Rhetorical analysis of a song by Rapper Tupac Amaru Shakur

New York born Rapper Tupac Amaru Shakur (1971-1996) was born Tupac Amaru, which means “shining serpent” and Shakur meaning “thankful to God.” Tupac is a cultural icon that was gunned down in Las Vegas, Nevada in 1996 at the height of the East-West coast rap feud. Shakur attended the Baltimore School of the Arts but left for California, where in 1991 he would find Interscope Records, who released his first album. “A mixture of inner-city portraiture and messages of racial strength” (“Tupac Shakur Biography”), his music was critically and commercially successful. Like Notorious B.I.G., who was gunned down six months after Tupac, no charged were filed as a result of either murder. L.A. Times Staff Writer Chuck Philips wrote, “The slaying silenced one of modern music’s most eloquent voices—a ghetto poet whose tales of urban alienation captivated young people of all races and backgrounds. The 25-year-old Shakur had helped elevate rap from a crude street fad to a complex art form” (“Who Killed Tupac Shakur?”). Analyze one of (or a couple of) Tupac Shakur’s poems in 2-3 pages (or 500-750 words) in 1 hour and 30 minutes. • What is the message? • What is the purpose? • Who is the primary audience? • How is the speech organized? • What rhetorical modes are used to develop points: narration, classification/division, causal reasoning, definition, refutation, etc.? • What rhetorical devices does the speaker use? (Antithesis, metaphor, hortative sentence, hyperbole, tricolon, climax, alliteration, etc.) • How is the speech delivered? Does the speaker appropriately use tone and pace? Are word choice and diction appropriate? Does the speaker effectively use body language and facial expressions? • What kinds of grammatical patterns (stylistic fragments, compound, complex, short, long) appear in the text? Do these stylistic choices reflect the overall mood or purpose of the speech? Are there any unusual uses of punctuation? • Are there any logical fallacies? • How does the speaker effectively use ethos, pathos, or logos?