StayWideAwake wrote:EminemBase wrote:StayWideAwake wrote:I agree about the 'art' argument but my teacher is a poetry elitist who isn't so sure about calling eminem a poet.
Oh really?
Well tell him/her that calling Eminem a poet says nothing about the type of poetry he writes or whether it's good or bad. If you write poetry, anything that can be defined as poetry, you are a poet. So whether he/she likes it or not, that's what Eminem is, just, factually, lmao.
As for whether he's a good poet or not, ask him/her how much of Eminem they've ever actually listened to, how much of his lyrics they've ever truly read or properly analyzed - if it's hardly none of they just have some vague perception of him, maybe tell him/her that it's not very wise to come to a conclusion of a poet they don't actually know anything about.
I spoke to my old English teacher about Eminem, and he thinks Eminem is an astounding writer. He completely gets it, and most true literary minds do also, regardless of whether they like his content or not. Anybody with a true understanding of words and expression being used artistically and creatively can hear the sheer talent in Eminem's craft. If they can't, I submit they don't have a very good ear for it, or understand it very well. Tell your poetry teacher EmBase said suck a dick.
He said I need to define the 'standard' of what makes a poet because "not all of hip hop meets the poerty standard". Even he knows a lot of hip hop is ass haha. Should I cite you for the information you typed? Eminem is a poet (EmBase, 2012). Looks good to me
edit: because it is just as simple as you are describing that em is a poet, I'm worried he will find my explanation underwhelming. Again, I agree with you but still.@M15KHA- One thing I do have to give him credit for is that he does see the talent in slant rhymes. Or so he says
Tell him that a poem is a noun, and does not induce quality or have to meet a standard. He's confusing his deep rooted taste with definition, which is ironic given that he's apparently a language expert. It has to meet the definition of the noun only.
Oxford Dictionary definition of poem:
a piece of writing in which the expression of feelings and ideas is given intensity by particular attention to diction (sometimes involving rhyme), rhythm, and imagerySimply quote this sourced definition of what a poem is according to the Oxford Dictionary. Then quote many Eminem lines or verses to clearly show that his lyricism highlights emotions, expression and subject-matter by way of attention to detail of phrasing, which rhymes and invokes imagery and metaphor. Consistently. That is poetry. Regardless of whether he likes it or not.
Eminem's lyrics, and even the lyrics of most bad rappers, meet the definition of what a poem is, of what poetry is. So unless he wants to redefine the word: Eminem IS a poet.
On whether Em is a good poet, that is a separate discussion.
I'm being a bit of a smartass here as obviously I know your poetry teacher means justify why Eminem should be called a poet aka why is what he writes deserving of being merited, but I think you should take the smartass route simply because he's being pompous and snobbish whilst misusing terms himself. You can quite logically prove Eminem is a poet by quoting the definition, then quoting some Eminem lines and showing every element of the definition highlighted aka an irregular use of diction for provocation, a rhyme, and a metaphor that induces imagery. Simple as that.
And, through doing that, he should also clearly be able to see the quality in Eminem's writing himself, and justify to himself why Eminem is a GOOD poet. If he can read.
Perhaps the second part to your essay could be your personal justification on why Eminem's poetry
is good (not whether he is a poet, as he is). For proof of that, strap him to a chair and force him to listen to "Lose Yourself" lmao. Seriously though, that may be one of Em's best songs to quote for this purpose as the rhyming and coherent and conversational use of language is outstanding.
Which is another point by the way, if I were you: one of the points as to why Eminem is a good poet is the fact that at his best, he's able to write incredibly intricate and complex rhymes mixed with metaphor, self-analysis and all kinds of literary techniques WITHOUT the writing sounding contrived. It sounds natural and conversational, and that doesn't happen by accident, that takes a lot of conscious effort and honing, and re-writing and a natural flair that most do not have. Even the next best rappers continuously fail to achieve
naturalistic conversational as Eminem did; they always trip up every other word or line and it sounds written.
Which is not a good thing unless intended. Which it often isn't.
Eminem removes all of the barriers of contrived writing, through re-writing, and word placement, and thought-out lyrics and use of many techniques only employed by a very skilled, thoughtful writer. So that's just one very good reason that he is a superior poet.
