the meaning of (rock-'n-roll)

Status
Not open for further replies.

Atchan

Key Member
Joined
Apr 30, 2010
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
Somali
Home Country
Somalia
Current Location
Saudi Arabia
The Tempest Spills out of the Teapot​
Once the newspapers got the story, the case of the longhairs became a cause celebre. Ron and Len were interviewed, seen on TV, and regarded by their fellow students as heroes. "These are not delinquents or hoods," one reporter wrote, "but clean-cut American boys who are being harassed by a monolithic school system. A caustic editorial referred to the school's decision as arbitrary and inane. A false story even circulated about the boys being rock-'n-roll performers whose indigent families needed their salaries. Finally, the Civil Liberties Union jumped into the fray with a court order stipulating that the principal be required to show cause why the boys should not be allowed to return to class.

I have learned this lesson yesterday. What is the meaning of (rock-'n-roll)
 

Ouisch

Key Member
Joined
Mar 27, 2006
Member Type
English Teacher
Native Language
English
Home Country
United States
Current Location
United States
This technically falls under the heading of "correcting homework," but since the text in this particular exam is (in my opinion) hopelessly outdated without a lot of back-story, I'm going to chime in with some additional comments that will hopefully describe the "mindset" of that era and will help in choosing the correct answers on the test.

As Dave noted, "rock-n-roll" refers primarily rock and roll music. However, what high school/college students of the present day do not realize is that at one time, "rock and roll" described not only the beat-heavy music of the Beatles, the Rolling Stones and other such bands, but also meant (to most people) boys who grew their hair long (seriously - from 1964-1966 if a boy's hair covered his ears and touched his shirt collar in the back, it was considered to be "long" and many schools at that time adapted specific dress codes to ban such hair on male students) he not only listened to rock and roll music, but probably also drove a fast sports car and smoked and defied his parents and was on the verge of becoming a subversive.)

So, to sum it up, the text in your exam describing the story of Ron and Len getting in trouble with the school administration because of their hair length and receiving support from their fellow students would be most likely very confusing to anyone born in the last 20 years. The people taking that test today grew up in an era where their fellow students shaved their heads, dyed their hair in neon colors, spiked their hair, braided it into cornrows, etc, without any repurcussions from the school administration. :silly: (This is an example of one of those "culturally biased" tests we hear about so often in the U.S. educational system.)
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top