Rhetorical Questions

Question 1: Who is the speaker? What do we know about this person? How do we know it?

The speaker is Kendrick Lamar. He is known as an American rapper, songwriter and record producer.

Question 2: What is the occasion? When and where did it occur?

The occasion of “Alright” is an anthem of the modern civil rights movement. It occurred in March 2015 and was produced in many studios across the U.S. with a variety of different producers.

Question 3: Who is the audience? What group of people is the speaker trying to talk to? How do you know?

The audience the speaker is trying to talk to is the modern black people. We know this because this song was recorded in the time of 3 cases in 6 months that were about police brutality.

Question 4: What is the purpose of this piece? What is the writer trying to accomplish?

The purpose of this piece is that he channels the struggles of the modern black experience in America while also recognizing hundreds of years of struggle that led to this point. It’s a song of positivity written amongst civil unrest.

Question 5: What is the tone of this? How can you tell the writer’s feelings by the words or phrases (or other clues?)

The tone of this song is uplifting but aggressive. In the song, Kendrick states “And we hate popo, wanna kill us dead in the street for sure, n***a.” However, Kendrick then states in the chorus ” We gon’ be alright.”

Question 6:  Other thoughts of this piece? And by the way, what’s your name?

I really like this song because  Kendrick sees himself as a voice for African Americans who don’t have one, and believes he has a great responsibility to speak up for them. My name is David Wu.