Analysis Of Rhymes The Poetics Of Hip Hop - 1098 Words

Analysis – Book of Rhymes â€Å"Rap is poetry† (xii). To any avid fan of the genre, it is a statement that seems obvious. The words could easily be the musings of a listener first introduced to the art form, not the focal point of an entire work of contemporary criticism. Yet in Book of Rhymes: The Poetics of Hip Hop, Adam Bradley’s primary focus is this very point, the recognition of traditional poetic elements within rap music. With the global cultural and economic phenomenon that hip hop has become, it is easy to forget that the style of music is barely thirty years old, that scholarly criticism of it has existed for only half of that time. When viewed within this relatively new arena of scholarship, the importance of Bradley’s text is†¦show more content†¦His analysis of the opening bars to Immortal Technique’s â€Å"Industrial Revolution† does a fantastic job of showing the detail and meticulous referential material present in a pristine verse, while noting the immense amount of cultural knowledge required to appreciate such a creation at its fullest. As thorough and rewarding as Bradley’s close reading can be, it is this sole focus that becomes problematic in Book of Rhymes. He stays on the surface, privileging the discussion of linguistic elements over cultural impact. He begins his wordplay chapter with an anecdote about a friend who disapproves of the misogynistic and violent elements of the Notorious B.I.G.’s lyrics, a qualm addressed by Bradley in a customary manner: â€Å"It’s not what he’s saying, it’s how he’s saying it† (86). Bradley is partially correct; how he’s saying it is the aesthetically appealing aspect of hip hop, the reason millions of people around the world enjoy the music. But what he’s saying is the more compelling aspect. The environment that produced the attitudes reflected in hip hop, the source of Biggie’s misogyny and violent imagery, must be given its proper treatment in order to understand rap music on deeper levels than the beauty and complexity of its poetic structures. This surface treatment becomes more apparent in the second part of the text. The chapter on style largely avoids the problem, aside from a somewhat rushed explanation on the effectShow MoreRelatedAnalysis of the Song Runaway Love Essay1527 Words   |  7 Pagesâ€Å"Runaway Love† Ludacris does a remarkable job of portraying his message about the struggles that some adolescents are faced with. â€Å"Runaway Love†, by Ludacris, featuring Mary J. Blige (2007), represents the theme of struggle through hip-hop and rap music. It is about little girls who are â€Å"stuck up in the world on their own.† They have to take care of themselves because the people they are around do not care about them. They range from nine to eleven years in age, and their goal in life, at such aRead MoreTrystan Gray. Miller. English 175. 1/11/2017 . Poetry Analysis.980 Words   |  4 PagesTrystan Gray Miller English 175 1/11/2017 Poetry Analysis â€Å"Peter Piper† is an original song by Run D.M.C. and from this J. Simmons and D. McDaniels took a couple verses out and edited them to be used in school text book across the United States. The song was founded in 1986 and from there it was put into our text book in the poetry section because, even though people don t realize it, rap is poetry and can teach youth about things they may or may not have experienced. Founded in 1981, Run D.MRead MoreThousands Of Rappers Are Inspired By The Instant Fame And1649 Words   |  7 Pagespopped were mostly cherry-picked by top music executives, now they are determined directly by the listener and by popular opinion. Granted, the two periods I am discussing both benefited from the fruits of the internet, but the current generation of hip-hop artists have just expanded on the foundation built by those who made music around the turn of the decade. It provides both challenges and value to artists today, but regardless, if you’re hot, you’ll be heard. All throughout music, especially digitalRead MoreRap Music And Its Influence On Hip Hop Music1885 Words   |  8 Pagesthroughout this decade was one of the most influential and popular music genres for many years to come: hip-hop. Hip-hop, or â€Å"rap† music, is a form of RB, with rhythmic lyrics over stronger, faster, and bass booming beats. Like rock and roll, hip-hop music was born and established throughout the African-American culture. While white fans and supporters were not completely out of sight, hip-hop music aimed to attract the black culture early on. It wasn’t until the Beastie Boys that rap music was beingRead MoreA Comparative Study of the Influence of the Pinoy Rap Battle â€Å"Fliptop† and Balagtasan to High School Students6886 Words   |  28 Pagesputs two people in a match to have them insult each other with the cleverest punch lines and sharpest rhymes. Hip hop in the Philippines takes on many faces: from the plush and exclusive clubs in Makati to the slums of Tondo, and everywhere in between. A crowd dotted with Pinoys rocking gear ranging from grills to backpacks, FlipTop represents a space for the raw and grime of Philippine hip hop. There is no material gain at stake here. The winners take with them the pride in their skill. There areRead MoreAnalysis Of The Poem The Weary Blues Essay1299 Words   |  6 Pagesthe strong power of music supported the suffering of the black people in that time period. The poem describes the speaker listening to a musician plays blues in Harlem. Langston Hughes wrote The Weary Blues in free verse, he also used an irregular rhyme theme, thus the poem sounds like a piece of speech or music. The speaker also uses special dictions and repeats the lines of blues lyrics. Hence the tone of the poem is comparatively mournful with a tempo of blues, and as readers, we can reveal theRead MoreNikki Giovanni: The Princess of Black Poetry Essay1698 Words   |  7 Pageswriting and characteristics have evolved over the years, from aggressive and explosive to tender and sensitive poems. She speaks from the â€Å"heart and soul and her syntax is clear and set out simply† (â€Å"Black Love†). Her poem, â€Å"Nikki-Rosa† has no common rhyme; it is a constant thought with a soulful style to it, â€Å"breaking into shorter and longer sentences that make it have smooth manner and almost give it a beat in the readers head† (Mary). We know her for her simplicity and directness, she â€Å"always insisting

