Things

1
Things

• Speedy form and poetry presentation last week
  you can read and savor the PP in Blackboard!
• Dont forget optional poetry project.
• Fiction project due any time.
• Tomorrow Visual Tradition in Poetry (and Option
  2 of Poetry Project 2)
• Wed Workshop Mania

2
Poetry Project 2 10 pts.The Oral Tradition
You have your choice of 2 options! Click here for
full assignment.

• This spoken word tradition has roots that go very
  far back in Western history. The Beat movement of
  the 1950s revitalized it for contemporary
  America, and it has since been going strong with
  the advent of poetry "slams" in the 1980s.
  Closely linked to rap and street culture, spoken
  word poetry tends to be relatively raw,
  energetic, outward-directed and reliant upon a
  good stage performance. That is, it may not
  always hold up especially well on paper, but that
  is not its intended medium. Spoken word must be
  delivered live, and the "acting" of the speaker
  is a big part of the work itself. Poetry slams,
  when done well, are delirious, energetic, and
  very interactivethe audience talks, hollers,
  judges...basically acts as part of the
  performance itself.
• For this option, you should write a poem which is
  meant to be performed. You'll hand it in with
  your other chapbook materials, but you will also
  perform it for the class. Draw on our class
  viewing of SlamNation or our for a little
  background on this genre, and try, if you can, to
  attend a slam in town while you're working on
  your poem.

3
Spoken Word Poetry

• The Oral Tradition

4
This stuff is really old
Hey, Daddy-o

• Homer 800 BC
• Old English poetry 400 AD
• Native American 8000 BC to present
• The Beats 1950s
• Slam Poetry 1980s to present

5
check these out!
www.nuyorican.org/
AND
www.poetryslam.com/
6
How do slams work?
7

• What makes a good spoken-word
• or slam performance?

Listen to Spoken Word selections, plus Beat
poems with jazz accompaniment
Special Note for April 15th well do this on
April 22nd!!!! Bring a barret, some bongos, a
mocaccino
8

• Blurring the line between poetry and theater
  performances are like one-person, one-act plays.
• Aggressive, clever, sometimes funny rhyme, not
  in any strict pattern (triple rhymes, internal
  rhymes, slant rhymes, repeated words, etc. In
  video, Lazarus, Lazie, Lazy).
• Projection! Loud broadcast.
• Number of unstressed syllables dont matter,
  maybe. Success depends on how cleverly you get
  the four stresses in (rap).
• Getting into a groove.
• Memorizing the material adds interest.
• Mixing genres insert singing, use accompanying
  sound, etc.
• Ritual presence of performer.

9
Spoken Word Performance

• Instructions
• Perform a spoken piece for the class, roughly
  5-10 minutes. This should, ideally, be original
  work youve written yourself.
• Practice!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
• Project. Proe-JECT.
• Feel free to use sound effects, music, special
  garb.
• Pay attention to Spoken Word Poetry Power
  Point, and What makes a good spoken word
  performance? slide. Also heed the audio samples
  played in class, and tips offered during our
  discussion.
• CriteriaPerformance should be
• Engaging
• Inventive
• Energetic and/or of adequate intensity
• Well-rehearsed
• Well-projected, audible
• Well-paced

10
(No Transcript)