What is Shakespeare’s larger purpose in his characterization of Coriolanus in Act I?

The play Coriolanus was written by William Shakespeare in the 1600s, demonstrating Rome as a social hierarchy. By several it is considered one of Shakespeare's worst plays while it is also one of his latest ones. Caius Marcius Coriolanus is a true war hero and leader who seemed very much appreciated among the senators of Rome where he earned his position of consul. Therefore, he is in the upper class of the social hierarchy, which is what leads to his actions throughout Act I. In this act, Shakespeare manages to display development of Coriolanus' character through direct and indirect characterization in which the audience is exposed to the different character traits of Coriolanus allowing the audience to understand his heroic role within the play, providing that Coriolanus' character supports the conflicts and setting, and genre of the play. 

In Act I of the play, Coriolanus plays a significant role. He is respected and admired by several Patricians and senators, and hated by the Plebeians whom are also referred to as the 'rats' of Rome. The Plebeians look at Coriolanus as the "very dog to the commonalty ... what he hath done famously he did it to that end" due to his figure of authority. This continues to show that the patricians are those with power while the Plebeians try to go against Coriolanus. Shakespeare combines the drive for leadership, power, and social change to form the message of the play. Coriolanus' passion for both war and his city is part of the political genre that Shakespeare revolves the play around. Shakespeare utilises Coriolanus' heroic traits to foreshadow the future conflicts against his enemy Tullus Aufidius. Coriolanus seems to be a very fierce warrior while he defeats his enemy with self-determination, which builds on his pride. 

In Act I, Shakespeare manages to reveal two different settings in which he exposes two different sides of Coriolanus' character. One of this being the world out on the battlefield where Coriolanus is portrayed as a man who is driven by bravery while encouraging others. Secondly there is the world in Rome in which he is highly modest. Coriolanus adjusts his character to both the physical and emotional setting of the play. During the battle, Coriolanus said "Tis not my blood wherein thou seest me mask'd; for thy revenge wrench up thy power to the highest" while once he has returned to Rome he says: "I have done as you have done ... that's for my country". Perhaps Shakespeare's larger purpose of his characterisation is to create and foreshadow future conflict leading to the plot of the play. 

bell hooks

"Possessing a shared language, black folks could find again a way to make community, and a means to create the political solidarity necessary to resist. Needing the oppressor's language to speak with one another they nevertheless also reinvented, remade that language so that it would speak beyond the boundaries of conquest and domination."

Text: In Wade in the Water 
http://www.traditionalmusic.co.uk/negro-spirituals/wade_in_the_water.htm (song lyrics)

This text is one of the many examples of a 'slave song' by Harriet Tubman. Her, and many other African slaves, used songs in their everyday life providing them with several purposes such as repetitive rhythm for repetitive manual work and motivation. Singing was used as a way to express values and as a tool to understand one another since the majority of slaves didn't have the ability to read. Often times the songs are referred to as spirituals, and slaves used them as a strategy to communicate with others in the search for freedom. The African slaves created their own coded language consisting of words that gave directions on how to escape or where to meet such as map songs. 

"Wade in the Water" was created to tell the slaves to get into the water, which would avoid them of being seen and make it through. This song is an example of a map song in which the coded language is used as a way to give directions. Such texts make reference to Biblical people, places and stories to then compare them to their history of slavery. The text shows how the black community has the ability to transform a language so far away from it's original source that it becomes almost impossible to identify what is being said. Through this, we are able to see how standard English is used by slaves, whom are looked upon as non-educated, in a unique way to communicate. Since the slaves are the only ones who know how to decode what is being said, the songs create a niche language for the community. The African slaves have turned English into a language of their own, which implies that it is something more than an oppressor's language.  

source: http://www.harriet-tubman.org/songs-of-the-underground-railroad/