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Introduction

Poetry isn’t my favorite topic in American Literature but when my teacher, Mrs. Miller, said we could analysis singers and rappers. I was ebullient because I could analyze my favorite singer/rapper, Drake. Drake has a gamut of songs ranging from different emotions and moods. Some songs are forlorn and others are willowy. His songs reach out to a plethora of people.




Diction   

When Drake says “And my stomach soaking wet, she only 5’2” (V1L6-7) in the song “Successful” the phase she only 5’2 is unexpected because he is talking about his mother height. When listening to the song I thought he said she only find 2 as in she only found two bullets.

“ Quarters of the Kush” “Successful”  (V2L6-7). He is talking about marijuana and this puts it in the marijuana subculture.

 “Cause I’m the one to paint a vivid picture no HD” “Successful” (V1L18) The historical period is like 2009 or 2010. He mentioned high definition which did not exist until late 2000s.

 If the diction changed in any one of drake’s songs. It wouldn’t feel like a drake song because you wouldn't receive that same tone or emotion from it. For example if he had a deeper rap voice then his songs where he sings will sound very different.

“Super good smidoke, a package of the Swishers’s” “Over” (V1L11) The word smidoke i did not know the definition to.  The word smidoke is a slang term for mid grade marijuana.

Figurative Language

The metaphors in the song “Over” br Drake is him showing he is superior to whoever he is addressing. The people he is most likely addressing are his “haters”. For example in the following bars he is showing he superiority. “Make sure the Young Money ship is never sinking.” (V1L3) “I could teach you how to speak my language. Rosetta Stone”

(V1L7) “About to go thriller on, Mike Jackson on you n-ggas” (V1L9) “One thing ‘bout music: when it hits, you feel no pain” (V2L1) “Can you see me? Can you see me? Get your Visine on/ Y’all just do not fit my picture: turn your widescreen on” (V2L10-11)

He uses these particular images such as “Making sure the Young money ship is never sinking” “ ‘bout to go thriller, Mike Jackson on these n-ggas” to show off. The images is really cocky but casual because he isn’t rapping about bathing in diamonds and racing lamborghinis.  

The images add a new dimension to the song by illustrating the way drake feels about himself in the song.

Rhyme Scheme

The song “Marvin’s Room” by Drake is mostly free verse but there are parts where he starts to rhyme. The rhyme scheme for that part is A,B,C,C,D,D. “But I’ve been drinking so much/ That I’ma call her anyways and say/ F-ck that n-gga that you love so bad/ I know you still think about the times we had/ I say f-ck that n-gga that you think you found/ And since you picked up I know he’s not around.” (C.L1-6)

Conflicts

The conflict of the song “Marvin’s Room” by Drake is man vs. man. The artist wants to get back together with his ex. But, she has a boyfriend and he is talking about how she isn’t happy with her current boyfriend and she should get back together with him. The conflict is between Drake and his ex girlfriend and her boyfriend.

Tone


In Drake’s song “Over” the tones are condescending and patronizing. They are those because he is talking about how better he is but it isn’t like in an extremely disrespectful way he shows a little politeness.

Theme

The theme of the song “Doing It Wrong” by Drake is talking about how we are taking relationships the wrong way because we center everything around relationships and as a generation we don't really know what love is.

Research

 When Drake was younger he was not the most popular person in high school. So when he did became famous his popularity skyrocketed and he took advantage of it as in the song “Over” showing his cockyness. He also stated in the song that people he didn't know before were surrounding him.

Comparison

Drake’s style of songwriting is different from The Weeknd. I believe the Weeknd tells more of a story. Drake would just lightly describe what he is talking about but he would play with his words.
Drake would emphasize the money and women but he would leave out the environment or mood he in. The Weeknd would emphasize his environment and everyone in it.
I would give Drake a B for being creative and playing with words but not being able to tell a story with his song. I would give The Weeknd a B for being able to tell a story but he isn’t that unique or creative with his words.

Conclusion

In conclusion Drake is an amazing singer/rapper and his music reaches many people. He is a good hearted person not avarice, neither is he narcissistic. He may be one of the few artists who isn’t a ruffian. The trajectory he is heading at, will one day make him a quintessential rapper.   


Biblography

Biography.com

Bio.

12/18/12

<http://www.biography.com/people/drake-596834?page=2>

   




 
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What if you were stranded in the middle of a war alone, with no family or friends and you had to survive with four strangers. Well in the book A Small Free Kiss In The Dark, the main character Skip is in that situation.Skip was a social outcast he had no friends and no mother. Skip was being put into foster care because his war veteran father was not mentally able to take care of Skip. He then decided to run away instead of being handed to a foster family. Skip took the train to the next town. He got off the train and headed to the mall where he ran into Billy, an elderly homeless man. After a couple weeks of looking out for eachother, one day a war breaks out and they have to find a place to hide. They head to the library where they run into a 6 year old boy named Max who was waiting for his mother. They then stayed at the library for a couple days until they decided it was dangerous because the library was falling apart from the bombing that occurred a couple days before. The group heads to Dreamland which was in no man’s land. There they met a teenage girl named Tia with her baby which they later name Sixpence. The majority of the story takes place in Dreamland until around the last 10-15 pages. I believe that people should read this book because it doesn’t just stick to one emotion. The book makes you feel a range of emotions from happiness to sorrow.


The setting of the story provide an isolation place for the group to bond. If the setting was in a more populated place the group would have most likely split up. Billy changes through the story because at first Billy didn't want anything to do with Skip. He tried to avoid Skip and was often angry at him. As the story progressed Billy became fond of Skip and began taking care of him as well as Max, Tia and Sixpence. Another person who changes throughout the story is Tia. At first Tia is a mysterious girl with a baby she was often seen at the amusement park, but she was never approached. Max and Skip then offered her alphabet soup and offered Sixpence baby milk. She then began to open up and talk to the group, in fact, she referred to Skip as Skipper. She did communicate with everyone, but she was never around because she was “dancing” for the soldiers.


The book began in first person making the story understandable. The story is told through the point of view of Skip. I believe the story is all a giant flash back that Skip is discussing years from then. One of the major events in the story was when Skip decided to leave his old life. The cause of this event was when Skip was going to be put in a foster home. The effect was that Skip met Billy and they end up forming their own family. Another event that had a big impact on the story was Skip and Billy meeting Max, Tia and Sixpence. The cause of this was they were all young and Billy felt that he needed to take care of them since he was an adult. The effect of these events was that  it brought everyone together and made them closer. The last event that was a major point of the story was the war that broke out. The causes of the war are not stated in the book. The effect of the war was total anarchy. There was looting everywhere and everyones survival instincts took over.  



“His rich detailed observations allow his thoughts to become your thoughts, and you effortlessly follow along his journey, step by step.” I agree with this quote from Lorraine Egan on Amazon.com. While reading the book I felt like I was apart of the entire journey. The way the author wrote the book it makes you feel like you’re actually there while everything is happening. “Another reason to love this book is its reasonable length.” I agree with this quote from C. Portner on Amazon.com. I feel that the book was just the right length. It wasn’t too long, but at the same time it wasn’t too short. It used all 177 pages to display a beautiful story about hope. “Great editing of good writing. I'd like to see more books of reasonable length.” There needs to be more books like this one. A reasonable length but enough pages to get its point out.


In conclusion, I believe that everyone should read this book just because of the beauty and simplicity of it and its overall message of hope. It is a good book for ages 10 & up. It doesn’t have too many complicated words and the story is easy to follow. To anyone in search of a good book to read. You should pick up A Small Free Kiss In The Dark, it is definitely worth reading.