Arianna Gaudette
Mat Wenzel
ENC 2135
22 July 2019
The Power Of Poetry
Introduction
Everyone has emotions. Sometimes you may feel happy, sad, angry, or jealous. The ways that people express these emotions can be very different. Growing up as a girl means I come with hormones, drama, and most importantly, a lot of emotion. I found some points of relief when I punched and kicked my older brother, or cried into my parents' arms. Sometimes I would just sit in bed, eat ice cream and cry. However, nothing truly made me feel better until I sat down, opened my diary, and began writing. I would write for hours until my heart’s content, and only then I would truly feel consoled. A place that I have felt heard at is honestly not anywhere that comes to mind. I feel like a lot of the time the things I say don’t really mean anything to anyone else even though they carry a lot of feeling and meaning to me. Growing up I have always enjoyed writing and thought of writing down my thoughts and feelings has been extremely soothing. I always have written stories, thoughts, and even music. I have always had a diary to write my thoughts because sometimes, you really do not know how to express your thoughts. I have always had trouble talking out problems. I would write them down. I would often become very invested and then had no one to read it to. When I speak to my parents, I hardly ever get full attention. Partly because my Dad has hearing loss and partly because they really don’t care. I feel like my friends are not really that deep, they never really want to have deep conversation. My boyfriend listens to me, but sometimes I really want a lot of people to actually hear me. Whenever I have an opportunity to be heard, I never really know what to say. The best way to be heard in my personal opinion is to write all your thoughts down. Even just by doing this I feel like I am being listened to by the entire universe. When I write things down, it feels like my prayers are being thought upon, even though I'm not religious. When I write, I feel like my words matter, my words are meaningful, and my words have a purpose. I feel like what I say isn't just for shits and giggles or to add to a conversation; it’s more of something genuinely being there for me. I want to talk about all of my writings about my emotion to people who actually understand and are eager to listen.. I want to be apart of a community of people who have experienced the same issues as me. I want to be with people who have deep thoughts and talents that they do not know how to show off in any other way except by writing. I think a lot of people feel the same way. I want to be apart of a community who feels that expression through writing is the ultimate healing mechanism. The closest thing to this that would suit my community needs is slam poetry. Slam poetry is the community that I want to be apart of.
Community Profile
I think a slam poem is an art. And this is a common ideal for all poets. Poetry is often viewed as something we all have to learn in English class as a requirement. The views of poetry are not often positive in the eyes of the average students. I remember sitting in my english class falling asleep while learning the rules of haikus, and being forced to write my own poems on assigned topics. Poetry was often something the students dreaded learning and the teachers dreaded teaching. This is something a lot of poets want to stray away from. Slam poets want poetry to be fun, inspiring, and animated. Poetry gets forced down our throats when learning about Shakespeare, taking quizzes on his stylistic choices, and micro-analyzing his every word. Poetry should not be something someone gets quizzed on. It should be spontaneous and heartfelt. At one point, poetry lovers got fed up at people’s disdain for the art and wanted to bring the beauty back into focus. According to PowerPoetry.org, a man from Chicago named Marc Kelly Smith wanted to change the world view of poetry. He wanted to make it expressive, musical, and animated, and he sure did just that (Powerpoetry.org). He created slam poetry. Imagine a low lit, spunky room with a microphone set up in the front. Light jazz may be playing, and in this room, people of all colors, races, and genders gather to snap and express their words. This is a typical setting of a session. It can be more formal, and even more laid back. Slam poetry in my words is a way to get out built up feelings, opinions and ideas, and express it to the world in an exciting, different way. The only problem for me was that people at my school viewed poets as strange, weird, and boring. They thought of it as “uncool”. That is why in high school I was too afraid to join the Slam Poetry team, because I was afraid of what other people were going to think of me. However, my high school slam poetry team was impressive. When the slam poetry team won first place at a state-wide competition at my school, people’s eyes began to open. They started realizing that it was not stupid, it was inspiring. This began happening across the country as well. In an