The poem “Changes” by Tupac Shakur makes me ask myself the same question. Will we ever truly have a change in our world? The question probably won’t ever be answered because we never know how the next generation will be. Everyday people get killed, hurt, harassed, bullied and much more and many people in power don’t do anything about it. So we have to stand up and do something. This world is left in the hands of youth. We don’t see the change that we need to see.
In the line “I’d love to go back to when we played as kids” Tupac was showing that when everyone was a kid it was better. When you were younger you didn’t understand the majority of stuff that was going on. Life seemed so innocent. Running around in the park screaming, laughing, and playing. But now that we are older we understand how bad this world actually is and we all wish it wasn’t this bad. We all wish we can just go back to when we were kids and wanted ice cream, and go to the park, play tag and hide & seek, to be with friends and simply have fun. Not fight for something that we have to fight for because the government doesn’t want the change that we need.
My first impression of this poem was that it was an amazing poem. It made me feel satisfied , yet, at the same time, disheartened. A line that especially evokes the first feeling for me is, “Pull a trigger kill a n*gga he’s a hero.” The other feeling – of dejection – arises when I read the line, “Is life worth living should I blast myself?”. Perhaps because what he’s saying is true and people can’t catch a break. Tupac wants a change as well as many other people. People are just trying to survive in a corrupt world.
What I know about the situation – what’s happening in the poem – is that a man wants his voice to be hurd and let people know what’s going on in this world.
What I know about the speaker is that they are the kind of person who wants change. This is suggested by the line “We gotta start makin’ changes”. The speaker seems to be speaking to the entire world, and perhaps to everyone alive. I say this because I said it. The poem springs from a particular moment in history because the same racism has been happening for years it just has gotten better but it still happens. He wants no racism instead of being little.
If this poem were a question, the answer would be, that the changes that should happen aren’t happening. If it were an answer, the question would be, will we ever have a change in this world? The title of the poem suggests that Tupac the poet wants a change as fast as possible because it’s the change that we need. The poem’s form is a lyric form. This form is a vehicle for the content of the poem. If the poem were a Ballad form, it would not guide me toward an understanding of the poem’s meaning. The form shapes the understanding of the poem because in his song he deeply explains what’s going on in this world. He explains one of the worlds biggest problems.
The image of “Give ’em guns step back watch ’em kill each other” evokes a sensory experience of people wanted to kill each other. Another image of “I’d love to go back to when we played as kids” evokes a sensory experience of being a kid, when things were simple, we just wanted to go to a park and eat some ice cream or candy. We just smiled and nothing was wrong. These shape the reader’s perception of how the author sees the world.
Throughout this poem Tupac uses sound techniques and figurative language to explain his words and it really helps the reader understand him. It shows his feelings and emotions that are really coming out. These emotions will help people understand whats going on in this world. So that people realize we that we need to have a change.
This poem has a dramatic wrench snapping turn. A little into the poem in the line “It’s time to fight back that’s what Huey said” is where the poem has its dramatic turn. This is an ironic turn because the poem build because up until this point the poem tells you how bad this world is and many things that are wrong. Then boom he says that all of this needs to change as fast as possible. He’s simply tired of seeing people bring each other down because of the way they were born. He is tired of all the violence.
At first, the poem’s tone is sad. This tone is created by the tone in his voice because in the song you hear his pain. The tone is also created by the lyrics he speaks true facts sadly. No matter what we do there will always be racist people in this world there will always be haters. But at the least we can get rid of some haters change their minds show them that love is more powerful than hate. It changes to he keeps the poem about 1 single idea which is that we need a change and to explain that he uses examples that people have said about them for many years, though, in the beginning he said “Cops give a damn about a negro Pull the trigger kill a nigga he’s a hero”, what he said there sadly still happens in todays world and he’s right we need to make a change. Tonal shifts continue to happen. In the poem later on he says “We ain’t ready, to see a black President, uhh” this lets us know the world is just to racist to see a black person in power.
My parents have always listened to Tupac for years. So growing up I always heard his music, but I never knew who he was until my dad told me about him. I always thought he was just like every other rapper. Just rapping about females, money, and drugs. Until I read his lyrics and learned about him. I got to see that he really just wanted to see a change in this world, there was and still is just to much hatred.
