Hip-Hop Poetry and The Classics

Uncovering Allusion - Classic

Ain't I a Woman?
by Sojourner Truth
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That man over there say

A woman needs to be helped into carriages
And lifted over ditches
And to have the best place everywhere.
Nobody ever helped me into carriages
Or over mud puddles
Or gives me a best place.
And ain't I a woman?
Look at me, Look at my arm!
I have plowed and planted
and gathered into barns
And no man could head me
And ain't I a woman?
I could work as much
and eat as much as a manWhen I could get to itand bear the lash as well
and ain't I a woman?
I have born 13 children
and seen most all sold into slavery
and when I cried out a mother's grief
none but Jesus heard me
and ain't I a woman?
That little man in black there say
woman can't have as much rights as a man
cause Christ wasn't a woman
Where did your Christ come from?
From God and a woman!
Man had nothing to do with him!
If the first woman God ever made
was strong enough to turn the world
upside down, all alone
together women ought to be able to turn it
rightside up again.

Core Uterary Elements

Uncovering Allusion - Classic

Student Worksheet
Allusion: A reference to someone or something that is known from
history, literature, religion, politics, sports, science, or some other branch of culture.

SojournerTruth's poem is filled with allusions. Identify what the author refers to in lines:
Line I: Who is the uman"to which the author refers?

Line 6: What is the author alluding to, uor over mud puddles"?

Line I 0: What does the author mean, ul have plowed and planted"?

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Line 12: Explain the line, uAnd no man could head me."

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Line 24: Who is the ulittle man in black, to which the author refers?
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Line 28 & 29: To what famous moment is the author alluding?

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Line 30, 3 I & 32: To what other famous moment is the author alluding?

Line 33 & 34: What ucall to action" is the author putting forth for all women to embrace if the
world is to be turned ..right side up again"?

What is your impression of the author of this poem after exploring some of the allusions in her
poem ..Ain't I a Woman?"

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Hip-Hop Poetry and The Classics

Uncovering Allusion - Hip-Hop

For Women
by Talib Kweli
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A daughter come up in Georgia, ripe and ready to plant seeds,

Left the plantation when she saw a sign even though she can't read
It came from God and when life get hard she always speak to him,
She'd rather kill her babies than let the master get to 'em,

She on the run up north to get across the Mason-Dixon

In church she learned how to be patient and keep wishin',
The promise of eternal life after death for those that God bless
She swears the next baby she'll have, will breathe a free breath
And get milk from a free breast,
And love being alive,
Otherwise they'll have to give up being themselves to survive. __

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Some will grow to be old women, some will die bef(ne they born,
They'll be mothers and lovers who inspire and make songs,
But me, my skin is brown and my manner is tough,
Like the love I give my babies when the rainbow's enufi:
I aint got time to lie, my life has been much too rough,
Still running with bare feet, I aint got nothin' but my soul,
Freedom is the ultimate goal,
Life and death is small on the whole, in many ways
I'm awfully bitter these days
Because the only parents God gave me, they were slaves,
And it crippled me, I got the destiny of a casualty,
And I live through my babies and I change my reality
Maybe one day I'll ride back to Georgia on a train,
Folks 'round there call me Peaches, I guess that's my name.

Hip-Hop Poetry and The Classics

Uncovering Allusion - Hip-Hop

Student Worksheet
Allusion: A reference to someone or something that is known from
history, literature, religion, politics, sports, science, or some other branch of culture.

Talib Kweli's lyrics are filled with allusions.

Identify what the author is referring to in the following lines:
line I & 2: What is the poet alluding to in these lines?

Line 5: Explain the reference to the Mason-Dixon?

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line 15: What is the poet referring to in the line, "when the rainbow's enutf'?

COMPARE AND CONTRAST: Classic Poetry to Hip-Hop

Materials needed:
Ain't I a Woman? by S. Truth
&

For Women by Talib Kweli

I. Sojourner Truth is a celebrated, famous poet who has received great recognition for her
literary efforts. Talib Kweli is a skillful, Hip-Hop poet whose work is largely unknown outside
the contemporary world of Hip-Hop music. Do you feel that the work of Kweli deserves the
same type of"literary merit and attention" that the work ofTruth does? Why?

2. Do you feel that the work of contemporary Hip-Hop poets in general get the positive
recognition they deserve? Why or why not?

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Core Literary Elements

Poetry Writing Exercise: Allusion

Learning Objective:
Standards addressed:
Materials needed:
Methodology:

Students will identify and utilize the poetic device of allusion.

9/10 W&O 1.3, 1.4; LRA 3.7,11/12 W&O 1.1, 1.2; W 2.2
This worksheet.
See below.

Create a list of personal allusions using your own personal slang.

Choose from the following list:

Loot
School
Food
Your neighborhood
Yourself
Your friends

The local market

Telephone
Computers
Parents
Brothers/sisters
Teachers

Basketball
Kissing
Sleep
Work
Cars
Music

I use
_______ as a slang name for
(example: loot= money)
I usc
___ __ _ __ as a slang name for
(example: Echo Park= my neighborhood)
I use
as a slang name for __ _
(example: gran= grandmother)
I usc ____________ as a slang name for ____________
(example: ride = car)

Now take the four slang names from the list (i.e., you have just crafted a list of personal
allusions) and use them to construct a four-line, rhyming poem, using your own voice.
For example:

I came into the kitchen and said, "What's shakin' gran?''

She said, "I'm leaving Echo Park with a master plan.
I've been saving all my loot every week.
I'm going to buy a brand new ride,
I'm in the driver's scat!"

My Personal Allusion Poem

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