On the Come Up

Use this activity to engage all types of learners, while requiring that they refer to and incorporate details from the text over the course of the activity.

“Rap Battle versus The World”

In this activity, students will write a rap about an issue that is important to them and draw parallels to the relevance of Bri’s message in her rap.

Bri uses rap to express herself and send messages regarding the injustices she sees in the world. Do the same in a piece of original rap that conveys your concerns about an issue.

• First, choose an issue that is important to you. It may be an issue that affects you personally or something you have witnessed or learned about in the world around you. Choose an issue that would benefit from changes and improvements:

o cyber bullying

o animal abuse

o racism/ageism/sexism

• Research your chosen topic. What do people who agree with you think? What do people on the other side say?
• Use what you’ve learned to write a rap or “slam” poem about your issue.
• Your goal is to share your insights and voice in a way that will have an impact on your audience.
• You may want to choose a beat, make up your own, or go without music.

Share your rap with the class. You may read it aloud or rap it. When you are in the audience, remember to be supportive of your peers. In a reflective journal entry, write about the relevance of the issue to you or others and how your composition conveyed the need for change. Draw parallels to the relevance of Bri’s rap to her life and the lives of those around her.

Teaching Suggestion: Students may benefit from a list of topics from which to choose. This will help to narrow down the vast scope of the project and may reduce time involved. Students would also benefit from clear guidelines regarding length, language, appropriateness, and sensitivity; it may be useful for students to contribute to these guidelines as a class, then compile and post them.

Differentiation Suggestion: For students who benefit from support with public speaking, it may be helpful to perform the rap or read aloud to a small group first. Peers should offer positive reinforcement in the small group prior to presenting to the class as a whole.

Use these essay questions as writing and critical thinking exercises for all levels of writers, and to build their literary analysis skills by requiring textual references throughout the essay.

Differentiation Suggestion: For English learners or struggling writers, strategies that work well include graphic organizers, sentence frames or starters, group work, or oral responses.

Scaffolded Essay Questions

Student Prompt: Write a short (1-3 paragraph) response using one of the bulleted outlines below. Cite details from the text over the course of your response that serve as examples and support.

1. Consider Bri’s two love interests in the novel, Malik and Curtis.

• Which love interest does a better job supporting Bri throughout the novel? (topic sentence)
• Consider how each boy behaves toward Bri throughout the novel. In what ways do they agree with her? Is agreeing with someone the only way to be supportive? Cite at least 3 pieces of textual evidence to support your argument for Malik or Curtis.
• In your concluding sentence or sentences, summarize how Bri’s relationships with Malik and Curtis help to develop the theme of Finding One’s Own Voice.

2. Bri raps in the Ring at the beginning and end of the novel.

• How has Bri changed as an artist from the first to the last time she was in the Ring? (topic sentence)
• Analyze each rap. What do readers learn about Bri based on her choice of content and opponent? How has Bri grown either personally or as a rapper in this time? Support your answer with at least two pieces of evidence from each rap battle.
• In your concluding sentence or sentences, summarize and explain the author’s overall message regarding The Power of Words.

Full Essay Assignments

Student Prompt: Write a structured and well-developed essay. Include a thesis statement, at least three main points supported by textual details, and a conclusion.

1. The novel is made up of 3 parts: “Old School,” “Golden Age,” and “New School.” What is the significance of these larger headings? Consider how Bri and her view on stardom changes over the course of the text. Do the events of each section match the connotation from their heading? In a 3- or 5-paragraph essay, analyze and discuss the meaning of the headings of each part of the novel. Provide at least one quote from each section to support your analysis of that heading. Ultimately, draw a conclusion about the progression of these titles within the scope of the text as a whole.

2. Throughout the novel, Bri is often influenced by her family’s financial situation. In what ways do readers see Bri making decisions based on her family’s socioeconomic circumstances? How might Bri’s decisions be different if money were not as much of a concern? In a structured essay, consider both Bri’s relationships and her musical choices as you answer this question. Include at least 3 pieces of evidence to support your ideas and connect one or more points to a theme in your discussion.

