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Kathleen Tynan, Taylor Ratley

Weaver

LNG 311

1 May 2011

Dr. Dre

Violent Childhood Andre Young grew up in a small, depressed neighborhood

where drug abuse and gang violence was common. He had a young mom, Verna,

who had Andre at age 16 and was married a brief while to an abusive drug dealer.

Verna took Andre and moved away to raise him right. She told him “fast money is

not good money,” referring to drug dealers. He was too distracted by music to

become involved in violence. Andre was born with a love for it and knew how to

work a turntable at the age of four. His grandmother would recite poems to him and

he quickly committed the words to memory.

Becoming a Gangsta By the time Andre reached high school, he got a job as a

nightclub DJ. Andre soon dropped out and worked full time. There he came up with

his nickname “Dr. Dre,” coming from one of his favorite basketball players, Julius

Erving, who called himself “Dr. J.” Dre soon became apart of N.W.A. records and

produced an album “Dr. Dre’s Surgery” that sold over 50,000 copies by word of

mouth.

He also made an album called “Straight Outta Compton” that went triple platinum

and became the first rap album to sell so many copies without radio support. Dre
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was unfortunately put on house arrest for assault in 1992. A year later he was

sentenced to jail for 5 months for drunk driving.

Life of Achievements Making a comeback, he produced the album “The Cronic”

that sold over 4 million copies. The album also won a Grammy for the best solo

performance for the single, “Let me Ride.” Dre was known for setting the standard

for “gangsta rap.” He was named produced and solo artist of the year at the source

awards. In 2000 and 2004, Dr. Dre won the legend award. Also in 2000, he won the

Lifetime Achievement award at the source Hip-Hop Music Awards. He now works

and produces albums and music from his new company Detox. Dr. Dre is now a very

wealthy rap producer and worked hard to achieve his goal.

Dr. Dre’s Lifestyle

You would think that no one would take a liking to violence, but Andre Young

is fascinated by it. Andre grew up in a small, depressed neighborhood in Compton,

California. He was always around drugs and gangs since his father was a drug

dealer. His father would abuse Andre and his mom, Verna. She soon divorced him

and took Andre and moved away. Verna did all she could to raise Andre to not get

into gang and drug violence. He was too distracted by his music to get into any of

that anyway. Andre dropped out of school and became a DJ at a night club. He then

changed his name to Dr. Dre after his favorite basketball player Julius Erving, who

called himself Dr. J. He started becoming a part of producing companies and

produced many successful albums. He is now producing with Detox and is still
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producing and making music. Andre has made many life achievements through his

inspiration of life on the streets. His inspiration makes his style of lyrics unique. Dre

uses a violent, story-telling, rhythmic style to explain the essence of life on the

streets.

Dr. Dre’s violent theme guides you through the life of a “gangsta.” In the song

“Fame,” he talks about the violent way of fame. Dre states “my look is hostile,” which

puts people at fear. Another example of Dr. Dre’s violent style is his use of words.

“Slain,” “bullet,” and “gun,” are all panicky types of words. Some other descriptive

words including: “Executed styles behind men, Rough designer, chubby alcoholic

rhymer, and what you need you’ll have to borrow,” lets the reader imagine what

problems and obstacles young men and women have to go through in order to stay

safe. Dre gives the background life of a gangster and how tough it is to be one.

Another style technique is Dr. Dre’s way of telling a story in his music. Most

of his music describes the life of a gangster. This celebrates crime, violence, and

drug use. The song “Fame” tells about being famous in the ghetto and that the

famous gangsters deserve respect. It describes the life for the famous gangsters,

also. This story technique is a way to connect with listeners. Some listeners can

relate or connect with the storyline to help them better understand. Overall, Dr.

Dre’s reasoning for telling a story in his music is most likely to tell about the street

life and to inform people, who might not have experienced it, how rough it is. He

expresses his feelings through the lyrics by stating a serious message on the dangers

that he had to live through growing up.

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A third style is that of rhythm. Since Dre is an artist of music, he must has

many sound devices to make his songs flow. In “Fame,” he uses internal rhyme

frequently throughout the song. For example, “Nine is fine, its plays for time.” He

also uses rhymes at the end of lines to make it come together. Tomorrow and

borrow, fame and game, shallow and hallow, are all examples of ways he uses end

rhyme to connect the lyrics. The word “fame” is placed before and after each stanza

and is strongly used as repetition. “Say my name” is also used as repetition. You can

tell Dr. Dre is an expert at rhythm through his lyrics. This talent contributes to the

unique style of his lyrics and helps him tell the story of life on the streets.

The way an author creates his or her style makes their work unique. Dr. Dre

invented “gangsta rap” because he felt the ways of life on the streets should be

shared with the people that do not live that type of life. He grab’s the listeners’

attention by using modern points, true facts, and a solid rhythm. Dre creates the

song “fame” to describe what it’s like to be a gangster and be famous. He uses his

unique style to deliver his purpose of describing the essence of life on the streets.

Emily Dickinson

Growing up- Emily’s Family was well known throughout the town of Amherst,

Massachusetts. Her father was a lawyer and a college treasurer. Her mother stayed

at home to take care of the house but was very active with the community. Even

though her family was well known throughout the town Emily felt like she was a

“nobody.” She began writing in her early teens about simple subjects including

animals, the beach, nature, and love, but no one really showed any interest of it. Ben

Newton was one person who took notice of Emily’s poetry and they wrote to each
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other everyday. A few years later Ben died and she began to write about death. It

was Reverend Charles Wadsworth that made Emily triggered her withdrawal from

the world. She had fallen in love with him but he dumbed her and that is when she

closed herself in form the world.

