In 1999, a University of Connecticut survey* found that only 23 percent of seniors at America’s top fifty colleges correctly identified James Madison as the “Father of the Constitution,” while 98 percent knew that Snoop Doggy Dogg was a rapper.I think author Amy Zegart makes too much of American ignorance. Yes, our elite schools' students should know what Madison did, but there’s a perfectly logical explanation for Snoop Dogg’s continued importance compared to Madison’s declining relevance: Mr. Madison famously had no flow. He couldn’t spit it. Calling him the Vanilla Ice of the colonial era would be an insult to the creator of Ice Ice Baby.
A little background here would, I imagine, be helpful. Poetic narration was a little known colonial pastime particularly popular in Madison’s corner of Virginia. In this precursor to freestyle rap, competitors tied together impromptu rhyming verses over the sounds of a lute, harp, or rollmonica. For instance:
“Behind a defecating pony walks Old Schmidt/Careful not to step in it!”In one notorious episode, Madison, endowed with one of the most eloquent pens of his generation, was routed in front of dozens of spectators by John Frederick Adams, a Portuguese ex-indentured servant originally named Juan Federico Adame. Madison choked on beautifully conceived rhymes like “hope for the intervention of Providence” and “treat you as my serving wench,” as well as “house of ill repute” and “mother’s origins are not in dispute.” Despite performing before a group of rabid Madison partisans, Adame, a thoroughly middling poetic narrator for whom English was likely his third language, couldn’t but win the crowd’s support. Madison recovered from the embarrassment to father the Constitution, but his lack of rhythm has always cost him the attention of the 16-26 crowd.
*If the survey had been conducted in Columbus, would it actually be written, “…a The Ohio State University survey…”, with the double article? If so, how tiring that must be.
No comments:
Post a Comment