Outline

I. Introduction
a. Growing up in a tough environment, Tupac Shakur managed to become
successful and rap about his lifes struggle while using poetic elements to send a
message.
b. Tupac Shakur went to the Baltimore School for the Arts, and there is where he
found his love towards literature.
c. Tupac Shakur expressed his messages through his songs, with poetic elements, in
order to get the attention of the people to make peace.
d. Tupac Shakurs song Better Dayz is sung is a specific tone that gives the
people a certain mood and also personifies violence that creates struggles in his
life.
II. Better Dayz
a. Tupac Shakur witnessed life struggles and those struggles are expressed in his
song.
b. Tupac Shakur is writing about the ghetto/gangster life that he lived throughout his
life.
c. Tupac is sending a message, in the poem, for people to help change and clean up
the streets.
d. Tupac will overcome violence and change his lifestyle as well as other peoples
violent lifestyles.
III. Personification throughout the poem


a. Tupac personifies violence as a dangerous being/creature to show how vicious it
can act.
b. Tupac is saying that violence corrupted society.
c. Personification allows violence to have certain assets that humans or creatures
have.
d. The personification of violence allows us to understand his gangster life, because
it mainly occurs in the ghetto and doesnt stop.
IV. Tone
a. The element of tone is present in each stanza as well as having different tones and
sending a message towards bringing better days.
b. Tupac sings Better Dayz with a powerful tone.
c. Each stanza has different tone, and each tone has a specific message.
d. Tupac Shakurs enforcing tone to change will be heard throughout the years.
V. Mood
a. The author uses his gangster life struggles to create a mood in the reader.
b. The reader feels a happy yet urgent mood after examining the poem.
c. The multiple moods in the poem will cause the person to listen to the message and
make a change.
d. The mood doesnt sound like Tupacs other songs because its not cautionary;
instead it is instructions to unfolding something nice, which is peace.
VI. Conclusion
a. Tupacs literary elements combine to create a powerful message and
encouragement for people to overcome the violence.


b. Tupac succeeded in his goal to cause change in peoples perspectives in violence.
c. This poem was very moving because the poet went through the gangster life
struggle, as well as a personal life struggle, but the poet did find a way to change.






















Growing up in a tough environment Tupac managed to become successful and rap about
his lifes struggle while using poetic elements to send a message. He and his family moved
around and did not have a permanent home, which resulted towards having few friends (Tupac
Shakur Biography). Tupac grew up in a tough environment while he lived in Baltimore, because
he was frowned upon due to his name, looks, and ethnicity (Tupac Shakur Biography). As a
sophomore, he was accepted to the Baltimore School for the Arts, and that is where he found
his love towards literature (Tupac Shakur Biography). Tupac made his first song in Baltimore
(Tupac Shakur Biography). Tupac expressed his messages through his songs, with poetic
symbols, in order to get the attention of the people to make peace. His song Better Dayz is
sung in a specific tone that gives the people a certain mood and also personifies violence that
creates struggles in his life.
Tupac experienced many life struggles and those struggles are expressed in his song
Better Dayz. In the song, Tupac says with no more dealers and crooked cops, the only way to
stop the beast, which is a one of the struggles he had to deal with in his thug life (Shakur).
Tupacs father was a bad influence because he was a drug dealer and didnt discipline Tupac for
the right reasons (Tupac Shakur Biography). When Tupac moved to California he started
selling drugs and hustled on the streets (Tupac Shakur Biography). Tupac realized that drugs
are evil and are strongly influenced towards the weak such as kids, which will ruin their lives
while they start their corrupt ways as he says from song Better Dayz time to question our
lifestyle, look how we live smokin weed like it aint no thang, so even kids wanna try now they
lie down and get ran through (Shakur). Tupac is writing about his ghetto/gangster lifestyle that
he lived (throughout his life). In the song Better Dayz, Tupac writes about his thug life, and
murders that occurred while he was a thug and how dealing/hustling became popular in the


