leagues more entertaining that the manner in which Chaucer’s work was originally expressed. Students today, understandably, would much prefer watching an exciting performance in front of their eyes than listen to a monotonous and lengthy reading. Academic merit can be attributed to Brinkman’s work due to the lengthy amount of research involved in it’s creation and the successful method in which it is presented. He was able to turn the difficult and archaic words of middle English into not only modern English, but words that any person of any social class would be familiar with. I believe every teacher should be thankful for Brinkman and what he has brought for students: a glimpse of the past, with a hint of the present.
My first initial thought after reading the preface was that this idea to connect rap with European literature was amazing and creative genius. I like the concept of being able to have something that simple in common with people from so long ago. Baba makes several good points that I also agree with, such as when he talks about tracing back any oral tradition from any culture and it will lead you back to the same place. I found that very insightful. Another thing I thought was interesting was that he pointed out the pressures both rappers and poets face. If the audience doesn't like what they have to offer, then they have to "suffer the consequences", which adds to the competition in both areas. I feel that his arguments have a lot of academic merit, seeing as he did a lot of research to reinforce his opinions. Baba obviously put a lot of thought into this idea and his points are well supported. For instance, he is clearly able to compare the Host from the Canterbury Tales to a modern day MC seeing as they both are judging others in a competition; the Host is judging the stories told on the journey, while an MC would judge the skills in a freestyle rap battle. I think Baba makes Chaucer much more accessible to 21st century students. Reading Chaucer's Tales to yourself is not nearly as entertaining as listening to Baba recite the stories. I believe while the stories themselves are somewhat interesting, Baba puts a better spin on them by adding some modern language and of course through rap, which is easier to relate it to. When you hear him speak the Tales out loud, I find them easier to get into and understand. Despite the fact that the original pieces were English Literature, Baba transitioned it smoothly to an (almost) universal composition. It had a nice rhythem, and to conclude, I really enjoyed it.
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Baba Brinkman’s comparison of rap to the Canterbury Tales was very interesting to read. When I think of rap and Canterbury Tales the two don’t go hand in hand. Baba Brinkman does have academic merit because he has come up with a lot of similarities that are backed up by research and fact. Baba Brinkman came up with a lot of similarities that wouldn’t have ever crossed my mind. Both rap and Canterbury Tales are focused around an audience. Both are trying to get the audience to like the they are seeing. It’s a never ending battle to please the audience. In rap and Canterbury Tales there both is a competition that drives the rappers and storytellers. Rappers will battle against other rappers in a freestyle battle, while the audience gets to decide who the better rapper is. In Canterbury Tales everyone gets to tell their story each storyteller is trying to make their story better than the other person’s story. Which the reader or listener can decide which story is the best. Baba Brinkman brought up an interesting point when he talked about censoring. In the 14th and 15th century when poetry became very popular poets had to cater to what the audience wanted, not to what they felt needed to get across. When rap artist get a record deal; they have to cater and censor to what the record producer wants. Overall Baba Brinkman brings up many similarities that make people realize how two different worlds have more in common than it seems.
I believe Baba Brinkman makes Chaucer more accessible to 21st century students. He makes learning the tales much more interesting. Instead of reading the story, we get to hear a voice to Canterbury Tales; a voice that is filled with the excitement that the story teller has. When you listen to Baba Brinkman you began to understand to Canterbury Tales in a different way rather than reading the book. The words Chaucer wrote down come alive when Baba says them. When Baba tells each story it’s as if he really was the character. Baba Brinkman is a great story teller because of this many people enjoy Canterbury Tales more and they are more accessible to 21st century students.
Baba Brinkman’s Preface to the Rap Canterbury Tales is extremely detailed and not only informs the reader of his purpose for rapping the Canterbury Tales but also provides specific connections from hip-hop culture today and Chaucer’s poetry. His research shows that Chaucer employed skills such as dramatizing a story by using a live performance and unique choice of language style. Baba imitates these ideas by bringing them back to life in his raps. I feel Baba’s arguments do have academic merit mainly because he has solid research and is able to relate and analyze this research to both Chaucer’s work and his own work. For example, he connects his research on rap battles to Chaucer’s overall plot in the Canterbury Tales. He shows that rap battles include people competing to tell a better story by being more entertaining and trying to “top” the previous rap. This is just like the pilgrims in the Canterbury Tales who use humor, rhymes, and wit to gain the audience's approval. Finally, Brinkman relates the mediator in a rap battle who judges for the best rap to the “Host” in the Canterbury Tale who judges for the most entertaining story.
I think Baba definitely makes Chaucer more accessible to 21st century students. First of all, he puts Chaucer’s words into a context that we can actually understand without having to put much extra effort. In contrast, his original work forces the reader to strain to understand each line because the language, although containing historical merit, may confuse us as to what is really happening with the plot. Also, Baba’s raps help put into perspective how Chaucer’s work was viewed in his time. This is because during Chaucer’s time, his work was seen as crude and was looked down upon by the higher society and seen as entertainment for the lower class. As discussed by Brinkman in his Preface, rap today is also a source of entertainment and contains subjects such as sex and violence that are frowned upon by a large part of society who deems it unworthy of being associated with. So instead of looking at it through a historical point of view as a primary document meant for learning purposes only, Baba puts it on a level that is relatable to the level it was actually on when Chaucer wrote it. Finally, Baba animates Chaucer’s words and ideas and grabs his audience’s attention and entertains them from the very beginning to the very end each character’s story.
Baba Brinkman's preface compares rap to historical poetry and how Geoffrey Chaucer was a perfect candidate to compare his stories to rap because he was known as the father of poetry for centuries. Baba Brinkman proves that he has academic merit by stating that a freestyle battle is like the storytelling of all of the people on the pilgrimage to Canterbury because a freestyle battle is when two or more people use punch lines to outwit their opponents. In the Canterbury Tales the host tells the pilgrims that whoever creates the best story wins a free meal at the tabard when they get back from their pilgrimage. Also the stories told by the pilgrims represent a kind of freestyle rap because they are improvising on the spot to outwit each other to win that free meal. Rappers do the same thing by rapping in order to win the rap battle. Another example that Baba has academic merit is when he mentions the idea of the MC and the host. Basically the host in The Canterbury Tales is like a MC because they mediate the rap battle or in The Canterbury Tales' case storytelling. The objective of a MC is to pump up the crowd about the upcoming battle, also in the the Canterbury Tales the host's job is to mediate the contest just like the MC. Overall Baba Brinkman has academic merit due to the similarities between rap and the Canterbury tales that is stated above.
I believe that Baba Brinkman does make Chaucer more accessible to 21st century students because his translating The Canterbury Tales to a more modern language to the 21st century students enables them to understand it in a way that is natural to them. Also it enables the students to listen to the rap that is said in a way that still has the main story of The Canterbury tales just in a more modern way. In conclusion Baba Brinkman knew that connecting rap and historical poetry would make students in this century understand it more.
Baba Brinkman's Preface to the Canterbury Tales rap was a very enlightening read for me, as it revealed the correlation between Chaucer's Tales and today's hip-hop scene. While at first glimpse this seems like another college student's attempt at a thesis paper for a college course, it is more than meets the eye. Baba reveals both his journey to enlightenment and how we can apply Chaucer's theories and practices today. It is impossible to say that Chaucer was the trailblazer for rap and hip-hop, but Baba makes some valid arguments stating that he unknowingly started the movement.
Some of the similarities between the two mediums are not so obvious on the surface. Both are written or created on the spot in order to appeal to an audience, which can either end the performance or story early or let it run its course. They also are spurred on by the cheers or jeers of the audience, as either action will lead the rapper or storyteller to fail more spectacularly or excel. On the most basic level, a rap or the written word are composed in order to tell a story that will please its intended readers or listeners, or even to sometimes terrify or frighten. While Baba's claims that current hip-hop artists are modern day "Chaucer's" is a little ridiculous, he did bring up a valid point on the levels of hip-hop that exist. There is both the underground and the mainstream, and both sides ridicule each other for both selling out and for not supporting their fellow artists. However, without the other, neither side could exist, so they live in their own kind of harmony. The same could be said about Chaucer's literature and his "competition" that existed during his time period. Though there are no records that can confirm this claim, Chaucer is viewed as the most influential and important literary figure of his time, and so he must have had his share of criticisms and claims of "selling out." This is just one example of Baba's reasoning.
While some of his claims are a little extraneous and exaggerated, when viewed as a tool to improve the understanding of Chaucer's work, it is very valuable. He discards with the iambic pentameter that Chaucer primarily used and replaced it in rhyming schemes that make it accessible to the high school student.
Baba Brinkman makes several good statements on the performance of Canterbury Tales as a Rap. And all of his comments seems to be backed by pretty solid research. Brinkman believes that by rapping out the lyrics to this poem, it makes it more accessible for today’s students as well as better represent the style of Geoffrey Chaucer. His first argument is that since Geoffrey Chaucer wrote his narrative as a poem to translate it into modern prose would cause it to lose its substance. He feels that by rapping out the story, it offers a modern view on the Canterbury tales without sacrificing the iambic pentameter style writing. Being able to Rap out a classic story like the Canterbury Tales also helps back his support for Hip-Hop and show that it is not all bad and does not have to be frowned upon as a “corrupting influence.”
Hip-Hop also has several other connections with Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales. Both of them are normally oral traditions that are not written, but passed down by word of mouth. The story-telling contest between the characters can also be compared to the freestyle battle performed by MC’s. These performers have to improvise raps that show their style and background, just like the different characters in the Canterbury Tales battled each other for the best story they knew told each in their own styles. The pilgrims of Chaucer’s tale may be telling stories they have heard before, but they are improvising with their own rhymes and phrases in this dramatized story-telling. Rappers and Pilgrims alike brought competition to their storytelling.
Hip-Hop originated from poetry, it is true poetry. Brinkman feels that poetry cannot be felt through the words on a printed page and that Hip-Hop allows us to truly hear the ingenious rhyme of the poem. By performing the Canterbury Tales in Rap it not only allows us to get the full feel of the poem, it also makes it far more interesting for students today. I know from personal experience of reading through the “Prologue” and then the “Knights Tale” was difficult, even in the modern English translation. When I listened to the rap version of the “Millers Tale” however, the story was much more alive. Rap is something students are more familiar with the transposed lines into the modern slang helped to better understand what each story was basically trying to say. And I would further think that a student would more rather listen to a rap than have to read a classical English story. Rapping this classical story helps to create a medium where modern kids can learn to appreciate classics without being bored to tears.
I feel that, while the Canterbury Tales in rap format is a creative and innovative way to get kids in the twenty-first century interested in what they think of as ‘dead literature’, it really pales in comparison to just reading a modern English translation of the book. Brinkman has a lot of very interesting ideas, and the way he compares the way the travelers take potshots at each other through their tales to how M.C.s will have freestyle battles with each other is both intriguing and rooted in logic. However, I still feel like it’s modernizing the tales too much. In the same way that email obliterated the general feeling of handwritten correspondence, I feel that putting these stories to rap makes them much more modern and puts out a bad message regarding old literature. While I don’t expect children to jump at the chance to read Chaucer, there’s something to be said for truly teleporting yourself back in time to that era and stepping into the shoes of those Pilgrims. Without the deafening rap backbeat, it’s much easier to get into the feeling of the middle ages and picture yourself there. While the rap is certainly more entertaining and will probably attract more of a younger generation, it will still be the generation that frowns on reading and prefers mindless corporate music to quality literature.
That’s not to say that I find Mr. Brinkman uneducated. He’s a very intelligent man, and his ideas and connections between the Canterbury Tales and rap music are fascinating. However, I much prefer books to be books, and music to be music. Our generation is already all too eager to shrug off classic old things for the newest, shiniest version, when the old version works just as well. Rap versions of Chaucer may be exciting and entertaining, but I still feel like in comparison to the original, they just don’t measure up.
Baba Brinkman’s Preface to C.T. was very interesting for me to read. It showed an interesting correlation between hip-hop and C.T.
There are many similarities between Chaucer’s tale’s and mainstream rap. Basic rap is written words composed to tell a story and entice the audience, and please them. They are both created in order to appeal to the audience of their time.
In both their times they were consider vulgar language. Chaucer’s tales were written in English not the proper Latin, also they were written with crude jokes, embracing the audience, and also used language that maybe some person of nobility would chose not to. Rappers use vulgar language too, swears and profanity that to some of the older generation are offensive, there are crude humor and jokes.
By Baba rapping these tales he makes it easier for today’s generation to understand. Baba also feels that by rapping the tales they do not lose their poetic meaning.
Baba Brinkman’s insight into the Canterbury Tales to me is amazing. To translate it’s meaning as you read is in itself a feat but to take it a step farther and renew the Canterbury Tales in a modern art form is astounding. Brinkman’s academic merit is shown through his research. Tracing lineage of rap in poetic form back to the middle ages while realizing it’s connection to Europe, Africa, and South America proves older stories can be traced to modern day artists. Brinkman’s Reasoning is historically accurate. The Canterbury Tales are in a way the first rap battle. A group of people get together to be judged on their story telling skills. These pilgrims belittle and fight for attention while their stories which happen to be poetic are oral. This, as Brinkman says, is like a rap contest where MCs have rap battles rhyming lyrics and fighting for attention while the audience judges them. For Brinkman to create a rap of the Canterbury Tales he must have had a complete understanding of the stories in the Canterbury Tales, as well the ability to translate the poetic verses into lyrics. This means he not only needed background in history and European culture he also needed background in music and poetry. mixing this knowledge and creating the rap version of the Canterbury Tales which are similar in structure and meaning to the original creates a modern work of art. The academic merit of Brinkman’s rap of the Canterbury Tales is shown through his accomplishment and his connections. It’s popularity in school also shows it as recognized as an art form of the Canterbury Tales.
Brinkman definitely made the Canterbury Tales more assessable by today’s students. Students of current society prefer hip hop and rap to any other genera. Brinkman’s rap puts what would be boring medieval literature into easily comprehended modern day rap. Normally students would find reading the Canterbury Tales a aggravating task due to the fact you must translate to find meaning as well as think to identify purpose and understand the context. This makes reading the Canterbury Tales for the average person extremely difficult. Brinkman’s rap puts the Canterbury Tales into a more understandable form that is easily comprehended and even liked. Youth will listen to the rap and instead of instantly disliking it will familiarize with it and listen.
Baba Brinkman effectively converted the “Canterbury Tales” into how they would be presented in modern society - as a form of entertainment. In the 21st century, poetry has faded as a source of popular entertainment, and is more emphasized in academic pursuits or in literary circles. In Chaucer’s time, oration of poetry was an exciting form of entertainment. In the 21st century, hip-hop music and rap is the form of entertainment that appeals to the masses and is more appreciated by the common population. Brinkman took the poetry that was a trend in Chaucer’s time and transformed it to the type of poetry that is the current trend.
