Motives and Thoughts - An Analysis of Ms. Lauryn Hill's Poem "Motives and Thoughts"
Prior to her success as a multi platinum, Grammy award winning, hip-hop icon, Lauryn Hill performed live poetry on pertinent topics that manifested her socially-conscious outlook of America. For the most part, her work deals with underlying sociological pathologies that hinder the African-American community. Her poem Motives & Thoughts deduces the plethora of socially-constructed institutions that work against the prosperity of the black community. Her exquisite exploitation of internal rhyme, helps establish a rhythmic meter, so that her wisdom has melody. The syllabic pattern of each verse gives the poem a linguistic sound pattern, transcending the poem from mere words to didactic conversation, in which she begins an extensive discourse on the dilapidated state of the masses. Her poem also appeals to emotion and logic, as she embarks on a spiel that highlights the working injustices that stymie any chance of success. Primarily, imagery and allusion act as agent...