Essay Questions Cyber-Assignment
Post the 3-5 questions developed for a chapter in Dyson.
Homework
In a separate post here, respond in a three (3) paragraph essay to another student's question (just 1), from another chapter than yours.
Give the name of the author of the question in your response. Use three citations in your essay, one citation per paragraph: 1 short citation, 1 free paraphrase, 1 block quote.
Include a works cited page.
Other Homework
Other homework is to continue in Pidd. We are on Essay 2, Pronoun Agreement. Bring in essays Monday-Tuesday. Remember, if you don't ask for a peer review and proof reading form, I will not automatically give it to you.
Narratives and Subject Lines
The Pidd essays are due Tuesday electronically. I should be finished reading everyone's essays today. If you haven't already turned the essay in talk to me. make sure the subject line reads Essay 1: Sentence Punctuation. If you have to revise the essay for any reason, change the heading to Essay 1: Sentence Punctuation Revision 1. Make sure you attach the revised essay with a short narrative as to what changed between drafts. What mistakes did you make and how they were corrected.
This narrative should proceed the actual essay. It can be its own page with heading and title.
Post the 3-5 questions developed for a chapter in Dyson.
Homework
In a separate post here, respond in a three (3) paragraph essay to another student's question (just 1), from another chapter than yours.
Give the name of the author of the question in your response. Use three citations in your essay, one citation per paragraph: 1 short citation, 1 free paraphrase, 1 block quote.
Include a works cited page.
Other Homework
Other homework is to continue in Pidd. We are on Essay 2, Pronoun Agreement. Bring in essays Monday-Tuesday. Remember, if you don't ask for a peer review and proof reading form, I will not automatically give it to you.
Narratives and Subject Lines
The Pidd essays are due Tuesday electronically. I should be finished reading everyone's essays today. If you haven't already turned the essay in talk to me. make sure the subject line reads Essay 1: Sentence Punctuation. If you have to revise the essay for any reason, change the heading to Essay 1: Sentence Punctuation Revision 1. Make sure you attach the revised essay with a short narrative as to what changed between drafts. What mistakes did you make and how they were corrected.
This narrative should proceed the actual essay. It can be its own page with heading and title.
posted by Professor Wanda's Posse at 12:33 PM
30 Comments:
Stephanie Kiick
Professor Wanda Sabir
English 1A 11:00-11:50AM
15 September 2011
Questions, Chapter 1:
1.Most of the time we see Afeni's honesty build Tupac up, but in some areas(self image) it seems to tear him down. Was Afeni too honest at too young of an age?
2.How did Afeni shape Tupac's life and career?
3.What was Tupac response to Afeni's absence and lifestyle?
4.Does Afeni appreciate and acknoweledge Tupac more now, after his passing? Why or Why Not?
Darrin Webster
Professor Wanda Sabir
ENglish 1A 11:00-11:50AM
15 September 2011
Essay questions for Chapter 1:
In whats ways did Tupacs relationship with his mother influence Tupacs music and lifestyle?
Who was the original Tupac Amaru and why do you think Tupacs mother chose to name him after Tupac Amaru?
Why do you think tupac felt he could publicly speak about his mothers addiction?
Are there any shared themes between the lives of tupac and afeni? Explain which ones.
Lena Chhit
Professor Wanda Sabir
English 1a 11am- 1150am
14 September 2011
3-5 Questions from Dyson, Chapter 3
1. When Tupac moved from Baltimore to California, he loses his “footing” and becomes “an outsider”. Dyson writes that Tupac “secretly loathed himself”, in which ways do you think being an outsider led to this? How did losing his footing affect his self-esteem or his confidence?(Dyson 75)
2. In an interview, at the age of 17, Tupac gives his opinion on education. His opinion included that social issues should be subjects of their own and taught in the classroom. Do you agree with his opinion? If yes or no explain why. (Dyson 77)
3. How did the circumstances of Tupac’s childhood affect his views on poverty, politics, homelessness, and education?
Javier Flores
Professor Wanda Sabir
English 1a 11am- 1150am
15 September 2011
Questions for Chapter 1
1. Afeni admits to being "ill equipped" and also being "awestruck" when she saw the men in the black panther party (Dyson 26.) Do you think that her involvement with the black panther party could have been because she had nothing else to believe in?