In doing so, Brinkman certainly makes Chaucer more accessible to 21st century students. Reading through a Canterbury tale is very tedious and it incorporates vocabulary and phrasings that are irrelevant to modern times. Brinkman allows students to appreciate the stories for their true purpose, versus wasting time trying to figure out what Chaucer was saying. In doing so, students can come to the realization that stories told hundreds of years ago can still be interesting today; stories with themes of love, sex, and violence have always appealed to people. Understanding parallels and differences between today’s pop-culture and pop-culture hundreds of years ago is essential to a student’s understanding of history.
In a traditional sense, Brinkman’s arguments in the preface to the Canterbury Tales do not have academic merit. A common perception is that the study of hip-hop and rap is not an academic pursuit. The logical argument that follows is that Brinkman’s renditions of the Canterbury Tales have no academic merit. However, this parallels how Chaucer’s work was viewed when first published - as trash with little scholarly value, written in the “vulgar tongue”. However, Chaucer’s work started a trend that revolutionized literature and its study. In this way, perhaps Brinkman can be perceived as a forerunner for how literature will be studied.
Brinkman correlates the style of Chaucer’s story telling to a rapping competition. He also explains how the modern relationship between an entertainer and his audience is like a poets relationship with his audience in Chaucer’s era. In doing so, Brinkman effectively communicates how Chaucer was perceived in his time, which is essential to an academic understanding of the Canterbury Tales.
Brinkman makes Chaucer not only relevant, but interesting to an academic study of Chaucer’s work, by addressing how we would perceive Chaucer if he were an artist today.
In Baba Brinkman’s Preface to the Rap Canterbury Tales, I found a rare passion for a subject. Through his writing, it becomes evident that Baba Brinkman truly believes in his project and wants to share The Canterbury Tales in a new and exciting way. The argument of whether or not his new methods will be accepted by the academic community however has me hovering on a fence. Baba Brinkman presents information as to the merit of his Rap Canterbury Tales in the Preface to his book, and his reasoning is both well-thought out and solid, Baba highlights the fact that prose would not do justice to the rhythm of The Canterbury Tales and contemporary iambic pentameter would almost be as boring as reading Middle English. According to Baba, the only logical solution to presenting The Canterbury Tales in a new form is to rap Chaucer’s immortal words, and I can’t help but agree with him. After listening to the Rap Canterbury Tales, I was able to gain a much better understanding of the story’s content than I got from reading The Canterbury Tales; and I found the Canterbury Tales much more enjoyable after hearing them being rapped. Brinkman’s rap was much easier to understand and it is therefore much more accessible to 21st century students. As Baba said, rap is the perfect medium for The Canterbury Tales today because it can hold an audience’s attention and effectively tell a long and complicated story. Rap is also familiar to most 21st century students; it is a language they know and speak.
The fact that The Rap Canterbury Tales is more easily accessible to students does not however give Brinkman’s argument for their value more academic merit. I feel that Baba Brinkman will have a much harder time winning over scholars with this theory. Although Brinkman’s ideas make sense to me, scholars who revere Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales might have difficulty seeing Brinkman’s side. Brinkman also bases much of his argument off of opinion and without fact, academic merit is hard to obtain. Brinkman also seeks to reverse the misrepresentation of hip-hop, but for those who only know of hip-hop’s negative image, it is very hard to accept that rap has a place in the class room. Brinkman must give real evidence of a student’s increased understanding of The Canterbury Tales after listening to his rap in order to gain solid academic merit.
Baba Brinkman's theories behind the Rap Canterbury Tales are interesting. His approach towards using rap as the medium of expression is surprisingly apt. In addition to rap providing a regular meter, rhyme, and a flowing, musical tone (all characteristics of Caucer's epic), the cultural connatation of rap suits that of the Tales. Caucer's work was a highly controversial publication at its time; it was crude and crass, and frowned upon by the gentry and Church leaders. Its use of the vernacular was also a liberal feature, agian disliked by a world where Latin was the superior tongue. Rap music embodies many of these characteristics; rap is often an incredibly crude form of art, stunningly frank in its depictions of sex, violence, drugs, and other demons. Those of an older generation, and even many of this current generation, think of rap as a lowly and disgusting form of music, and find it far too explicit. The crude humor of the Canterbury Tales was similar to this baser substance, as was the critical reaction to it. Furthermore, rap is built upon colloquial language and slang, and thus appeals to the masses. Many condemn rap because of its informal language, and would go so far as to say it does not even constitute a genre of music due to its use of slang. In an analogous manner, the use of vernacular Middle English in the Canterbury Tales, and the criticism of the language by the upper classes, issimilar to the colloquialism of rap. Therefore, Brinkman's use of rap in his recitation was an incredibly effective tool with a strong academic base, for both its application of poetic devices, and its liberal appeal.
I believe Brinkman's Rap Canterbury Tales will have some influence on a younger generation. Its presentation is certainly more inviting and less intimidating than the Middle English poem, insofar as understanding. Thus, those who are not well versed in Middle English, or even a poetic translation of the work, can easily comprehend the stories. The popularity of rap, not only in America but worldwide, gives new life to an archaic source, hence making it more "cool" to listen to. Those who would normally be turned off by such an old work might be more disposed to look at it. By seeing much of its crass humor, which honestly has not changed much in 700 years, a connection can be made to the old work, giving it an appeal to a younger crowd. However, there are some drawbacks to the work; I cannot see many rap enthusiasts in this modern age, no matter how good the piece may be, being attracted to anything even associated with The Canterbury Tales. I fear the connatiation surrounding the Tales is so antiquated, it does not have much appeal left, in any form. Still, other than this problem, I feel it does have potential to revive, at least to some extent, Caucer's classic work.
I feel that Baba Brinkman’s interpretation of The Canterbury Tales as a form of old English rap was a very valid argument. I feel that his argument that, The Canterbury Tales and poetry back in the Middle Ages was what rap has a lot of scholarly merit. From my point of view the English spoken back then was a version of slang most likely and The Canterbury Tales was like a compilation of stories and ideas of that time, much like rap is today. The rap of today, in most cases, tries to tell a story, does it always have a good moral, no, but neither did most of the stories in The Canterbury Tales.
Rap is sung in a more slang way than traditional music just as The Canterbury Tales was written “in the vulgar tongue” as Francesco Petrarca put it. The comparison that Baba makes is very well supported in many ways. For one rap is seen as a less than appropriate form of music now just as The Canterbury Tales were then. Also rap uses a slang that many find offensive much like written works in the vernacular was back in the middle ages when Latin was the standard. Brinkman’s views are like comparing an old car with a new car. The old car looks much different on the outside compared to the new car but both do the same thing they get the owner from point “a” to point “b”. Rap and The Canterbury Tales are the same way though they may sound much different both essentially to the same thing, tell a story.
I feel that Brinkman’s work with Chaucer’s literature makes it much simpler for the modern student to understand what was happening and give the listener a better respect for it by comparing the culture of The Canterbury Tales and similar works to a more current culture like rap.
I find that Baba Brinkman’s Preface to the Rap Canterbury Tales definitely shows that he really thought about what he wrote. I thought it was really interesting how he found something that, in essence, really needed to be done and it was what he loved to do. I think in his preface he really shows the amount of work he put into writing the raps. I also thought it was really cool how he realized he could “dismantle the widespread prejudice against hip-hop culture” with his raps.
I believe that his arguments do have academic merit. He talks about the effect that the iambic pentameter would have on the raps. He seems to be very aware of the aspects of poetry and their effects. The conclusions Brinkman comes to are not without academic backing. And it is easy to see how dedicated he has been to hip-hop as an art form throughout his life.
I think Brinkman really shows with his raps that there are many connections between today and late 14th century. He points out how the actual tales were based around the audience as is his raps. He recognizes how much the audience matters to the performance and works off of that. The fact that the Canterbury Tales were intended to be read aloud made his transition to a rap make a lot more sense too, especially the freestyle aspect. Also his discussion of things like censorship relate to today’s record companies.
It was really interesting how Brinkman points out “Chaucer employs the competition as a unifying principle”, talking about the pilgrims going to Canterbury together and competing to tell the best story. This is so similar to rap battles today. Rappers get together and battle and it keeps hip-hop and rap moving.
Baba Brinkman definitely makes Chaucer more accessible to 21st century students. Most students do not want to sit down and fight their way through Middle English. Brinkman has revived the tales by putting them into a form that students can understand and want to listen to. Brinkman’s enthusiasm about the Canterbury Tales definitely contributes to students interest and I think he has definitely kept the tales alive in a very different society.
I find that Baba Brinkman’s Preface to the Rap Canterbury Tales definitely shows that he really thought about what he wrote. I thought it was really interesting how he found something that, in essence, really needed to be done and it was what he loved to do. I think in his preface he really shows the amount of work he put into writing the raps. I also thought it was really cool how he realized he could “dismantle the widespread prejudice against hip-hop culture” with his raps.
I believe that his arguments do have academic merit. He talks about the effect that the iambic pentameter would have on the raps. He seems to be very aware of the aspects of poetry and their effects. The conclusions Brinkman comes to are not without academic backing. And it is easy to see how dedicated he has been to hip-hop as an art form throughout his life.
I think Brinkman really shows with his raps that there are many connections between today and late 14th century. He points out how the actual tales were based around the audience as is his raps. He recognizes how much the audience matters to the performance and works off of that. The fact that the Canterbury Tales were intended to be read aloud made his transition to a rap make a lot more sense too, especially the freestyle aspect. Also his discussion of things like censorship relate to today’s record companies.
It was really interesting how Brinkman points out “Chaucer employs the competition as a unifying principle”, talking about the pilgrims going to Canterbury together and competing to tell the best story. This is so similar to rap battles today. Rappers get together and battle and it keeps hip-hop and rap moving.
Baba Brinkman definitely makes Chaucer more accessible to 21st century students. Most students do not want to sit down and fight their way through Middle English. Brinkman has revived the tales by putting them into a form that students can understand and want to listen to. Brinkman’s enthusiasm about the Canterbury Tales definitely contributes to students interest and I think he has definitely kept the tales alive in a very different society.
I find that Baba Brinkman’s Preface to the Rap Canterbury Tales definitely shows that he really thought about what he wrote. I thought it was really interesting how he found something that, in essence, really needed to be done and it was what he loved to do. I think in his preface he really shows the amount of work he put into writing the raps. I also thought it was really cool how he realized he could “dismantle the widespread prejudice against hip-hop culture” with his raps.
I believe that his arguments do have academic merit. He talks about the effect that the iambic pentameter would have on the raps. He seems to be very aware of the aspects of poetry and their effects. The conclusions Brinkman comes to are not without academic backing. And it is easy to see how dedicated he has been to hip-hop as an art form throughout his life.
I think Brinkman really shows with his raps that there are many connections between today and late 14th century. He points out how the actual tales were based around the audience as is his raps. He recognizes how much the audience matters to the performance and works off of that. The fact that the Canterbury Tales were intended to be read aloud made his transition to a rap make a lot more sense too, especially the freestyle aspect. Also his discussion of things like censorship relate to today’s record companies.
It was really interesting how Brinkman points out “Chaucer employs the competition as a unifying principle”, talking about the pilgrims going to Canterbury together and competing to tell the best story. This is so similar to rap battles today. Rappers get together and battle and it keeps hip-hop and rap moving.
Baba Brinkman definitely makes Chaucer more accessible to 21st century students. Most students do not want to sit down and fight their way through Middle English. Brinkman has revived the tales by putting them into a form that students can understand and want to listen to. Brinkman’s enthusiasm about the Canterbury Tales definitely contributes to students interest and I think he has definitely kept the tales alive in a very different society.
I find that Baba Brinkman’s Preface to the Rap Canterbury Tales definitely shows that he really thought about what he wrote. I thought it was really interesting how he found something that, in essence, really needed to be done and it was what he loved to do. I think in his preface he really shows the amount of work he put into writing the raps. I also thought it was really cool how he realized he could “dismantle the widespread prejudice against hip-hop culture” with his raps.
I believe that his arguments do have academic merit. He talks about the effect that the iambic pentameter would have on the raps. He seems to be very aware of the aspects of poetry and their effects. The conclusions Brinkman comes to are not without academic backing. And it is easy to see how dedicated he has been to hip-hop as an art form throughout his life.
I think Brinkman really shows with his raps that there are many connections between today and late 14th century. He points out how the actual tales were based around the audience as is his raps. He recognizes how much the audience matters to the performance and works off of that. The fact that the Canterbury Tales were intended to be read aloud made his transition to a rap make a lot more sense too, especially the freestyle aspect.
It was really interesting how Brinkman points out “Chaucer employs the competition as a unifying principle”, talking about the pilgrims going to Canterbury together and competing to tell the best story. This is so similar to rap battles today. Rappers get together and battle and it keeps hip-hop and rap moving.
Baba Brinkman definitely makes Chaucer more accessible to 21st century students. Most students do not want to sit down and fight their way through Middle English. Brinkman has revived the tales by putting them into a form that students can understand and want to listen to. Brinkman’s enthusiasm about the Canterbury Tales definitely contributes to students interest and I think he has definitely kept the tales alive in a very different society.
I find that Baba Brinkman’s Preface to the Rap Canterbury Tales definitely shows that he really thought about what he wrote. I thought it was really interesting how he found something that, in essence, really needed to be done and it was what he loved to do. I think in his preface he really shows the amount of work he put into writing the raps. I also thought it was really cool how he realized he could “dismantle the widespread prejudice against hip-hop culture” with his raps.
His arguments do have academic merit. He talks about the effect that the iambic pentameter would have on the raps. He seems to be very aware of the aspects of poetry and their effects. The conclusions Brinkman comes to are not without academic backing. And it is easy to see how dedicated he has been to hip-hop as an art form throughout his life.
I think Brinkman really shows with his raps that there are many connections between today and late 14th century. He points out how the actual tales were based around the audience as is his raps. He recognizes how much the audience matters to the performance and works off of that. The fact that the Canterbury Tales were intended to be read aloud made his transition to a rap make a lot more sense too, especially the freestyle aspect.
It was really interesting how Brinkman points out “Chaucer employs the competition as a unifying principle”, talking about the pilgrims going to Canterbury together and competing to tell the best story. This is so similar to rap battles today. Rappers get together and battle and it keeps hip-hop and rap moving.
