Bibliography Eleveld, Mark. 2003. The Spoken Word Revolution: Slam, Hip Hop & the Poetry of a New Generation. Naperville, Illinois: Sourcebooks MediaFusion. ISBN 9781402202469 Review & Critical Analysis This is a unique title that not only provides examples of spoken word poetry and encourages its performance, but also tells the history of performance poetry and describes its new generation, including slam poetry and hip-hop. Compiled from poets, writers, and artists across generations and styles, this is an incredibly diverse collection of engaging and modern poetry. Each poem included in this collection is unique in its elements. Throughout the collection, you can find poems that use figurative language to create dynamic emotions and images, poems with sounds and rhythm that transport you to a different time and place, and poems that leave a lasting emotional impact through these elements. Readers will find many poems that are appealing, especially with their hip-hop, rhythmic elements. Some of the poems are on the longer side, considering they are meant for performance, which may not appeal to all readers. However, included with this title is a CD of many of the poems performed by the artists that wrote them. This is great for readers who are interested in this type of poetry, but many not have the stamina to read them completely. The poems cover a wide range of topics and can help building knowledge of different life experiences through the lens of authors and poets from diverse and varied backgrounds. Even though the experiences of the authors may be different from the reader, each poem does a fantastic job of communicating and demonstrating different linguistic elements and personal experiences. The accompanying CD is a tremendous resource that further supports understanding of the poems as they are listened to aloud. Just like with any kind of poetry, hearing it read (or performed) by the author creates an entirely different experience than reading it yourself. You truly feel the emotions, feelings, and rhythm around which that author built the poem. The overall quality of the poems is consistent, with the editor and advisor selecting high-quality, relevant examples of this style of poetry. The poems reinforce the theme and purpose of the book with their strength and use in performance poetry. Each poem stimulates the reader’s emotions and feelings in different ways, while keeping a rhythm consistent with performance poetry. This collection features the poetry of many artists, including Patricia Smith, Tara Betts, Jeff McDaniel, Roger Bonair-Agard, Bob Holman, Regie Gibson, DJ Renegade, Jean Howard, Luis Rodriguez, Saul Williams, and many more. Each of these poets brings a different perspective and style to their poetry, creating a dynamic collection that captures the essence of performance poetry past, present, and future. The Spoken Word Revolution is arranged into six parts, including a prologue by Billy Collins, poet laureate, and an epilogue. There is also a section about the editors and the biographies of the contributing poets are included, as well. A table of contents, index, acknowledgements, and credits are also provided. There are several photographs of the poets performing their pieces, helping the reader to visualize the poets on stage. The included CD is a wonderful resource that allows the reader to hear poetry being performed, providing a guide for the rhythm and sound of this type of poetry. When looking for a title that included poetry for performance, this book immediately jumped out to me from our collection. It is one that is in constant rotation by our students, and one which they use to plan their own poetry and performances for our yearly Poetry Slam. Students will often select poems and pieces from this book to practice to gain familiarity with the rhythm and style of performance poetry. Even though it is a lengthy title, it is one that is easy to navigate and provides great resources for the history and origins of performance poetry, as well as its impact on our society and culture today. This is a title that I will continue to promote and share with our students. The powerful rhythm and language used within is appealing to young adults and encourages personal expression and poetry performance. I would definitely recommend this title for high school and up, as many of the poems contain mature themes and profanity. Spotlight Poem First Period half way through first period dust accumulated on the sweaty palm of my raised hand must be a centimeter thick by now as the chicken-legged teacher goes around the room defacing students homework from last night with red pen graffiti that focuses more on missed commas than the content of the sentences he finally decides to acknowledge me “Mr. Derrig, why do I have a feeling that this is another one of your dumb comments. You constantly waste my time. Why don’t you just drop out or something?” why don’t I just drop out why don’t I just drop out! and it was at that moment that all statistics began to make sense to me statistics of children whose mouths water more for the many taste of society corner slanged penicillins than the cardboard texture of diplomas with pipes more important to fill than class requirements statistics of classes cut to avoid battlefields full of aggravated shrapnel from teachers with exploding tempers teachers with magnifying glasses at the end of pointers who feed off the brightness of surrounding students to singe holes in the esteems of those who need just a little more help than others I wanted to turn my shot-down hand into a fist I wanted to hit him ‘til he was incapable of speaking anymore but I didn’t want to become another number in overflowing manila folders of children arrested in school and we wonder why a gun seems to fit perfectly in the hands of this generation’s adolescents ladies and gentlemen I’m writing this poem to highlight that which has been stuck like gum underneath wobbly desks free from parental eyes only to mess the hand of those who have to sit there I’m writing this poem to speak for all the rows of children before me who remained voiceless in the cracks of school and its sound proof text books I’m writing this poem for all the children who have not yet been named the ones that will one day have to fill these rows I’ve been struggling in only to enter classrooms where they’ll be shot down for what they feel ladies and gentlemen the future of America is being crushed between the molars of power-hungry tyrants who think class rooms are boot camps and if we have any teachers in the audience I urge you to understand that the hand you grab the chalk with the hand you grab those red pens with the voices you speak with are oversized chisels and you must proceed to teach with caution for what you say and what you do is written in stone and if you chisel too hard these minds can crack “So what don’t you understand now, Mr. Derrig?” I just wanted to know if I could go to the bathroom This poem, found on pages 220-221, is written and performed by Kevin M. Derrig. It discusses a common feeling that many students share; a feeling of being judged, dismissed, and treated unfairly by their teachers. The way Derrig compares the teacher to a chisel and the student to stone is creative and paints a vivid picture in the reader’s mind. The themes of the poem are identifiable and understandable by students and readers of all ages. I would introduce this poem by playing the track from the included CD of Derrig’s poetry performance. After listening, I would ask the students what stood out to them. What phrases, words, language, etc. did the author use that painted a vivid picture in your mind? What is your take away from this poem? Do you agree with the author? Have you felt the same way? As a follow-up activity, I would encourage students to find a piece of performance poetry that speaks to them. They could then share it with the class (in print, video, or audio format) or perform it themselves. This would be a great way to introduce the idea of performance poetry and begin to form a foundation to eventually host a poetry slam for students.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthoRMy name is Mrs. Scott and I'm a secondary Media Resource Specialist (librarian) in Texas. This blog was created as part of my graduate coursework at Texas Woman's University. All reviews and opinions are my own. Archives
April 2017
Categories
All
|