Slam+Poetry

media type="youtube" key="SCNIBV87wV4?fs=1" height="385" width="480" 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.

There are a few Poetic Devices that I spotted in this poem, they were a bit tough to find though. "Bumper sticker", can be a metaphor for the wise guy or the hippie who doesn't listen to the rules. "Where are the limbs out on which we once walked? Have they been, like, chopped down with the rest of the rain forest?" Is comparing the thought of cutting down rainforests to our own minds and speech. For repitition like and you know? are obviously repeated. Personification is when he says the bumper sticker has a mind of its own, its own wisdom. There is a shift from goofy to serious as the second to last paragraph ends. The theme of this poem is to be aware of our growing illiteracy in our generation. The theme of this poem, from my perspective, is the illiteracy of our generation. After figuring out this theme, I knew this poem would be the one I would review. It is true in all ways, teens and adults alike are becoming more and more illiterate, which is a great problem for our time. It reflects our generation in a deep and meaningful way. I love this poem mainly because of its irony, and its shift of tone near the end. The poem is crafted excellently around the false questions and like, the likes that are used. I stopped laughing at the shift though, because it was a very sudden serious change to the humorous tone before. It sent a very important message at our generation to change its ways and to be literate. I thought this poem was thoughtful and deep, and very meaning ful, and that is why I chose it.
 * __//Poetic Devices//__**
 * __//My Thoughts//__**