Baba Brinkman definitely makes Chaucer more accessible students. Most students do not want to sit down and fight their way through Middle English. Brinkman has revived the tales by putting them into a form that students can understand and want to listen to. Brinkman’s enthusiasm about the Canterbury Tales definitely contributes to students’ interest and he has kept the tales alive in an ever changing society.
Baba Brinkman’s reason for writing and creating a rap version of The Canterbury Tales has academic merit. By remaking the tales into a rap form, it allows Brinkman to express almost the same passion that was in the original text. Brinkman wanted to keep the emotions of the original Canterbury Tales. He can rap each tale without sacrificing important plot points. Brinkman makes a convincing argument for his choosing of rap. A prose version of The Canterbury Tales would only “stifle the lyricism in Chaucer’s narrative voice” and that “translating them into a contemporary iambic pentameter would still feel archaic to the modern ear” (Brinkman Preface). Brinkman’s goal with the rap version of The Canterbury Tales was to allow more people to read and understand Chaucer’s tales. Brinkman gives another argument for his decision in creating a rap form of The Canterbury Tales. He explains that because of the rhythmic verses of the tales, The Canterbury Tales was meant as an oral story. Brinkman says that by having a rap form, he fulfills the original meaning of Chaucer’s tales. He has academic merit because he retells the tales with the intention of educating; in his preface, he said he has been traveling around the nation for six years retelling his rap to thousands of people. With The Canterbury Tales in rap form, Brinkman can tell the tales in the same sense as Chaucer did while writing his tales; in rap, most songs are written like a story.
With Brinkman’s comparison of The Canterbury Tales and 21st century rap, one can see his inspiration and desire to create his own version of The Canterbury Tales. He makes a valid point in suggesting that The Canterbury Tales has the same traits and principles as freestyle rap; the characters within the book were trying to tell the best tale and have the Host declare them the winner of the contest. This is similar to freestyle rap because the Master of Ceremonies (MC) is competing against other MCs to be the best and win the vote of the audience.
Brinkman does successfully make The Canterbury Tales more accessible to 21st century students by creating a rap version. Rap is one of the major music genres of the 21st century and by having The Canterbury Tales in rap form, it attracts more students who are willing to listen to the tales. To a student of the 21st century, Brinkman’s songs are easier to understand than reading the translated Middle English version of The Canterbury Tales. The students find a connection with the hip-hop song and they listen to Brinkman’s songs as if it were by any modern day rap artist. By converting Chaucer’s tales into relatable songs, Brinkman prevented the tales from declining even more in popularity among readers and students. For some instances, literary classics must be adapted in to more modern versions to intrigue modern-day students. In this example, Baba Brinkman successfully adapted The Canterbury Tales into a form that is more accessible to 21st century students and has done so with academic merit.
Baba Brinkman’s concept of comparing rap to the Canterbury Tales most certainly has its academic merit, and he uses some very compelling examples to make his point. He showed in his article that the Canterbury Tales (or any form of storytelling for that matter) and modern day rap is not all that dissimilar through several key similarities. Both have to keep the audiences attention in mind, the whole objective of both is to please the crowd. He also shows that freestyle story telling and freestyle rapping also have the same competitive edge to one up the previous performer. However one of the most important similarities to me was the content in both forms of entertainment. Both always contain what the average person expects from entertainment, sex and violence.
As far as whether or not the Rap Canterbury Tales helps the modern day person trying to understand something written about 600 years ago, I think Brinkman definitely accomplished his goal. Not only does he convert the Canterbury Tales into a language we can all understand, but he puts a rhythm and flow to it that keeps people engaged. Listening to Brinkman rap his way through the tales is a lot more engaging than reading the text or listen to someone read it out in a droning monotone. I personally understood the tales that we listened to him rap far better than the bit of summer reading that we had to do from the same material.
I believe that Baba Brinkman’s Preface in The Rap Canterbury Tales has a lot of standpoints, which support his idea of the similarities between Hip Hop and Chaucer’s poetry. Some of these similarities are actually very unique. Baba found that stories in medieval times were basically told person to person or to audience by song or poetry. This is how Chaucer writes his book the Canterbury Tales, by poem in a constant rhythm and in a setting where people are telling stories to others. Baba, trying to replicate this mode of story telling, found that rap is a happy medium in which it includes a steady rhythm in which a story is told. Another similarity is that Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, in its time, were viewed as unsophisticated, full of vulgarity, and not proper. Today the same goes for rap, people view rap as unsophisticated and full of vulgar. Though one major connection with the Canterbury Tales and modern day rap is the competition to tell a better story through song. The Canterbury Tales are basically a bunch of stories within a story of a story telling competition. Today the same thing still goes on between rappers, trying to tell better stories, show their cleverness with words, and using witty terms for insults basically just like Shakespeare. So in this case Rap was the perfect mode for Baba to re-present The Canterbury Tales in such a way that is ironically similar and in our era. Baba, through his talent to translate and transcribe Middle English, successfully found a way to present the stories that once entertained us centuries ago, to entertain us now through rap. What I find actually very interesting is that Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales were written in the vernacular language because of the rise of universities and more of the common people becoming educated, therefore being able to read his stories through the vernacular language. Well what Baba Brinkman does for us is put The Canterbury Tales into another, more modern vernacular (present day English) that is in a understandable and entertaining form. In conclusion, I believe that yes Baba Brinkman has deciphered The Canterbury Tales and reformatted them in such a way which makes them publicly available for the modern 21st century man.
First of all, after reading the preface, Baba Brinkman far surpassed my first impression of him as a literary figure. I judged him after seeing his website and listening to his recording of The Miller’s Tale, and in this judgment I underestimated the thought and research that was put into the Rap Canterbury Tales. I was surprised to discover all of the background information that was used for such a seemingly simple project of translating The Canterbury Tales into a new literary form. I now more easily understand the thought process behind connecting oral traditions that are hundreds of years old with hip-hop culture.
That being said, I believe that his arguments do indeed have academic merit. The connection he made that had the greatest impact on me was that of Shakespeare and rap music. As soon as I read the initial connection in Baba’s Word, I began making many more connections within my own mind. For example, rap music is typically associated with urban areas that also carry connotations with gangs, sex, and violence. In Shakespeare’s time, the theater was confined to the same shady areas of town as pubs and brothels. Yet today, Shakespeare is one of the most esteemed writers in history, whose plays are performed in grandiose theaters that seep sophistication. After reading the passage about the connection between rap and Shakespeare, it dawned on me that we may be experiencing the growth of an art form that will be hailed by just as many professors and linguists that study Shakespeare today. If this is true, Brinkman’s idea to translate The Canterbury Tales into rap should be viewed as an innovation, and Brinkman was the first one to take the step toward a whole new field of literary novelty.
I learned first-hand the effects of listening to Brinkman’s rap versus reading The Canterbury Tales. After reading The Knight’s Tale over the summer, I couldn’t remember what it was about on the first day of school. This was partially because it was a Greek/Roman story which blended in with The Aenied in my mind, which I also had to read over the summer, and partially because the modern English version felt translated and was still difficult to understand. The natural flow that the work had as poetry in its Middle English form was disrupted. However, Brinkman successfully recreated some of the rhythmic feel in his rap. I heard the rap of The Miller’s Tale, which sticks with me much more than The Knight’s Tale because it was in a more easily understandable yet still comfortable form. Through his raps, Brinkman definitely makes The Canterbury Tales more accessible to people who would otherwise not connect to the stories.
At first thought or glance, the Canterbury tales as written by Chaucer has little to do with the “rap” that is prevalent throughout our society. However, as Baba Brinkman pointed out in his preface, the main purpose of both the Canterbury tales and rap today is to entertain an audience. I would completely agree with what Baba Brinkman writes about in his preface in terms of converting a collection of tales that are waning in popularity due to the fact that they were written in at form of English that is difficult to read to anyone except a high school student who needs to read the tales or a Chaucer scholar. What I appreciated about Baba Brinkman’s preface was his dedication to remake the once widely popular tales into a form that would spark an interest in a wider audience in a modern setting. I also value how Baba Brinkman sought a form of literature would both entertain and that would capture the fact that an intended rhythm pattern was needed to fully give his audience the best possible rendition of the Canterbury Tales.
While arguing that Chaucer was a father figure of modern English, he also alludes that the works of Chaucer could make him the father of rap even though the term started in New York City in the 1970s. I do believe his arguments have a fair amount of academic and can be connected without much second thought. For example, Baba stated that Chaucer was a pre-curser to modern day MCs in the sense that they both gave “performances” without writing down the results and therefore must be passed down by word of mouth. This improvising of both the characters in the Canterbury Tales as well as the fact that Chaucer is making up these stories with a definite rhythm is an easy connection to make between modern day MCs and Chaucer.
Overall I would say that Baba Brinkman had a good intention (and was very successful in creating a modern representation of the Canterbury Tales) but personally I couldn’t stand his rap of the Tales. I have no hard feelings towards all the effort that Baba Brinkman put into his rendition of the tales and his research and I admire his thinking out of the box and the fact that he was able to prove that Chaucer created an amazing example of a timeless classic. However, when it comes down to it I couldn’t stand his voice while he was rapping. I would much rather read the Canterbury tales then have to listen to him rap but that’s what the purpose of art (and therefore literature) is, to make the audience think.
Baba Brinkman introduces The Rap Canterbury Tales as a solution to a problem. The problem is that The Canterbury Tales were losing popularity this time in age. This is true. The Canterbury Tales has lost popularity since the 18th century in which it was most popular in Great Britain. The Canterbury Tales now only retains its popularity with historians, for the most part. It sparks debates that young people are no longer interested about. Its main purpose is now to show middle English literature, and some history of the 14th century. I would not have know about this book had it not been my individual research on the Mongol Empire. The Squire’s Tale writes about Genghis Khan, but Chaucer has a different name because Genghis Khan’s name was not translated into English until the 15th century. It also shows and validity issue in the Canterbury Tales, but my response will not focus on that. Next we must see if his solution actually solved the problem. Baba Brinkman has made a substantial amount of money from performing “dozens of tours around the world.” So one can assumed he has raised the awareness of The Canterbury Tales.
I think that Baba Brinkman’s arguments do have academic merit because from what he describes the poetry of Chaucer does closely assimilate to hip-hop and rap. I does seem that both have similar attributes. Of those includes: rhyming, beat, and freestyle. From those attributes hip-hop can be related to The Canterbury Tales. So I do believe that his arguments from first glance prove to be convincing. If more research is done I believe he could make his argument stronger by providing deeper detail of the writing of The Canterbury Tales.
Baba’s raps helps show how Chaucer’s work was looked upon when it was first written. This is because during Chaucer’s time, his work was looked down upon by the aristocracy and seen as entertainment for the lower class. As discussed by Brinkman in his Preface, rap today is also a source of entertainment and contains subjects such as sex and violence that are frowned upon by a large part of society who deems it unworthy of being associated with.
In the end Brinkman makes The Canterbury Tales more accessible by students and has relative academic merit.
After reading Baba Brinkman's explanation as to why he wrote/recorded the Rap Canterbury Tales I was actually surprised at the thought that went into them. At first I was surprised that there was such a thing because I am definitely not a fan of rap or hip hop just because I thought it was unsophisticated and thought that a text like the Canterbury tales could not be compared to rap. However, I changed my mind after I read his preface, his proposed reasons for altering the Canterbury Tales was to allow those not well versed in Middle English to understand the text while attracting younger crowds with a modern musical medium. He also reminded me that the Canterbury Tales were meant to be read and were designed to entertain. I feel like his arguments hold some academic merit because he reawakens the meaning and excitement of a text that most students would groan over having to read. Despite this not being the exact text, I feel like student would learn more from the rap version because it is more interesting due to its modern feel, while not abandoning essential aspects of the Canterbury Tales like the rhyme, rhythm, and content which absolutely makes the 600 year old Canterbury Tales more accessible to modern students.
Baba Brinkman’s preface to his rap of the Canterbury Tales was very interesting to read and very logical. Brinkman says that hip-hop is similar in both syntax and as a form of expression as Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales. Academically speaking Brinkman’s argument does hold water because he describes in great details how each relates to each other. The most interesting thing to me about Brinkman’s comparison is how both hip-hop and the Canterbury Tales are mainstream but are not widely accepted by older audiences and somewhat inappropriate. This is a fair comparison as most older adults do not like or listen to rap.
Brinkman’s translation of the Canterbury Tales to rap allows more people to experience and enjoy these great tales. Often students struggle reading Middle English and outdated stories of first person literature that is crucial to understanding time periods. The conversion of the tales to modern language and story lines allows the reader, or listener, to connect with the tales which is important for understanding and enjoyment. One example of this is in the Miller’s Tale when Brinkman adds a modern object, Miller Beer, which allows the reader to connect with the story as you can actually picture a bottle of Miller Beer. This allows more people to understand and enjoy the tales making them more accessible to students of today.
Brinkman's preface to the Rap Canterbury Tales completely amazes me. When Brinkman explains the similarities between Chaucer and modern rap artists I feel surprised its never been thought of before. Both the Canterbury Tales and modern rap are forms of poetry that are meant to be preformed orally. Chaucer wrote his poetry in the vernacular, which Boccaccio referred to as the vulgar language. Also Chaucer wrote some seedy tales that many disapproved of. Similarly, modern rap artists write using slang and are disapproved of by many of the older generation. The academic merit in Brinkman's work is easily apparent. Analogies and similarities between The Canterbury Tales and modern rap are numerous. As Brinkman discusses in his preface, these are both historical and in the organization and reactions to the poem. For example, The Canterbury Tales, strongly resemble a freestyle battle.
As to Brinkman's success in making Chaucer more accessible to 21st century students, its not not a question whether he made it more accessible, but rather to what extent. This summer I attempted to read the non-translated version of the Canterbury Tales. Quite soon, I gave up and turned to the translated version. Still the poem loses many of its qualities that made it so popular in the first place. Making the Canterbury Tales, not only makes it easier to understand but also more entertaining to our generation. However, the fact that it is the Canterbury Tales and at all educational may deter some people, who otherwise would enjoy the rap. I personally think the rap captures the true feeling of Chaucer's original poem, which was written as if to be passed on orally. At least, if anything the rap is very entertaining, seeing as I am listening to it now!
Baba Brinkman’s Preface to the Rap Canterbury Tales was a very well written explanation of his reason for creating the Rap Canterbury Tales, with sold research backing up his arguments. He wrote about the history of rap and also a lot of history about poetry during the time Chaucer wrote The Canterbury Tales. He described poetry of the time as being much spoken word oriented and centered on rhyming which is much different than the free-verse poetry that dominates books today. Brinkman says that the poetry of today would have been considered more of a prose than an actual poem because rhyming was so important to the story line and flow of a poem. In his preface, Brinkman compares the travelers in the tale telling their different stories to a rap battle, because in both cases the people try to embarrass the others and come up with better stories. Also, he says that the host in the story acts as the audience because he gives different reactions to the stories that either lift or break down the spirits of those speaking.
