Style

From DigitalRhetoricCollaborative

Revision as of 09:44, 4 May 2015

Introduction

Style is one of the five canons of rhetoric.It was adapted into rhetoric by Aristotle, whereas previously it had been expressly considered in a poetic capacity.^[1] If invention is concerned with “what” is said, then style is concerned with “how” it is said. Simply put, style can be viewed as the distinction between calling something “good” or calling that something “amazing”. Thus, style encompasses the expression of ideas through varying linguistic form, and is thought of as inherently integral to communication.^[2] Style affects the flavour of the text, and also has the capacity to affect the tone of the text. The distinction between styles in rhetoric hinges on syntactic preference, varying diction, and a reliance on various tropes and figures of speech.

Artifact Analysis

Kendrick is an American hip-hop artist from Compton, California. He has released three studio albums to date, which are titled Section.80 (2011), Good Kid. M.A.A.D. City (2012), and To Pimp a Butterfly (2015). Good Kid. M.A.A.D. City was Lamar's first commercially successful album as it spawned several incredibly popular singles such as "Swimming Pools (Drank)," "Poetic Justice," and "Backseat Freestyle." To Pimp a Butterfly also exhibited a great deal of commercial success as 546,653 copies of the album were sold within the four weeks following the album's release.^[3] Kendrick Lamar also made a website for this album, which one can visit at the following link: http://www.kendricklamar.com/. Additionally, one can visit the site for Top Dawg Entertainment, the record label that owns Lamar's music, by following the subsequent link: http://www.topdawgent.bigcartel.com/.

Kendrick Lamar makes effective use of style in his song “The Blacker the Berry.” In this song, released in 2015 on the album To Pimp a Butterfly, Lamar explores crises of racial identity by investigating white perceptions of African-Americans and African-Americans’ perceptions of their own race. In “The Blacker the Berry” Lamar utilizes many figures of speech, such as rhetorical question, antistrophe, simile, asyndeton, and anaphora.

Rhetorical Question: Verse 2 - “You hate me don’t you?”

Rhetorical question is a question asked which does not necessitate an answer, but then, urges intrigue. ^[4] Use of a rhetorical question here provides a stylistic flair for sarcasm which, in context, lends itself to the mocking and disgruntled tone concerning post-racial societal views. Lamar is criticizing the ignorance surrounding perpetuated racism and privilege which seemingly marginalizes efforts to combat institutionalized racism, framed with the preceding line “reciprocal freedom only live in your eyes” (Lamar). The rhetorical question then enforces and punctuates this feeling of dissatisfaction.

Antistrophe: Hook - “Cah' we black”

Antistrophe is the repetition of a phrase at the end of successive lines.^[5]In the hook, the phrase “Cah’ we black” is repeated two times following explications for plight of African American heritage, specifically in view of slavery. The antistrophe drives home the notion of racial persecution surrounding the black community and goes onto imply that African’s still deal with different forms of oppression in a supposedly post-racial society.

Simile: Verse 2 - "Muscle cars like pull ups"

Simile is a comparison that uses the words “like” or “as.” ^[6]Lamar employs this figure of speech in this song when he states, “Muscle cars like pull ups, show you what these big wheels ‘bout” (Lamar). In the line that precedes this one, Lamar states, “Watchin me as I pull up, fill up my tank, then peel out,” so it appears within the context of the song, Lamar owns multiple muscle cars that he drives in a slightly reckless fashion (Lamar). But when we take the simile into account, an additional layer of detail becomes added to these verses. Since Lamar uses a simile to compare his collection of muscle cars to a set of diapers, he marks a symbol of his vast wealth as insignificant, perhaps suggesting a high degree of disregard for the great deal of money he possesses.

Anaphora: Verse 3 - use of “or”

In the final verse of this song, Lamar uses the device of anaphora to great effect. Anaphora denotes a use of repeated words at the beginning of successive clauses or phrases. ^[7]The anaphora occurs briefly after Lamar states, “So don’t matter how much I say I like to preach with the Panthers” (Lamar). The five phrases that follow this phrase each begin with the word “or.” Each one of these phrases details a stereotype or expectation for African-Americans, such as eating watermelon and chicken as well as treating February, a month dedicated to black history, like a birthday celebration. By using anaphora to compound these various stereotypes and expectations together and prefacing their introduction by stating they don’t matter, Lamar seems to indicate that these ideas about African-American identity are meaningless. Lamar never explicitly states why these stereotypes and expectations are meaningless, but his use of anaphora clearly indicates his rejection of these preconceptions.

Additional Resources

Lyrics for "The Blacker the Berry" - http://genius.com/Kendrick-lamar-the-blacker-the-berry-lyrics

"The Blacker the Berry" Audio Recording - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6AhXSoKa8xw

To Pimp a Butterfly Album Playlist - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0QtdISwioc&list=PLIen3IPVo_U30dpwJd2RDrPxYVXTplcq7

References

1. ↑ Rapp, Christof. "Aristotle's Rhetoric." Stanford University. Stanford University, 02 May 2002. Web. 10 Apr. 2015.
2. ↑ "The Canons of Rhetoric." The Canons of Rhetoric. Bringham Young University, n.d. Web. 10 Apr. 2015. <http://rhetoric.byu.edu/canons/Canons.htm>.
3. ↑ Balfour, Jay. "Hip Hop Album Sales: Tyler the Creator, Drake, Kendrick Lamar." HipHopDX. Cheri Media Group, 22 April 2012. Web. 4 May 2015.
4. ↑ Keith, William M., and Christian O. Lundberg. "Style." The Essential Guide to Rhetoric. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2008. N. pag. Print.
5. ↑ Keith, William M., and Christian O. Lundberg. "Style." The Essential Guide to Rhetoric. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2008. N. pag. Print.
6. ↑ Keith, William M., and Christian O. Lundberg. "Style." The Essential Guide to Rhetoric. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2008. N. pag. Print.
7. ↑ Keith, William M., and Christian O. Lundberg. "Style." The Essential Guide to Rhetoric. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2008. N. pag. Print.