Rhetorical Analysis Of Dear Mama By Tupac

Statistics today would say that most black men up and leave their family when they reach a certain amount of wealth. However, when it comes to the song “Dear mama by Tupac Shakur”, that is not the case. Some men actually look forward to being able to take care of their family. This song was written in tribute to his mother Afeni Shakur. In the song Tupac expresses all of the hardships that he and his siblings had growing up. He also says “Even though I sell rocks it feels good putting money in your mailbox, I love paying rent when the rent’s due, I hope you got that diamond necklace that I sent to you”, This is a perfect example of a real man making sure that his family is taken care of. Contradicting the people who believe most black men walk

Using pathos, he expresses his feelings and shows sympathy towards his mother for all hard times that she had trying to raise him as a single mother on welfare. “I shed tears with my baby sister over the years we was poorer than the other little kids”, gives the audience reason to believe that he was ashamed of not having as much as the other little kids in his community. The chorus of the song is another example of pathos. It shows the never-ending love and appreciation that he has for his mother. No matter how much they fight or how hard life was for them she’s always there to pick him up when he’s down. “I reminisce on the stress I caused it was hell hugging on my mama from a jail cell”. This shows the people who are listening that he regrets putting his mother through all the hell that he did by being a rebellious teenager and not appreciating the little things she did for him. In the beginning of the song Tupac’s mother Afeni Shakur explains how she was pregnant with Tupac while she was in jail thinking that she would have him and never be able to see him. She was lucky enough to be released a month before she had him, from then on she had big hopes and goals for him. Later on when Tupac found himself in a jail cell at a young age he says it was hell that he never thought would happen. The last example of pathos is this verse “I wish I can take the pain away if you can make it through the night there’s a brighter day”. This verse is powerful only because so many people can relate to feeling like nothing in their life would ever change. It gives hope to people who are going through similar struggles and have no one to encourage them to keep pushing forward it will eventually get easier. When you don’t have anyone to motivate or push you, you begin to ask yourself if it’s all worth it. One image from the video that strengthens this rhetorical strategy