Often in his preface Brinkman tries to defend the rap and hip-hop industry as more than just a bunch of rappers talking about scandal and sex. He says that they try to talk about things that will intrigue the most attention from the audience, which is the same thing that Chaucer did in The Canterbury Tales. During his time his tales were considered rude and like trash when now they are shown as important works of literature. He believes that one day the rap music of today will also be seen that way because they could have ideas ahead of their time, like Chaucer. I believe that Baba Brinkman’s arguments do have academic merit because he compares 21st century ideas to those of the late 14th century with his knowledge of rap music and literature. He supports all of his ideas with research and well thought out arguments.
Brinkman makes Chaucer very accessible to students today because he makes his old, forgotten tales into a rap that everyone can understand. The listeners not only get to hear the famous stories Chaucer wrote centuries ago, they are also entertained by them, which was the original intention of the Canterbury Tales.
Baba Brinkman’s Preface to the Rap Canterbury Tales is an excellent source of explanation into how the Canterbury Tales were viewed in the Middle Ages. The arguments that Brinkman brings up are academically merit when you considered the similarities of the Canterbury Tales to that of rap. The vernacular languages of the Middle Ages were considered impolite and informal to the upper classes, much like how rap is viewed today. Brinkman is showing that these two different modes of communications are actually very similar. Rap is simply an artistic way to express oneself, much like Chaucer’s writing style in the Canterbury Tales. As Brinkman points out, both the original and his version of the Canterbury Tales need “a live performance mode rich with wordplay and lyrical nuance, with a technique that could grab a live audience’s attention and hold it long enough to tell a complex story.” The iambic pentameter of the original version was enough to keep the listeners interested in the Middle Ages, but in modern times, something more substantial in the way of rhyme and rhythm was needed. Brinkman chose rap, because it was the new medium for communication across the world. Rap was created as an oral presentation of ideas, and seeing as most people of the Middle Ages could not read, so was the Canterbury Tales. The similarities between Brinkman’s and Chaucer’s versions of the same stories prove that Brinkman had academic merit in his arguments.
Brinkman also made Chaucer more accessible to students in the 21st century because he translated it into a mode that kids will actually listen to. I am not a fan of rap music, and I enjoy a good book, but I was still much more impressed and interested when listening to the rap version than I was reading the original text. I dreaded having to read a book written in the 14th century, but listening to the modern version actually entertained me.
Baba Brinkman’s arguments supporting the use of rap as a device to tell the Canterbury Tales is interesting. At first I could see little connection between the two, but after reading his arguments carefully I came to understand the similarities he saw. I can only think of one real problem with his theories, which is that the original messages of the story may have been changed in the process of the conversion from Middle English to rap. It is impossible to make a perfect translation even into Modern English, and the more someone tries to modernize old texts, the more they change.
Other than this, I would have to say that most of Baba’s theories are solid. For me, his strongest argument was that the Canterbury Tales was originally made for oral recitation. Baba argues that writing the story down instead of speaking it makes it loose its original effect and destroys its lyricism. Simply reading the story out loud doesn’t restore this effect, because very few people can understand it. At the time, listening to something in the vulgar tone, especially something with crude themes, must have been much like listening to rap today. Therefore the logical solution to this problem is to convert the Canterbury tales into a rap form.
I found his comparison of the story of the Canterbury Tales to a modern rap battle interesting. The story is told in the context of travelers having a story telling contest on their way to a pilgrimage site. The winner will be the person who tells the best stories. This is similar to how rappers compete to come up with the best rhymes, and the crowd decides whose lyrics are better.
Baba also says that modern rap fills the same niche that works like the Canterbury tales filled in their time. Today, the Canterbury Tales is seen as important historical documents. However, at the time, it was looked down upon by the learned because the proper and intellectual language was Latin. Similarly, many modern intellectuals condemn rap because it is profane and improper. Rap and the Canterbury Tales are also similar because they entertain the masses, and because they contain a unique creativity that is missing in other works of the time. This is another logical connection between The Canterbury Tales and rap.
The conversion from Middle English to rap definitely makes the Canterbury Tales more accessible for the modern student. It is difficult to understand the Middle English, and students will have far less trouble understanding the rap. This allows the students to focus on the actual story rather than the language. After reading the Knight’s Tale multiple times, and listening to the Miller’s Tale once, I found that I retained more of the story from the Miller’s tale because the rap was so much easier to understand. Rap is a much more exciting medium than the original language. The rap is able to capture student’s attention better than the original English. It students find the stories more interesting, they will be more motivated to learn about them.
Baba Brinkman’s arguments supporting the use of rap as a device to tell the Canterbury Tales is interesting. At first I could see little connection between the two, but after reading his arguments carefully I came to understand the similarities he saw. I can only think of one real problem with his theories, which is that the original messages of the story may have been changed in the process of the conversion from Middle English to rap. It is impossible to make a perfect translation even into Modern English, and the more someone tries to modernize old texts, the more they change.
Other than this, I would have to say that most of Baba’s theories are solid. For me, his strongest argument was that the Canterbury Tales was originally made for oral recitation. Baba argues that writing the story down instead of speaking it makes it loose its original effect and destroys its lyricism. Simply reading the story out loud doesn’t restore this effect, because very few people can understand it. At the time, listening to something in the vulgar tone, especially something with crude themes, must have been much like listening to rap today. Therefore the logical solution to this problem is to convert the Canterbury tales into a rap form.
I found his comparison of the story of the Canterbury Tales to a modern rap battle interesting. The story is told in the context of travelers having a story telling contest on their way to a pilgrimage site. The winner will be the person who tells the best stories. This is similar to how rappers compete to come up with the best rhymes, and the crowd decides whose lyrics are better.
Baba also says that modern rap fills the same niche that works like the Canterbury tales filled in their time. Today, the Canterbury Tales is seen as important historical documents. However, at the time, it was looked down upon by the learned because the proper and intellectual language was Latin. Similarly, many modern intellectuals condemn rap because it is profane and improper. Rap and the Canterbury Tales are also similar because they entertain the masses, and because they contain a unique creativity that is missing in other works of the time. This is another logical connection between The Canterbury Tales and rap.
The conversion from Middle English to rap definitely makes the Canterbury Tales more accessible for the modern student. It is difficult to understand the Middle English, and students will have far less trouble understanding the rap. This allows the students to focus on the actual story rather than the language. After reading the Knight’s Tale multiple times, and listening to the Miller’s Tale once, I found that I retained more of the story from the Miller’s tale because the rap was so much easier to understand. Rap is a much more exciting medium than the original language. The rap is able to capture student’s attention better than the original English. It students find the stories more interesting, they will be more motivated to learn about them.
Baba Brinkman’s arguments supporting the use of rap as a device to tell the Canterbury Tales is interesting. At first I could see little connection between the two, but after reading his arguments carefully I came to understand the similarities he saw. I can only think of one real problem with his theories, which is that the original messages of the story may have been changed in the process of the conversion from Middle English to rap. It is impossible to make a perfect translation even into Modern English, and the more someone tries to modernize old texts, the more they change.
Other than this, I would have to say that most of Baba’s theories are solid. For me, his strongest argument was that the Canterbury Tales was originally made for oral recitation. Baba argues that writing the story down instead of speaking it makes it loose its original effect and destroys its lyricism. Simply reading the story out loud doesn’t restore this effect, because very few people can understand it. At the time, listening to something in the vulgar tone, especially something with crude themes, must have been much like listening to rap today. Therefore the logical solution to this problem is to convert the Canterbury tales into a rap form.
I found his comparison of the story of the Canterbury Tales to a modern rap battle interesting. The story is told in the context of travelers having a story telling contest on their way to a pilgrimage site. The winner will be the person who tells the best stories. This is similar to how rappers compete to come up with the best rhymes, and the crowd decides whose lyrics are better.
Baba also says that modern rap fills the same niche that works like the Canterbury tales filled in their time. Today, the Canterbury Tales is seen as important historical documents. However, at the time, it was looked down upon by the learned because the proper and intellectual language was Latin. Similarly, many modern intellectuals condemn rap because it is profane and improper. Rap and the Canterbury Tales are also similar because they entertain the masses, and because they contain a unique creativity that is missing in other works of the time. This is another logical connection between The Canterbury Tales and rap.
The conversion from Middle English to rap definitely makes the Canterbury Tales more accessible for the modern student. It is difficult to understand the Middle English, and students will have far less trouble understanding the rap. This allows the students to focus on the actual story rather than the language. After reading the Knight’s Tale multiple times, and listening to the Miller’s Tale once, I found that I retained more of the story from the Miller’s tale because the rap was so much easier to understand. Rap is a much more exciting medium than the original language. The rap is able to capture student’s attention better than the original English. It students find the stories more interesting, they will be more motivated to learn about them.
Baba Brinkman’s arguments supporting the use of rap as a device to tell the Canterbury Tales is interesting. At first I could see little connection between the two, but after reading his arguments carefully I came to understand the similarities he saw. I can only think of one real problem with his theories, which is that the original messages of the story may have been changed in the process of the conversion from Middle English to rap. It is impossible to make a perfect translation even into Modern English, and the more someone tries to modernize old texts, the more they change.
Other than this, I would have to say that most of Baba’s theories are solid. For me, his strongest argument was that the Canterbury Tales was originally made for oral recitation. Baba argues that writing the story down instead of speaking it makes it loose its original effect and destroys its lyricism. Simply reading the story out loud doesn’t restore this effect, because very few people can understand it. At the time, listening to something in the vulgar tone, especially something with crude themes, must have been much like listening to rap today. Therefore the logical solution to this problem is to convert the Canterbury tales into a rap form.
I found his comparison of the story of the Canterbury Tales to a modern rap battle interesting. The story is told in the context of travelers having a story telling contest on their way to a pilgrimage site. The winner will be the person who tells the best stories. This is similar to how rappers compete to come up with the best rhymes, and the crowd decides whose lyrics are better.
Baba also says that modern rap fills the same niche that works like the Canterbury tales filled in their time. Today, the Canterbury Tales is seen as important historical documents. However, at the time, it was looked down upon by the learned because the proper and intellectual language was Latin. Similarly, many modern intellectuals condemn rap because it is profane and improper. Rap and the Canterbury Tales are also similar because they entertain the masses, and because they contain a unique creativity that is missing in other works of the time.
The conversion from Middle English to rap definitely makes the Canterbury Tales more accessible for the modern student. It is difficult to understand the Middle English, and students will have far less trouble understanding the rap. This allows the students to focus on the actual story rather than the language. After reading the Knight’s Tale multiple times, and listening to the Miller’s Tale once, I found that I retained more of the story from the Miller’s tale because the rap was so much easier to understand. Rap is a much more exciting medium than the original language. The rap is able to capture student’s attention. It students find the stories more interesting, they will be more motivated to learn about them.
Baba Brinkman’s arguments supporting the use of rap as a device to tell the Canterbury Tales is interesting. At first I could see little connection between the two, but after reading his arguments carefully I came to understand the similarities he saw. I can only think of one real problem with his theories, which is that the original messages of the story may have been changed in the process of the conversion from Middle English to rap. It is impossible to make a perfect translation even into Modern English, and the more someone tries to modernize old texts, the more they change.
Other than this, I would have to say that most of Baba’s theories are solid. For me, his strongest argument was that the Canterbury Tales was originally made for oral recitation. Baba argues that writing the story down instead of speaking it makes it loose its original effect and destroys its lyricism. Simply reading the story out loud doesn’t restore this effect, because very few people can understand it. At the time, listening to something in the vulgar tone, especially something with crude themes, must have been much like listening to rap today. Therefore the logical solution to this problem is to convert the Canterbury tales into a rap form.
I found his comparison of the story of the Canterbury Tales to a modern rap battle interesting. The story is told in the context of travelers having a story telling contest on their way to a pilgrimage site. The winner will be the person who tells the best stories. This is similar to how rappers compete to come up with the best rhymes, and the crowd decides whose lyrics are better.
Baba also says that modern rap fills the same niche that works like the Canterbury tales filled in their time. Today, the Canterbury Tales is seen as important historical documents. However, at the time, it was looked down upon by the learned because the proper and intellectual language was Latin. Similarly, many modern intellectuals condemn rap because it is profane and improper. Rap and the Canterbury Tales are also similar because they entertain the masses, and because they contain a unique creativity that is missing in other works of the time.
The conversion from Middle English to rap definitely makes the Canterbury Tales more accessible for the modern student. It is difficult to understand the Middle English, and students will have far less trouble understanding the rap. This allows the students to focus on the actual story rather than the language. After reading the Knight’s Tale multiple times, and listening to the Miller’s Tale once, I found that I retained more of the story from the Miller’s tale because the rap was so much easier to understand. Rap is a much more exciting medium than the original language. The rap is able to capture student’s attention. It students find the stories more interesting, they will be more motivated to learn about them.
By comparing rap with old literary works like The Canterbury Tales, Baba Brinkman definetly brings a new and well supported argument to the table. His preface shows just how much time and effort he has put into this thesis and he does bring up some valid points. I am not a huge fan of rap music, but after reading this I now look at it with more respect. The fact that he compared it with Shakespeare's writing shows just how much rap relates to poetry. They are both forms of entertainment with rhythm and they both convey many messages through their verses and lines. He brings up the fact that both forms of writing depend on the audience's reaction. He even found the comparison between Chaucer's own story plot of a competition of tale telling and the freestyle rap competitions that are help today. Both outcomes are based on the audience's reaction and they both have competitor's and a "host" or an "MC". The fact that Chaucer even had the concept of a competition of entertainment in the form of stories told with rhythm is proof that poetry back then correlates with today's modern rap. And considering how things like the Roman's gladiator competitions in a colosseum gave rise to our forms of entertainment such as professional soccer in an arena, early forms of English poetry such as the Canterbury Tales most certainly could have given rise to modern day rap. As cultures change and technologies change so does the way in which we as humans express and entertain ourselves. However, the main concepts still remain such as telling stories in an interesting way. Seeing that Baba Brinkman supported his arguments with these reasonable explanations, his thesis does deserve academic merit. However, his argument about the correlation between the canterbury tales and Charles Darwin's theory of evolution did not really make sense to me. There just isn't that much supporting evidence for that conclusion to persuade me into believing it.
