FORMAL ANALYSIS

FORMAL ANALYSIS

Adam Bradley teaches literature at the University of Colorado, Boulder. An expert scholar on both hip-hop poetics and the writer Ralph Ellison, he is the coeditor of the Yale Anthology of Rap (2010) and of Ellison’s posthumously published (and unfinished) novel Three Days Before the Shooting . . . (2010). This essay comes from Book of Rhymes (2009), an in-depth analysis of rap as poetry.

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Reading the Genre

Question

1. What is the thesis of this literary analysis? How does Bradley use both rap lyrics and other writers’ analyses as evidence to support his claims? Are you persuaded by his argument? (See “Use texts for evidence”; “Find good sources”; and “Read sources to find evidence”.)

Question

2. This essay opens with a scene in a club. How does Bradley’s introduction set up and support his main idea? (See Chapter 30, “Introductions and Conclusions”.)

Question

3. Bradley compares the genres of poetry and rap lyrics. What similarities does he find? How does the comparison support his argument that rap is a form of poetry? (See “Focus on genre”.)

Question

4. WRITING: Pick your favorite hip-hop song or select one from Billboard’s list of recent hits (www.billboard.com/charts/r-b-hip-hop-songs#/charts/r-b-hip-hop-songs). Using the terminology that Bradley introduces and the method of transcription he describes, write a literary analysis essay of the song’s lyrics.

Question

5. MULTIMODALITY — PERFORMANCE: Bradley’s analysis asks readers to imagine hip-hop songs without music to appreciate the lyrics as poetry. Try doing the opposite: Choose a traditional poem and perform it as a rap. Consider what the music video might look like for this poem.

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