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Joseph/Ty

Mrs. Field

LNG 321

3 May 2011

Poetry’s Finest

Have you ever wondered what the difference between poetry and hip-hop?

Well there’s hardly any they are both forms of poetry. William Shakespeare was

born in 1564 in late April. He was raised in Stratford-upon-Avon a small prosperous

market town. Shakespeare received a very good education as a kid; he attended a

local grammar school. This school lasted year round, except for on holidays. Hours

were very long and ran from six in the morning till evening in the summer, and in

winter seven till evening. The school’s curriculum was based largely on Latin and

major classical writers. At age 18 he married Anne Hathaway, from the nearby

village of Shattery. They had three kids together, two girls and one boy. Susanna

their first born was born May 26, 1583. His wife gave birth to twins, a boy named

Hamnet, and a girl named Judith. He then left to pursue his career in playwright and

acting (Kastan).

He was very successful; he is known as one of the world’s best playwrights

and actors. Many of his scripts have been turned into books, and some even into

films. He wrote plays for eighteen years, which in the long run paid off. He

performed at River Thomas, at the Globe Theater, a very prestigious and open

Theater. It was a great honor. Shakespeare in the common day influences many

people, from all of his messages in the poems, and plays he wrote. He is a very

inspiring man, with his creative imagination (Davids).

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Here is one of Shakespeare’s best poems. Shakespeare’s poem entitled

“Sonnet 45”shows Shakespeare’s creative imagination. He imagines his thoughts as

air and desires as fire. Which he says are his swift messengers. He says how is

always depressed and never happy by “This told I joy, but then no longer glad, I

send go straight back to sad.” He uses many paradoxes such as present-absence.

The purpose of this paradox is to show his emotions, and make the reader think. He

uses very vivid words and uses rhyme to create a mood, whether it is sad or happy.

Words such as hence, happy, and hoe are used. You are capable of better

understanding the story from him using these words (Davids).

Shakespeare and Snoop Dogg are very similar in so many ways, but are also

different. Snoop Dogg was born Calvin Cordozar Broadusion on October 20 in Long

beach California. In 1990 he was convicted of possessing crack cocaine and was

sentenced to one year in the Wayside prison in Anaheim California. After he was

released he sang on the soundtrack for the movie Deep Cover with Dr. Dre and was

immediately became more popular. He then was accused for the murder of Philip

Woldemariam, but then was found innocent, and was acquitted of the charges. He

then married his high-school sweetheart, Shante Taylor. He had two kids both boys

named Corde, and Cordell. He plans for them to attend college unlike he did. He has

played in many movies, such as Starsky and Hutch and Half Baked. His recent

single “Drop It Like It’s Hot” sent him straight up to the top ten. He has since then

won many prestigious awards for best video and collaboration (Smith).

Dr. Dre being his promoter played a huge role in Snoop’s career as a rapper

and actor. Snoop raps in a mature and explicit manner, so I would recommend

being over 18 to listen to him. Snoop had some positive and negative influences for

his songs. He was in jail, and involved in gang activity which is negative, but also
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has a family which is positive. Snoop Dogg uses rhyme, and a smooth beat to

express himself. He loves rapping alongside of others (Smith).

Snoop’s song “Life in the Projects,” tries to tell you about the dangers and

crime that goes on there. Snoop uses rhyme, rhythm and many other features to

show you how living in the projects would be. Snoop uses the metaphor “Where

grass is cheese and cheese is power,” to referring to drugs and the sellers. The

grass is cheese because he is comparing it to a commonly liked thing, showing how

common it is. When he uses the onomatopoeia “Bang-Bang-Pow,” he is referring to

gang violence, from the sound of a gun. Snoop Dogg himself was in gang related

activities. Snoop throughout the song goes through the order chronologically, from

when he is younger to when he becomes an adult. He goes from living in the

projects to making it big in singing. He uses a depressing tone in my point of view,

when he references drugs, and gangs. The message is to prevent youth from

getting involved in these criminal activities (Davids).

To sum it all up Shakespeare and Snoop Dogg are very alike. They both use

rhythm and rhyme to express their feelings in a positive way. They also use

metaphors, onomatopoeia, and many other features. One difference is that Snoop

Dogg raps more in a positive matter, unlike Shakespeare’s depressing tone. It is

very cool how Snoop Dogg and Shakespeare rap about similar things such as

romance. Although Snoop does sometimes rap about unimportant things, most of

his songs have a strong meaning to them. Shakespeare always has a message to

his poems. I think that these two poets express their thoughts, in their own ways

(Kastan).