Baba Brinkman definetly makes Chaucer more accessable to 21st century students because we are so used to and entertained by hip-hop music. As stated before, our ways of entertainment change and the way in which Chaucer wrote the Canterbury Tales just doesn't interest today's students like it may have back then. So, by Brinkman assimilating his stories into todays modern entertainment system, Chaucer does indeed come alive again in a fun, amusing, and exciting way.
By first impression, one may be apprehensive of the significance of Brinkman's work in relation to Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. Just by hearing the name, one may be lead to believe that it is merely a parody of the historical work, a project undertaken solely for personal gain or entertainment. But in reality, through extensive research, his work draws out numerous parallels between Chaucer's literature and modern day hip hop and it is these that vindicate the work's academic merit. Some of these similarities are more obvious, such as their uses of rhyme scheme and rhythm. Others are more insightful such as his claim that Chaucer's writing style was "the hip hop of the middle ages" and the comparison of the storytelling competition in the Canterbury tales to a freestyle battle in hip hop, where the participants try to outdo their opponents in order to make personal gains for themselves. In addition, the parallels drawn between Chaucer's characters and modern day Mcs brings out certain topics of importance during the middle ages and makes them more obvious. This includes the tension between the different classes in the Canterbury Tales and the fact that people in general desire dominance. In summation, these correlations support the one of the basic ideas of human history, that as times and cultures change, some aspects may remain the same.
In terms of accessibility to today's students, Brinkman does a phenomenal job of providing. By setting this historical work to a modern day, mainstream medium, he makes the work easier to understand and more enjoyable to listen to. Chaucer's original work was in Middle English which some people find difficult to understand and even more difficult to sit through. By modernizing the work, it can understood better because it is told in a way that is familiar during this time period and students would be more apt to pay attention to it because of the style and beats characteristic of the familiar musical genre. As a result of the provided ease, a student can better extract the key ideas that provide insight into the time period, which is the ultimate goal of reading the work as a historian.
The way in which Baba Brinkman sought to present The Canterbury Tales for new audiences was a peculiar yet interesting interpretation. Brinkman did not want the Canterbury Tales to disappear, so he strived to spark an interest in Chaucer's tale that many were able to relate to. This was done through rap, which is very accessible for people of the 20th and 21st centuries because rap is so prevalent in society today. Brinkman made it so rap and The Canterbury Tales were very close to one another. This made me think of the roots of rap, and how there are major similarities between old literature and the young rap. Brinkman's arguments about the rap of The Canterbury Tales do have some academic merit. In the rap, he uses rhyming related to that of the actual story, so there is some structure to what is being said. He also talks about how The Canterbury Tales were meant to be read out loud as a story, similar to how rappers tell their point of view. The plot of the Canterbury Tales was followed in a precise and clever manner, which is another aspect of the academic merit. He was able to cause somewhat of a recovery in the works of Chaucer as well as the frowned upon rap. This was achieved through entertainment and the need for helping today's students understand past works in a much easier manner. The way of transforming The Canterbury Tales into rap was amusing, allowing for help and involvement in old works that would have been foreign to many students.
After reading the preface to The Rap Canterbury Tales, I can appreciate its merit much more. Behind the façade of a vulgar rap lies a deeper reason for creating a hip-hop version. In the rap version, just the use of a more modern meter rather than iambic pentameter adds to the accessibility of the text. Brinkman also notes how the rap version resurrects Chaucer's work from the realm of scholars and Middle English students to the everyday person. Of course, as with any translation of a work, some of the original meaning may be lost, and it is also true that the rap version seems inappropriate as an academic work. However, the truth is that the original Canterbury Tales was extremely vulgar for its time period as well. Additionally, exact meaning and historical accuracy are sacrificed for allowing the average person to understand and enjoy the work.
Personally, I think that the rap version is definitely worthy of merit. Reading through just one tale of The Canterbury Tales is hard enough even though it was translated to Modern English, let alone reading the whole thing in indecipherable late 14th century English. Furthermore, audio versions of the original Canterbury Tales are worse than the book, accompanied by a disembodied, monotonous voice. By giving us a narration in 21st century English with renewed vulgarities to entertain the reader/listener, I believe that Brinkman was very successful in creating not only an accessible and understandable version of an otherwise very obscure but notable work in history, but he does it in a way that also restores the entertainment value of the story for the modern day reader. Yes, it may seem inappropriate and silly at times, but at least there is an option now for those wishing to learn about the Tales while having fun at the same time.
Baba Brinkman’s Preface shows his thoughts on the connection between rap/hip-hop and The Canterbury Tales. His primary introduction gave great insight on Baba’s first realization of the similarities, such as how both the stories in the Canterbury Tales and free-style rapping are almost the same. His connection definitely has academic merit; one cannot deny the close relationships. Prior to reading Baba’s Preface, my view on the similarities between rap and The Canterbury Tales was only that the rhythm and rhyme were the same. Now, The Canterbury Tales seems to almost embody everything that a rapper has. The rap battles between the MC’s easily compares to the conflicting characters in The Canterbury Tales, such as the tales of the Miller and Carpenter. The Canterbury Tales, as told by each of the pilgrims, were completely spontaneous, just rap battles. In the end, both do not yield a high prize; the winner of the story telling in The Canterbury Tales wins one free supper and MC’s usually do not win a large prize too. All of these have great academic merit because many modern, young adults are able to understand rap much more clearly than the original old English.
Apart from the direct relationships of both pieces of literature, Baba Brinkman’s Canterbury Tales rap is very successful. His primary objective of rapping the Canterbury Tales was to translate the hard-to-read Canterbury Tales into something for modern students. Similar to the Canterbury Tales, rap is not regarded to be purely academic. The cultural connection surely must be foreshadowing the results of Brinkman’s efforts. While it is impossible to exactly connect the meaning of each word and every rhyme, Baba Brinkman’s Canterbury Tales rap is the closest anyone has ever gotten to connecting pre-renaissance literature with the 21st century. Albeit, Baba’s rap only reaches to a certain extent; his rap, while extremely related, still sacrifices some of the original fluidity and textures of The Canterbury Tales. His revival of a 600-year-old piece of literature, however, will still definitely assist students understand the basic storyline.
Baba Brinkman’s preface to his rap of the Canterbury Tales was both interesting and enjoyable. In his preface and prologue, Brinkman ingeniously connect hip-hop and rap with Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. Brinkman claims that hip-hop and the Canterbury Tales are similar because they both are popular during the time period the works were created, but despite popularity, were rejected. Because the Canterbury Tales was written in the vernacular, the "vulgar tongue," it was not appreciated during the late Middle Ages. Likewise, hip-hop today also causes much controversy and is rejected by some of the older generations. Baba also draws the comparison of competition between rappers and the story tellers during the pilgrimage. He continues to connect these two seemingly different things throughout his preface. His arguments, which were well-researched and well thought out, have much academic merit, for his accomplishments have proved him to be accredited.
Brinkman’s translation of the Canterbury Tales actually caused me to become more curious about the rest of the tales. Through using modern methods of art and expression, Brinkman is able to open the doorway of an otherwise boring topic to younger generations. While students struggle to read Middle English and decipher the Canterbury Tales, Brinkman clarifies using a more modern translation with an up beat. However, although his rap versions were well thought out and seductive, they could never replace the original piece Chaucer wrote.
Baba Brinkman offers arguments that are truly worthy of academic merit. He correlates The Canterbury Tales with the art form of today’s rap and hip hop. He makes many connections based off of valid research. Chaucer’s work of poetry in The Canterbury Tales is seen as a storytelling competition, somewhat similar sounding to today’s freestyle battles. Brinkman compares both storytelling and rapping in relation to the feedback of the audience and how important their input is. The pressure of the audience determines the ability and skill of the competitors to outwit one another, something that is clearly seen in the way the pilgrims’ stories progress in The Canterbury Tales as well as the way freestyle rapping is judged. The way in which Chaucer would twist and play around with the words to form rhythm and rhyme can be reflected in the manner by which rappers use polysyllabic rhyme. One thing that was very interesting was how Brinkman formed a link between literature and science regarding poetic techniques in the way they were passed down from generation to generation, varying in producing success; this was a conclusion that was somewhat like the way Darwin’s theory of natural selection worked.
Baba Brinkman really makes Chaucer much more accessible to 21st century students. Brinkman brings forth a new way of educating and understanding the words of a poet who aimed to entertain, exactly what Brinkman is doing by making Chaucer’s work easier to comprehend. Brinkman allows today’s students to really grasp the meaning behind the stories of Chaucer through a modern outlet, letting students appreciate the value of an old historical document.
Baba Brinkman presents good ideas about the emergence of rap from poetry. He argues that rap is poetry just as the Canterbury Tales are. They are both meant to be listened to and are supposed to entertain. He speaks about the similarities of the ideas and of the humor, which can be quite parallel to modern situations. Basically rap is today’s “vulgar language”, depicting many ideas considered social evils, so it is a perfect modern translation. Brinkman understands the importance of Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales and its influence on modern language, and believes that they are becoming more and more unappreciated. By comparing it to something most people today can relate to, which is rap, he makes them more accessible. His thoughts are backed up by a significant amount of research about the emergence of rap and about the Canterbury Tales. His arguments do have academic merit and he argues them with a lot of support.
I feel that not only are his arguments intelligent and well thought out, but he does succeed in making Chaucer’s works more accessible to the modern student. There is no time to sit and translate the Middle English of all of Chaucer’s works for the average high school student. Brinkman makes the ideas and basic story line easy to understand while still maintaining Chaucer’s original main ideas and formats. He succeeds in his goal of making the Canterbury Tales easy to understand while still preserving the original Tales.
I have little love for the subject material of modern rap, or at least the ideas commonly associated with it. Whether or not the rhythms and form were pleasant was something I never considered, until I heard Brinkman’s rendition of the Canterbury Tales. It was a new experience, and catchy if I must say. I was appreciative that Baba took the time to develop something contemporarily digestible out of something decidedly archaic.
Reading Brinkman’s preface, however, added an entirely new level of depth to my consideration of his work and talents. He was right to presume that people would develop opinions of the rap after listening which conflicted with his original intentions. For the first time, I was also able to view Brinkman and an intellect, and his works as more than a clever game of words. He wrote them to fulfill a purpose, and out of appreciation for an art largely dismissed by today’s youth as ‘stuffy’ and ‘unnecessary.’ Rather than a hip-hop bigot naively opposed to everything the ‘old guard’ represents, Brinkman saw the similarities present in Middle English poetry and present day rap, and sought to mediate the gap. His devotion to his passions, both hip-hop and English, is commendable. Where many today might see complete opposites, Brinkman saw what he loved in both and displayed them to their advantage. The care he took in expressing his motives added the dissection needed to fully appreciate the Rap Canterbury Tales.
Whether Brinkman’s arguments have academic merit is largely a matter of how much ‘opinion’ the judge can suffer in a piece before they dismiss it. Brinkman was quite obviously biased in favor of hip-hop, and in his arguments sought to express it in the most positive light possible. From his point of view, hip-hop is the pinnacle and center of today’s creativity. He even went as far as to reference it as “the preferred medium of expression for the first-ever globally connected generation.” It is impossible for this to be stated and the argument to remain objective.
The true question, on the other hand, is whether Brinkman needed to remain objective for his argument to receive academic merit. As he was discussing his personal work and passion, there was bound to be a bias influencing his thoughts. To write about a subject he felt so strongly about without vesting his true feelings in it would be to deprive his analysis of the life and meaning it deserves. His feelings about rap and old poetry were what fueled the Rap’s development in the first place, and as such it could be considered natural to see them resurface in the analysis.
Regardless of any academic opinions, I do believe retelling the Canterbury Tales as a rap makes it more readily accessible to today’s students. Whether it is more easily understood than the non-translated versions is practically out of the question. Middle English is understandable at best, but it can never convey the same meaning to us today that our modern diction can. Some would say that putting the Canterbury Tales into modern language detracts from its significance as a historical piece and a symbol of the early English vernacular. Those people would be right, if that had been Baba’s intention in writing the Rap. Brinkman developed his own version of the Tales not to preserve the ‘dust of history’ on the volume’s cover, but to offer modern students the chance to appreciate the creativity Chaucer vested in the plot itself. He wished to highlight the similarities between rap and the vernacular, rather than convert one to the other. The Tales were likely written to be heard. Chaucer chose the vernacular over French or Latin so that everyone could appreciate them, not just the scholarly or upper class. In much the same way Brinkman chose to give the Tales to today’s students not in the stuffy prose of direct translation, but in a live performance with the effect Chaucer dreamed of so long ago.
After reading the preface to Baba Brinkman’s Rap Canterbury Tales, I had to really rethink my opinions on rap music. Never a fan, I’ve always seen the genre as generally crude and having no real musical merit. One thing I have definitely valued, however, is the importance of live performance; there’s a certain magic to seeing someone tell a musical story in person, and you always leave with a better understanding of or respect for the meaning behind the songs, poems, or play. Brinkman argues that poets, such as Chaucer, relied on live performance to captivate the audience with their poems, and to impart other themes and messages. As The Canterbury Tales were very successful at this, they have been preserved for posterity.
Rap is simply a continuation of this oral tradition; much like The Canterbury Tales, rap songs feature a rhyme scheme designed to quickly fire lyrics at the listener. More broadly, he argues that the frame tale of an unlikely group of pilgrims is like a giant “rap battle”, with “rappers” of all different backgrounds drawing on their roots and influences to create the best “rap.” At the same time, they each managed to convey a message about society (ie The Wife of Bath’s Tale talking about the female role in a marriage). Furthermore, Brinkman is right when he says that the Middle English used in the poems’ original forms is outdated, and students today are hard-pressed to understand the importance of the tales. By reconciling the medieval stories with modern rap, he makes it much easier to understand the themes Chaucer imparted, and, for that matter, the actual story he was telling. I have come out of this reading with a whole new perspective on rap music, and for the first time have understood how archaic poetry (and literature as a whole) has a direct connection to modern styles. I feel Baba Brinkman has a powerful argument to back up his radical new way of looking at the evolution of the creative world. Therefore, The Rap Canterbury Tales has considerable academic merit, and makes Chaucer’s classic works more readily accessible to modern students.
Baba Brinkman created The Rap Canterbury Tales to make Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales more accessible to 21st century students. The Canterbury Tales, in its original form, is accessible mostly to only scholars studying Middle English. Chaucer wrote the stories so they could be easily recited orally because the printing press had not been invented yet. As a result, the stories were difficult to read. In order for an author's work to become popular, it must be understandable by its readers. Most 21st century students are more interested in the stories' content rather than the medium through which they are told. For example, students often find the sex and violence in The Miller's Tale more interesting than the way Chaucer used iambic pentameter. Although Chaucer was popular while he was alive, he did not have any patrons. The content of his stories were chosen by himself. It was mostly the content of the stories, not the way they were written, that made Chaucer popular.