2. In an interview with afeni about her drug addiction afeni states "i know what harm i brought him....so really what i did was to prepare him to be bale to live through the harm." (dyson 36) Do you think her addiction really prepared tupac or does it sound like another excuse?
3.Tupac supports his mothers ideas about teaching Tupac to deal with harm in an interview. Tupac says "I'm going to be a little more ready than someone whose grown up in Disney World." (Dyson 38) From a psychological stand point would you say that Tupac is rationalizing(or making excuses) as a defense mechanism to avoid the truth that growing up in a situation like he did is not okay.
Marcel Rollock
Professor Wanda Sabir
English 1A 11-11:50AM
17 September 2011
Questions for Chapter 3:
1. Although Tupac did not finish high school, he was constantly read and looking to gain knowledge. “You could have a conversation with him about everything. He knew about everything and was open to everything” (Dyson 71). What do you think motivated Tupac to obtain this wealth of knowledge?
2. Tupac says, “I think we got so caught up in school being a tradition that we stopped using it as a learning tool, which it should be” (Dyson 76). What do you think Tupac meant by this? Suggest ways in which America’s education system can be improved.
3. Explain Tupac’s relationship with Leila Steinberg. Why did she have such a positive effect on Tupac’s life and career?
Kyle Tay
Professor Sabir
English 1A
17 September 2011
Chapter Four reading Questions
Reflecting on Tupac's dual personality,why do you believe his "Thug Life" persona was portrayed more in his music while a stronger emotional side is revealed in his poetry?
Dyson explains, "Tupac is deeply attractive to millions of young people because he articulates the contradictory poses of maturing black identity with galvanizing exubrance and savage honesty." Do you think Tupac's music had an impact on the outcome of his generation? If so, do you believe that he was initially aware that his music had the power to influence the culture of an entire generation of listeners before his works gained full mainstream momentum? (118 - 119)
Why do you believe Tupac promoted "anarchic individualism" or gangsterism in a white supremicist America when it was this behavior that in part influenced the repression of blacks and the lack of resistant black social leadership? (125)
Edwin Peabody
Professor Sabir
English 1A
September 17 2001
Why did Tupac have such a hard time in school? Why did he leave?
Why did Tupac and Steinberg have such strong chemistry with each other? What did she see in him? What did he see in her?
Why did Tupac love knowledge so much? What was he trying to prove?
Melody Webster
Professor Wanda Sabir
English 1A
17 September 2011
Questions for Chapter 3:
1. Dyson writes, "Tupac's high school career was ultimately short-circuited by homelessness, his mother's addiction, fierce parental spats, and a fatherless adolescence." How do you feel the domestic challenges Tupac faced at such a young age effected his view on life?
2. Based on the way she raised him, do you think Afeni had an impact on Tupac's level of intelligence and literacy?
3. "When he was twelve, Tupac found a nurturing community in the West 127th Street Ensemble Company in Harlem...He fed off of the affirmation he absorbed from his fellow thespians...the company treated him to a thirteenth birthday party," Dyson notes. Did this have any influence on Tupac's future acting career and love for the art?
4. What are Tupac's views on the education system? Could these ideas be an improvement to the education system today? Use examples from the chapter.
Jonathan Swan
Professor Wanda Sabir
English 1A
18 September 2011
1. Is the "Clockers" an accurate portrayal of drug dealer's musical tastes? If real life gangsters prefer uplifting music, what is the true demographic of hip-hop artists? And if the gangers are the demographic, then does the music really convince people to perform violence?
2. Was Tupac's idea of real blackness blind violence or activism? How many violent things did Tupac actually do?
3. Does the term remain taboo because of the usage among bnon-blacks? Or is it because of seeking something only for themselves? If its meaning has been changed, why does the taboo still exist? Doesn't its selective appropriateness only further perpetuate segregation between races?
4. So, our personalities and outward image are merely artist expressions of our experiences? Can art really be subconscious?
Jonathan Swan says: my questions are from Chapter 5.
Melody Webster
Professor Wanda Sabir
English 1A
18 September 2011
Response to Stephanie Kick's question: How did Afeni shape Tupac's life and career?
One major part of Afeni that shaped Tupac's life and career was her addiction. From a young age, Tupac had to endure homelessness, raising himself as well as his sister, and dealing with his mom's crack addiction. " It was an abandonment that deeply affected Tupac, spurring him to create brilliant art and to cry out with his own brand of chaotic, self-destructive behavior" (Dyson, 40). Tupac's adolescence was consumed by this home life, and from it came poetry and a young man with a sharp mind.
