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Timing
This homework should take you 2 hours to do:
67 minutes to watch the video and about 4 minutes to answer
each of the fourteen questions below. |
 Because
the answers to these questions will help you on the next
homework, it makes sense to do this assignment carefully |
The following questions
should be answered with one to three sentences each; do NOT
repeat the words of the documentary. Be sure, instead, to place your
answers into your own words.
These
questions will require rather specific evidence from the documentary
Bling.
To help you, there is a transcript of the video here.
1) What does the
speaker at two minutes and 14 seconds into the video “find ironic”
and why?
2) Why was the diamond trade essential to Sierra Leone's civil war?
3) How do Raekwon and Paul Wall understand the poverty they see in
Sierra Leone in comparison to the poverty in which they were raised?
That is, which do they think is worse?
4) What does the film suggest the origins and causes of the war are?
In short, what motivated the various factions in the confilct?
5) According to the documentary, what role did the themes and style
of American hip-hop have on young people in Sierra Leone, particularly
in their assessment of violence?
6) What role did the Makeni Peace Concert play in the war?
7) According to the African hip-hop artists, what role do women play
in the local hip-hop culture?
8) According to
the video, what role did the diamond region play in the war?
9) According to the 1969 BBC report excerpted in
the film, who made the money when the diamond trade came to town?
10) What does the 1969 report suggest about the state
of infrastructure (infrastructure refers to the technical structures
that support a society and are frequently paid for by government:
sewage, clean water, roads, public health, etc) in the Koidu region?
11) To whom did
both the diamond company in 1969 and the present company pay their
taxes?
12) According to the BBC report did diamond companies pay a high or
a low tax to the local government? As a point of comparison, the British
corporate tax rate is 25%.
13) The company owner asks Raekwon what the alternative is to his
company. Does Raekwon provide an answer, if so, what is it?
14) Who ultimately does Raekwon blame?
Extra-Credit (up
to 5 extra points -- requires watching until the end of the video)
How did the locals
react to Raekwon at the port area? Do they indicate they see themseolves
as sharing as a common identity with him? How does Raekwon's expderience
at the port and his notion of an
"African" identity compare with his notions of identity
at the time of his arrival for the first time at the airport in Africa?
Be specific and use evidence in your response
IF YOU
HAVE EXTRA-TIME RIGHT NOW, YOU MIGHT WANT TO DO QUESTIONS 5 AND 6
FROM HOMEWORK 2 (DUE LATER) AS THESE QUESTIONS
REFER TO THIS DOCUMENTARY.