Research Paper On Slam Poetry

In the poem “An Echo Sonnet”, author Robert Pack writes of a conversation between a person’s voice and its echo. With the use of numerous literary techniques, Pack is able to enhance the meaning of the poem: that we must depend on ourselves for answers because other opinions are just echoes of our own ideas.

The life experiences of the late Maya Angelou —author, poet, actress, singer, dancer, playwright, director, producer — became the key element of her most prominent work, a lyrical poet telling the stories of what it means to be an African American; having a wide range, multi-series autobiographies that lays the foundation of her identity as a American black woman. The acclaimed Maya Angelou’s legacy not only impacted American culture that will resonate with people through history, but create insight to a whole new world.

What is poetry? Is poetry about your feelings? Is poetry meant for you to deliberate or read between the lines? Elizabeth Alexander, a black educator that teaches poetry, believes that poetry is where you are your true self and finding yourself. In 2005, she published one of her poems called “Ars Poetica #100: I Believe.” She constructed the poem to speak to her students about her meaning of poetry. Poetry causes various emotions, various content, and based on various forms of realities.

Maya Angelou was a poet, award winning author and an inspiration to many. She was born on April 4, 1928 in St Louis Missouri. As a young child Maya Angelou had it rough. Her parents split up when she was very young. Her and her brother, Bailey, were sent to their grandmother in Stamps, Arkansas.

Maya Angelou is a leading literary voice of the African-American community. She writes of the triumph of the human spirit over hardship and adversity. “Her style captures the ca-dences and aspirations of African American women whose strength she celebrates.” (Library of Chattanooga State, n. d.) Maya has paved the way for children who has had a damaged

Maya’s younger years were filled with pain and tragedy. When she was only three years old, her parents separated, moving Maya and her brother into the home of their grandmother in Stamps, Arkansas. While growing up in this area, Angelou became aware of the discrimination and racism that was prevalent during this time in America. (Hyperlink.com) At the age of eight, Angelou was reinstated into the care of her mother. It was during this time period that Maya was sexually abused by her mother’s boyfriend. Shortly after this incident occurred, Angelou became mute and would not speak again for five years. This time period in Maya Angelou’s life would

Welcome and thankyou to this discussion on celebrating a poet whose powerful language engages and influences others. The poet whose contributions demonstrate these features is Maya Angelou whose influence is evident in the poetry she produced. Maya Angelou is an American poet and civil rights activist, born in 1928 whose poetry is famous for its inspiration and is considered ‘one of the great voices of contemporary literature.’ (Metacritic, 2015) Maya Angelou’s personal and cultural experiences communicate the power of the African- Americans during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960’s and 1970s era to overcome adversity and oppression that are clearly reflected in her inspirational poems ‘Caged Bird’ and ‘Still I Rise.’ An analysis of these poems reveals that

Maya Angelou is a writer and a civil right activist. In addition, she’s a poet and award-winning author known for her numerous poetry and essay collections. Angelou received several honors throughout her career, including two NAACP Image Award in outstanding literary work category. (Biography.com) Beyond her poetic days she was an actress, songwriter, and dancer. As an African American, Angelou experienced firsthand racial prejudice and discrimination in Arkansas. She also suffered at the hands of a family associate around the age of 7 raped by her mother boyfriend. Traumatized by the experience she became a virtual mute. (biography.com) Maya Angelou have faced many tribulations in life and expressed it through her poetic writing. The style

In the late 1950’s, Maya returned to New York, and joined the Harlem Writers Guild. While in New York City, Maya met and fell in love with Vusumzi Make, a South African civil rights activist. In 1960, the couple including Guy moved to Cairo, Egypt, where she served as the editor of The Arab Observer.

There once was a “sweet …golden” beauty and her name, was Africa. “Africa” is a poem written by Maya Angelou which expresses the grave injustice done to Africa by the Europeans. Through her words Angelou is able to express the pain, suffering, and hope felt by the people of African during this time. The poem speaks to the beauty of Africa, goes into the injustice it has faced, and the hope that it has to one day go back to how it was. Three stanzas hold the words of Angelou, each filled with several literary techniques such as metaphors, rhyming, and personification. These several techniques gives Maya Angelou’s poem a lot of power and effect over the readers. With her constant use of imagery a vivid picture is painted into our minds as readers can see the words she wrote, and feel the pain they

“We may encounter many defeats but we must not be defeated.”. Once said Maya Angelou, a poet, author, screenwriter, actress and and a civil rights activist who wrote poems intelligently and always with a gaping reason deeply within them, which made them rather fascinating. As we look back on Maya Angelou’s life, she had an incredible journey, fighting discriminations and harsh circumstances during her youth, she is truly an astonishing person who is worth of to be spoken as an important poet in history and one of the greatest in the poetic world.

“Ode to the Chameleon” by Yusef Komunyakaa utilizes metaphors and allusion to convey and enhance the meaning of his poem. A common subject among his poems is what it was like to be an african-american man fighting alongside white men in the Vietnam War. A very powerful metaphor used in lines 3 - 5 is, “You are a glimpse/of a rainbow, your eyes an iota/of amber” (Komunyakaa 3-5). Komunyakaa is comparing a chameleon to a faint rainbow or a small amount of amber, both of which are fairly special. Prior to reading the poem, someone may have never thought of a chameleon as being similar to a rainbow or a piece of amber. But, the poem brings chameleons into a new light; they are hard to spot, and when spotted, are unforgettable. The entire poem

Ms. Flowers acknowledged Maya’s love for reading and told her “Words mean more than what is set down on paper. It takes the human voice to infuse them with the shades of deeper meaning” (pg. 92) After listening to Ms. Flower’s lecture she eventually let her voice out. This helped Maya completely take in the meaning of what she was reading and eventually lead to her love of poetry. Ms. Flowers also showed Maya to not let oppression take over her life

In the text, “Poetry is Not a Luxury”, by Audre Lorde, discusses the necessity for poetry, but not necessarily the type of poetry which consists of rhyme schemes historically valued by white literature. Lorde speaks of the type of poetry that is rooted in one’s hidden emotions. She emphasizes that one’s unrecorded emotion resides in an intensely hidden place, which only poetry can articulate and communicate. Poetry is a form of survival that inherently links feeling with freedom and expands language to envision a future designed by women of color.

Slam poetry is art because not only does it bring pleasure to the writer, it can also bring pleasure to the audience. Some may ask why pleasure is important or even relevant when talking about art. Pleasure is relevant because it is imperative that a person enjoys what they are doing or it would be considered work. In “What Teachers Make” by Taylor Mali you can see that slam brings him pleasure through his performance. “If someone tries to judge you / by what you make, you give them this” (31-32). This quote is a great