Poetry and the Spoken Word

Watch the following clip and comment on how it makes you feel. What line(s) stand out most to you. Can you connect to anything that he is talking about? Do you think the poem read aloud has more meaning because the author is reading it or do you think it should stand alone as a written work?

For example I'd respond to this poetry jam by saying that Taylor Mali is attempting to sway an audience to make more assertive statements within society. Specifically he is talking about the youth of today and how they don't seem to want to take a stand on any issues for fear of sticking out and not being part of the normal group.

"Like, don't think I'm uncool just because I've noticed this;
this is just like the word on the street, you know?
It's like what I've heard?
I have nothing personally invested in my own opinions, okay?"

Those lines point out how people fear to make opinions about what they have been studying, reading, listening to etc... Why can't we as a society embrace the idea of really standing up for ourselves and saying that we have a voice?

This is what I'm challenging you to do throughout this unit. Make your individual voice heard and express your opinions. When responding to the posts try to not generalize, take a stance on what you've heard and argue your point of view. This will help you when we write our own poetry later too. Trust me, I have a plan for us, you just have to ride the waves with me.

Taylor Mali - "Totally like whatever, you know?"

In case you hadn't noticed,
it has somehow become uncool
to sound like you know what you're talking about?
Or believe strongly in what you're saying?
Invisible question marks and parenthetical (you know?)'s
have been attaching themselves to the ends of our sentences?
Even when those sentences aren't, like, questions? You know?

Declarative sentences - so-called
because they used to, like, DECLARE things to be true
as opposed to other things which were, like, not -
have been infected by a totally hip
and tragically cool interrogative tone? You know?
Like, don't think I'm uncool just because I've noticed this;
this is just like the word on the street, you know?
It's like what I've heard?
I have nothing personally invested in my own opinions, okay?
I'm just inviting you to join me in my uncertainty?

What has happened to our conviction?
Where are the limbs out on which we once walked?
Have they been, like, chopped down
with the rest of the rain forest?
Or do we have, like, nothing to say?
Has society become so, like, totally . . .
I mean absolutely . . . You know?
That we've just gotten to the point where it's just, like . . .
whatever!

And so actually our disarticulation . . . ness
is just a clever sort of . . . thing
to disguise the fact that we've become
the most aggressively inarticulate generation
to come along since . . .
you know, a long, long time ago!

I entreat you, I implore you, I exhort you,
I challenge you: To speak with conviction.
To say what you believe in a manner that bespeaks
the determination with which you believe it.
Because contrary to the wisdom of the bumper sticker,
it is not enough these days to simply QUESTION AUTHORITY.
You have to speak with it, too.