Background
Sienkewicz, Thomas Jerome was born on April 29, 1950 in Hoboken, New Jersey, United States. Son of Edmund R. and Maria F. (Liguori) Sienkewicz.
(Rap and Homer? It may seem incongruous to link the verbal...)
Rap and Homer? It may seem incongruous to link the verbal gymnastics of black America and the epic poetry of ancient Greece. yet there is nothing frivolous in pairing the two, for both represent skilled exponents of richly developed oral cultures. The techniques of their craft, their relations with their audience and their place within the community are common bonds of more significance than the distances which separate them. This book, the collaboration of a classicist and a sociolinguist, ranges across six continents and 3000 years, taking in the oral world of Homer, the orators of Madagascar and Samoa, the story-tellers of Africa and the Caribbean and the rappers of America and Britain today. In their panoramic account, the authors explore particularly the characteristics and techniques of the oral performer and the active role of the audience in the performance. The interchanges of performer and audience include praise and blame, boasts and self-blame, abuse and counter-abuse. The authors look too at the structure and connections of oral performances, marked by repetition and elaborations, proverbs, lists and riddles. The work is aimed at undergraduates and specialists in sociolinguistics, English folklore, black studies and classics.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/063116569X/?tag=2022091-20
Sienkewicz, Thomas Jerome was born on April 29, 1950 in Hoboken, New Jersey, United States. Son of Edmund R. and Maria F. (Liguori) Sienkewicz.
Bachelor in Classics, College Holy Cross, Worcester, Massachusetts, 1971. Master of Arts in Classics, Johns Hopkins University, 1973. Doctor of Philosophy in Classics, Johns Hopkins University, 1975.
Assistant professor classics, Howard U., Washington, 1975-1981; associate professor classics, Howard U., Washington, 1981-1984; visiting associate professor classics, Monmouth (Illinois) College, 1984-1985; Minnie Billings Capron professor classics, Monmouth (Illinois) College, since 1985. Visiting director Association Colls. Midwest Programs in Florence, Italy, 1992-1993.
(Rap and Homer? It may seem incongruous to link the verbal...)
Member American Philological Association, American Institute Archeology, Illinois Classical Conference (president), Illinois Council Teaching Foreign Languages, Classical Association Middle West and South (state and regional vice president), Phi Beta Kappa.
Married Anne Waterman, June 10, 1972. Children: Marie Kathleen, Julia Alice, Richard Oscar.