Poetry Analysis Project

By: Lauren Layton

Spoken Word Poetry: What is it?

• A performance artist poem that is word basic. Often includes collaboration and experimentation with other art forms such as music, theater, and dance. Spoken word usually focuses on the words them selves, the dynamic of tone, gestures, facial expressions, and not so much on the other art forms.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lW2uwvVq4so

P.O.W By: Alicia Keys

• In this spoken word piece Alicia Keys talks about being a prisoner. Not a prisoner in a cell but a prisoner of words, words that she holds inside. She states that “ only a puppet mostly I say what you wanna hear.” By this I believe that she is saying that she doesn‘t fully speak her mind. In the next line she basically questions our ability to accept the truth if it were spoken. She says that she is scraping the earth to find a piece of herself. She is searching high and low for the real her. The her that is hidden. The park that she wants everybody to see. The only problem is that that part of her is trapped by words unsaid.

P.O.W Continued

Alicia Keys compares herself to being a puppet by using the figurative device metaphor. “yet only a prisoner mostly I say what you wanna here”. This is a metaphor because it compares two or more things without like or as. The next device she uses is symbolism. In this spoken word piece the prison mentioned refers to her mind. Her unsaid words are trapped in her mind like a prisoner in a cell. They are unable to come out and be heard.

Who is Alicia Keys?

• Alicia keys is a well known R&B artist. She has a strong passion for music but she also have a love for poetry. Keys has published a book of her poems titled “Tears for Water”. Keys has “delicate thoughts” that she never thought she would share with people. In her book of poetry she opens notebooks and journals that she has kept throughout her life. In these journals she documents her growth as a person, woman , and an artist. She also shows how the love and support from her fans has brought her so far in her life and career.

• The theme of this poem is death and staying positive. This poem refers to death and dying soon but it also talks about staying positive. “when my heart beats no more”, “I will die before my time”, and “ wiped my last tear” are all examples of where death is mentioned. Though this poem may seem depressing due to the mention of death , there is a positive part. He writes that he is grateful for the positive people around him and for the time he has had on earth.

In the Event of my Demise by: Tupac Amaru Shakur

Who is Tupac Amaru Shaker?

• Tupac Shakur was one of the most dynamic, influential and self-destructive pop stars of the Nineties. The rapper's husky voice described his stark contradictions, setting misogyny against praise of strong women, hard-won wisdom against the violence of the "thug life" — words he had tattooed across his torso. The critical and commercial successes of his music (as well as his modest achievements as an actor) were continually overshadowed by his legal and personal entanglements. In Tupac's world, art and reality became tragically blurred, culminating with his 1996 murder in Las Vegas. • Shakur was the son of Black Panther Party members Billy Garland and Afeni

Shakur (Shakur is Arabic for "thankful to God"), who was in jail (and later acquitted) on bombing charges while pregnant with him. Sometime after his birth, he was named Tupac Amaru, for an Incan chief whose name translates as "shining serpent”

Still I Rise by: Maya Angelouhistory of the African-American people, with it’s talk of slavery, and that gorgeous image of the “black ocean, leaping and wide” — such a powerful metaphor for overcoming oppression. But the poem’s scope is not limited to one people; it speaks of the universal notion of the defiance of the downtrodden. Angelou’s voice is resounding and sensually rhythmic, and carries so beautifully her message of strength and positivity.

Still I Rise ContinuedStill I rise contains so many images that I love. In the first stanza, Angelou writes that although she may be trod into the very dirt, she will still rise like dust (“like dust, I’ll rise”). This idea, coupled with the soulful rhythm, creates a palpable atmosphere of unstoppable defiance. The dust rising, for me, delivers the image of a ghost — perhaps even the ghosts of slaves — that no oppressor or murderer can escape.