Moreover, her addiction and way of life contributes to a common theme in Tupac's raps, the treatment of women. Dyson explains how in the song "Dear Mama," Tupac chose to focus on the hardships of single mothers in poverty; rather than, his mother's addiction, and the way it affected his life.
Finally, Afeni was a mother who did not shelter her kids whatsoever. She told it how it is, and did not lie. This shaped Tupac's way of thinking, and prepared him much earlier for life than his peers. "Tupac spies advantage in his mother's insistence that he shoulder his own load in life. 'I'm going to be a little more ready than someone who's grown up in Disney World'" (Dyson, 38).
Kyle Tay
Professor Sabir
English 1A
18 September 2011
Essay Question Response to Lena Chhit
Tupac had a very troubling childhood. Between being the son of a recovering crack addicted single mother, living in poverty, lacking a stable housing facility, facing death and drugs on a regular basis, and just simply being black in a white supremacist America was not an easy life to live. From an early age Tupac was always one to challenge everyone and everything, so it only came naturally to him to question the social system in which he grew up in and form his own beliefs as to how various aspects of society should operate. It is evident that Tupac was already an experienced thinker as a child, but how did his rough and painful past play a part in the formulation of his societal theories? Dyson quotes Tupac, “’The things that helped me were the things that I learned from my mother, from the streets, and from reading.’” Tupac’s mother Afeni was also a strong influential figure in shaping his ideas. She always told her son the truth no matter what; whether the news was good or bad she never tried to glamorize the situation. Though it was hard at times, this helped youthful Tupac to always find a way to come to terms with his sorrowful reality by questioning the social system he grew up with.
Tupac’s ideas about the education system were greatly influenced by his early childhood years. He grew up in the ghetto, so he was constantly experiencing the turmoil of poverty on a daily basis. He was able to examine various social issues that directly affected him in his community and translate his experiences into educational curricular theories. Tupac believes that the current school system works in a way “to keep you busy” because of its repetitiveness, and suggests that schools should address common social issues within poor communities. Dyson quotes Tupac, “We’re being taught to deal with this fairyland, which we’re not even living anymore. And it’s sad.” He continues, “There should be a class on drugs. There should be a class on sex education… There should be a class on scams. There should be a class on religious cults. There should be a class on police brutality. There should be a class on apartheid. There should be a class on racism in America. There should be a class on why people are hungry.” With this, Tupac strongly suggests that the educational system should prefer to teach youth how to thrive in the real world by overcoming difficult life circumstances rather than the usual repetitive curriculum. It is out of his early experiences that Tupac was able to formulate his theory that school curriculum should concentrate on teaching students how to confront and tackle social issues.
Tupac also has similar ideas regarding the political system and class within America, subconsciously reflecting on his past to shape his theories. Tupac confronts the relationship between class in America and the political system in a fashion that suggests that the president in office is linked to the repression of blacks. He explains, “I spent eight years of my seventeen years on this earth under Republicans, under Ronald Reagan, under an ex-actor who lies to the people, who steals money, and who’s done nothing at all for me” (Dyson 81). He continues, “The upper class runs society while… for the working class, we’re just lost” (Dyson 81). It is obvious that Tupac is very blunt and truthful about his observation, and it could be argued that this is a quality that he obtained from his mother in his early maturing years. This represents how his youthful experiences had a part in influencing his interpretation and theories of the political and class system within America. Dyson quotes an ironic suggestion made by Tupac, “’Since there is so much room in the White House, President Ronald Reagan could address a “staggering” homeless problem by opening the White House to displaced indigents’”. He soon comes to the realization that such a premise would not be possible because doing so would make the White House “dirty” and “tainted”, and that’s the last thing a Republican president would want in the house of America.
Works Cited:
Dyson, Michael Eric. Holler if You Hear Me. New York: Basic Civitas Books, 2001.
Jesse Pinkney
Professor Wanda Sabir
English 1A 11:00AM-11:50AM
18 September 2011
Chapter 3 Questions
Tupac's high school career was ultimately short circuited because of what? How would you have handled the situation if you were Tupac?
Where and how did Tupac gain valuable experiences as a youth?
