Spoken word

Spoken word is an art that connects people to another person's thoughts, ideas, opinions, or feelings. Artists such as Langston Hughes, Maya Angelou, Sonia Sanchez, and other artists have brought forth a new flavor in the world poetry. Each and every one of these poets had their own way of expressing their thoughts and emotions on paper. As each poet tried to discover themselves and their particular style, they always looked to their past, pondered on present issues, or thought about the future.

Discuss the evidence for top-down influences on spoken word recognition. What is the best way of accounting for these effects? Introduction One fundamental issue in the study of spoken word recognition is concerned with how and when bottom-up information (i.e., raw acoustic input) is integrated with top-down knowledge (i.e., lexical, morpho-syntactic and semantic information) when processing speech, if at all. Interactive accounts, represented by the TRACE model, acknowledge top-down flow of

Spoken Words. They can do anything. They can bring comfort to an old friend. They can sing happy birthday to a little boy whose balloons are slowly sinking. Words have power. Words are power. Words can change someone's mindset. It can alter one's belief. A simple choice of word can make all the difference. You can have the most beautiful thing to say, but say it with the wrong words, in the wrong tone (pshh) within a split second it's gone. Watch your words. See, words are one of the most powerful

Shane Koyczan is known in the world as an award winning spoken word poet. He was born in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories. Soon after birth he went to live with his grandparents in Penticton, British Columbia. Shane’s childhood was extremely hard and painful. He had to deal with malicious bullying, so severe that it led to him suffering depression. He believed that he could never find happiness or love. He carried the effects of the mental, emotional, and physical abuse he endured throughout his

Yusef Komunyakaa: A Well of Experiences The poetry of Yusef Komunyakaa is influenced by his personal life, as are the works of many other poets. His work is described as “built on fiercely autobiographical details” (5). Knowing his story helps to understand the topics he writes about, and his poetry. Komunyakaa was born in the relatively small town of Bogalusa, Louisiana in 1947. (5) His father was a carpenter, and he grew up surrounded by the rich and transformative southern culture. He enrolled

Underlying Methods of Communication in Keats’ “To Autumn” In “To Autumn,” a poem by John Keats, we see a multi-leveled examination of mortality concealed within a seemingly simple ode to the fall season. The poem opens with an overwhelming appeal to the senses. Anyone familiar with the common motifs of Autumn will identify heavily with the first stanza, for Autumn is a time of ripening pumpkins and relaxed musings. The second stanza has a tone reminiscent of the feeling that accompanies the end

What I loved about hearing Sarah Kay speak on spoken poetry was her passion. This passion was enhanced by her voice tone and her potent pauses. One of the tips mentioned in the video on effective delivery was to simply pause instead of saying a “filler word” such as um or uh. When Ms. Kay paused during her talk, I had a chance to ponder her words and consider what she had just said instead of pushing on to the next topic. Similarly, how her voice tone changed from instructive when she talks about

Sarah Kay is a contemporary American poet. My first contact with her poetry was via YouTube. I knew about writers occasionally reading their works, I was a collector of song lyrics, but I was new to the existence of spoken word poetry. In short, spoken word poetry artists perform their poems. This art form is more lyrical, and, of course, more direct. The poem I saw her perform was “B”, and it was delivered in a Ted Talk. In her Ted Talk, Sarah asks the audience to do an exercise: to think about

“Hands” by Sarah Kay: Explication Spoken word poetry is meant to be performed, not simply just read from paper. Spoken word conforms and defies the standards of traditional poetry simultaneously: the same rhetoric devices can be found, but there is much more creative space for the speaker because of the lack of a strict form (Olson). Sarah Kay’s spoken word poem “Hands” is about the significance hands hold in our lives. Kay’s main theme in this poem is that our hands have been put here to create

“To this day” is a spoken word poem and video illustration by Shane Koyczan and many artists. It was created in 2013 with the purpose of effectively spreading the convincing message that bullying is a real and serious thing that is too often dismissed as normal and not acted upon as the serious thing it is. 2013 was shortly after the new large push against bullying which is likely one large reason as to the creation and popularity of this work. However even with the anti-bullying movement it would