All About Maya AngelouMaya Angelou was born Marguerite Annie Johnson in St. Louis, Missouri. Her parents divorced when she was only three and she was sent with her brother Bailey to live with their grandmother in the small town of Stamps, Arkansas. In Stamps, the young girl experienced the racial discrimination that was the legally enforced way of life in the American South, but she also absorbed the deep religious faith and old-fashioned courtesy of traditional African American life. She credits her grandmother and her extended family with instilling in her the values that informed her later life and career. She enjoyed a close relationship with her brother. Unable to pronounce her name because of a stutter, Bailey called her "My" for "My sister." A few years later, when he read a book about the Maya Indians, he began to call her "Maya," and the name stuck.

Woman By: Alice Walkerblack women of former generations sacrificed on many fronts so their children could have better lives. She mentions their struggles with racial discrimination and poverty, among other trials. She stresses that these women worked to gain something better for their children, even if they themselves couldn't define what better meant. They worked hard on anything that came their way.

Alice WalkerAlice Walker has been defined as one of the key international writers’ of the 20th century. Walker made history as the first African-American woman to win a Pulitzer Prize for Literature as well as the National Book Award in 1983 for her novel “The Color Purple,” one of the few literary books to capture the popular imagination and leave a permanent imprint. The award-winning novel served as the inspiration for Steven Spielberg’s 1985 film and was adapted for the stage, opening at New York City’s Broadway Theatre in 2005, and capturing a Tony Award for best leading actress in a musical in 2006.

Lift Every Voice and SingThis poem is about looking forward to the nest day. About slavery and how to be positive. When things go bad lift every voice and sing. Each day is a new day. Look forward to everyday. It’s a new beginning. It’s a new day to start something new. Simile is used when it says “ resound loud as the rolling sea”. Rhymes make the poem interesting and make the reader want to continue. The harmonies of liberty symbolize freedom. The figurative language used in the poem make this poem come to life. It also keeps it interesting.

James Weldon JohnsonBorn on June 17, 1871 in Jacksonville, Florida, James Weldon Johnson was encouraged by his mother to study English literature and the European musical tradition. He attended Atlanta University, with the hope that the education he received there could be used to further the interests of African Americans. After graduating, he took a job as a high school principal in Jacksonville.In 1900, he wrote the song “Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing” on the occasion of Lincoln’s birthday; the song was immensely popular in the black community, and became known as the “Negro National Anthem.” Johnson moved to New York in 1901 to work with his brother Rosamond, a composer; after attaining some success as a songwriter for Broadway, he decided in 1906 to take a job as a U.S. Consul to Venezuela. While employed by the diplomatic corps, Johnson had poems published in The Century Magazine and The Independent.

If By: Rudyard KiplingThe poet then explains that it is important for one to dream in life, since life is meaningless without dreams, but do not get governed by them. One should work towards achieving and fulfill your dreams but do not become a slave of your dreams. One should not just be truthful, but if any dishonest person twists those words in order to fool you, you should have the ability to listen to those bitter truths. It is also important not to forget one’s past, the way one travels the journey from ground and sky, since it involves lots of hardships and lessons learnt.

Rudyard KiplingRudyard Kipling was born on December 30, 1865 at Bombay, India, where his father, John Lockwood Kipling, himself an artist, was principal of the Jeejeebyhoy Art School. His mother, Alice Macdonald Kipling, had three sisters who married well. His early years in India, until he reached the age of six, seem to have been idyllic, but in 1871 the Kipling family returned to England. After six months John and Alice Kipling returned to India, leaving six-year old Rudyard and his three-year-old sister as boarders with the Holloway family in Southsea. During his five years in this foster home he was bullied and physically mistreated, and the experience left him with deep psychological scars and a sense of betrayal.

Sources

• http://www.theguardian.com/books/2012/jun/21/short-story-rudyard-kipling• http://newsone.com/2597359/james-weldon-johnson-naacp/• http://www.freemumia.com/2012/01/new-poem-for-mumia-by-alice-

walker/• http://mayaspoeticsession.weebly.com/all-about-maya-angelou.html• http://thegrio.com/2013/09/19/long-awaited-tupac-shakur-biopic-fin

ds-new-financiers/• http://main.stylelist.com/2011/06/16/alicia-keys-celebrity-beauty-loo

k-of-the-day/