Baba Brinkman replaced 14th century Middle English poetry with rap to communicate Chaucer's stories to modern people. Rap was a suitable replacement because both mediums communicate stories orally. Like 14th century poets, rappers competed with each other in "battles" for the audience's attention. Rap made Chaucer's stories easier to understand. Like all translations, Baba's rap version differed from the original stories. These differences had a very small impact on the stories. The rap version still told most of Chaucer's original story. Some of Chaucer's writing style was sacrificed to make the stories easier to undertand. Baba Brinkman succeeded in making Chaucer's stories more accessible. He went on tours and performed his rap version to large audiences. Many of these people would not have been exposed to Chaucer's stories if they had to read them in their original form.
Baba Brinkman's arguments do have academic merit. His rap version of The Canterbury Tales was the result of a lot of research. Brinkman identified similarities between the oral reciting of poetry during the 14th century and modern day rap. Brinkman also understood that not all of Chaucer's stories would be approriate in rap form. Brinkman argues that Chaucer's literary importance depends on his popularity. He shows that by making Chaucer's stories understandable by more people, more people wouldappreciate Chaucer's literary work. What started as a college thesis grew into a work that exposed common people to Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales.
Baba Brinkman’s Preface to the Rap Canterbury Tales reveals that there is academic merit behind his reasoning. There were many sound arguments, all of which revolve around making Chaucer more accessible to 21st century students.
Brinkman said, “The problem, as I saw it, was that Chaucer’s literary importance has always been a function of his popularity, and his popularity was waning.” That claim has a solid basis because The Canterbury Tales’ intended audience was not the educated clergy; Chaucer wanted everyone to read and enjoy his book. While it is respected as one of the earliest forms of vernacular literature, The Canterbury Tales was appreciated more for its stories than its writing. However, modern day students cannot appreciate The Canterbury Tales because they cannot see past the Middle English. Thus, its literary significance was diminishing. If someone made it easier to read for students, they could welcome the stories, and The Canterbury Tales would maintain its value as a piece of literature.
Baba Brinkman is trying to create that situation by using rap as his medium. His argument for this also had academic merit. Brinkman did not want to write in something that “would still feel archaic to the modern ear,” which is not uncommon amongst translators. Some English translators of Roman poetry, such as The Aeneid, have also opted to write without the traditional meters used by the original authors, stating that modern day English is faster, and thus the lines should include fewer syllables. Therefore, he chose to look past iambic pentameter. Instead, Brinkman used rap, which actually has a few parallels to The Canterbury Tales, including the fact that both of them are/were being looked down upon by contemporaries. In addition, choosing rap makes sense because of “its simplicity and accessibility, since rhyme, rhythm, and storytelling are such universal human instincts.” Almost everyone can listen to the rap version and understand the gist of the Chaucer’s stories. Furthermore, more people would be willing to listen to rap as opposed to a tape of someone reading the Middle English version of Chaucer, because rap is something many people listen to on their own, not just for school.
Baba Brinkman is taking advantage of something modern students enjoy and using that form to introduce The Canterbury Tales to them. It is the best of both worlds because he is bringing Chaucer to the younger generation and bringing rap to literary fans.
The preface to The Canterbury Tales written by Baba Brinkman was unique and enlightening. His comparison of hip-hop and modern day rap to the Canterbury Tales of old at first blush seems like a twisted and paradoxical comparison, and yet, it has some real academic merit. It was a strange comparison, yes, but one that once thought through, actually made sense. At the time, in Middle English, as Baba says, the Canterbury Tales was meant to be orally recited like most other books of its time period. If read in Middle English, only the most scholarly students would be able to understand it; if translated into modern English, then the rhyming and meter is lost entirely. The main goal of the Tales is to entertain an audience. It is my opinion that Baba's arguments as to the similarities between rap and the Canterbury Tales has real merit. His arguments are solid backed with information that seems well researched and thoroughly analyzed, not only the historical parts, but also the modern tie-ins as well, such as a freestyle rap battle which he himself seems to be an active member of. He makes comparisons that are unique but backed up very well. For example comparing the MCs in rap battles looking to please the audience to the characters in the Canterbury Tales telling stories to win a prize. Overall the research just seemed very legitimate and made his overall argument that much more believable. I believe that Baba's arguments should be taken as arguments that contain true academic merit.
I feel that the rhyming rap of the Canterbury Tales by Brinkman makes the Canterbury Tales significantly more accessible to students everywhere. As I mentioned before, the Middle English is impossible to fully comprehend unless one is a student of Middle English. That hardly makes it widely acessable Even when translated into English, it's not the most enjoyable book to read. Sure, the stanzas are understandable and the students understand the symantecs of the book, but they don't enjoy reading it. What use is it to read a book you don't enjoy? Not much. Baba Brinkman however, made the Canterbury Tales into a form of entertainment that most teenagers patronize: rap. By doing this, Baba has made the Canterbury Tales not only understandable, but even enjoyable as well. Therefore I believe that The Canterbury Rap does make the Tales more accessable to students in the 21st century.
I believe Baba’s motivation for transforming Chaucer’s work in Canterbury Tales speaks to how much of an impact the Canterbury Tales and the author have had even hundreds of years later. Today, unless learning about it in school, people will never be exposed to such writing, and will never get a chance to appreciate such forwardness in a very backwards time. Regardless of this fact, Baba still felt it was crucial to get this story and message out. As I read about the different ways he could have transformed this piece I noted that my reactions were very similar to Baba’s interpretations. While a prose or iambic pentameter approach would have made the modern work very accessible and pretty much understandable to all, it would not have been the proper outlet he was looking for. Baba instead, was able to enter the minds of young people and scholars. He uses his motivation for expressing the words of Chaucer to compensate for the lack of motivation young writers and readers experience when entering the topic of Middle English. Those words alone can automatically turn people off from exploring more into the category. However, with the modern twist that the rap offers, it once again brings to light the relatable stories of human nature.
But there is a bit of a trade off when it comes to academic merit. While we look at Canterbury tales as a primary source and an in depth look at life in that time period, Baba interpretations of that source can differ from another interpretation, and go off Chaucer’s path completely. Everyone can look at it many different ways. And because of the varied conclusions that come from the original Canterbury Tales, questions can always be raised.
Baba Brinkman makes excellent points when talking about his rap of The Canterbury Tales. This piece of fiction was written centuries ago in a form that was able to be deciphered by most literates. Times are always changing and evolving, and in our present day Chaucer’s book is not as easily understood as it may have been in the fourteenth century. If one were to give a children’s book of today to a man of the fourteenth century, it is certain that man would have a very difficult time, no matter how educated. It just goes to show that Baba Brinkman’s rap takes classic stories and puts them into a language that most students are able to understand because rap is overwhelmingly present in our society. Brinkman does this in a way so as to not change the nature of the story. While the words may be different, the various themes and ideology of the story is still present. The use of rap definitely allows students to become more aware of the icon that is The Canterbury Tales. Baba Brinkman is definitely brilliant to think of rap to express the stories of Chaucer, but I must disagree with a statement in his preface. He refers to rap as being more creative and expressive than literature. I beg to differ seeing as how many rap artists just use the same line over and over again until the listener gets sick of the song. This is what most rap is nowadays, repetition; it certainly does not exceed the creativity of current authors. Also, Brinkman states that the media misrepresents rap so as to create a negative connotation on it. While the media may exaggerate to create more compelling articles, they are not completely unjustified in doing so. Brinkman states that he would like to celebrate rap, how can he when a huge portion of artists talk little more of sex and violence? Baba’s work still has much merit when discussing The Canterbury Tales but his view of rap on its entirety is misunderstood.
As I read Baba Brinkman’s Preface, I thought that he brought up many interesting points. As a student, I never really thought about how influential this piece of literature was to the civilians living in Chaucer’s time period; and because of the language barrier, people’s interests in The Canterbury Tales have diminished almost completely. Every tale written by Chaucer has underlying themes which are still prevalent in society today. For example, the Pardoner’s Tale is essentially about the consequences of greed. I believe that Brinkman brings up a good point in that Chaucer’s literature should be praised to this day, which is possible through his raps.
I feel that Baba Brinkman’s arguments do have academic merit, because essentially, all Brinkman is doing is translating Chaucer’s couplets into modern tongue. The translations published are no different that Brinkman’s raps, for both are an interpretation of the translator. During the time of Chaucer, entertainment consisted of reading poetry, and listening to musical instruments. In my opinion, the parallel of a poet in the Renaissance period would be a modern day song writer. Brinkman makes Chaucer more accessible to 21st century students because a large part of our culture is rap music, just as poetry was to Chaucer’s era. Reading and writing poetry is not a prevalent part of current culture, whereas young individuals already have a strong understanding of music. Instead of learning the original dialect, students can listen to Brinkman’s raps, and instantly understand what Chaucer was trying to convey and enjoy it at the same time.
Recognizing the age in which The Canterbury Tales were written, I figured it would be difficult to convert them into a rap that was both entertaining and withheld the meaning of each tale. However, Baba Brinkman successfully created a rap covering both areas. To a person in this century, The Canterbury Tales really has no meaning, aside from the occasional Chaucer scholar. Brinkman found a way to take stories written hundreds of years ago and bring them to life with a relatable and accessible performance. Compared to the summer reading, Brinkman’s rap is much more interesting to many people. Yet, he does not lose its academic merit. The Canterbury Tales plot was closely noted, for Brinkman had structure and rhythm in each rap.
I was surprised at the amount I learned after listening to each rap, compared to the reading. And of course, it’s much easier for any person in this age to understand rather then reading an Old English text. He was able to show how similar new age rap can be, compared to older literature. That is, primarily the entertainment factor. Both were created to entertain and appeal to a wide audience. Designed to be main streamed disregarding the acceptance factor. To people of the 21st century, older literature may not be as well liked as newer literature. Same goes with hip-hop and rap music, for elder people deem this style of music to be inappropriate. However, to a young adult, hip-hop and rap is more appealing. So it is easy to say how Baba Brinkman’s preface to his rap The Canterbury Tales was much more relatable and less complex to the majority of current students. It maintained the tales academic merit and drew in a popular form of entertainment. After all, Brinkman said that The Canterbury tales were meant to be read loud and to entertain, which is exactly what he did.
Baba Brinkman’s Preface seems extremely knowledgeable and backed by research. This can be seen about the comments about the structure and style of the tales. He himself has a Master’s in Medieval and Renaissance literature, which makes him somewhat an expert on literature like the “Canterbury Tales”. He also have a s reverence for Chaucer, which can be seen by the line “desire to resurrect Chaucer’s brilliant stories from their vellum mausoleum by giving them a new form that would once again delight and edify live listening audience…” He seemed dismayed that Chaucer’s writing was only accessible and connectable to the limited scholars and student so Middle English. That is why he searched for a new way to represent it. His use of knowledge and reasoning in the Preface illustrates his historical merit. He explained in the preface that the original language is too different form our own and translating it will still feel archaic. He also understood that his tales were meant for oral citation due to its rhyme, rhythm and lyrical quality. For all these reasons he felt that rap was the best medium to accomplish this. Not only because the rap is meant for performance and has the same rhythm and rhyme but there are many parallels between the feeling towards rap now and Chaucer writing in the 1300’s Chaucer use of English to write his stories at the time was considered vulgar and amateurish because books were generally written in the vernacular. The same way rap is seen as corrupting and vulgar. Rap is also the most effective method of translating Chaucer’s works because the themes are very similar to those in contemporary times like sex and violence. Baba Brinkman remain live to the original work which upholds its historical merit while also making it accessible to people of this day and age. I had to read the “Canterbury Tales” in middle old English and I did not understand or enjoy reading it. After listening to Brinkman’s’ translation I enjoyed the performance and understood the story. From this and all the literary backing to the rap translation I believe that Baba Brinkman certainly accomplished his goal of finding a new medium of sharing Chaucer’s tales with people of today that is very enjoyable and gives a good historical insight to the medieval time period.
I do think that Brinkman’s rap of The Canterbury Tales has some academic merit. I think that it is better for students to listen to Brinkman’s rap than to sparknote the story. While I personally do not care for his singing I do find it more enjoyable to listen to Brinkman than to read Chaucer. Also I do believe that Brinkman’s version of The Canterbury Tales makes the story more accessible to twenty-first century students. It is the same story but the translation from High Middle ages English to modern English that appears in Chaucer’s version does take away from the story a little. However because Brinkman has totally reworded the tale it fits into modern English much better than the translation does. Because of these reasons I believe that Brinkman’s version of The Canterbury Tales has both academic value and is more accessible to the twenty-first century student than the original The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer.
I believe that Baba Brinkman's rap version of the Canterbury Tales was very interesting, and gave the story a modernized look. The approach he took was unorthadox, turning a piece of historical writing into a series of raps. Some people may find this crude, but, in fact, the Canterbury Tales were crude themselves. They were written in a crude manner. Chaucer told the stories of the people he talked to as accurately as he could in the way they told him. This left his book full of vulagirities and suggestive topics. But, like rap does, it told stories. This made Baba's idea genius. Changing into a more modern version of the same basic meaning. That makes me believe that his arguments do have merit and that just because he re-wrote them and turned the stories into lyrics, does not take away from its academic merit. All it did was change it from a primary source, to a secondary source.
And by changing the stories into rap songs, it makes the stories much more accessible to 21st century students. It made it much easier to read by changing it into modern english.
It was very interesting to see how Baba Brinkman compares rap to “The Canterbury Tales.” I feel that his arguments do have academic merit. He discusses how “The Canterbury Tales” are important. They were written in the fourteenth century but now, in the 21st century they can only be available to scholars and students of Middle English. Well, someone can translate them but Brinkman did more than that. He wanted the young generation to appreciate Chaucer’s work. That is why he took it a step farther and used rap to rejuvenate Chaucer’s amazing stories. He translated them in a way that the audience could enjoy Chaucer’s stories and also hip-hop music. Rap also goes along with “The Canterbury Tales” because of the language that Chaucer used then. He used violence, sex, and drugs in his stories. That goes hand in hand with rap music. The language used then could be slang, just as Brinkman used rap which is also a form of slang but he makes sure that Chaucer’s work does not lose its meaning. “The Canterbury Tales” are like a rap battle. The hotel owner is basically the judge and the people are the rappers who are in competition with each other to win the free meal. They are making up the stories on the spot. He brought these stories back to life but in a different way to grab the audience’s attention.