academic journal that I had read, this was actually a common occurrence. “The students soon discovered that the poets had lives beyond the classroom. They were Spoken Word performers, slam competitors, who tried out new material on audiences at night and redrafted it in the light of feedback (Dymoke).” The way that people my age looked at the expressive art of slam poetry was changing. It was not just a boring piece of writing, it had meaning, emotion, and power. I think that once people began to look past the “poetry” connotation that they negatively associated with, they began to see that slam poetry is truly amazing. People are able to perform anything from political issues, to songs, to love stories. The possibilities are endless. They have rhythm, soul, and meaning. After the performer is finished, their works are supported by a thunderous uproar of snaps and vocal support. Snapping is a sign of gratitude and applause without actually clapping. In fact, the audience has such a big role within these events. These verses are written to provoke and move the audience (powerpoetry.org), and by snapping, the audience is able to show just how effective a poet was at reaching them. The whole passion and thought that goes into performing your inner feelings is something I have always been looking for. Slam poetry discusses taboo issues that are not often talked about. There is never any judgment nor guidelines. In the realm of slam poetry, you can say whatever you want or whatever you feel and people will support and snap at you. In slam poetry, to show people applause and gratification, you snap. Snapping is slam poetry nature and culture. You snap while someone is performing when they say a moving line or word. Along with snapping, people also tend to say “ooooh” or “ah” or any other little sounds to give the poet confidence and support. I really enjoy this because it encourages the performer and gives them confidence to keep going with peoples’ full support. A slam poetry setting is a space where there are a bunch of people who have thoughts, opinions, and stories to tell. There is often a stage, and a microphone to direct the audience’s focus. People also are sitting down and lounging around, mostly drinking coffee. The performer speaks their writing on the stage and everyone snaps. It is a calm, and cool setting for people to really vibe and support one another’s thought-out emotions. I cannot wait to do slam poetry for the first time. I will finally be with people who have thoughts, opinions and emotions, and are willing to share it to the universe. I want to use slam poetry to make friends, learn, and support a group of people who love writing and expressing just as much as I do (powerpoetry.org).
The Healing Power
A main topic that drew me into this community is the extensive research done on the healing powers of writing. I know personally that the expression through writing has helped me with my troubles immensely. I began researching the effects of medicinal writing and I got thousands of results. I wanted to know more about the science of writing and how it affects the brain, considering this is something that I had experience with and always thought of being true. One article that I found was by Allison S. Walker, a graduate student with her MFA in creative writing. “You don’t have to be a doctor to practice narrative medicine; you simply have to be willing to listen. One application of narrative medicine related to community writing is creative arts therapy, an alternative route to holistic healing through creative expression (Walker 2017).” This quote spoke to me because even just seeing the words “narrative medicine” was very reassuring. I was always told that writing is a good outlet for your feelings, and now that I began researching, I quickly realized that it is true for many people, not just me. Walker also expresses that narrative medicine is a result of the world we live in. This world can be a very dark place, there are issues around the world affecting people socially, politically, and economically. Many people do not have a coping response to these issues other than to reply in even more hate. A good coping method that many people have utilized is writing and expressing their thoughts. The ways of the world leave people feeling “dehumanized” and then they turn to writing. This expressive writing can then be connected to the practice slam poetry. These topics of the world’s problems is what created slam poetry. Not only did the practice of slam poetry come from a man trying to change the appeal of poetry, it also came from people having no outlet from the chaos in this world. People wanted to burst out and share their hardships with one another; this is a humane way of healing- healing through human feeling. People gather and mourn over ideas, or celebrate progress. All of these ideals and thoughts connect with each other. I think this is what intrigues me the most about the writing and slam poetry community. I view it as a therapy almost, a place where people can gather and unite (Walker 2017).