ghetto (Shakur). Tupac is sending a message, in the poem, for the people to help change and
clean up the streets. In his poem he writes and only we can change its up to us to clean up the
streets, he is telling the people to make a drastic change and stop the corruptness in the ghetto
(Shakur). Tupac will overcome violence and change his lifestyle as well as trying to change
peoples violent lifestyles. Tupac had two quotes that support his idea of change in himself and
in the perspectives of others, one of them was Im not saying Im gonna change the world, but I
guarantee that I will spark the brain that will change the world, which meant that he can implant
his idea of a better change in one of his fans (Cameron, Bruce and Gilbert Lee). That fan can also
change the world whether we see the change or not. The other quote is him explaining that others
should respect him and his music and not just judge him because of his thug appearance
(Bruce, Cameron and Gilbert Lee). This quote is stating that just because Tupac grew up in a
tough environment/made wrong choices/is not pure, it doesnt mean that he didnt change or
didnt have a message because he did both of those things.
Tupac personifies violence as a dangerous being/creature to show how vicious it can act.
In his song, he personifies violence as a beast (Shakur). This shows that violence is a dreadful
creature that prevents peace from happening in the area (Shakur). Tupac is saying that violence
corrupted society. Tupac says that the ghetto is called ugly and dangerous by people (Shakur).
The beast, which is violence, created a hazardous environment and people follow and listen to it
as well. Tupac also says that violence is spread by us, the people/community, because we
provoke the danger to appear (Shakur). Personification allows violence to have certain assets that
humans or creatures have. Tupac gives violence the asset of provoking and wrong doing. In the
beginning of the poem, the children are motivated to try narcotics, which is an example of
violence influencing the kids to try bad things (Shakur). An example of wrong doing that was


persuaded by violence is people who were selling narcotics and murdering others in the poem
(Shakur). The personification of violence allows us to understand his gangster life, because it
mainly happens in the ghetto and doesnt stop. We see an example of this in Tupacs poem when
he talks about kids trying narcotics, murders occurring, and the thug life that invites corrupt
ideas (Shakur).
The element of tone is present in each stanza as well as having different tones and
sending a message towards bringing better days. In the song Tupac has multiple tones. These
tones are usually enforced by violence, emotional problems, and everyday problems. A problem
that occurs in the poem is that Tupac faces getting evicted while he has no money (Shakur). He
sings this song with a powerful and embracing tone. This tone represents the way he lived
through these struggles from the ghetto, and is giving advice on how to change peoples lives
(Shakur). The influence of changing a gangsters life will result in a better outcome. Each stanza
has a different tone, and each tone has a specific meaning. The poet has a disappointed tone
when he talks about our corrupt society, and in some parts of the poem, such as the chorus, is
giving an urgent tone to bring better days (Shakur). Tupacs enforcing tone to change will be
heard throughout years to come.
Tupac uses his gangster life struggles to create a mood in the reader. In the poem, he talks
about a close friend getting murdered, and sees the family of the deceased (Shakur). He tells the
family to stay strong (Shakur). The mood that is created in this image is a loss of hope, because
Tupac has nothing to say that is positive but to keep the faith (Shakur). This struggle, which
created a sad mood, will provoke his readers to change their wrongful ways in order to prevent
murder. The reader feels a happy, yet urgent mood after examining the poem. It is a happy mood
because we see that the author overcomes some of his struggles. The urgent mood is shown


because we see that if we can do something to make things better, than we can make a difference
in the world. These moods will cause a person to stand up and make a good transformation. The
mood in this song doesnt sound like Tupacs other song, because they are cautionary and this
song is sending a message (Pareles). In this song we see an urgent yet relieved tone because
Tupac lived life struggles, but he made it out of those struggles. Tupac became famous and tries
to send his messages through his lyrics, while using poetic elements.
In conclusion, Tupacs literary elements combine to create a powerful message and
encouragement for people to overcome the evil. He also succeeded in his goal to cause change in
peoples perspectives in violence. This poem was emotional because Tupac went through the
gangster lifestyle as well as a personal life struggle, but he did find a way to change.












Work Cited
Pareles, Jon. Tupac Shakur, 25, Rap Performer who Personified Violence, dies.
www.nytimes.com. The New York Times Company, 2013. Web. February 7, 2014.


<http://www.nytimes.com/1996/09/14/arts/tupac-shakur-25-rap-performer-who-
personified...>
Cameron, Bruce and Gilbert Lee. Tupac Shakur Biography. www.Imdb.com. ImDb.com, Inc.,
1990-2014. Web. February 6, 2014. <http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000637/bio>
Tupac Shakur Biography. www.aceshowbiz.com. n.p., 2005-2014. Web. February 6, 2014
<http:// www.showbiz .com/celebrity/tupac-shakur/biography.html>
Shakur, Tupac. Better Dayz. Lyricsmode.com. n.p., 2013. Web. February 6, 2014.
<http://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/+/tupac/better_days.html>