What are Tupac's pedagogical themes?
Stephanie Kiick
Professor Wanda Sabir
English 1A 11:00-11:50AM
18 September 2011
Response to Marcel Rollock: Question #2
2. Tupac says, “I think we got so caught up in school being a tradition that we stopped using it as a learning tool, which it should be” (Dyson 76). What do you think Tupac meant by this? Suggest ways in which America’s education system can be improved.
Tupac Shakur may have been a high school dropout, yet with his life and music he shows the world that he is no where near uneducated; possibly border-line genius in some areas. Therefore, when Dyson begins talking about Tupac's views on the education system, readers knew it would not be the average “I hate school” argument. Shakur addresses the issue in the interview taken during his high school ages. He begins by admitting that he did goof of in school and was more interested in the popularity than he was the classes. Shakur states, “I think that we got so caught up in school being a tradition that we stopped using it as a learning tool, which it should be” (Dyson 76). Anyone familiar with the education system, which is almost everyone, would have a hard time arguing Shakur's point. Shakur states that school is a “tradition” instead of a “learning tool.” Learning is the act of acquiring knowledge. The educational system does get students to learn, but when a student is more worried about where they will sleep, or if they will eat how can anything learned in algebra or history help that.
The educational system ignores more real-life topics that could be life-changing to some. Shakur states, “There should be a class on drugs. There should be a class on sex education, a real sex education class, not just pictures and diagrams and illogical terms....There should be a class on scams. There should be a class on religious cults. There should be a class on police brutality. There should be a class on apartheid. There should be a class on racism in America. There should be a class on why people are hungry” (Dyson 77). Shakur's point is that schooling is more like a social gathering; School is like a tradition . People have been going to school so long that no one questions not going to school; most people do not question the actual purpose and goals of the educational system anymore.
Shakur explains that he had enough education about the fairytale lifestyle they were teaching about. People need to be taught about issues that address them. How many people have been addressed more about knowing a foreign language, rather than turning down alcohol at a party. The educational system should impose traditions that students can go use for survival; “To right social wrongs” (79). Not everyone can go home to two parents and a roof over there head. Tupac and Dyson both agree, “Schools should help student negotiate the worlds they occupy. If someone can drop out of high school and become as bright and influential as Tupac Shakur that says the education system is not paying attention to priority issues. Tupac argues, “Don't they understand that... more kids are being handed crack than diplomas?” (79).
Works Cited
Dyson, Michael. Holler If You Hear Me. Plexus Publishing Ltd: Basic Civitas Books, 2001. Print.
Jesse Pinkney
Professor Wanda Sabir
English 1A 11:00AM-11:50AM
18 September 2011
Stephanie Kiick Wrote-
How did Afeni shape Tupac's life and career?
Afeni Shakur was one if not the main factor that played a role in shaping the person we know as tupac. Afeni’s motherly love showed great impact when tupac wrote a hit song titled “Dear Mama”. Tupac learned through his mother’s love and pain that made him the person who he was. Afeni’s experience as a Black Panther, gang leader, and protestor set the tone for the spirit we now know as Tupac. Without these first hand experiences he would not have the emotional strength needed to carry on. Dyson writes that when Tupac was imprisoned he speaks “ My moms is my homey” and also states his mother now “respects me as a man and I respect her as a mother for all the sacrifices she made” after moving out of her household and returning. In the song Dear Mama Tupac writes “ Even as a crack fiend mama, You always was a black queen mama” clearly shows his love and affection he had for his mother.
Throughout Tupac’s career he as always bonded well with women. Most of his best friends were women and I think him connecting with women so well had to do with the relationship he had with his mother. His mother’s own personal strength is the same strength that Tupac inherited being he didn’t have a dad in his life. He inherited a fearless, intelligent personality from his mother who was a community supporter, organizer, teacher, and leader. When Tupac writes about solitude I think this steams from his mothers struggles and experiences that left him feeling alone and not wanted at times. Dyson writes, ‘The 1995 song “Dear Mama” represents Tupac’s public peace with his mother’s painful past’. Dyson further writes that the songs haunting eloquence consist of Tupac’s forgiving Afeni for her drug addiction, her domestic inconstancy, and her eviction of her only son.
