Learning Objectives 

Students will:

• Identify poetry by ‘form’ (rhyme scheme: iambic pentameter in Shakespeare’s sonnets and syllable pairing to BPM (beats per minute) in hip hop lyrics). 
• Demonstrate rhyme scheme and internal rhyme scheme. 
• Identify poetry by ‘craft’ (literary devices, simile, alliteration, and imagery).     
• Discuss poetic terms (rhyme, rhythm, alliteration, meter, and form).
• Analyze the meaning and craft of hip hop lyrics and poetry. 
• Identify universal themes in poetry. 
• Make comparisons between hip hop music and poetry. 
• Write original poems or lyrics, incorporating elements of poetry.
• Present original works to an audience. 

Standards Alignment

National Core Arts StandardsNational Core Arts Standards

Common Core State StandardsCommon Core State Standards

Recommended Student Materials

Editable Documents: Before sharing these resources with students, you must first save them to your Google account by opening them, and selecting “Make a copy” from the File menu. Check out Sharing Tips or Instructional Benefits when implementing Google Docs and Google Slides with students.

• Vocabulary: Hip Hop Poetry Elements
• Content Guide: The Poetics of Hip Hop
• Rubric: The Poetics of Hip Hop

Videos

• Ego Tripping by Nikki Giovanni
• Work it out by Jurassic 5
• Spited - Black Thought - Aquamarine
• Spited - Kendrick Lamar - The Heart Pt I
• Spited - Kendrick Lamar - The Heart Pt II
• Spited - Rakim - The Saga Begins
• BET Cypher: Wale, Nipsey Hussle, GSan, KRS ONE
• BET Cypher: Mos Def, Black Thought, & Eminem
• Poetry Slam Champion Jamie Voytsekhovska
• Marjan Naderi “On Alcoholism”
• This is Your Brain on Freestyling
• Art of Patterns vs. Art of Stylin
• Structure of Rapping

Websites

• Sonnet 18: Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
• Sonnets from the Portuguese 43: How do I love thee?
• Shakespear’s Sonnet #18: Love in poetry and words
• “Ego Tripping” by Nikki Giovanni
• Lyrics: “Work it Out”
• The Kennedy Center Hip Hop Video Library

Teacher Background

Teachers should familiarize themselves with literary concepts and the sonnets discussed in the lesson and be familiar with the genre of hip hop. Teachers should review and listen to the media prior to teaching the lesson. Review the following resources to build background on hip hop music, poetry, and culture:

50th Anniversary Year of Hip Hop

Why Shakespeare Loved Iambic Pentameter

Hip Hop: A Culture of Vision and Voice

Vocabulary: Poetics of Hip Hop

Student Prerequisites 

Students should have some knowledge about hip hop, but this is not necessary. Students should be familiar with elements of poetry and analyzing text to draw comparisons. 

Accessibility Notes

Utilize assistive technologies for students with hearing or vision impairments.

Engage

1. Share Sonnet 18: Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? Tell students that Shakespeare adapted the sonnet form from a previously existing form, the Petrarchan sonnet. (Sonnets from the Portuguese 43: How do I love thee? is an example of this form.)

2. Introduce students to ‘form’ and ‘craft’ in poetry. Review the Vocabulary: Poetics of Hip Hop, specifically ‘form’ (rhyme scheme and internal rhyme scheme) and ‘craft’ (three discrete literary devices: simile, alliteration, and imagery.)

3. Share the resource, Shakespear’s Sonnet #18: Love in poetry and words with students. Have students explore the page where they will learn about Shakespeare’s Sonnets, iambic pentameter, and a breakdown of Sonnet #18. Explain that Petrarch was responsible for making the sonnet form famous; his work Canzoniere was read across Europe and soon reached England, shifting in form along the way. Explain that the Petrarchan rhyme scheme was AB AB CD CD -- CDE CDE. Shakespeare’s sonnet, as revealed by the rhyme scheme, consists of three quatrains and a concluding couplet. This form allowed for a freer association of images from quatrain to quatrain that comes to a resolution in the concluding couplet. Fortunately for sonnet writers in England, the Shakespearean sonnet worked to their advantage: whereas rhymes are more easily created in the Italian language, words in the English language do not allow for as many rhymes.