Brinkman does make Chaucer more accessible to 21st century students. He translated the stories in a form which we will understand and will interest the young generation. Most of the teenagers in this century are interested in hip-hop and rap music. They mostly listen to that genre of music, so when they listen to Brinkman’s Rap Canterbury Tales, they will actually understand the story and appreciate Chaucer’s work. Brinkman’s use of hip hop connects this generation to the past in a very modernistic way. It gives a new life to archaic literature because in today’s world, the young generation is becoming apathetic, not paying attention to history, but Brinkman found the perfect way to deliver Chaucer’s message. In conclusion, Brinkman’s “The Rap Canterbury Tales” is a very interesting piece of literature that holds the interests of readers and entertains them in a modern way.
Baba Brinkman’s Rap Canterbury Tales made an impression on me as I was introduced to his work in class. As I listened to the rap version Brinkman made of The Knights Tale, I immediately understood the seemingly endless Middle English version of The Knights Tale I read over the summer. Like Brinkman mentioned in the Preface to the Rap Canterbury Tales, the language of the Canterbury Tales is too different from our modern English today to retain its original impact. Also, the Canterbury Tales is designed for oral recitation. Seeing his performance and listening to his rap on the Canterbury Tales, it really brought the stories back to life. The Rap Canterbury Tales is far more comprehendible and captivating to the 21st Century students. I believe that Brinkman’s argument has academic merit. The Canterbury Tales was written in the vernacular tongue, which was considered low class and crude to its audience. Rap, likewise, is also perceived to be low class in the 21st century. Brinkman saw rap as the perfect medium for him to spark the interest of 21st century students in Chaucer’s work. Brinkman is essentially translating the dry and boring text of the Canterbury Tales in Middle English to a more modern language that any 21st century man would understand. Brinkman’s arguments provided a variety of connections of his rap and the Canterbury Tales, including the structure and the rhyming of the text. Although the stories are in a much more modern language, the nature of the Canterbury Tales—which is to entertain, is retained, along with the themes and underlying jokes by Chaucer. Therefore, I think Brinkman’s Rap Canterbury Tales does posses some academic merit, as it may help and spark the interest of 21st century students all over the world in Chaucer’s works.
Baba Brinkman definitely does embody some academic merit in his comparative preface interpretation. As Chaucer was denounced for such vulgar language and subject usage in the Canterbury tales, so Brinkman does by using a controversial medium of hip hop/rap to present the ideas of T.C.T. Chaucer is considered one of the most influential writers on the common use of the vernacular during his time, so choosing a similar path of presentation was an intelligent choice for Brinkman.
Though scholars may not agree with translating a classic such as T.C.T. into rap lyrics, I believe it was a smart course of action for Brinkman because more of the new generations will relate and understand the works much better in this fashion. The normal set up in prose or poetry would not do the stories justice and would leave them still incomprehensible to the new age of students. Rap is becoming a national, if not universal mode of entertainment and relaying of cultural information. Also, rap lyrics are still similar to the patterns and rhythm poetry holds in diction. It is therefore acceptable in my eyes for this format to be used. Personally, hearing the tales in rap form (especially The Miller's Tale) made them more intriguing to hear, and even humerous! I retained much more of what Chaucer was writing about with Brinkman's interpretation.
All in all, Brinkman incorporated Chaucer's tales in a style relate able to our age, and also used a format similar in flow and delivery to the original poetry/prose created. These together make his versions of academic merit, and acceptable to 21st century students.
I believe that Baba Brinkman’s Rap Canterbury tales provides a new and interesting method to teach students about the Canterbury Tales. Brinkman stated that his goal was to resurrect Chaucer’s brilliant stories that could entertain more modern audiences which I believe he is very successful at. The raps that Brinkman creates are modeled off of the Canterbury Tales and provide the listener with the same themes as the Tales but are presented in a much more modern way. After attempting to read the Canterbury Tales without the modern translations, I felt very little connection to the story because of its difficult language and set up. However, I could understand Brinkman’s raps much greater and felt that I was learning the Tales all over again. Brinkman’s raps do have academic merit and provide a new method of learning the Canterbury Tales for students.
The Canterbury tales were written by Chaucer in the last two decades of the fourteenth century. Since then, the English language as evolved greatly which has caused The Canterbury tales to get more and more difficult to read, especially to students who do not feel a connection to the author or the stories being told. However, Brinkman’s raps are written in a very modern way which allows students to understand the meaning behind the tales better. Brinkman heavily researched and prepared the raps well so that they may be historically significant and still carry over the original meaning the Chaucer had intended for. Because of this, I believe that the raps do have academic merit and can allow for Chaucer to be better understood by students everywhere.
At first thought, the Canterbury Tales and rap music couldn't be farther apart. They seem to be on two completely different sides of the literary spectrum. But after thinking for a bit, they are quite similar, as Baba Brinkman stated in his Preface to the Rap Canterbury Tales. Both the Canterbury Tales and the Rap music were meant to entertain live groups of people through lyricism and story telling. In this regard the Canterbury Tales and rap music are identical, as they were both created for those purposes. Some might argue that the Canterbury Tales is a historic document and could not be compared with the crudity that is rap music, but those people have neglected to acknowledge the crude nature of the Canterbury Tales themselves. For these reasons I do believe that his arguments have academic merit.
Baba Brinkman definitely makes Chaucer more accessible to 21st century students. Very few students can understand the archaic language that the Canterbury Tales uses and the themes that it conveys, much less enjoy them. Using rap music, a very popular means of entertainment with the new, younger generation, many more students would have access to and enjoy the Canterbury Tales, thus keeping Chaucer's work alive.
Students and teachers are always looking for new interesting ways to learn and teach subjects. The subject Baba Brinkman would like to make more interesting by using rap is the Canterbury Tales. This innovative thinking created a very good supplement to the actual Canterbury Tales. Despite the fact that Baba Brinkman’s raps do show the basic stories of the Canterbury Tales it does not show some other very important things well enough making it have the better use as a supplement. Baba Brinkman modernizes the Canterbury Tales too much for his raps to have full academic merit to be used completely by teachers. The reason that the Canterbury Tales is studied in classrooms is to better understand that era not just for the actual stories. One aspect of the Canterbury Tales that cannot be studied through Baba Brinkman’s rap is the language used by Chaucer in the tales. Another thing that cannot be thoroughly studied through Baba Brinkman’s rap is more historically relevant details in the Canterbury Tales, for Brinkman changes some historical details into a more modern thing that is easily understood by a modern student. Due to the fact that his raps do not give the whole Canterbury Tales experience it cannot be viewed with high academic merit, but should be viewed as a supplement to the actual Canterbury Tales readings. The Canterbury Tales rap does have its flaws when looked at for academic merit but it also has many aspects that are good. The Canterbury Tales raps are better than almost all modernized translations, because it does not take the poetry out of the readings while still giving a modernized version of them. Brinkman has definitely created a better way for 21st century students to connect and understand the Canterbury Tales, but while doing so he has taken out some advantages to reading the original stories in the original older language, which is why I believe that the Canterbury Tales raps is a great way to help teach students, but should be used as a supplement to the readings and not as a replacement.
Baba Brinkman has made major steps in laying the foundation for a new medium of interpretation of antiquated literature. He figured that because the phrases and language of old/middle English is so inaccessible and even boring to the masses, and translation into prose may alter the meaning of the work, why not express it in a way that is familiar and entertaining? Brinkman uses rap to portray Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales with much fervor and enthusiasm. Not only is his delivery key in engaging the audience, but the way in which he chooses only to rap the tales containing certain underlying themes that are interesting to people such as sex and violence. With this, Brinkman is enticing the younger masses and aiming to prevent them from growing apathetic to archaic literature. I agree that rap is a more modern approach to analyzing Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales, and that it should make his tales easier for students to comprehend without losing their original meaning.
Brinkman conducted much research concerning the relationship between hip-hop and the work of Chaucer, and was successful in finding many arguments supporting their significance to one another. Brinkman found that much of Chaucer’s style is expressed through rap today, for example using rhymes based on sounds rather than spelling. Chaucer’s work was also intended to be read aloud in iambic pentameter, in a way that was engaging to the audience for his time. Rap is also about feeding off of the response and intensity of the audience and following a rhythm. Brinkman also noticed that the freestyling of rap was much like what transpired in The Canterbury Tales where the characters told their stories back and forth, each trying to out-do the other. However, the major connection between Chaucer and hip-hop that Brinkman discovered was the way they were both received during their time period. Chaucer’s work was seen as crude and a bit more taboo during his time, but it is now seen that he has greatly impacted the works of succeeding poets and the vernacular in which he wrote (which was frowned upon) eventually became accepted as the written standard. Brinkman sees rap in the same way, it is viewed with a negative connotation by many now, but perhaps in the future will be viewed as valid and important in the literary world. He claims that rap is the progression of literature and its adaptation to modern society, and that similar characteristics can be seen in Chaucer’s work, “I would even argue that Chaucer anticipates hip-hop in a number of important ways, by dramatizing live performance and competition explicitly in his content, by drawing attention to different stylistic choices, and by raising questions about the poet’s place in society at large, all within the playful context of a fictional game.” In all, I do support Chaucer in pioneering his findings in the relation of Chaucer to hip-hop. Although, in order to gain academic merit, I believe he will need to have collected supportive data and results to prove that it is a more effective teaching method as opposed to the original text or a prose translation of Chaucer’s work before the negative connotations that are associated with rap can be overlooked.
Baba Brinkman has made major steps in laying the foundation for a new medium of interpretation of antiquated literature. He figured that because the phrases and language of old/middle English is so inaccessible and even boring to the masses, and translation into prose may alter the meaning of the work, why not express it in a way that is familiar and entertaining? Brinkman uses rap to portray Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales with much fervor and enthusiasm. Not only is his delivery key in engaging the audience, but the way in which he chooses only to rap the tales containing certain underlying themes that are interesting to people such as sex and violence. With this, Brinkman is enticing the younger masses and aiming to prevent them from growing apathetic to archaic literature. I agree that rap is a more modern approach to analyzing Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales, and that it should make his tales easier for students to comprehend without losing their original meaning.
Brinkman conducted much research concerning the relationship between hip-hop and the work of Chaucer, and was successful in finding many arguments supporting their significance to one another. Brinkman found that much of Chaucer’s style is expressed through rap today, for example using rhymes based on sounds rather than spelling. Chaucer’s work was also intended to be read aloud in iambic pentameter, in a way that was engaging to the audience for his time. Rap is also about feeding off of the response and intensity of the audience and following a rhythm. Brinkman also noticed that the freestyling of rap was much like what transpired in The Canterbury Tales where the characters told their stories back and forth, each trying to out-do the other. However, the major connection between Chaucer and hip-hop that Brinkman discovered was the way they were both received during their time period. Chaucer’s work was seen as crude and a bit more taboo during his time, but it is now seen that he has greatly impacted the works of succeeding poets and the vernacular in which he wrote (which was frowned upon) eventually became accepted as the written standard. Brinkman sees rap in the same way, it is viewed with a negative connotation by many now, but perhaps in the future will be viewed as valid and important in the literary world. He claims that rap is the progression of literature and its adaptation to modern society, and that similar characteristics can be seen in Chaucer’s work, “I would even argue that Chaucer anticipates hip-hop in a number of important ways, by dramatizing live performance and competition explicitly in his content, by drawing attention to different stylistic choices, and by raising questions about the poet’s place in society at large, all within the playful context of a fictional game.” In all, I do support Chaucer in pioneering his findings in the relation of Chaucer to hip-hop. Although, in order to gain academic merit, I believe he will need to have collected supportive data and results to prove that it is a more effective teaching method as opposed to the original text or a prose translation of Chaucer’s work before the negative connotations that are associated with rap can be overlooked.
Baba Brinkman has made major steps in laying the foundation for a new medium of interpretation of antiquated literature. He figured that because the phrases and language of old/middle English is so inaccessible and even boring to the masses, and translation into prose may alter the meaning of the work, why not express it in a way that is familiar and entertaining? Brinkman uses rap to portray Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales with much fervor and enthusiasm. Not only is his delivery key in engaging the audience, but the way in which he chooses only to rap the tales containing certain underlying themes that are interesting to people such as sex and violence. With this, Brinkman is enticing the younger masses and aiming to prevent them from growing apathetic to archaic literature. I agree that rap is a more modern approach to analyzing Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales, and that it should make his tales easier for students to comprehend without losing their original meaning.
Brinkman conducted much research concerning the relationship between hip-hop and the work of Chaucer, and was successful in finding many arguments supporting their significance to one another. Brinkman found that much of Chaucer’s style is expressed through rap today, for example using rhymes based on sounds rather than spelling. Chaucer’s work was also intended to be read aloud in iambic pentameter, in a way that was engaging to the audience for his time. Rap is also about feeding off of the response and intensity of the audience and following a rhythm. Brinkman also noticed that the freestyling of rap was much like what transpired in The Canterbury Tales where the characters told their stories back and forth, each trying to out-do the other. However, the major connection between Chaucer and hip-hop that Brinkman discovered was the way they were both received during their time period. Chaucer’s work was seen as crude and a bit more taboo during his time, but it is now seen that he has greatly impacted the works of succeeding poets and the vernacular in which he wrote (which was frowned upon) eventually became accepted as the written standard. Brinkman sees rap in the same way, it is viewed with a negative connotation by many now, but perhaps in the future will be viewed as valid and important in the literary world. He claims that rap is the progression of literature and its adaptation to modern society, and that similar characteristics can be seen in Chaucer’s work, “I would even argue that Chaucer anticipates hip-hop in a number of important ways, by dramatizing live performance and competition explicitly in his content, by drawing attention to different stylistic choices, and by raising questions about the poet’s place in society at large, all within the playful context of a fictional game.” In all, I do support Chaucer in pioneering his findings in the relation of Chaucer to hip-hop. Although, in order to gain academic merit, I believe he will need to have collected supportive data and results to prove that it is a more effective teaching method as opposed to the original text or a prose translation of Chaucer’s work before the negative connotations that are associated with rap can be overlooked.
When Baba Brinkman came up with the idea to rap the Canterbury Tales, he created a situation where he made these ancient and historically significant stories easily accessible to students. While experts in the field of medieval literature might think that rap has no place near these classic works, as a student, I find it an interesting and entertaining way to understand this literature. Written in modern vernacular, Brinkman’s raps are automatically easier to read or listen to and understand. Rap as a medium is common and popular throughout the Country and the world, which creates a way for Brinkman’s interpretations to be presented in a cool way. I find that rap was a good medium for a modern Canterbury Tales because it is a popular form of lyrical storytelling based on a rhythm pattern. As Brinkman says, the Canterbury Tales rhythm pattern is very old and sort of confusing to read but a translation into prose would not do full justice to the work. Rap is a way to present a story in a way that grabs a listener attention long enough to tell a story. Some people might not agree with using rap because of the crude and inappropriate language and content discussed today. However, this makes The Canterbury Tales perfect to be done into a rap because they were inappropriate themselves. They told stories about sex and violence, much like modern raps and described tabooed things in polite society with stunning detail. Chaucer’s wrote his stories for the common man to be able to read, not the wealthy. He discussed things that pertained to the common man. When Brinkman turns these archaic stories into modern language he makes them pertain to the common student.