By the time Tupac reached adulthood he learned to utilize his mothers failures as a road map. He eventually embraced the fact that his up bringing would prepare him to cope with life better than most pampered youth. Through trail and tribulation Tupac was intelligent enough to focus his talents on the same values his mother taught him when he was younger which is writing, and social justice. Tupac’s point of view wasn’t picked up on tv, in music, or hear say. It was a view of truth as Tupac stated when he was 17 years old (Holler if You Hear Me pg. 37). His reading and learning allowed him to escape the harsh realities he faced growing up.
Works Cited:
Dyson, Michael Eric. Holler if You Hear Me. New York: Basic Civitas Books, 2001.
Quincy Taylor
Professor Wanda Sabir
English 1A 11am – 11:50am
18, September 2011
Questions on Chapter 5
1) Why do we use the “N” word out of context?
2) In what way did Tupac describe the “N” word? And why?
3) Dyson writes, “I think what people ought to realize is that whether we like it or not, whether its right or wrong, whether its good or bad, the context of the word has changed.” So my question is why has the context of the word changed?
Sean Newton
Professor Sabir
English 1A 11-11:30
18 September 2011
Questions to Chapter 5.
1. Why are a lot of people more attracted to rappers who are "Slappin' bitches" or that have "Been to jail for murder".
2. Why do many people try to rewrite history and Politics? Do these people have something to hide or are they trying to control people in some way?
3. Why did Tyson and Don King's success make some white people angry? Why be angry at someones success just because they are of another race?
Tyler Currie
Professor Sabir
English 1A 11-11:30
18 September 2011
Chapter 2 Questions
1.Who is Tupac's godfather, what was his position and why did he play such an important roll in Tupac's life?
2. With his mothers situation, what challenges did Tupac endure during his adolescent years?
3. What influx did the Black Panthers have on Tupac's music?
4. At what age did Tupac leave his mother?
5. What were the two high schools Tupac attended?
Quincy Taylor
Professor Wanda Sabir
English 1A 11- 11:50 am
18 September 2011
Response to Edwin Question: why did Tupac love knowledge so much? What was he trying to prove?
Tupac was a very smart man. I believe most of his knowledge came from books that he read and what he learned from the streets. Growing up was one of the most challenges he had to face in his life. His mother moved a few time, she was a black panther, which made her go to loads of events and demonstrations, and an addict, which lead to her not really raising him.
I personally no how it feels not having your mother around, missing how she read poems to him, told him to make his on decisions, don’t let no one make them for you. She did education him, poems was his life. I see it as one of the many things he did, that writing was one of the things that set him free and apart from everyone else. It made him thing deeper than life itself. It made him not be afraid of death. His soul live forever
I believe Tupac was trying to prove that no matter where you are from, no matter how you grew up in the “past,” no matter what you can still be smart and make out of the ghetto. He was trying to prove that knowledge is key. He was trying to prove that a boy from the “Hood” could grow up and be a respected man. Even though he was “a THUG” he was one of the most smartest people out there in the world; a great poet, just a great man.
Samuel Yihdego
Professor Wanda Sabir
English 1A 11- 11:50 am
19 September 2011
1. How does Afani's involvement with the black panther party affected Tupac's life?
2. What was Afani's significant role in Tupac's life and career?
3. Why was Afani motivated to move from New York to Baltimore?
Marena Perez
Professor Wanda Sabir
English 1A
19 September 2011
Questions for ch1
1) What is the reasoning for Afeni’s addiction? What had triggered it? Who or what was the influence?
2) What had happened during the time Afeni was involved with the Black Panther group? What influence did she have? What kind of power did she wield? Was she of significance or was she subjected to misogyny?
3) Crack is a powerfully addictive substance. How was Afeni aware of her son’s life and still under the influence? At one point she was nonexistent but Tupac assures many individuals of her influential upbringing. How was this possible with her bad habits? How involved was she?
4) Tupac has a sister. What is her involvement in his life and how was she affected?
Javier Flores
Professor Wanda Sabir
English 1a 11am- 1150am
18 September 2011
Response to Melody Webster’s questions
Tupac’s view on life was directly affected by his upbringing in a platonic way. There were positive and negative instances, which changed his view of the world. Growing up poor and around drugs Tupac was able to criticize what would be a normal education. Tupac believed that “there should be a class on scams.” (Dyson 77) Although he did not graduate from high school due to all his problems Tupac was years ahead of most of his peers thanks to his upbringing.
