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Literary devices and their use
Literary devices examinable
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The song “Change” by J. Cole, is about his close friend, James McMillian’s who was murdered at 22 years old and learning about it when it was reported on the local news station. Throughout the song he raps about his emotional experience dealing with his friends death. In the beginning of the song he states “My intuition is telling me there’ll be better days” is him saying that he is hopeful that his grief subsides and it will eventually get easier as the days go on. Towards the end of the song he raps “I made it home, I woke up and turned on the morning news overcame with a feeling I can’t explain cause that was my brother James that was slain, he was 22.” This verse was him explaining how he heard the news that his friend was murdered.
In the outro of the song he describes the scene of his friend's funeral “We’re gathered here today to mourn the life of James McMillian Jr. a tragedy, in the black community we got to do better, people 22 years old, this boy was too young.” in this line he was bringing awareness to the situation of young people being slain at such a young age. In the song “Change” by J. Cole demonstrates powerful uses of language by writing a song about his friend's death and how it has affected him. In this song he is making the listener aware about how too many young people are being murdered out in the streets for being at the wrong place at the wrong time. I love the moon but I am afraid of the darkness in the night The moon’s bright light shines down on the night’s shadows Turning the familiar sights that I love during the day Into a frightful and unsightly picturesque In my poem, descriptive and detailed words were used to explain to the reader how familiar places that don’t scare me during the day can change to a scarey scene at night. Figurative language is powerful in many ways; by using detailed or explantory words in an essay, poem, or speech a writer can paint a picture or images in the readers mind, making it little more interesting to their audience
In Verhsawn Ashanti Young’s article titled, “Nah, We Straight: An argument Against Code Switching,” he makes his objectives clear as he argues against people Right to their own language. The author questions the advantage of standard American English as opposed to other types of English. He refers to those aspect as code switching, which he believes can lead to racist thinking. Code switching, according to Young, calls out for one way of speaking to be omitted in favor of others, based on one's rhetorical situations. The author points out that students are required to translate from Afro-American English or Spanglish to standard English and not the other way around, which is concerning. Youngs method to get around this segregation is the usage
Feeling unwanted from the closest people in your life who turn away from you when you need them the most, is the worst feeling a person can endure. I chose the song “My Story” by Sean McGee, because people young and old can relate to his song. People from different backgrounds can relate to each other when there are living homeless or raised as a foster child. Sean McGee wrote “my daddy don’t know, my momma don’t care, it don’t matter if I’m here, it don’t matter if I’m dead” people all around the world have the same issues and share a common culture. A master status is the most important status a person occupies, this is a key factor in determining a person’s social position.
All blondes are dumb. Gingers have no soul. All Jews are greedy. All Asians are bad drivers. Imagine living in a world where people are put into a category simply because of their appearance, race, or religion. It limits a person’s chance of expressing individuality through categorization. Desmond Cole’s article, “The Skin I’m In” introduces the struggles faced by black people through racial stereotypes in Canada— a country known for its diversity. Cole reveals the experiences of black people who are stereotyped as dangerous; as a result, they are victimized with prejudice, discrimination, and injustice by society.
“Fire away. Take your best shot, show me what you got. Honey I’m not afraid (Chris, Lines 4-5)…” Strength, love, heartache, all words that many people can identify with, but what about mental illness, depression, and suicide. These words are those that humans avoid, pretend they are not there, but in reality those three words effect many more people that was ever thought possible. Over 18.2% of United States citizens suffer from a mental illness (Depression), 6.7% of United States citizens suffer from depression (Depression), and each year in the United States there are on average 42,773 deaths by suicide (American). Now, many people can relate to the words love and heartbreak, but many more can identify with the three words that the world
“Hurt” a song originally recorded by Nine Inch Nails which portrays self-harm and heroin addiction has been covered by many great artists including Johnny cash. When Johnny cash covered this song I got a deferent message from the lyrics while he sings it, maybe it is because of his voice or how he lived his life, but when he is singing this song I get a sense that he is singing about a loved one that has passed on, growing older, and his legacy.
The song “Most People are Good” by Luke Bryan, describes a theme of hope and seizing the day. This song is clearly directed to an adult audience for it could not be relatable to a younger crowd. The song offers words of wisdom and a recollection of youthful times gone by. The song is told in the first person and portrayed by an ageing man or woman who is expressing their beliefs and personal morals through their experience of youth and forgiveness. The hopeful lyrics are informal but provide bright ideas expressed with a buoyant attitude.
