Pretend that you are a journalist that attended a spoken word poetry event. You must recap and critically review the evening for those who were not in attendance. You will need enough detail so that your reader can imagine what it was like to be in the audience of your selected spoken word performance. You will need to select a spoken word performance of your own choosing; search “spoken word performance” on Youtube to find many. Your multi-paragraph review must:

• Clearly TAG the work; because this is a performance, include the event (if possible) and the performer (if different from the poet/author)

  • Be sure to have a clear lede that establishes the expanded kernel. (who did what, when, where, why, etc)

• Provide a clear claim in the opening paragraph about the performance as a whole. A claim MUST require support!

• Discuss/explain/explore the subject matter of the poetic piece - what is it about? what perspective is given?

• Discuss/explain/explore the linguistic choices - what words stand out or create meaning? to what effect?

• Discuss/explain/explore the performance choices - consider the selection and effect of facial expressions, gesture, rhythm, word or sound emphasis, speed/tempo, volume.

• Make connections between the choices made and the audience’s reactions!

Goals are to develop work that includes a clear lede and insightful claim that is supported with commentary that relies on direct references to the linguistic and performance choices of the performer.

Exemplary Work will produce a compelling argument that shows incite in its analysis, use of language and syntax to effectively demonstrate how the claim and audience response are both reasonable responses to the performance.