I don’t feel the way Afeni raised Tupac had an immediate impact on his level of intelligence and literacy. Tupac is grateful for school because it “taught me to read and write which I love.” (Dyson 78) Tupac is thankful for his mother teaching him “the stuff that helped him.” Tupac refers to things like scams sex education, and drugs.
Tupac views the school system as being very “traditional.” (Dyson 76) As previously mentioned he does thank the school system for teaching him to read and write but beyond that he thinks it’s very inefficient. I believe this is in part to the fact that he grew up in a place where the chances of him making out and being a doctor, lawyer, or mathematician were very low. Therefore the school system was not useful for him but more than likely was for someone in a better social and economical situation.
Works Cited
Dyson, Michael Eric. Holler If You Hear Me, Searching For Tupac Shakur. Basic Civitas Books, 2006.
Daniel Gargantilla
Professor Sabir
English 1A 11-11:50
19 September 2011
Chapter 4 Questions
1.) Tupac was labled a "gangsta rapper." Does that lable suit his entire body of work?
2.) What is Tupac's interpretation of what "thug life" is?
3.) Dyson states that, "Tupac may be the most influential rapper to have lived." (Dyson 138) What makes him so influential?
Lena Chhit
Professor Wanda Sabir
English 1a 11am-1150am
18 September 2011
Response to Tyler Currie, for Chapter 2,
With his mothers situation, what challenges did Tupac endure during his adolescent years?
Tupac was raised by his single mother Afeni Shakur. Afeni was involved with the Black Panther party. She was a revolutionist who was fighting racial oppression at the time. During her most active years she became pregnant with Tupac. Even after his birth she continued on the same course. As a revolutionist she was not able to spend much time with Tupac. He says in the book “at first I rebelled against her because she was in a movement and we never spent time together because she was always speaking and going to colleges and everything”(Dyson 50). He definitely missed out on bonding and getting the appropriate amount of attention any child needs in the beginning.
Afeni’s revolutionary ideals also affected the family financially. She did not believe in capitalism. She had to learn from Tupac later in life on “how to live in a capitalist society”(Dyson 58). He had to endure growing up poor and “missed out on a lot of things” (Dyson 51). He also says “being poor and having this philosophy is worse because you know if money was nothing, if there was no money and everything depended on your moral standards and the way you treated people, we’d be millionaires” (Dyson 51). Growing up poor made him look at the world in a more mature or adult way which he “admits that he’s bitter about”(Dyson 50).
Besides growing up poor, Afeni’s political association with the Black Panther party also affected the way Tupac viewed and shaped his beliefs. He became disappointed at “their [the panther‘s] contradictory practices” (Dyson 55). “As they touted anti-capitalist beliefs, some of the party’s chief icons lived luxuriously, even dissolutely, at the expense of the proletarian rank and file”(Dyson 55). He definitely had to question everything and everyone. He had to deal with his mother’s sacrifices for the “cause” only to be abandoned at her greatest time of need. A busy mother, poverty, and disappointments are only a list of the few things he has had to endure.
Works Cited
Dyson, Michael Eric. Holler If You Hear Me. New York: Basic Civitas Books, 2006. Print.
Brianna DeGrano
Professor Wanda Sabir
English 1A 11- 11:50 am
19 September 2011
1) On page 22, Dyson states, "If the mother is central in black life, she is also made a scapegoat for the social disintegration of black culture." What does Dyson mean by this?
2) What are some examples that lead Dyson to say that "Afeni Shakur has become a cultural force in her own right" ? (Pg 23)
3) What does Dyson mean when he says "Crack addiction resulted from crack economies and lead to crack crimes" on page 35?
Brianna DeGrano
Professor Sabir
English 1A 11-11:50
19 September 2011
Response to Daniel Gargantilla, for Chapter 4, Dyson states that, "Tupac may be the most influential rapper to have lived." (Dyson 138) What makes him so influential?
There are many aspects of Tupac and his work that make him so influential. One particular aspect that makes Tupac so influential is his relationship with his mother. Dyson writes, “Bonds like Tupac’s tie to his mama run through black culture” (Holler if You Hear Me pg. 22). Tupac’s tie to his mother is relatable to many young people in black culture. Because he was so close to his mother, young black people of the time found it easy to relate to his situation.
