Anthony Trollope - The Diamond Fields of South Africa - Essay Example

Hugh Masekela: “Stimela”

Hugh Masekela was an icon of Black music. Besides “Grazing in the Grass” which was a massive hit in the 60s, he gave us an equally popular song called “Stimela” which he recorded over and over again and hence had six different versions. Hugh drew his inspiration from South Africa which was his hometown. In Hugh’s own words, “I owe an endless debt to the people of South Africa and all those other African communities all over the world that I have accessed, and lived with and learned their music. He has traveled the world over and carries with him the message of hope and deep belief in the healing power of music. He speaks passionately when he mentions time and again the very hard labor done by the poor so that we could “look, smell and feel the way we want to”.(Hugh Masekela, “Stimela”, 1993)

Though Hugh Masekela’s “Stimela” is a wonderful piece of work in which he brings out glaringly the life and suffering of the African people working in the mines, I would rather choose the simple and descriptive narrative of Anthony Trollope’s “The Diamond Fields of South Africa, 1870. The reason for this is that it is for a History class and children can relate to it better when facts are in the form of a narrative. Moreover, Anthony Trollope has laid down the facts in chronological order using simple language which makes it easy for children to remember these facts.

On the other hand, though Hugh Masekela’s “Stimela” is worth listening to over and over again for its sheer listening pleasure, it would not be too suitable or appropriate to be used in a History class the fact not everyone can learn facts from music because music is used more for pleasure than for learning hard facts.

Another reason I would choose the narrative instead of the song would be that it has the facts in chronological order which is so important for a History class, whereas this cannot be done using a song. Once a song is written one cannot change the order of words to suit our fancy but this can be done in a narrative –i.e. new ideas could always be incorporated to make the material more authentic and interesting and which would in turn be more helpful knowledge wise to a History learning audience.
Masekela’s “Stimela” could be used as inspiration and motivational force before starting Anthony Trollope’s narrative as it would give a boost and kindle interest in the actual learning experience. Read More