Meeting with an Artist
Since I had personally never been to a slam poetry event and did not want to go into this newfound passion blind, I had to have an interview with someone who knows their way around the microphone. Due to the slam poetry sessions being held in the old student union that is now torn down, as well as it the summer semester, I was not able to meet up and join a slam poetry meeting. In order to get more of an idea of the setting, I took an uber to a local jazz bar. As soon as I entered the bar, I quickly realized that this was not a place for me. Drunk old men and a sober young girl like me did not jive very well. I then walked home wondering what I should I do to get the much needed insight that I was looking for. I got the idea to interview my friend who is apart of the slam poetry team who is a sophomore. Her name is Ana Duarte, she is a talented poet herself, and we know each other from our time in high school. She was a part of that aforementioned championship-winning slam poetry team from my high school. Not only does she have natural talent, but she is also a poet with a strong message and voice. I decided to direct message her on instagram to ask her some questions on slam poetry. She was kind enough to agree, and I was able to get information on the ins-and-outs that occur inside the slam poetry community. I first asked her to describe what slam poetry means to her. “ I feel like in the slam poetry community there's a large sense of camaraderie. Everyone is talented in their own flare of writing.” she says. “I feel inspired every time I'm in that type of setting, surrounded by talented minds, brilliant writers, and powerful voices. People usually know what they're coming into when they watch poetry so the audience usually shares that mutual respect and is very vocal and encouraging. Whether it is about politics, social issues, love, heartbreak, pain, happiness-whatever you're feeling, you're entitled to share it with the world. So when you're up on that stage, it's your time to share your thoughts and use that microphone as your weapon (Duarte).” What I also thought this was that slam poetry sessions talk a lot about democratic viewpoints and issues. This was very interesting to me because I have read some articles saying that slam poetry is not very political based, however according to Duarte and another source, it tends to lean towards the democratic type of person. According to Diana Cullell in her article about slam poetry in contemporary Spain, she notes that a lot of the topics have a democratic shift on things. “What seems to set traditional and contemporary alternative recitals apart is the lack of strict regulations and adherence to a hierarchical process in the latter, which allows for a freer and more democratic activity where literature invades new spaces and finds new avenues of consumption (Cullell).” This notes on the fact that people that are facing the same issues and expressing the same values like to congregate together and express their ideas and feelings without any possible backlash. Slam poetry creates a safe-haven for those who may feel uncomfortable expressing their passionate views in a world where not everyone is accepting of an opposing opinion. Even Duarte agrees with this quote because she even talks about very relevant and important topics such as the pro-choice movement, access to birth control, and women’s rights. She told me “she never really finds anyone that does pieces about Republican ideals (Duarte).” Even though I am not personally completely sided with the Democratic or Republican party, the Democratic topics really do intrigue me, especially when it comes to the social topics like what Duarte had mentioned. These topics are impactful within the community because everyone seems to be affected by these issues. The problems tend to transcend race, economic class, and ethnic background. Being able to use Slam Poetry as an outlet of expression to those that can truly understand your situation gives people the opportunity to feel comfortable with their own ideas and thoughts, which is an invaluable feeling for many people. It is described as a judgment free zone to really talk about whatever your story is (Duarte).
Connection with the Audience
One of the main focuses within the slam poetry community is the connection with the audience. The audience is the support group when it comes to the speaker. When talking to Ana, she made sure to tell me the audience’s purpose. “ I like that the audience makes slight comments or snaps and makes sound effects when they hear good lines. It's definitely encouraging when you're up on stage slamming your piece. Overall, people come on that stage to spit their story (Duarte).” A slam poetry session has many working texts inside of it. One of the most important working texts in this community is the relationship between the performer and the audience. Because I was unable to attend a live slam session, I decided to go online and watch one on Youtube. I came across a channel called Brave New Voices which is a competition for aspiring youth to share their words. The video I watched was from the 2013 finals in Washington DC. While watching, the performers would speak a loud, and strong verse and you can hear the audience snap and hoot. In one instance at the time stamp :39, you can hear the audience scream “let's go!” The performers feed off of the audience and keeps them encouraged to speak stronger and really get their point across. I think it is so important because the speaker is literally preaching to the audience about their emotions. Without the audience, the speaker would be performing for no one, and no one would be able to hear their thoughts. The whole point of slam poetry is to really put out emotion and expression into the world so people can really listen. According to Susan A. Somers-Willett, “at the heart of each of these aspects of slam poetry is the complex exchange between slam poets and their audiences. Rather than engaging in the relatively passive dynamics of reading print or listening to a poetry reading, slam poetry, facilitated by performance, commands that the poet, poem, and audience have an immediate and active critical relationship with one another (Somers-Willett).” This quotation explains exactly how slam poetry originated. Yes people were moved by written poetry back in the day, yes people enjoy reading novels and listening to podcasts, but slam poetry adds the real life story-telling aspect. I feel like humans are meant to communicate mouth to ear, and slam poetry adds the animation to the story. The speaker’s connection with the audience is so important because the story must be told to someone, and the audience is all ears, and all snaps.