The second song, Change, also shows the problem with systematic oppression. J. Cole recounts the time that he saw his friend get shot. This is the main point of the whole album and the song revolves around the tale of this friend who is killed. The last song, 4 Your Eyez Only, brings everything back together and tells the full narrative of his friend’s unfortunate fate. While attacking the life that many people glorify and empathizing with those who are stuck in this life, J Cole closes out his fourth album on a hopeful note. Using the perspective of his deceased friend, he writes a song (the actual album), for his daughter, condemning all that is bad and hoping for her to grow into a somebody. In a heart touching verse the father states “Maybe you hate me, maybe you miss me, maybe you spite
“You Was Right” by Lil Uzi Vert is fairly easy to understand lyrically. The essence of the song deals with unfaithfulness in a relationship as well as the aftermath. Lil Uzi Vert spends a large portion of the song admitting his mistakes to his presumed girlfriend in hopes of making things right between them. The song starts off with the hook, which rests upon the premise of how Lil Uzi Vert should have stayed loyal rather than taking another girl home with him. For example, he says, “You was right, I was wrong” (6) in an attempt to console his girlfriend and apologize. Following the hook, the first verse centers on Lil Uzi Vert’s riches due to his success as a rapper. He ties that in to his relationship by expressing how he wants to share his wealth with his girlfriend. At this stage in the song, Lil Uzi Vert is attempting to win his girlfriend back with his money and general success as a rapper. The hook then repeats itself to indicate that the argument between Lil Uzi Vert and his girlfriend is still continuing. The second verse signifies an escalation in their conflict, as he says, “You just locked the door, so I gotta text you” (42). His girlfriend is refusing to even listen
American Beauty/American Psycho was an album that was sung by the band Fall Out Boy in 2015. Fall Out Boy is an alternative/indie rock band with a little hint of pop in some of their songs. This album, which is the band’s most recent album, is full of a lot of good songs and songs that maybe some people wouldn’t like. Fall Out Boy is a face-paced band, which means their songs are faced-paced. A lot of their songs could be a little hard to understand for people who don’t listen to this kind of music. The album does not have many of these types of songs, which is why it is a favorite among Fall Out Boy fans.
“Over There” is a song written by George M. Cohan in 1917. Nora Bayes, Enrico Caruso, Billy Murray, Arthur Fields, and Charles King were among many who recorded the song. It was written as a propaganda piece encouraging young American men to join the army to fight in World War I. The song was incredibly popular, selling over two million copies of sheet music and one million copies of recordings by the end of the war. Cohan, the writer, was eventually even awarded a Congressional Medal of Honor for his work on this song.
Macklemore begins with “When I was in the third grade I thought that I was gay, / 'Cause I could draw, my uncle was, and I kept my room straight. / I told my mom, tears rushing down my face.” In just these first couple of lines, the listener is easily able to understand what the song is about, and also comprehend the stereotype that is associated with gays and lesbians. The listener is given the equation that Macklemore made up when he was younger; he added the stereotypes that were given to gays: being artistic, having a gay relative, and being tidy. By following these fashions, he assumed that he was gay as well. When Macklemore states that tears were rushing down his face, it gives even more awareness to the negative connotation that gays
Hip-Hop’s criticism of George W. Bush is a good example of hip-hop’s reflection of Black public opinion. The Republican candidate who already had a low approval rating of 57% amongst African-Americans received an even lower approval rating after his lackluster efforts to support Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina in 2005 (Jones, 2003; Cillizza & Sullivan 2013).
"Fun" is an American indie pop band formed by Nate Ruess in 2008. Since then they have released two albums, Aim and Ignite in 2009 and Some Nights in 2012. Both of these albums were both financially successful because of their deep and meaningful lyrics that Nate himself wrote. Their song, “Some Nights”, was released on June 4, 2012 as part of the album with the same name.
The music video produced for the track Apparently features Jermaine Cole, who uses the stage name J. Cole, expressing self-reflection on his life. Apparently is a lyrical story of J. Cole’s trials and errors he went through in his life that helped him reach his present day successes, which goes to show that although he has a rough history, anyone can overcome it with a little help. J. Cole expresses great gratitude for his faith for God and all the help and love from his mother, who he dedicates this song to.
The song that I choose to do this assignment on is Fight the Power by Public Enemy. Fight the Power was written in 1989 and quickly became a street anthem for millions of youths. It reflects with issues dealing with both the Civil Rights Movement and to remind everyone that they too have Constitutional Rights. This particular song is about empowerment but also fighting the abuse of power that is given to the law enforcement agencies. It gave citizens of the U.S a more modern outlook on the many struggles that not only the African American community is up against but the other minority groups as well. The song’s message was eventually supposed to bring people together and make the world a better place, even though some teens saw it as a way