4. Divide students into groups to share what they learned about Sonnet #18. Display the following discussion questions: What is the rhyme scheme of Sonnet #18? What is the basic form of an English (or Shakespearean sonnet) sonnet?

Build I

1. Generate a class list of different forms of poetry (i.e., free verse, sonnets, sestinas, odes, etc.). Ask students: What type of music do you listen to? What do you know about hip hop? Do you think hip hop is a form of poetry? Why or why not?

2. Discuss with students the commonalities between hip hop and poetry. Revisit the Vocabulary: Poetics of Hip Hop with students. Some characteristics to point out: careful attention to rhythm in lyrics, end rhyme, slant rhyme, internal rhyme, alliteration, and assonance; use of repetition for emphasis; manipulation of language to convey powerful emotions and messages (sometimes controversial and/or personal); choice of diction based on audience. 

3. Explain to students that Shakespeare wrote using vocabulary popular during his day, and similarly, today’s hip hop artists do the same. Shakespeare wrote in iambic pentameter, rap artists often write in sixteen-bar stanzas, normally followed by four-to-eight-bar hooks. Hip hop is a kind of poetry. Ask students to think about hip hop they have listened to, and whether it follows the typical, sixteen bar stanza, or if it breaks from that tradition.

4. Refer to the poetry characteristics listed earlier in the lesson and tell students there is much to be learned about poetry from hip hop. Distribute the poem, “Ego Tripping” by Nikki Giovanni. Have students listen to Giovanni read the poem in the Video: Ego Tripping.

5. Discuss the meaning of Giovanni’s “Ego Tripping.” Ask students: Who is the “I” in the poem? Depending on students’ knowledge of ancient history, you may choose to spend some time defining the references to legendary figures and images, including Nefertiti, the sphinx, Hannibal, the pyramids, Noah, etc.

6. List the supernatural elements in the poem (i.e., “sowing diamonds,” “created the Nile,” “crossing the desert in three hours,” etc.) and point out that the exact origins of Nefertiti and the pyramids are in dispute. Ask students why they think the speaker of Giovanni's poem claims to have birthed Nefertiti and constructed a pyramid. Ask students what all the images/figures have in common. Talk about the empowering and all-embracing nature of the poem.

7. Discuss students’ findings. Have them share the characteristics of hip hop found in Giovanni’s poem. Explain how the writer’s word choices and syntax enhance meaning. Some examples include the following: 

- How the repetition of the word “so” in the line “I am so perfect so divine so ethereal so surreal” works to build momentum and emphasize the speaker's praise of self for surviving unfair challenge show the alliterative use of a “soft” syllable like “s” in the line “as we sailed on a soft summer day” mimics the smooth travel of sailing on calm waters, particularly as compared to the “hard” consonants of “d” and “p” and “t” in the line “I stood proudly at the helm. 

- How the rhythm in the line “I walked to the fertile crescent and built the sphinx” imitates the movement of the speaker; the speaker is walking for eight long syllables and creates the sphinx in three syllables, with “built” and “sphinx” as two stressed syllables, thereby emphasizing the weight of the god-like action of building the sphinx. In other words, the line “I walked to the fertile crescent and built the sphinx” has a very different pacing and rhythm than, for example, “I walked to the crescent and created the astonishing sphinx.” 

- How the rhyme in “so ethereal so surreal” works to create a fluid rhythm and move the poem forward. 

- How phrases such as “I am bad” and “I am so hip” work to link the images of ancient history with a modern-day time, thereby speaking to a modern-day audience.

