Imitation #6

Stan By Eminem 

Sometimes I even cut myself to see how much it bleeds
It's like adrenaline, the pain is such a sudden rush for me
See everything you say is real, and I respect you cause you tell it
My girlfriend's jealous cause I talk about you 24/7
But she don't know you like I know you Slim, no one does
She don't know what it was like for people like us growin up
You gotta call me man, I'll be the biggest fan you'll ever lose
Sincerely yours, Stan -- P.S.We should be together too

The song is about a fan called Stan, who is writing to Eminem, and isn't getting a response and starts to become obsessive. The song is the just the real start of his carrer, and became heavily popular, so it conveys a lot of important aspects, as far as the context goes, and expresses his polarity and some of the strange mail he has probably received. The song is more of a confessional, since Stan is writing to Eminem and talking about how much they are similar and how much alike they are. There doesn't seem to be any real rhyme scheme, but the rhythm has this way of making it so that every word and sentence fits together as though there is a rhyme. Eminem is very good with keeping a strong similarity between the words and what is going on in the song. The entire song is a narrative poetry, and it goes into great detail about this relationship that has developed between Stan and Eminem. The tone changes throughout the song. it goes from this thrilling and excited fanmail to one of desperation and anger. The words become more violent and the tone starts to become more dark. Eminem seems to use assonance because while there is no rhyme scheme, there is this repetitiveness of the same sound, for example, "suck, sudden, rush" they all have this same sound to them. While the whole song has a very literal meaning, because it provides this story of what is going on, it could also be called lyrical poetry because of what it gives off. Stan is giving such emotion in his writing, and the letters he sends to Eminem is very colorful and emotional because of the dedication and support he has for his music. While the story does make this guy out to be psychotic, it's deeper than that because Stan has invested so much of his life into his music. 

Imitation #5

Loss of a love one
1991

Loss of a loved one shows through the heart,
To begin to explain it, there’s no where to start;Loss of a loved one is when family has died,You can feel the sadness when you’re alone and you’ve cried;Loss of a loved one is when someone goes away,Even though you love them, you can’t see them everyday;Loss of a loved one is when you wish they were near,To hug and hold you, or wipe away a tear;

The poem is about is about the pains and sorrows of losing a loved one, and how it reflects on the inside and the outside. The context it is written is one of someone who has lost someone important to them. This poem seems to be a confessional because it is expressing emotions and sorrows and the pains of losing someone. It is effecting the entire tone of the poem, the context that is. The rhyme scheme is that it is a ABAB rhyme scheme. "Died, Cried" "Away, Everyday". First off, the tone is very sad. It is addressing a situation that is very difficult for anyone, a situation that effects anyone. So the tone is a very deep, dark, and sad one. The whole poem has a very literal meaning to it. EVerything is straightforward and to the point and allows for the poem to be completely understood without any confusion as to what is being said. It seems as though there are a few simile's being used. Comparing the loss of a loved one to something else. The entire poem emits a very deep and emotional story, in a way. 

Imitation 4

1980's 

Self Destruction by KRS One Stop the Violence Movement 

Took a brother's life with a knife as his wife
Cried cause he died a trifling death
When he left his very last breath
Was I slept so watch your step
Back in the sixties our brothers and sisters were hanged
How could you gang-bang?
I never ever ran from the Ku Klux Klan
and I shouldn't have to run from a black man

The song is about violence and how each rapper is addressing different situations in hopes of bringing awareness in stopping the problems. The context of the song is that it is written during a time where there is a lot of violence and it is being associated with music. A lot of gangs and street violence started occurring during the 80's. The song seems to mainly be a critique, however, some parts of it have a confessional. The rhyme scheme is there and it sometimes disappears. It has an AB format in some places like, "death" "breath" "klan" "man". It seems as though there is some alliteration being used, especially in the line "life with a knife as his wife". The tone seems like there is a questioning, it is very up in the air, wanting to know why everything has to happen. This would also be classified as lyrical poetry because the author is constantly giving off these emotions and questions over a specific subject, even relating a little bit of history in there too. Everything pretty much has a literal meaning, which gives the song a strong emphasis because when everything is literal it makes it easy to understand, but at the same time it gives a strong message. 

Critique #2 Hip Hop Wars

I decided to write on the first chapter because it is really important to understand. I think the author of the book was smart in putting the first chapter a chapter about how people construed violence and hip hop together. The fact that critiques associate lyrics with reality is unfair. One thing I learned from this chapter is rap is lyrics, and lyrics come from emotion and what people feel at the time. If I write lyrics about how I killed someone and left them to die, does that mean I actually did it? No. However, one thing this chapter touched upon which is very important is how the entertainment world is obsessed with violence. We revolve our attention around it. It is the center of our media. Violence is rated very highly amongst people, and hip hop can in a way biography and record history and what happened through music, which is very beautiful. If discussing what happened is encouraging violence, when all it is doing is revealing the truth, then all of history should be condemned as bad because that is all history reveals, is violence from the past. Violence is relevant everywhere, and it happens everywhere. People who talk about violence through rap are just trying to inform people. The author writes, "On Behalf of the kids, not the ones who listen vicariously from afar, we should be concerned about how and how often street crime and the drug trade are depicted- not because they  represent infusion of violence in American culture but because they sound an alarm about the levels of violence and social decay created by policies, public opinion, and neglect." I liked this because it shows that listening to rap music doesn't create violence, it opens minds up to it and most likely people who are listening to it can either involved or not, because they are either in it or not.

Imitation #3

Kidnap Poem by Nikki Giovanni 

ever been kidnapped
by a poet
if i were a poet
i'd kidnap you
put you in my phrases and meter
you to jones beach
or maybe coney island
or maybe just to my house

It is about being captured and drawn in by a poem, "kidnaped" by a poem. The context it is written is a lust and love for someone to be drawn in. The poem itself is a confessional, and it exudes a lot of emotions and wants and desires. There is no rhyme scheme, but it feels to have a rhythm of a smooth flow, with short breaks within many of the lines. it is a very lyrical poem, because it gives a lot of emotions towards one subject, and it really reflects that. There is a lot of repetition with the word 'you' and it seems to add a very deep tone, making it more personal and caring. There also seems to be a few simile's in comparing two things to one another, like 'put you in my phrases and meter' is a  very interesting comparison.