Conclusion
After my research and interview about slam poetry, I learned that it is a community that I will certainly be apart of. With the inspiring content, and expressive lyrics, it makes me yearn to be get involved in this new passion of mine. People go to slams to have a sense of community, and belongingness. You are free to talk about whatever you want, with no judgment, only support. Through my research, I learned a lot about how supportive the community is. The way everyone supports your thoughts and emotions is so important, and in today’s world is something that a lot of people need. The world is hard sometimes, and people just need a place to express themselves. The most interesting thing I have found while researching and finding the benefits of written and spoken expression is the free nature of releasing pent up emotions. I like how people use poetry as a way of escaping the harsh reality of the world. There is so much negativity in this world, and there's only so much good we can do. A way to cope with all the bad that is around us is getting together with a community that is open, inviting, and willing to listen, allowing everyone to express their emotions in the same way; with only support and inspiration.
Word count: 3,103
Work Cited
BATUR, ZEKERYA. “THE ANALYSIS OF THE LEVEL OF STUDENTS' PERCEPTION OF THE MESSAGES IN FICTIVE TEXTS IN FICTIONAL CONTEXT.” Reading Improvement, vol. 55, no. 2, pp. 69–78.
Cullell, Diana. “(Re-)Locating Prestige: Poetry Readings, Poetry Slams, and Poetry Jam Sessions in Contemporary Spain.” Hispanic Research Journal, vol. 16, no. 6, 2015, pp. 545–559., doi:10.1080/14682737.2015.1129837.
Dymoke, Sue. “‘Poetry Is Not a Special Club’: How Has an Introduction to the Secondary Discourse of Spoken Word Made Poetry a Memorable Learning Experience for Young People?” Oxford Review of Education, vol. 43, no. 2, 2017, pp. 225–241., doi:10.1080/03054985.2016.1270200.
Hux, Karen, and Carly Dinnes. “Writing Changes and Perceptions After Traumatic Brain Injury: ‘Oh, by the Way, I Can’t Write.’” Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, vol. 99, no. 12, 2018, doi:10.1016/j.apmr.2018.09.092.
Kwachou, Monique. Writing Therapy. Langaa Research & Publishing CIG, 2010.
Somers-Willett, Susan B. A. Cultural Politics of Slam Poetry: Race, Identity, and the Performance of Popular Verse in America. University of Michigan Press, 2010.
Speaks, Youth, director. 2013 - Brave New Voices (Finals) - Washington D.C. Team Round #4. YouTube, YouTube, 18 Aug. 2013, www.youtube.com/watch?v=jXk3uhlhAVY.
Walker, Allison S. “Narrative Medicine: Community Poetry Heals Young and Old.” Community Literacy Journal, vol. 11, no. 1, 2016, pp. 138–145., doi:10.1353/clj.2016.0024.
“What Is a Slam Poem?” History of Slam Poetry – Spoken Word Poetry | Power Poetry, www.powerpoetry.org/actions/what-slam-poem.
Arianna Gaudette
Annotated Bibliography
Narrative Medicine: Community Poetry Heals Young and Old
Allison S. Walker
“You don’t have to be a doctor to practice narrative medicine; you simply have to be willing to listen. One application of narrative medicine related to community writing is creative arts therapy, an alternative route to holistic healing through creative expression (Walker 2017).”
This quote and document that is peer reviewed and written by a graduate student with their M.F.A and is a credible source. This source is very relevant to my research because I use writing and creativity as therapy and a creative outlet for all of my feelings. I think this is the perfect article to use Walker’s study to benefit my research topic on slam poetry and its effects on me. In this article, Walker has evidence on medicinal poetry. She has participants talk about their memories and how they have impacted their lives. She then discusses with them how it benefits their mental health.
2. ‘Poetry is not a special club’: how has an introduction to the secondary Discourse of Spoken Word made poetry a memorable learning experience for young people?
Sue Dymoke
This paper talks about the importance of poetry and how it has on a young student;s mind. The study is taking place in the UK. This is a credible source because it is peer reviewed, and written by a university professor. This study is relevant to my research paper because it involves students just like me. The person I will interview is also relevant to this source because we are all students of the writing community. “The students soon discovered that the poets had lives beyond the classroom. They were Spoken Word performers, slam competitors, who tried out new material on audiences at night and redrafted it in the light of feedback (Dymoke).” I will pull a lot of relevant information from this text and will be able to apply it in connection with my other source. I can tie this into poetic therapy and show how poetry improves a students mental health.