Multiple Choice and Long Answer Questions create ideal opportunities for whole-text review, exams, or summative assessments.

Multiple Choice

1. Why is Bri hesitant to let Malik release the video of her being assaulted by campus police?

A) She doesn’t want to admit she did something wrong.

B) She is afraid her mother will see it and pull her from school.

C) She doesn’t want to be used as a victim or martyr for their cause.

D) She is afraid she’ll be hurt by other officers.

2. Early in the novel, how does Bri know that there is something wrong?

A) The heat isn’t working.

B) Her aunt is home when she shouldn’t be.

C) A phone rings during ACT prep.

D) Her mother brings “Popkenchurch,” a fast food mix.

3. Which item represents “making it” to Bri?

A) Oakley sunglasses

B) Timberland shoes (Timbs)

C) Supreme T-shirts

D) Gucci belts

4. How do the people in Bri’s life misinterpret her song, “On the Come Up”?

A) They think Bri is associating herself with gangs and violence.

B) They assume it is a cover of a song that is already popular.

C) They think her song glorifies the guards who assaulted her.

D) They don’t think the beat is good enough to go viral.

5. Which of the following is the best example of the theme Racism Within Schools and Communities?

A) A pro-gun advocate condemning Bri for discussing weapons in her song

B) Jay getting fired from her job at the church

C) Trey believing that Bri has Oppositional Defiant Disorder

D) Granddaddy offering to pay the bills to help Jay and her family

6. Which of the following cultural phenomena is most influential to how Bri understands the world?

A) Professional wrestling

B) Star Wars

C) Prop comedy

D) The Office

7. What is ironic about Bri’s father’s necklace?

A) It is a crown, which is the symbol of the rival gang.

B) It is a microphone, but he was actually mute.

C) It is a gun, which is also how he died.

D) It is a cross, even though his family doesn’t believe in church.

8. What is the name of Aunt Pooh’s right-hand man within the gang?

A) Malik

B) Lawless

C) Jay

D) Scrap

9. Which theme is best represented by the following quote from Chapter 9: “Folks love to blame hip-hop. Guess that’s easier than looking at the real problems, you know?”?

A) Racism Within Schools and Communities

B) Finding One’s Own Voice

C) The Effects of Poverty

D) The Power of Words

10. Why is Bri especially worried about her mother when Aunt Pooh is arrested?

A) Bri thinks her mother will be arrested too.

B) Pooh was trying to get Jay a job.

C) Bri knows Jay became addicted to drugs the last time she lost someone.

D) Pooh was the only person Bri’s mother had to look up to.

11. Which of the following is Bri most likely to do if she is offered a recording contract in the future?

A) Make sure that the money is good.

B) Make sure that she is allowed to write her own lyrics.

C) Make sure that Pooh is her manager.

D) Make sure that Trey gets a cut of the money.

12. Why is Bri so protective of her father’s necklace?

A) She realizes it is the only thing of his she has left.

B) She made it for him when she was little.

C) She believes every rapper needs jewelry.

D) She knows she can sell it to save her family if needed.

13. Why does Trey work at a pizza restaurant?

A) He never finished high school.

B) He is still in high school.

C) He cannot find a job using his college degree.

D) It is his father’s old business.

14. How did Sonny, Malik, and Bri become friends?

A) Their mothers are friends who were pregnant at the same time.

B) They live in the same building.

C) They met going to an arts school across town.

D) They all knew the boy who got killed by a cop last year.

15. Which of the following themes is best represented by Bri’s final rap in the Ring?

A) Racism Within Schools and Communities

B) Finding One’s Own Voice

C) The Effects of Poverty

D) The Power of Words

Long Answer

Compose a response of 2-3 sentences, incorporating textual details to support your response.

1. How do Pooh and Supreme’s management styles differ?

2. How did Malik want to enact change following Bri’s assault?