Listen to the poet reading his poem by looking up ‘Back in the Playground Blues by Adrian Mitchell’ on YouTube.
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Take a note of things you liked about the poet’s reading. After you have listened, discuss these questions in a group. Be able to support your answers.
1. Which experience did you prefer – reading the poem, or listening to it?
2. How did the experience of listening to the poet recite his own poem affect your understanding of it?
Spoken Word Poetry
Spoken word poetry is a type of poetic art that focuses on the performance, intonation and enunciation of the words of the poem. It is poetry that is intended to be read aloud and listened to by an audience.
INTONATION (N.): the rise and fall of the voice when speaking
ENUNCIATION (N.):
how we speak; to enunciate well is to say or pronounce something clearly
FEATURES Spoken word poetry:
❍ communicates a strong opinion or a clear message about something
❍ uses poetic devices, as other types of poetry do (e.g. repetition, rhyme).
To perform spoken word poetry, the performance poet should:
❍ know the spoken word poem off by heart and be able to say it clearly and without hesitating so that nothing distracts the listener
❍ have clear enunciation ❍ project their voice ❍ make eye contact with the audience ❍ use appropriate facial expressions, gestures and movement.
