Slam Poetry

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Slam Poetry
Slam is a movement of poetry that emerged in the 1990s. The presentation was in the form of a competition where the poets would read their poems to an audience without props or costumes (Holman 1). The motive of the activity was to move poetry from the academics to the broader audience. The form of poetry represents all the aspects of society, traditions, and the ways of life that people are leading. From that, it incorporates every one and anyone can present his or her message on platforms such as open venues. The developer of the style designed it to attract attention in many occasions. It borrows characteristics from the ancient orals and the delivery style mostly among the youth mimics that of the hip-hop music. From perspective, it high imitates the dub poetry tradition which was a politicized rhythmic genre from the black and the West Indian culture.
The above characteristics makes it possible for a presenter to choose from a wide range of styles and themes. The elimination of props and other aspects of performance poetry ensures that slam poetry keeps changing thus discouraging boredom. Freestyle and inclusion of every person always brings in something new that acts as a challenge to other poets. That in turn makes them try other new things hence the constant changing of the style (Holman 1). Moving poetry from the academics to the broader audience tends to be a major objective of the movement. It also aimed at challenging the authority of any person who thought that he had power over literature.

The rules set by other types of poems brought in many limitations which slam poetry disregarded. It provides an interaction time between the performers and the audience. The presenter was free to present the subject, and the audience had the authority to choose the poet that they will listen to.
The poems performed in this style were educative and transforming to the community and tried reflecting the occurrences that were happening in the society. Poets used the opportunity to make commentaries to productions such as books and even films (Roche 2). They did that to shed some light on the dark side of the society. An excellent example of such a poem is Katie Makkai’s poem by the name “Pretty.” The poem was discouraging the discrimination of the female gender and the choices to change their looks so that they can fit in the society. Katie slammed that to help women in identifying their identity and be proud of it. Her targeted audience was not specific but the society at large in which the discrimination was happening.
From the design, the poets were able to represent themes that concerned the society. That, however, did not have to be presented on a competitive basis but to an audience with the motive of addressing the issue and passing the message to them. The slam in a poem established contradicting ideas on a specific topic and helped people to observe the real meaning of an issue and not the general sense. As a result, the movement was able to identify many problems and talk about them openly. The achievement of that objective relied on the excellent use of words by the poet. Another example of a slam poem is “Words are Weapons” (Digital Poet 1). It was a reflection of the author’s life back when he did not look at the things that were happening around him keenly. In the poem, he comes to terms with his past and with the words in the poem, he can fully understand the meaning of what was happening.
Works Cited;
Digital Poet. “Words Are Weapons | Slam Poetry About Bullying”. Digital Poet, 2018, http://www.digitalpoet.net/words-are-weapons.html. Accessed 25 Feb 2018.
Holman, Bob. “Poetry slam.”
Roche, Anu Elizabeth. “Raising Voices, Breaking Boxes: How Spoken Word Creates Dialogues on Gender.”