Tupac sets an example based on his own upbringing. He saw the benefit in his mother’s persistence that he carries his own burdens in life. (Holler if You Hear Me pg. 38). Many young people can relate to having to make their own decisions and not having such a coddled upbringing. Most young people in similar situations as that of Tupac did not have a cushioned home life.
Most of all, Tupac’s influences rises from his raw lyrics. There is no sugarcoating. He tells it like it is, and I think his audience appreciates that. He most likely learned this blunt honesty from his mother. On page 44, Dyson writes Tupac’s lyrics, “You never kept a secret/always stayed real.” Tupac is referring to his mother and her consistence in telling the truth.
Works Cited:
Dyson, Michael Eric. Holler if You Hear Me. New York: Basic Civitas Books, 2001.
Joe Kempel
Professor Wanda Sabir
English 1A
20 September 2011
Chapter 4 Questions
1. What does Dyson mean when he refers to Tupac as the "zeitgeist in sagging jeans?"
2. How has poverty and America's historically violent society contributed to gang violence?
3. Why do generations who were regarded as immoral and destructive by their elders continue the cycle by doing the same to the youth when they age? How can this cycle end?
Edwin Peabody
Professor Sabir
English 1A
21 September 2011
2. In an interview with Afeni about her drug addiction Afeni states "I know what harm I brought him.... so really what I did was to prepare him to be bale to live through the harm." (Dyson (36) Do you think her addiction really prepared Tupac or does it sound like another excuse?
Response Javier Flores
I believe that Afeni’s drug addiction definitely hurt Tupac, but it also prepared him better for society. Afeni’s number one cause for using drugs was not to prepare Tupac for society; so I would agree that she is using that as an excuse. Her number one reason for using drugs was for her own personal satisfaction. Although Tupac was an exception, most children that have parents that are drugs attics don’t necessarily do so well when they get older, However, Tupac luckily was a major exception.
Afeni's absence in Tupacs life forced him to grow up fast. He had to think like an adult at a very young age. Tupac didn’t have a mother around to take care of him so he had to take care of himself. Dyson Quotes,” still Tupac spies advantage in his mothers insistence that he shoulder his own load in life.” I’m going to be a little more ready than someone whose grown up in Disney world,” with the belief that Santa Claus is coming,” the budding rapper believed that his upbringing would prepare him to cope with life far better than the pampered youth who were spared hardship and struggle. Pg (38) Tupac had no choice but to learn from his early experiences. So much exposure to his mothers struggling life style hurt him because he was never able to live a normal child life.
Afeni’s drug habit also hurt Tupac. Smith says that Tupac was “ really rough on Afeni. And you know, he took every opportunity to punish anybody who he felt didn’t do right by him, by his standards. Smith acknowledges that Afeni’s addiction fundamentally harmed Tupac and that it hurt his relations with others as well.” We all paid the price for her drug addiction.” Pg (41) Although Afeni thought that such honesty actually helped Tupac, It also caused a great amount of suffering. Her addiction caused severe loneness and solitude in the heart of Tupac.
Samuel Yihdego
Professor Wanda Sabir
English 1A 11:50AM
25 September 2011
Response to Marcel Rollock, for chapter 3
Although Tupac did not finish high school, he was constantly read and looking to gain knowledge. “you could have a conversation with him about everything. He knew about everything and was open to everything” (dyson 71).What do you think motivated Tupac to obtain this wealth of knowledge?
One of the main sources of Tupac’s knowledge and experience is his mother’s influence and contribution to his career. During his childhood "his mother made him read the New York Times all the way through" Dyson 70. Since then he adapted the habit of reading and writing. Hence, books and magazines are considered to be the sources of his knowledge. He became one of the many artists who turned out books, news papers and magazines to his benefit.
Even though Tupac’s high school career was short due to his family’s situation such as "homelessness, his mother’s addiction, fierce parental spats, and fatherless adolescence" Dyson 71, the situation has triggered him to work hard and improve his capacity. His career as a rapper and an actor made him to be a very knowledgeable person.
On top of all the above mentioned sources of knowledge, I believe Tupac’s life was so complicated with so many challenges. Despite all his challenges, the lesson he got from his life experience and the knowledge acquired from the street has enabled him to be one of the smartest artists in the world.
Work Cited:
Dyson,Michael. Holler If You Hear Me. Plexus Publishing Ltd: Basic Civitas Books, 2001. Print.
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