I believe that Brinkman’s rap does have academic value. Brinkman did not change the basic storylines of Chaucer’s Tales. He may have turned the words into modern vernacular but the basic storyline is the same. The rap is no longer a primary source of the time period because Brinkman unavoidably had to alter some things to make it work in his new format but the story stills displays and emphasizes the beliefs of the medieval society. Brinkman may have turned an ancient story into a modern rap but the Canterbury Tales are still the Canterbury Tales, just with a new face.
It was interesting to read about why Baba chose to combine music with The Canterbury Tales. It is a creative and effective way to help students understand Chauncer’s story. Baba Brinkman’s arguments do have academic merit. They get students more intersested in the stories because it is put into music and words that they recognize. Baba Brinkman stated in the Preface, “What I needed was a new medium that would capture the same ethos as Chaucer did for his age: a live performance mode rich with wordplay and lyrical nuance, with a technique that could grab a live audience’s attention and hold it long enough to tell a complex story.” By combing music with the stories Brinkman achieved this goal; the stories are more engaging and exciting to listen to. Also, Brinkman does make Chaucer more accessible to the 21st century because the stories are put in words that the younger generation and understand so they can enjoy the stories. If students had to only read the book they would most likely have a hard time understanding what is going on and, in turn, become bored. Therefore, Baba Brinkman’s style of telling the stories that makes up The Canterbury Tales is an innovative and interesting way to help younger generations understand and get more involved in the stories.
Baba Brinkman's Preface to the Rap Canterbury Tales was quite interesting. Brinkman provided evidence that showed the similarities between The Canterbury Tales and modern rap music. His arguments definitely have academic merit. He discussed how rap and poetry have evolved over the centuries, and how even six centuries ago, Chaucer wrote about a storytelling contest that could be compared to a freestyle rap battle. Brinkman's use of rap to retell the Canterbury Tales does make Chaucer more accessible to 21st century students. The Canterbury Tales are challenging to read for most modern students. Because of this, students cannot fully appreciate the Canterbury Tales. Brinkman's use of rap music allows anyone to understand Chaucer's work. The music makes it more entertaining and students are more likely to listen to hip hop than read the actual book.
However, I do feel that Baba Brinkman modernizes the Canterbury Tales too much. Rap music takes away from their significance as a historical document. While Brinkman does not change the actual tales, the way he tells them with rap music is too modern and lessens their historical merit.
The Rap Canterbury Tales makes Chaucer more accessable to 21st century students, however rap music detracts from the historical value of the Canterbury Tales. Baba Brinkman's version is excellent for helping students fully comprehend what they are reading, it is always better to read the book.
In the Preface, Baba Brinkman identifies relationships between the “Canterbury Tales” and modern rap music based on extensive research on the topic. Before reading this, I would have never thought that poetry written by William Shakespeare or Chaucer’s tales could be so closely related to rap. Brinkman argues that both rap and the tales are meant to entertain live groups of people using rhythm and through telling a story. Also, the tales and rap both describe crude topics such as sex and violence. Rap isn't widely accepted in society and neither were the tales because they weren’t written in the vernacular. Brinkman was able to transform the tales from Old English text into rap music that is entertaining and still retains the message of the tale. By proving numerous similarities between the two works, I can agree that his rhymes retain historical merit.
When exploring the idea that Brinkman makes Chaucer more accessible to 21st century students, the answer is undoubtedly yes. Students can learn the same tales that were written centuries ago, through the rhythm of rap. Students already listen to this genre of music, and through this music are able to identify to Chaucer’s work. The rap version of the “Canterbury Tales” is easier and more enjoyable to listen to for students, which allows them to actually appreciate the 13th century work. Brinkman’s rap connects our generation to the medieval lifestyle in an extremely unique way. He makes the characters come to life with his voice and actions on stage. The fact that he is able to make the tales of paper come to life on stage intrigues a younger audience. Brinkman is able to make Chaucer’s “Canterbury Tales” entertaining, which makes them very accessible to 21st century students.
As rap has gained popularity in the past decade, it has been brought to the center of debate and has become a very controversial topic. Therefore, depending on the person and their personal view of rap, some people will believe Baba Brinkman’s rapping of The Canterbury Tales has academic merit while others will not. Baba Brinkman has effectively ‘translated’ The Canterbury Tales into a modern day form of entertainment. Today, people around the world enjoy rap, no matter what class they are in. In Chaucer’s time, The Canterbury Tales, among other orations of poetry, was something that also appealed to all classes and people. Thus, Baba Brinkman has been able to bring back the tradition of reading aloud The Canterbury Tales but with a unique twist called rap.
Baba Brinkman’s rapping of The Canterbury Tales is a good supplement to Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales. However, nothing can or should replace such an important book. I believe that students would benefit by reading The Canterbury Tales first and then listening to Baba Brinkman’s rap after, to clarify aspects of the stories they did not fully understand. Personally, when I read The Canterbury Tales I actually understood the story. Yet, after listening to Baba Brinkman rap the “Preface” and the “Miller’s Tale” I got more out of the story and enjoyed it more. So I think Baba Brinkman brings back the entertainment aspect of The Canterbury Tales that has not been experienced probably since the Middle Ages. Rap is something students are familiar with; most students probably hear it in the car every day. Therefore, students are more familiar with the modern slang of rap than the old English, so they most likely understand the stories better. And most students would prefer to listen to rap than read old English any day. Rapping this classical story only adds to students understanding. Reading is one thing, but listening to Baba Brinkman makes the words of Chaucer and his characters come alive. He even acts out the different characters! Overall, Baba Brinkman does make Chaucer more accessible to 21st century students because he makes Chaucer relevant while still managing to maintain Chaucer’s original story.
For more traditional people or historians, Baba Brinkman’s arguments in the preface do not have academic merit. However, to a 21st century student, such as me, Baba Brinkman’s arguments in the preface do have academic merit. The Canterbury Tales was originally written in iambic pentameter, Baba Brinkman argues that translating it into modern prose would causes it to not have the same rhythm and lose some of its value. Rapping is almost a medium; it gives The Canterbury Tales a modern feeling with out it losing the iambic pentameter. Surprisingly, Hip-Hop and The Canterbury Tales do have a lot in common although Hip-Hop is often branded as corrupt. Both were passed down by word of the mouth or oral traditions. The story telling competition between the characters in the book can be compared to the battling of MC’s each trying to top each other. Recently, rap has been considered more and more as a form of poetry. Hip Hop actually originated from poetry. Lastly, it may be hard to believe such old English was once considered vulgar, but The Canterbury Tales was. And today rap is considered vulgar.
Therefore, yes Baba Brinkman’s rapping of The Canterbury Tales does make it more accessible to 21st century students. However, depending on the person, some people will believe Baba Brinkman’s arguments in the preface do have academic merit and some will not. I personally think it does.
While reading Baba Brinkman’s Preface I found his arguments comparing Hip Hop to the Canterbury tales interesting and compelling. Brinkman brings up the issue of the Canterbury Tales being inaccessible to modern audiences because it’s written in Middle English, which only people who study the language can actually comprehend. Therefore to solve this issue Brinkmann decided to use hip-hop as a way to translate the Canterbury Tales into a modern form that can be understood and enjoyed by all modern audiences. His arguments comparing the Canterbury Tales and hip-hop do hold academic merit, as he shows that the two do have a lot of similarities. He argues that through rhythm and beats, hip-hop can be written to tell a story orally. The Canterbury Tales is similar to this because it too was written to tell a story that could be recited orally. Both are also written to entertain the audience. Brinkmann even goes as far as to explaining the parallels of the storytelling contest that is written in the Canterbury Tales to the freestyle rap battles that are associated with hip-hop.
Brinkman also makes Chaucer’s work much more accessible to today’s students. By using hip-hop, a medium that is familiar and popular with the younger generation, Brinkman makes Chaucer’s work much more enjoyable and understandable then its Middle English counterpart. Through his rapping, Brinkman has allowed Chaucer’s work to remain relevant with today’s audiences.
As rap has gained popularity in the past decade, it has been brought to the center of debate and has become a very controversial topic. Therefore, depending on the person and their personal view of rap, some people will believe Baba Brinkman’s rapping of The Canterbury Tales has academic merit while others will not. Baba Brinkman has effectively ‘translated’ The Canterbury Tales into a modern day form of entertainment. Today, people around the world enjoy rap, no matter what class they are in. In Chaucer’s time, The Canterbury Tales, among other orations of poetry, was something that also appealed to all classes and people. Thus, Baba Brinkman has been able to bring back the tradition of reading aloud The Canterbury Tales but with a unique twist called rap.
Baba Brinkman’s rapping of The Canterbury Tales is a good supplement to Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales. However, nothing can or should replace such an important book. I believe that students would benefit by reading The Canterbury Tales first and then listening to Baba Brinkman’s rap after, to clarify aspects of the stories they did not fully understand. Personally, when I read The Canterbury Tales I actually understood the story. Yet, after listening to Baba Brinkman rap the “Preface” and the “Miller’s Tale” I got more out of the story and enjoyed it more. So I think Baba Brinkman brings back the entertainment aspect of The Canterbury Tales that has not been experienced probably since the Middle Ages. Rap is something students are familiar with; most students probably hear it in the car every day. Therefore, students are more familiar with the modern slang of rap than the old English, so they most likely understand the stories better. And most students would prefer to listen to rap than read old English any day. Rapping this classical story only adds to students understanding. Reading is one thing, but listening to Baba Brinkman makes the words of Chaucer and his characters come alive. He even acts out the different characters! Overall, Baba Brinkman does make Chaucer more accessible to 21st century students because he makes Chaucer relevant while still managing to maintain Chaucer’s original story.
For more traditional people or historians, Baba Brinkman’s arguments in the preface do not have academic merit. However, to a 21st century student, such as me, Baba Brinkman’s arguments in the preface do have academic merit. The Canterbury Tales was originally written in iambic pentameter, Baba Brinkman argues that translating it into modern prose would causes it to not have the same rhythm and lose some of its value. Rapping is almost a medium; it gives The Canterbury Tales a modern feeling with out it losing the iambic pentameter. Surprisingly, Hip-Hop and The Canterbury Tales do have a lot in common although Hip-Hop is often branded as corrupt. Both were passed down by word of the mouth or oral traditions. The story telling competition between the characters in the book can be compared to the battling of MC’s each trying to top each other. Recently, rap has been considered more and more as a form of poetry. Hip Hop actually originated from poetry. Lastly, it may be hard to believe such old English was once considered vulgar, but The Canterbury Tales was. And today rap is considered vulgar.
Therefore, yes Baba Brinkman’s rapping of The Canterbury Tales does make it more accessible to 21st century students. However, depending on the person, some people will believe Baba Brinkman’s arguments in the preface do have academic merit and some will not. I personally think it does.
I feel that Brinkman does have academic merit. He is educated and his studies are backed by research. If someone had told me that one could rap a middle english novel i would have been rather skeptical. but both target their audience and do it very well. The similarity made between the storytellers competition and rappers in a freestyle battle made a lot of sense when you thought about it. All are just trying to tell a story/rap better then the last.
Baba definitely makes The Canterbury tales more accessible to 21st century students. He relates more difficult text into a fun to listen to rap. Rapping it also puts on another twist. Rap is relatively new as music goes, just as writing crude comedy was new in Chaucer's day and age. The enthusiasm that Brinkman uses makes it more appealing as well. When you here someone getting into what they are doing, its more enticing then a monotone reader, or a difficult text. His fun approach attracts the youth of today.
The Rap Canterbury Tales opened new doors for the centuries-old piece of literature. Baba Brinkman is able to convert middle English to rap, and offer the same entertaining stories in a much more contemporary and accessible manner. Twenty-first century students are no longer singularly subject to Chaucer’s often confusing stanzas, and have the option to hear the tales in a tongue they are well-versed in. In a way, Brinkman followed in Chaucer’s footsteps by producing a piece of work in a medium that is not entirely socially acceptable, in order to pique the “common man’s” interest and garner a wider audience. Chaucer chose the vernacular when Latin was the norm, and received his fair share of slandering and disrespect, but for the same reason was able to sell thousands of copies. Brinkman chose the form of rap, which in this day and age is not generally accepted as a legitimate form of education, and was able to offer insight into the world of The Canterbury Tales to those who won’t read a book, but will listen to rap any day. In addition, Brinkman’s style of performance is leagues more entertaining that the manner in which Chaucer’s work was originally expressed. Students today, understandably, would much prefer watching an exciting performance in front of their eyes than listen to a monotonous and lengthy reading.
Academic merit can be attributed to Brinkman’s work due to the lengthy amount of research involved in it’s creation and the successful method in which it is presented. He was able to turn the difficult and archaic words of middle English into not only modern English, but words that any person of any social class would be familiar with. I believe every teacher should be thankful for Brinkman and what he has brought for students: a glimpse of the past, with a hint of the present.
CLOSED!!!
My first initial thought after reading the preface was that this idea to connect rap with European literature was amazing and creative genius. I like the concept of being able to have something that simple in common with people from so long ago. Baba makes several good points that I also agree with, such as when he talks about tracing back any oral tradition from any culture and it will lead you back to the same place. I found that very insightful. Another thing I thought was interesting was that he pointed out the pressures both rappers and poets face. If the audience doesn't like what they have to offer, then they have to "suffer the consequences", which adds to the competition in both areas. I feel that his arguments have a lot of academic merit, seeing as he did a lot of research to reinforce his opinions. Baba obviously put a lot of thought into this idea and his points are well supported. For instance, he is clearly able to compare the Host from the Canterbury Tales to a modern day MC seeing as they both are judging others in a competition; the Host is judging the stories told on the journey, while an MC would judge the skills in a freestyle rap battle.
I think Baba makes Chaucer much more accessible to 21st century students. Reading Chaucer's Tales to yourself is not nearly as entertaining as listening to Baba recite the stories. I believe while the stories themselves are somewhat interesting, Baba puts a better spin on them by adding some modern language and of course through rap, which is easier to relate it to. When you hear him speak the Tales out loud, I find them easier to get into and understand. Despite the fact that the original pieces were English Literature, Baba transitioned it smoothly to an (almost) universal composition. It had a nice rhythem, and to conclude, I really enjoyed it.
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