Spoken Word Poetry

Poem 1:
1. Poet: Shane Koyzcan

2. Poem: To This Day

3. Synopsis: Shane pulls on the heart strings of the viewer when he tells the story of what it is like to be young, different, and insecure. As well as telling the story's of others, he also gives the audience a look at his past.

4. Important poetic technique: Shane is able to connect with the audience through his own stories about bullying and life decisions. He was also able to create imagery in the listener's/reader's mind by illustrating that "we are not abandoned cars stalled out and sitting empty on a highway." By making these connections and creating imagery, it makes the poem and its theme so much stronger.

5. Favourite line: "And if you can't see anything beautiful about yourself, get a better mirror, look a little closer, stare a little longer, because there is something inside of you that made you keep trying, despite everyone who told you to quit." There are so many lines throughout this poem that caught my attention, but this line definitely stood out. What Shane is trying to say in this line is that no matter how much someone dislikes themselves, there is something beautiful inside of everyone, even if that person is the only one that can see it.

Poem 2:
1: Poet: Sarah Kay

2: Poem: If I Should Have A Daughter

3:Synopsis: In this poem, Sarah is more or less making a list of the things she would do and say to her daughter if she were to have one. She talks about what she would do to help her daughter learn about the world we live in as well as helping her become a better person.

4: Important poetic technique: The duration of this poem is an apostrophe to her hypothetical daughter. She goes on about how she will "paint the solar systems on the back of her hand" and tell her "[her] voice is small but don't [she] ever stop singing." Sarah also has the ability to make this poem seem like an important life lesson, but is also able to throw some humour in here and there.

5: Favourite line: "This world is like sugar and it can crumble so easily, but don't be afraid to stick your tongue out and taste it." In my opinion, what Sarah is trying to say in this line is that the world around us can dissolve and turn to black so instantly but we can't be afraid to take chances and live a little.

Poem 3:
1: Poet: Marshall Davis Jones

2: Poem: Touchscreen

3: Synopsis: Marshall is concerned that society today is so caught up in technology that they are losing touch with who they truly are. He also illustrates all of the changes that have occurred since technology has become more advanced.

4: Important poetic technique: Two important techniques used in the poem are contrasting (juxtaposition), and repetition. Marshall takes habit in contrasting what once was to what is. He catches the readers attention when he discusses that "[they] used to sprint to pick and store blackberries and now [they] run to the Sprint store to pick blackberries." Repetition is also used when he repeats the words "click" and "touch" as if that's all society is doing nowadays.

5: Favourite line: "iPod, iMac, iPhone, iChat, I can do all of these things without making eye contact." I like this line because it is an example of what society has come to. I believe that is also a glance into the future. Soon enough, technology will be able to do things that were thought unimaginable, and that will have people locked in their basements on the computer for days on end.