Tupak Shakur

Paper Summary:

This paper is a review of "The Rose that Grew from Concrete." The author reviews a collection of poems by Tupak Shakur, the rapper who died young under tragic circumstances. The collection of 100 autobiographical poems are used to demonstrate Skakur's background. This compilation serves as a commentary on the life that he and so many of today's black youth had come from, gangs, drugs and the concrete jungle.

From the Paper:

"First, this symbolic and metaphorical poem presents the image of a rose growing from a crack in the concrete, where one would normally see a few stray weeds or on a busy street nothing at all. Everyone has seen little weeds that sprout up between the cracks in the sidewalk, maybe even a dandelion or blade of grass, but this poem depicts an elegant and gorgeous rose, and implied vivid red petals and perhaps thorns, sprouting up from between the cracks, which when taken on face value seems somewhat nonsensical. However, if one carefully examines these first two lines and takes into account the autobiographical nature of this poem they will see that what Tupak is saying is that he is a rose who has not been given the opportunity to grow and in it's beauty is somewhat out of place but, despite that continues to grow from between the cracks in the concrete. With his "thorns" inevitably created as a product of his environment Tupak has been able to flourish where no one else he knew could, as has this exquisite rose. This is a very beautiful line because it shows that in the midst of our forest of stone something beautiful can still strive."

More papers on Tupak Shakur:

• Essay # 87692 : "Documentary on Tupac Shakur"
• Essay # 7005 : "Tupac Shakur"
• Comparison Essay # 9391 : "Tupac Shakur vs. Bob Marley"

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