Tupac Shakur was a renowned American rapper born in 1971 who rose to fame in the early 1990s. In his song "Dear Mama", he expresses gratitude and apologizes to his mother for his mistakes in a personal and emotional manner unlike his typical songs glorifying crime and money. The song reveals details about Tupac's difficult upbringing with a single mother and the themes of poverty, failed education systems, and racial inequality faced by many black communities at the time. Tupac incorporates stylistic devices like rhyme, colloquialism, and assonance that reflect his poetic abilities and identity while providing cultural insights into his experiences.

1. Further Oral ActivityFurther Oral Activity

2. Primary source
My primary source is: Dear Mama by Tupac Shakur.
The song broke all typical Rap stereo types, for example; Misogyny,
Homophobia, Hyper-Masculinity, Glorifying of drugs & crime, and the Worship
of money.
My primary source relates to two learning outcomes of part 1, these are:
"Analyze how audience and purpose affect the structure and content of texts".
"Demonstrate an awareness of how language and meaning a shaped by culture
and context".
Different register and Intonation used in other songs, compared to Dear Mama,
where the audience is his mother not other rap artists or people. The purpose is to
apologize to her instead of showing off and insulting.
“beef” is a good example for outcome 3, its a part of Rap Language and means
“Grudge or trouble” in Standard English. The culture of drug dealing and
imprisonment that Tupac was brought up in has shaped the meaning of “beef”
for him.

3. Who was Tupac Amaru Shakur ?Who was Tupac Amaru Shakur ?
Born on 16th of june 1971 in New York.
Left his mothers house at 17.
Son of Anfei Shakur and Billy Garland, Anfei belonged to
the BPP.
rapped for 18 years in his whole life, and became 6th
immortal artist, selling 67 million copies, and 8th to earn
most after death
He put himself into every character: the
gangsters, the pimps, the crack dealers and street
kids.Tupac's "thug poetry" as it was called
became important because he told a story that
millions of other poor black youth could identify
with.
Died at the age of 25, was shot on 7th of
september 1996.
started his career with a television show in late
1980’s, not only an MC also an actor and dancer.
HIs openness of speaking about his
real life and a hard childhood made
him the fans hero!

4. More about his identity.More about his identity.
The tattoo of “Jesus Christ burning on cross” and “only god
can judge me” shows that he was a religious person.
Panther head tattoo: Mother from black panther party, himself
founder of junior panther party.
Tattoo of “outlaw” is there because he was also a founder of
the outlaws.
“The tattoo saying “Heartless” is what people called him when
his father died, because his anger didn't’t let him cry.

5. BackgroundBackground aboutabout “Dear Mama”“Dear Mama”
Song for his mother
21st Feb 1995, reveals 2 Pac’s emotional identity, very different to his
other songs for example “California Love” in which he talks about
partying and sex, this also allows us to compare the two songs along with
his identities.
He also narrates his life as a road map to suffering, wrenching with brutal
victory which brought him the fame and fortune that both blessed and
cursed him.
"Dear Mama" is Tupac at his best: a proud poet from the ghetto who was
the voice of a disillusioned generation. Michael Eric Dyson (138)
The main purpose of the song was to tell her that he appreciates
everything she did for him and asks her to forgive him for the wrong he
has done to her
Link :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mb1ZvUDvLDY

6. Register.Register.
Informal register.
Different because normally formal register with
parents , his culture and background influences
could be a reason.
Words such as “whoopin”, “mama”, “backside”
relates to first learning outcome: He uses such words
to make him sound like a child as he will always be a
child for his mother, this is a great example of
audience affecting content of a text.
"Analyze how audience and purpose affect the
structure and content of texts".

7. ThemesThemes..
This is because most of them live in poverty, and also according to
[Dan Sullivan,1998]
”blacks in 1980 constituted 13% of the population but only held 1%
of the privately owned land. Moreover, the median value of real
estate in African American communities is generally lower than the
value in white communities”.
Income and racial inequality, keeps them poor making things such as
paying the rent a big deal.

