Aesop Rock Analysis

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“I left some years a deer in the light. I left some will to spirit away. I let my fears materialize. I let my skills deteriorate” (line 26-29). This is a quote from the song “Rings” by Aesop Rock. This excerpt from his work encapsulates the general idea behind the song. Once a visual artist, Aesop Rock is coming to terms with the loss of his previous love of visual art, which he expresses within this song. By taking in all aspects of the song “Rings” by Aesop Rock, his experiences of once being a visual artist and losing that talent both capture the theme, and figurative and symbolic styles are used throughout the song to construct a strong sensory experience. Aesop Rock’s use of style is a big part of how he explains his work to the listener. Style is how the authors of the content uses language to give their own personal expression to a piece. Various elements of style include diction, imagery, and syntax which all break down into more precise subcategories. Regarding diction, Aesop Rock often uses connotative meaning, which is suggestions and associations that result from a word or a group of words. An example of this could be, “No name …show more content…

A final use of style in this song is how Aesop Rock uses symbolism. Symbolism is the author’s attempt to represent an experience that ordinary language cannot express. “Drank Kool-Aid from a tube of acrylic” (line 50) is a good example of this because of how it establishes an objective reality but suggests meaning beyond that. In this line, he is saying how he lived and breathed art but also how he “drank the Kool-Aid”, which is also a figure of speech regarding the art scene and symbolizes his passion and dedication. Another good use of symbolism is, “You can imagine the stars that align when a forearm starts foreshortening right, or a torso hung on a warping spine of proportion reads as warm and alive” (line 60-63). With this line, he uses the stars aligning to depict the ecstasy of finally seeing progress in his