The Inspiration- Emily experienced an emotional crisis in the early 1860s. Her

traumatized state of mind is believed to have inspired her to write non-stop. In 1862

she alone is thought to compose over three hundred poems. Her father died in 1874.

The death of her mother in 1882, followed two years later by the death of Judge Otis

P. Lord, a close family friend, this all contributed to Dickinson’s “attack of nerves.”

Nearly eighteen hundred poems by Dickinson are known to exist, all of them in the

form of brief lyrics, and few of them are titled. Only seven poems were published in

her lifetime. The editors of the periodicals in which her lyrics appeared made

significant altercations, then to make an attempt to regularize the mater and

grammar, therefore discouraging Dickinson form seeking and further publication of

her verse.

Discovering a Star- When Emily past away her sister Lavinia found hundreds of

poems and She resolved to publish her sister’s poetry and turned to Higginson and

Mabel Loomis Todd, a friend of the Dickinson’s family, for assistance. In 1890 Poems

of Emily Dickinson appeared and, even though the reviews were highly unfavorable,

the work went through eleven editions in two years. Encouraged by the popular

acceptance of Poems, Todd edited and published two collections of Dickinson’s verse

in the 1890s as well as a two-volume selection of her letters. Emily Dickinson is now

known as one of the most famous and well-known poets around the world.
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Emily Dickinson’s Lifestyle

Can you imagine growing up in a popular family, everyone looks up to you;

the pressure to be perfect? Emily grew up in this atmosphere. The Dickinson family

was very active yet, Emily felt as if she did not belong. She began writing in her early

teens, up in her room. She wrote about simple subjects including nature, love, and

adventures, yet no one showed any concern. Emily grew up and went off to college

at Amherst Academy, and wrote Ben Newton everyday. He was one person to take

interest in Dickinson’s poetry. They fell in love, but two years later Ben died and that

is when Emily began writing about death. Dickinson had withdrawn herself from the

world and experienced a emotional crisis. In that given year she composed over

three hundred poems. Emily published only seven poems in her lifetime. The

reviews were so bad that she never had developed any need to publish anymore of

her writing. After her death in 1886, her sister Lavinia found a total of eighteen

hundred poems and published them with the help of Higginson and Mabel Loomis

Todd, a family friend. They published all of the poems. All have similar style; which

includes simple structure, playful imagery and casual style.

Have you ever looked up at a full moon and picture a perfect face? In “The

moon was but a chin of gold,” Dickinson uses a playful imagery, and personification,

which brings the remotest star to earth alive. This style helps the reader, imagine

that he or she is in the speaker’s shoes while the poem is being read. She describes

the moon as if it were a beautiful girl. She uses descriptive language like “Her

forehead is of amplest blonde” and “Her cheek like beryl stone,” to picture the
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appearance of the moon. She also tells how great it is to be a “remotest star” and

how you should come and watch as she passes by your “twinkling door.” Dickinson’s

imagery tries to tell you that you should take an advantage of such a beautiful sight

and a privilege to see.

Another stylistic feature the poem “The moon was but a chin of gold” is

casual style. Most of her poems are about something that casually happens

frequently. For example, in the poem “The moon was but a chin of gold,” she talks

about the moon changing from a new moon to a full moon. This casual topic, no one

really fascinates about, Dickinson takes that idea and brings it to life. She bring

everyday objects that we don’t notice and put them in a different scenario so they

are viewed in a new way, this catches the reader’s thoughts about how one simple

object or sequence is wonderful.

The third aspect in Dickinson’s poetry is her formal, structural setup. Each

stanza is a sentence, which are four lines each. And every other sentence had end

rhyme. This makes the poem fun to read and tune in on. The first sentence in “ The

moon was but a chin of gold,” which has a soft clap, loud clap rhythm. Dickinson also

uses simple language to help the reader understand what she is trying to say. In

Emily Dickinson’s style, a reader can relate to her poems in a simple but special way.

Emily does not end with a strong message, but she does give the reader a feeling

that he of she should slow down and enjoy the simple things in life.

People think that poetry and music are very different things, but in

reality, they are both very similar. Both artist try to send a message in their writings,

use sound devices to make the poetry or lyrics memorable, and each have their own
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specific style which makes them stand out from everyone else. Either poet or lyrist,

both make a significant footprint in the modern society by informing people the

dangerous of what happens on the street or just reminding people to take a break

and enjoy the simple things in life.

Works Cited

Bolin, Frances. Poetry for young people: Emily Dickinson: New York: Sterling

Publishing, 2008.

“Dickinson, Emily (Elizabeth) (1830-1886).” DISCovering Authors. Online ed. Detroit:

Gale, 2003. Discovering Collection. Gale. Columbia County BOE. 19 April. 2011.

Web.

Marcovitz, Hal. “Hip Hop Dr. Dre”: Pennsylvania: Mason Crest Publishers, 2007. Print

Salter, Susan. “Dre, Dr. (c. 1965- ).” Newsmakers. Ed. Louise Mooney Collins. Detroit:

Gale Research, 1994. Discovering Collection. Gale. Columbia County Board of

Education. 24 April. 2011. Web.