3. The Cultural Politics of Slam Poetry : Race, Identity, and the Performance of Popular Verse in America
Author: Somers-Willett, Susan B. A.
“At the heart of each of these aspects of slam poetry is the complex exchange between slam poets and their audiences. Rather than engag-ing in the relatively passive dynamics of reading print or listening to a poetry reading, slam poetry, facilitated by performance, commands that the poet, poem, and audience have an immediate and active critical relationship with one another. Furthermore” I think that this source is useful to bring in the topic of politics into my research paper. A lot of people view slam poetry as a libreral activity, but I can use this source to show that there is more to slam poetry than just politics. Politics play a role in slam, but I think that I can use it to show that people express themselves through politics, and then they can further express themselves in slam poetry. Politics is a very prevalent issue and hot topic especially in America, and I think this source is extremely relevant in my paper about slam poetry.
4.Writing Changes and Perceptions After Traumatic Brain Injury: “Oh, by the way, I can’t write”
Author: Carly Dinnes,a Karen Hux,a,b Morgan Holmen,a Alaina Martens,a and Megan Smitha
“Written expression differs from spoken discourse in some of the underlying cognitive and linguistic components needed for successful transmittal of ideas. Spoken communication typically demands immediate message comprehension and response generation.”
This source encapsulates everything that I am arguing I guess. I am trying to argue that poetry and written expression is extremely beneficial to mental health and is something that should be considered. This source talks about specific people who have had brain trauma and how reading and verbal communication did nothing, however written expression is what helped patients grow from the traumatic experience. I can connect this article to the first article and relate them to medicinal poetry, and how written expression can wound the soul, and the brain. These sources go hand in hand and I am really glad that I found them.
5. (Re-)Locating Prestige: Poetry Readings, Poetry Slams, and Poetry Jam Sessions in Contemporary Spain
Author: Diana Cullell
“What seems to set traditional and contemporary alternative recitals apart is the lack of strict regulations and adherence to a hierarchical process in the latter, which allows for a freer and more democratic activity where literature invades new spaces and finds new avenues of consumption. “ This quite and source is very interesting because it puts the political label on slam poetry and jam sessions. This source kind of refutes the other source so I think it will be an interesting source to play around with. This source focuses on the physical location of slam poetry, and focuses even more on the audience's role during performances. Audience and venue play such a big part in slam poetry and is something I will be speaking upon in my research paper. In my research interview, I will ask a lot of questions about the audience and what kind of role they play to the performer, and any other aspects. A lot of my interview consists of questions on the environment of the venues.
6. Title:
Writing Therapy
Author: Kwachou
“Speak now so you may speak again! If I feel too deep... It’s because I know the pain inflicted by the stoic And I would prefer even pain to emotional void.” This source is a book of poetry. I wanted to include this piece because I think it is important to include an actual piece of poetry because it's a work of art. My entire research paper is about poetic therapy and I want to include that. I can use this text as an example to tie into my other sources. This quote encapsulates the pain and mental blocks that people get and how freedom of expression on paper can fix that. The quote to me also explains that someone prefers pain to not being able to express on paper. I think piece of writing would be a good example of what someone may perform on stage at a slam poem session.
7. Poetry and Story Therapy : The Healing Power of Creative Expression Chavis, Geri Giebel
“Like Lamott, I have witnessed, over the years, how words and images speak directly to the soul and heart. They etch paths to self-awareness and help bring about relief from sorrow and confusion. They provide links between our past, present and future and between the people in our lives.” This is a more poetic source, even though it has claims and research in it, I believe that this paper is exactly what I need to incorporate in mine. I have a lot of quotes that I can use in my paper. This paper uses ethos as a credibility appeal because the author talks a lot of different great writers that founded poetry. I think this is a good quality to put inside my paper so I have even more credible sources, especially from people like Lamot, who have been in our great writing history. This source also can be compared and contrasted to my other sources so I can pick and choose parts to add through out my paper.
8. Interviewee
Ana Duarte
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