Build II

1. Play Jurassic 5’s “Work it out” for students. Read an excerpt from the Lyrics: “Work it Out” with students. Have students identify the rhyme scheme used by the hip hop artists. Discuss how the song successfully flows and has a driving beat and “head-bobbing” rhythm. Take one stanza of the song and examine the pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables. Notice how the lyrics often consist of iambs, just as Shakespeare wrote in iambs in his sonnet.

2. Discuss the effect of rhyme, rhythm, alliteration in Jurassic 5’s song. Talk about themes of building a relationship and working through problems with someone.

3. Share the Content Guide: The Poetics of Hip Hop. Have students divide into pairs or small groups to listen to examples of similes, alliteration, and imagery in hip hop songs.

4. Distribute a note card or blank piece of paper to the pairs or small groups. Based on what they’ve learned, have them describe hip hop to someone who has never heard it before. Tell them to write down any word or group of words they can think of that would help describe the music, including inventive, onomatopoeic words (words that imitate sounds) that may evoke certain rhythms, a driving beat, or “scratching”. Explain that the word “hip hop” is one example of an onomatopoeic word.

5. Deepen student understanding a/b/c rhyme scheme pattern identification with the following Spited videos:

Spited - Black Thought - Aquamarine

Spited - Kendrick Lamar - The Heart Pt I

Spited - Kendrick Lamar - The Heart Pt II

Spited - Rakim - The Saga Begins

Apply

1. Tell students to write their own creative work using a common theme: “Overcoming challenges.” They will write original poems or lyrics using the poetic elements found in hip hop. Allow time for students to work independently or collaboratively on their writing. Confer with students to edit and revise their work. Have students pay particular attention to rhythm, meter, and the other concepts discussed in this lesson.

2. Have students break into groups to rehearse their poems for a performance. Students can choose to include a hip hop beat in the background.  

Beat-Making Tools

Launchpad: Make & Remix Music
GarageBand
Groovepad

3. Share with students the different ways artists share their work. Allow each group to determine how they want to present the final poem or song to an audience. Review the following choices. 

- Themed Cipher Circles: Students stand in a circle and recite their examples of the three literary devices (See cypher circle examples: BET Cypher: Wale, Nipsey Hussle, GSan, KRS ONE and BET Cypher: Mos Def, Black Thought, & Eminem)

- Sound Recording: Use Phone’s Voice Recording or third-party App like SoundTrap (by Spotify)

- Video: Create a short video reciting the poem or lyrics

- Other: Generate alternative ideas from students for presenting their work

Reflect  

1. Have students share their poems or lyrics. Students can present their cypher circles, recordings, or videos, and post their creations to Google Classroom, Padlet, Patreon, to digitally archive their work. 

2. Assess students’ knowledge of the poetics of hip hop. Have students perform their poems for the class and follow-up with a discussion about each poem. Ask students: What poetic elements were incorporated in the poem? How characteristics of Williams and Giovanni’s work are evident in the poem? Use the Rubric: The Poetics of Hip Hop to evaluate each student’s poem.

Extend

1. Host a poetry slam. Show students video clips of slam poets performing at the Kennedy Center in Slam: KC: Poetry Slam Champion Jamie Voytsekhovska or Marjan Naderi “On Alcoholism”. Coordinate a school poetry slam with original poems written and performed by students.

2. Connect music and text. Analyze the theme, meaning, and/or craft of hip hop lyrics with a literary text.

3. Bridge science and music. Play the video, This is Your Brain on Freestyling, to discover the history of freestyling and what some brain research says about the craft.

4. Learn from the masters. Play the video, Art of Patterns vs. Art of Stylin. Elzhi, former member of Slum Village, explains his rhyme scheme and metric counting. Watch, the Structure of Rapping, which examines the greatest rappers of all time. Dig deeper into the characteristics of these masters and how they create noteworthy, lyrically dense rhymes.