Media Item: MC Lars Ahab

Title:
Ahab


Bibliographic Information:
Lars, M.C. Ahab. (2006). Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=al5-bU8DUAg



Weekly Requirement:
Media Item

Plot Description:
Ahab is the video to the rap created by MC Lars about the book Moby Dick. It tells the story of Captain Ahab, a sea captain in the 19th century, who was obsessed with capturing and killing the whale Moby Dick after he had taken his leg. The video shows the rapper dressed as Ahab on the a ship with his crew, most children dressed as sailors, as they hunt the sea in search of the great whale. They dance and tell the story in various parts of the ship and then in their encounter with the whale. The music and video do an excellent job of explaining Moby Dick to a modern audience.

Quantitative Reading Level:
n/a

Qualitative Analysis:
This complex video is told in modern English but in rap form. The story is in chronological order from beginning to end. It includes many allusions to the book with the characters that are presented like Ahab and Ishmael. The lyrics are complex because they allude to the story of  Moby Dick but also include lines that reference other people who add meaning to the rap. For instance, Ahab says he is obsessed with success like Steve Wozniak, the man who co-created Apple Computers. Ahab also says call him Oedipus, a tragic figure in Greek mythology.  These references add complexity to the text.


Content Area:
English

Maine Common Core Content Area Standard:

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.9-10.1
Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.9-10.2
Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze in detail its development over the course of the text, including how it emerges and is shaped and refined by specific details; provide an objective summary of the text.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.9-10.4
Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the cumulative impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone (e.g., how the language evokes a sense of time and place; how it sets a formal or informal tone).

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.9-10.9
Analyze how an author draws on and transforms source material in a specific work (e.g., how Shakespeare treats a theme or topic from Ovid or the Bible or how a later author draws on a play by Shakespeare).

Curriculum Suggestion:
Middle and high school English teachers can use this to teach students about Moby Dick. They can also use it as a tool for students to create their own remix of a literary classic through music, video, art, etc.