What Is Slam Poetry

It was difficult and uneasy to see family members in such a grief and pain and you don’t know what to say.

In Yusef Komunyakaa’s brilliantly written poem,”Slam, Dunk, & Hook”, the author writes about boys playing a game of basketball with an emotional attitude. He calls the players,”beautiful and dangerous”, shows them changing throughout the poem, and uses a comma to separate the word “slam” from “dunk” to show what the actual focus of the game is. By the end of the game, the players become more advanced without knowing because of their determinations to get their emotions under control.

In the moment, my abilities never faltered. I kind of like that about myself. I may worry, but when it comes down to it, I’m pretty persevering. Despite this, I harbored mixed feelings about singing again.

Allison Joseph and Sekou Sundiata are both great writers who engage the world by expressing their struggles through poetry. Both authors write about how people make assumptions because of what they hear and see around them. Their poems discuss the altercations and obstacles they have faced only because of the color of their skin. In the poem “On Being Told I Don’t Speak Like a Black Person,” Joseph incorporates a wide breath of experiences from her point of view. She expresses her strong emotion by using descriptive language which allows us to read with emotion. In “Blink your eyes,” Sundiata shows the intensity of his feelings by using the repetition of phrases and reinforcing the poems irony.

Amongst the judgmental stares of the audience that has bestowed an image of pathetic vulnerability upon the dancer, the poem’s speaker emerges to provide a portrait of the dancer that is much less lascivious, acknowledging that “Her voice was like the sound of blended flutes / Blown by black players upon a picnic day” (3-4). The sudden juxtaposition of a “picnic day” vis-a-vis a crowded night-club highlights the speakers attempt to remove the sexualized image of the dancer with the intent of identifying her noble power as a member of the black community. The elegance of the dancer, recognized by her soft voice, is affirmed by the speaker’s specific mention of “black players,” displaying black heritage as containing multi-faceted artistic potential. While the poem begins with a dehumanizing portrayal of the dancer, the speaker successfully reformulates the identity of the dancer into a component of a larger black tradition.

Common themes of komunyakaa's poems include black resilience, jazz, and wartime appeal. In February in Sydney He opens the poem with the image of jazz being played through a tenor sax. This poems allow the audience to see how jazz impacts Komunyakaa in such an emotional way when he says “music is an anesthetic.” The metaphor of jazz music numbing the pain allows for a momentary escape from the world of stereotypes and judgement towards African Americans.

However, the listener is brought back to reality after understanding the portrayal of the character’s confusion, from the lyrics “Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy?”. Then, the character’s emotion changes to being nonchalant, with the lyrics “Because I’m easy come, easy go, Little high, little low, Any way the wind blows doesn’t really matter to me, to me”. The emotion next changes to realization, as the character registers what they have done (“Mama just killed a man, Put a gun against his head, pulled my trigger, now he’s dead”). After the character’s realization, the listener can perceive that the character is then washed over with regret and guilt for what they have committed. This is shown through the lyrics “Mama, life had just begun, But now I’ve gone and thrown it all away”. The incredible guitar solo that occurs afterward only further emphasizes the character’s remorse, for the sounds of the guitar resembles that of someone who is

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

Literary works provide one of the avenues through which people express their concern about matters of interest in the society. For example, “Facing It” by Yusef Kommunyakaa is a poetic response to the Vietnam War Memorial. The author uses the poem to highlight his feelings about the memorial that also shows his personal attachment to it. The title of the poem indicates his deep reflection on the event, and an attempt to express and confront the deep feelings he has about the Vietnam War. A close reading of the poem shows that the poet uses certain literary styles to achieve his aim. I will now give a brief introduction about the author.

For many centuries, poetry has been at the center of communication and expression. Poetry has progressed, and styles have changed. However, there are some concepts in poetry that have stayed consistent; every single poem contains a theme that readers can analyze. Poets use different methods to make sure that readers understand their themes. For example, poets may use a variety of imagery, repetition, structure, and history to achieve their purpose. One poet who exhaustively uses literary devices to reach her goal is Dolores Kendrick. Kendrick’s renowned book of poetry, The Women of Plums: Poems in the Voices of Slave Women, contains a multitude of poems that encapsulate exactly how it felt to be a woman and a slave. One specific poem from

Poetry is the creative means in which emotion is expressed through the literary art of rhythm, rhyme and repetition. Over time, the distinctive style of poetry has been altered to create great diversity branching from the traditional poetic style of writing. Missouri born author, Naomi Shihab Nye, provides a great example of a unique style of writing. Nye is a poet, songwriter and novelist whose style incorporates everyday objects in her writing to create a spontaneous, yet thoughtful connection between these everyday items and the reader. In the most basic form, Nyes’ poem is about fame. She implies that it is essentially “these little things that we overlook – all these everyday, seemingly unimportant things – are really what deserve

If you saw me how most people saw me, you would be too. But you don’t because you’ve only seen a part of me. You see what I mean?” That killed me. I thought about all the people I used to know. I thought I always did a pretty good job at being myself but I don’t remember at all, I really don’t. If I was less of myself and more of a phony then maybe all the other phonies would like me more, but I didn’t want to be a phony. I wanted to be me. Just then, the girl’s phone rang. It startled me and I nearly fell out of that goddam window. No kidding. She answered it and it turned out her sister and D.B.’s flight wasn’t as delayed as they thought it would be. I could hear the whole conversation because it was so goddam quiet where we were. When the call ended, the girl turned to me and smiled really nice and wide, which amused me. I was never really one to smile at all, but some part of me decided in that moment that I should smile right

In this literary analysis it is essential to compare and contrast Cathy Song’s poem “Heaven” and Bryan Thao Worra’s poem “Pen/Sword” to give the reader a better understanding of what the authors’ are conveying to their readers. The similarities in the style, word choice, and theme will be compared, along with the differences of style, word choice, and theme reflected throughout each poem. Furthermore, I will determine the meaning behind the broken up and/or the way the lines of each poem while describing why the lines are strategically placed throughout the pieces. This will allow me to identify the meaning that the authors’ are explaining to the reader. Each poet specifically writes to give the reader(s) a picture of what they are feeling and defining their emotion through their writing.

Have you ever read poetry that can inspire you in your everyday life? Poetry that discusses the deep truth about our world and the people who wander it? Well, there is some poetry that can give you a better understanding about life,ourselves, and how to handle situations that come across our path. Inspiring you and motivating you to do your best. These types of poetries can really give the reader a deep knowledge about how to challenge the unknowns. Guiding you on how to work on your up and down moments. Poet Erin Hanson writes poetry that explains the cruel reality of life and also poetry that attracts all walks of people and their everyday challenges with life itself. This essay will present Erin Hanson's excellent poetry motivating many

In contrast, one significant difference between the poems by Soyinka and Clark is the format, as one is written in block form and the other is in stanzas. First, the piece by Soyinka contains stanzas, which are used to group specific ideas and themes together, as well as indicate a shift into a new idea. However, the primary use of this format in Abiku is to demonstrate the many lives of the Abiku as it continues to torment its mother. This also adds to the belief in incarnation of the African people. Conversely, Clark use block style poetry in order to demonstrate the circular manner of the Abiku’s numerous reincarnations. There is no separation between the lines, showing that the Abiku keeps on returning with very little break in between.