 Day 19 Slam Poetry In many ways, this modern poetic form harkens back to the earliest poetry, when poets would entertain the firelit hall with poems that were as much performance as they were words. Think “Barbara Allen” and Beowulf, if you will. Spoken word poetry and performance poetry are terms for any poetry that is intentionally written with the goal of being read aloud. Slam poetry is performance poetry that is specifically performed in a competition. KInda interchangeable. The human voice becomes an instrument that articultes an idea using volume, pitch, accents, sounds, pace, and rhyme. Spoken word poets often use rhythms from rap, hip-hop, folk music, reggae, dub, and jazz, as well as traditional story-telling and improvisation in their performance. Not so easy to define, one somehow knows this kind of poetry when one hears/sees it. Be careful not to generalize or stereotype what “is” or “isn't” slam poetry. The performance is what makes it a slam, not the words themselves. Start by watching “I Wanna Hear a Poem” by Steve Colman. Consider the following questions for discuissing this poem.
Your Turn: Select a spoken word/slam poem that speaks to you, or, for you. Using the questions above to guide you, write an analysis of the effect of your poem and how that effect is produced. You know...
Some personal favorites -- “59” by Harry Baker, “Hide and Seek” by Rudy Francisco, “A Letter from Cancer” by Kevin Kantor, “Emergency Exit Row” by Catalina Ferro, “Ode to Thrift Stores” by Ariana Brown, "“Pretty” (Edited) by Kate Makkai, “Siri: A Coping Mechanism” by Patrick Roche, “The the Impotence of Proofreading” by Taylor Mali, “The Type” by Sarah Kay, “To the Boys Who May One Day Date My Daughter” by Jesse Parent. |