8. Dear mama andDear mama and Tupac’sTupac’s tattoos.tattoos.
His tattoo of “heartless” referred to his fathers
death, where as he mentions in the song how He
felt about it.
The tattoo saying “notorious” refers to him being
famous for things such as drug dealing as
mentioned in the song.
Him thanking the Lord in the song refers to the
two tattoos on his arms one of “ jesus burning on
a cross” and the other saying “ only god can
judge me”.

9. Rhyme.Rhyme.
Poem effect
Easy to remember
Makes it feel like its natural ( as they are his
personal experiences)
Typical rap features
“Thug poetry”

10. Colloquialism.Colloquialism.
Words misspelled, show informality
“crack” = cocaine.
“beef”= trouble.
“slangin”= selling drugs.
relates to 3rd learning outcome meaning is shaped by
the producers culture and context, it created a
different meaning of these words for them.
"Demonstrate an awareness of how language and
meaning a shaped by culture and context".
Not standard English meanings
Meanings created by several communities most
probably African American communities.

11. Assonance.Assonance.
“S” words.
Creates an emphasis in the mind ,
“Suspended” , “School”. This brings up the
topic of Black and failed schooling. Statistics
show that
“70 percent of all black students who enroll in
four-year colleges drop out at some point, as
compared with 45 percent of whites”
[Claude M. Steele, 1992]
Inequality and relating back to 1995, poverty
has been the biggest issue behind Blacks failing
school.
Assonance allows us to remember that point, as
it echoes in the mind due to the repetition.

12. Stylistic Devices and Identity.Stylistic Devices and Identity.
There are several examples of stylistic devices in the song, each of which reflect Tupac
Shakur’s identity. These are:
Rhyme: rhyme shows how he has a poetic personality, especially with the words he rhymes
such as “mama”, “drama”, “hell”, “cell” giving a natural feeling as all these words are
attached to his personal experience.
Colloquialism: the colloquialism used shows that informal identity of rapping, and the
community that he is part off, as its also a rapping stereotype. This reflects on his identity
being “violent”.
Assonance: assonance shows his poetic characteristics, again also because of the words he
emphasizes on, words like: “suspended”, “school” and “scared”. Referring to his prior
experiences and being real.

13. Irony.Irony.
Tupac describes him self as a criminal selling
drugs who goes to jail in a young age.
But during the time the song was released in
1995 Tupac was at the peak of his career.
He was very famous, respected and a proud
musician.

14. Conclusion.Conclusion.
In conclusion my primary source “Dear Mama” gives a great detail of evidence about Tupac’s identity with his mother and his
emotional side. Examples of his prior experience are mentioned in the song, which allows us to understand its meaning by
trying to put our selves in his shoes. I mentioned what the purpose of the song was and how it was different from his other
songs , and how it allows us to view compare his identities in different songs, also relating back to the first learning outcome.
We discover themes and ideas in his songs that we never would have thought about, along with other complex ideas of
“Blacks and failed schooling” and “Black children and single mothers”. This FOA taught me that a song and its lyrics can tell
a lot about its writer than just their writing skill.

15. Bibliography.Bibliography.
http://www.aceshowbiz.com/celebrity/tupac_shakur/biography_2.html
http://songmeanings.com/songs/view/46587/
www.essortment.com/tupac-shakurs-life-bio-20332.html
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000637/bio
hollowverse.com/tupac/
http://www.rollingstone.com/music/artists/tupac-shakur/biography
http://prezi.com/xmwmonawq1wj/tupac-dear-mama/
http://www.shmoop.com/2pac-dear-mama/songwriting.html
http://savingcommunities.org/issues/race.html
http://mvgazette.com/news/2011/08/22/poverty-and-failure-education-system-weigh-black-students?k=vg525e8b54e6ba3&r=1
http://www.theatlantic.com/past/docs/unbound/flashbks/blacked/steele.htm

16. Thank you for watching.Thank you for watching.