Literature And Everyday Life Toni Morrison s The Dark,...

From the role it plays in literature to its looming existence in our everyday lives, race has an undeniable influence on many aspects of our lives. Toni Morrison and Peggy McIntosh, a writer and an activist respectively, both have the urge to understand this presence and impact of race in literature and everyday life specifically. Through self-reflection and attempts to see from others’ perspectives, both Morrison and McIntosh manage to answer their own questions regarding race and its role in literature and everyday life while articulating their discoveries and intentions in similar and comparable ways. Both of their pieces, â€Å"Playing in the Dark,† and â€Å"White Privilege and Male Privilege: A Personal Account of Coming to see Correspondences through Work in Women’s Studies,† help Morrison and McIntosh, as well as readers, to understand the polar yet interdependent nature of African American and white status in America. Toni Morrison specifically delves deep into the role â€Å"Africanism† plays in American literature in her piece, â€Å"Playing in the Dark,† while in â€Å"White Privilege and Male Privilege: A Personal Account of Coming to see Correspondences through Work in Women’s Studies,† Peggy McIntosh strives to understand her privilege as a white female by pointing out its similarities to male privilege. What these two writers have in common is their use of self-realization and reflection as tools to understanding not only the mindset and circumstances of those outside themselvesShow MoreRelatedOne Significant Change That Has Occurred in the World Between 1900 and 2005. Explain the Impact This Change Has Made on Our Lives and Why It Is an Important Change.163893 Words   |  656 PagesPerspectives on the Past, edited by Susan Porter Benson, Stephen Brier, and Roy Rosenzweig Also in this series: Paula Hamilton and Linda Shopes, eds., Oral History and Public Memories Tiffany Ruby Patterson, Zora Neale Hurston and a History of Southern Life Lisa M. Fine, The Story of Reo Joe: Work, Kin, and Community in Autotown, U.S.A. Van Gosse and Richard Moser, eds., The World the Sixties Made: Politics and Culture in Recent America Joanne Meyerowitz, ed., History and September 11th John McMillian

