Literary elements - an after class assignment PDF

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Student’s Name Institution Tutor Date of Submission Literary Elements in “The bigger picture” and “Emotionally Scarred” Literary elements are critical aspects of any literary work which function to the development of the content, literary quality, social significance, and structure. Lil Baby is the stage name of a hip-hop artist whose music is often poetic and rich in literary quality. Two of the musician’s most popular songs are’ “The bigger picture” and “Emotionally scarred”. Both of the songs are hip-hop genre rap songs bearing typical elements and structure. However, their orientation towards socially significant themes in addition to the artist’s style give s them a unique identity. Some of the literary elements evident in the two songs are literary devices, rhythm, and exposition. The song, “The bigger picture” is a song that was produced in response to social strains concerning racial discrimination occurring at the time. Likewise, “Emotionally scarred” addresses pertinent issues in the community besides the aesthetic and entertainment function. In his songs, “The bigger picture” and “Emotionally scarred” Lil baby brings out the themes of social equity and emotional stability in their exposition while also exhibiting entertaining music through rhythm and use of various literary devices. Both “The bigger picture” and “Emotionally scarred” are songs whose analysis of composition and content reveals background plot information which is deliberately narrated by the musician to address the socially significant themes. In “The bigger picture”, Lil Baby founds the message of the song with a background of a politically unstable and sensitive time when there were protests against incidences of police brutality and racial discrimination.

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This is apparent in the first line of the song where Lil Baby sings, “Protests and growin’ national outcry continues over the death of George Floyd” (Lil Baby 1). He gives the exposition of the matter being addressed. Moreover, in “Emotionally scarred”, the musician narrates his experiences with emotional distress and instability. In a deeper analysis of the song, the musician intends to pass on the important message of stress and emotional distress. He sings, “You know what it was, I told you that I was heartless/ I’m emotionally scarred, that ain’t even your fault”. This is an exposition of his experiences with a former lover who left him emotionally scarred. Typical of rap music, both of Lil Baby’s songs have rhythm (Pate 4). Rhythm is a critical component of rap music and gives it its musicality and aesthetic value. The aspects that contribute to the rhythm of the two songs are beat, tempo, and rhythmic metre. Both “The bigger picture” and “emotionally scarred” belong to the rap music genre from which they adopt their rhythm. In “The bigger picture”, the song is relatively slow-paced compared to “Emotionally scarred”. The song however alternates between fast and slow tempo in the rap verses. On average, the song’s rate of a beat per minute is 96bpm. The beat of the music is composed of a drum beat arranged in an original pattern together with a background soft piano beat (Pate 7). The beat is emphasized and controls the relatively fast tempo of the music. “Emotionally scarred” is the more typical rap song with a fast tempo and beats and accelerated, synchronized saying of the lines. The songs thus have an iambic rhythm that has unstressed syllables followed by stressed ones. Moreover, the two songs utilize a wide variety of literary devices including repetition, metaphors, and alliteration. In “The bigger picture”, Lil Baby raps “We ain’t no more, let us go from them chains” referring figuratively to freedom from slavery (Baby 2020). He refers to “chains” symbolically to represent bondage or restraint, socially. Hyperboles are also present in the song for instance when the musician says “I want all my sons to grow up to be

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monsters”. In this verse, he is not saying that his sons should be literal monsters but rather, it is an exaggeration to mean that he wants them to be strong. Imagery is also evident in the song especially in his narration of the state of affairs at the time in the country “Last night, people protestin’ in Minneapolis escalated / As demonstrators were lashed by tear gas and rubber bullets” (Baby 2020). Conversely, in “Emotionally scarred” Lil Baby incorporates various literary elements. He uses repetition throughout the song for instance “But I’m tired of being tired of being tired” the word “tired” is repeated. The line, “But don’t listen to them haters tryna fill your ears with salt” utilizes figurative language. Salt is symbolic and represents something unpleasant. “Filling your ears with salt” thus symbolizes saying unpleasant things. Alliteration can also be found in the line “…so I tell the truth all the time” the “t” sound is repeated severally. In conclusion, “The bigger picture” and “Emotionally scarred” Lil baby exhibit the themes of social equity and emotional stability in their exposition while also exhibiting entertaining music through rhythm and use of various literary devices. The artist utilized these literary elements to enhance the delivery of his themes and message. Rhythm is a critical element of rap music and Lil Baby utilizes it to enhance the song’s aesthetics. Moreover, the two works of art have a narrative and exposition from which the artist develops his themes and message. Both of the songs exhibit rich artistic quality and utilize literary elements comprehensively.

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Works Cited Baby, Lil. “The bigger picture.” The Bigger Picture. Universal Music Publishing Group. Warner Chappell Music, Inc. 2020. Baby, Lil. “Emotionally scarred.” My Turn. Universal Music Publishing Group. Pate, Alexas. In the heart of the beat: The poetry of rap. Scarecrow Press, 2009....