![]() ![]() I travel through a lot of places where this certainly isn’t safe to speak about, and where it isn’t accepted, even in the UK. Singer-songwriters get talked over and comedians get heckled, but spoken word poets experience the extreme privilege of being given the space to be truly heard. You don't need to be a professional anyone can speak at an open mic night. The true force of spoken word is that it is the only genre where anyone at all can say what they want to an audience of strangers and be listened to in silence. We move you, you move us back, and together everyone leaves feeling different, fired up. Spoken word is an exchange between writer and listener. We stand on a stage and hope to make you feel something: laughter, anger, sadness, or the desire to leap into action. Spoken word, performance poetry, and slam poetry are slightly different things, depending on who you’re asking, but they all have the same goal. I’m now lucky enough to earn my living through touring the world performing my poems, my three spoken word theatre shows, and writing commissions. ![]() I must be one of the few people who ever entered spoken word for the money. One friend told me that the next night in a neighbouring town, there was a poetry competition, something called a slam, with a cash prize. The result took longer than ten minutes, but it wasn’t awful. One night, watching old episodes of a spoken word TV series with friends, I said, after one admittedly terrible poem had aired, 'I could do better than that in less than ten minutes.' My mates were tired of such arrogance, and handed me a pen and paper. Several years ago, I was stuck with no work and fast-dwindling grocery money. It is not enough to simply make observations about language use – you must take these observations and use them to construct an argument about the passage.Award-winning slam poet and teaching artist Sophia Walker gives advice on how to become a better writer. This step is essential to a successful close reading. In other words, you now need to address WHY language is being used in the way (or ways) you have observed. Now that you have some idea of HOW language is being used in your passage, you need to connect this to the larger themes of the text. What is the effect of these devices and techniques? (e.g., do they add emphasis or connect key ideas?).Is the sound of the language and sentences important (e.g., rhyme, repetition, choppy or long sentences)?.Do you notice any figurative language, such as metaphors and similes?.Do you hear irony (what is said is different from what is meant)? If so, where?.Does the voice carry any emotion? Or is it detached from its subject?.Is he or she taking a less direct route toward his or her meaning?.Is the speaker being straightforward, factual, open?.What characters does it give you access to?.What does the narrative voice tell you?.What narrative perspective is being used in this passage?.Ask yourself: Are any words being used in unusual ways? Are any words referring to something more than what is simply stated? Are any two (or more) words in the passage connected in some way? Narrative Voice ![]() Whether you are looking at an historical or contemporary text, remember that words can be used in different ways. The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) will provide you with definitions as well as histories of word use. If you are analyzing an older text, keep in mind that words may mean different things at different points in history-so be sure to look up any words that may be familiar but used in an unfamiliar way. If any words are unfamiliar, look them up. ![]()
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