The Five- Forty Eight Free Essays

Peaceful Triumph in the Face of Evil Atonement can be achieved without vengeance. Revenge is so basic, so animal a reaction to evil; it takes a higher level of thinking to achieve redemption without hateful spite and revenge. Atonement is satisfying after the anguish of rancor and internal violence brought on by maltreatment. We will write a custom essay sample on The Five- Forty Eight or any similar topic only for you Order Now When the goal is to equalize one’s enemy rather than destroy him, the end result is fulfilling. Although one immediately wants to take down his aggressor, in the long run, he will discover that this does not bring him the peace that they seek. In the short story â€Å"The Five- Forty- Eight† by John Clever, a businessman named Blake is kidnapped at gunpoint by his former secretary, Ms. Dent. She is mentally ill and angry with him for ignoring and promptly firing her after their one night stand, bringing him to a warehouse where she contemplates shooting him in revenge, but instead simply walks away. Having confronted the man that has wronged her without taking his life, Ms. Dent eventually leaves the scene, reborn without her anger. Redemption found in the absence of revenge is far more fulfilling a solution to a problem than one found through vengeance and violence. â€Å"The Five- Forty- Eight† is a prime example of this philosophy. Ms. Dent feels that Blake’s malice is the root of her unhappiness. While her mental illness has contributed to her deep inner turmoil, a great deal of it has been stirred up by his cruelly insensitive actions towards her. He preyed on her as he had other women, revealed through the narrator’s assertion that â€Å"most of the many women he had known had been picked for their lack of self- esteem† (Cheever). This gives us a brief glimpse into Blake’s past treatment of women. It is meant to be assumed that the women that Blake has â€Å"known† in the past are others that he was intimate with in brief and loveless affairs. Having said â€Å"picked† allows the reader to recognize that these were not simply women he happened upon in passing, these were in fact women that he specifically chose amongst all others, having perceived them as the easiest targets. Most importantly, the narrator says that these women were picked for their â€Å"lack of self- esteem. This reveals Blake’s true predatory nature. He wanted a woman he perceived to be weak and easy to manipulate for his own devices. Blake used Ms. Dents â€Å"oversensitivity† (Cheever) and â€Å"lack of self- esteem† (Cheever) in order to satisfy his own desires. Blake personifies evil within this story, and his actions against his secretary are the execution of aforementioned evil. Had Ms. Dent killed Blake and therefore vanquished evil, she would not have found peace with her inner demons. Ms. Dent was quite ill to begin with, having spent eight months in a hospital prior to her work for Blake, and her handwriting giving â€Å"the feeling that she had been the victim of some inner—some emotional—conflict that had in its violence broken the continuity of the lines she was able to make on paper† (Cheever). The use of the word â€Å"victim† incites that she is suffering unduly by no fault of her own. The idea that there is â€Å"violence† in her illness lends to the reader the severity of her disease. That the disease should have â€Å"broken the continuity of the lines she was able to make on paper† shows that the troubles of her disease are now pouring outward, evident through things so ordinary as her handwriting. Ms. Dent is quite ill, the impact of this illness becoming obvious long before she kidnapped Blake. Shooting him and thereby expressing the violence and â€Å"conflict† within her would push her over the edge and completely destroy her. Had Ms. Dent destroyed Blake, the evil in her life, she could never and been vindicated of the burdening emotional pain she felt. She is quite capable of overcoming the sadness he caused without killing him. Ms. Dent successfully overcomes the reprobate, evil character in her life without killing him. After bringing him to the warehouse, Ms. Dent forces Blake to the ground, repeating several times, â€Å"Put your face in the dirt† (Cheever). He is now beneath her, having been forced to bend to her will so far as to put his face against the dirty floor of a city warehouse. She then goes on to say â€Å"I can wash my hands of this† (Cheever) several times as well. The washing of hands is an allusion to the Bible, where Pilate, the Roman general who decided to hang Christ upon the cross, also claims to wash his hands of any fault he has in persecuting Jesus. In saying this, Ms. Dent cleanses herself of the â€Å"filth† in her life that has caused her such misery. She then leaves Blake there on the ground, crossing a wooden footbridge and disappearing. This crossing of the bridge metaphorically shows that she is now beyond the obstacle that had impeded her ability to be happy, having done so without harming the obstacle itself, much like a bridge continues one’s path over a river without ever disrupting it. The narrator goes on to say that â€Å"he saw by her attitude, her looks, that she had forgotten him† (Cheever), and we finally know that she is ultimately at peace with herself, and has managed to find this peace without resorting to the ultimate violence of murder. Ms. Dent had purged herself of evil without ever having to destroy its source. The root of nearly all great pain and emotional toil is evil. However tempting it may be to destroy this evil, to vanquish it, to kill it, this will never bring he who suffers the peace he seeks. Should Ms. Dent have killed Blake, she never would have found the redemption she sought. Forcing him into the dirt, lowering him below her, and therefore allowing her to elevate herself above evil gave her the fulfillment that she desired and alleviated the pain that she felt. John Cheever’s â€Å"The Five- Forty- Eight† shows us that the destruction of evil is not necessary when overcoming it. It is in elevating oneself above evil, the realization that one is greater than that which has caused one such suffering, that peace is finally found. How to cite The Five- Forty Eight, Papers