Level 2 English through Hip Hop

Year 12 English through Hip Hop

Oppression, discrimination, power, resistance, and community are terms heavily linked with Hip Hop. Yet these are also ideas explored in a range of well-known texts commonly studied in English. The purpose of this course is to engage students in literature and literacy through texts based on Hip Hop and Spoken Word. Students selecting this course may have prior knowledge and keen interest in music and hip hop or just be interested in the ideas and wordplay inherent in the lyrics.

The course will use Hip Hop culture as a context for learning to enhance your listening, reading, viewing, speaking, writing, and presenting skills. Students will be trained in how to develop logical arguments in response to the texts they are studying. Students will create a portfolio of crafted and controlled writing as well as present a speech to the class.

Potential texts may include, but are not limited to, Kendrick Lamar, The Roots, Public Enemy, as well as a range of spoken word artists from Aotearoa and the wider world. Students will be taught to appreciate these texts for their inventive uses of language but also to reflect on the themes and ideas explored critically.

Students have access to 14 internal credits, 8 external credits, and 22 compulsory credits in total. There is also an optional speech available. 

There is an opportunity to gain 10 writing and 8 reading credits.

Note: If you are looking to attend Auckland University, you need to gain a minimum of 17 English credits at Level 2 and/or 3.