Author Archives: Maya H.

Spoken Word Poetry

When I watched, Louder Than A Bomb, I could see that all of the poets were passionate and really put their soul into their writing. Some of the high schoolers were willing to basically tell their life story to strangers; the girl who spoke of her inattentive mother and sick younger brother or the guy talking about how he felt before his nephew was born. Now I myself have never written poetry nor did I have a poetry class in my high school. But I remember when I was little, my older sister would write poetry and read it to me. I found the movie to be very inspiring as the poets used art to discuss challenging topics going on in their lives and going on in the world. There were poems about racism, about police brutality, about ghetto living and how dangerous that is.

I myself hate public speaking, I’m too nervous and shy to do it, but these people put their fears aside and put their hearts forward. The stylings of the second winning group wrote and expressed their poems like rap music. Now I personally am not fond of rap music, but they did it in a way that I could understand and feel what they were saying. When Professor Bannett put up Franny Choi’s ” Choi Jeong Min “, I enjoyed the poem. I could relate to it because I know what it’s like to have others put you down to the point where you want to change yourself completely just to win their approval. But Like Choi, I understand the importance of loving who you are, just the way you are.

Gook

Gook

Part of Speech: noun

Definition: any sticky, greasy, or slimy substance

Source: Collins Dictionary

Found in Choi Jeong Min by Franny Choi, line 5

I chose to look up this word to help both my classmates and myself to understand the poem better

Hammerhead

Hammerhead

Part of Speech: Noun

Definition: It’s actually another term for hamerkop; a brown African marshbird related to the storks, which has a crest that looks like a backward projection of the head, and constructs an enormous nest

Source: Oxford Dictionaries

Found in ” Choi Jeong Min “, line 4

I looked it up because I was sure that it had nothing to do with the hammerhead shark and wanted to clarify what it is.

Default

Default

Part of Speech: Noun

Definition 1: failure to fulfill an obligation

Definition 2: a preselected option adopted by a computer program or other mechanism when no alternative is specified by the user or programmer

Definition 3: something that is usual of standard

Source: Oxford Dictionaries

Found in ” Poet Franny Choi pictures a world without police “, line 14

Chosen because I wanted to know what a ” default human ” was.

Reclamation

Reclamation

Part of Speech: Noun

Definition 1: The process of claiming something back or of reasserting a right

Definition 2: The recovery of useful substances from waste products

Sources: Both Oxford Dictionaries and Collins Dictionary

Found in ” My mother tells me to fix my hair “, line 24

Chosen because I plain and simply didn’t know the word before now.

Spiraling

Spiraling

Part of Speech: Noun

Definition: In the context of this poem I believe the speaker to talking about downward spiral; which is a situation that gets worse because of bad events.

Source: Cambridge Dictionary

Found in ” My mother tells me to fix my hair “, line 8-9

Chosen because I want people to understand it’s context within the poem.

Extinguish

Extinguish

Part of Speech: verb

Definition: to put an end to; destroy or to render ( a right or obligation ) void

Source: Oxford Dictionaries

Found in ” Field Trip to the Museum of Human History ” line 10

I looked up this word as I wanted to help Li Pan, who looked up the accurate definition but that’s the first basic definition of the word. I mean no disrespect to my classmate, I just want to make sure everyone fully understands the word and that it means more than just putting out fires.

Walt Whitman

Walt Whitman was an American poet and journalist. Whitman came from a family of nine children, and was raised in Brooklyn and Long Island during the 1820s to the 1830s. Whitman taught himself to read and fell in love with literature when he was 12 years old after learning printer’s trade. Whitman worked as a printer in New York until his work district burnt down. When he was 17, he began his career as a teacher until 1848, which was when he started his full-time journalism career. He was an editor for the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, but was fired for supporting the antislavery faction of the Democratic Party.

On his own, Whitman printed and sold Leaves of Grass, anonymously. It was his first work and though it went unappreciated, Ralph Emerson called it ” the most extraordinary piece of wit and wisdom ” America had seen yet. It’s the book that Whitman is most known for. He made constant revisions to it until finally finishing it in 1881. Whitman used it to express his own personality into his writing, something that majority of writers didn’t do. Whitman displayed his belief that poetry is a form of wisdom for mankind through his verses. Whitman used his book to reflect American life for the middle class and the poor.

People like Walt Whitman because his work is untraditional and open. He used his work to discuss real world scenarios and circumstances.He wrote poems to preach about equality and to talk about the lives of everyday Americans. It made people feel like their was a writer that identify with them. He changed the very style of poetry and though his work is old, it’s still relevant to today’s time.

Citations

1. “Walt Whitman”, Poet|Academy of American Poets, https://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poet/walt-whitman

2. “Walt Whitman”, Biography & Facts, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Walt-Whitman

3. “Walt Whitman”, How Walt Whitman Changed The World of Poetry & What You Can Learn From It, https://www.neboagency.com/blog/lesson-walt-whitman-audacity/

Gilled

Gill

Part of Speech: Noun

Definition: an organ ( as of a fish ) for obtaining oxygen from water

Source: Merriam Webster

Found in the 3rd line of ” You’re ” by Sylvia Plath

I looked up this word because I wanted to know it’s context within the poem. I was swamped so I had to post it now.

Mica

Mica

Part of Speech: Noun

Definition: Mica is a hard mineral that is found in rocks and resembles small, flat crystals. It has great resistance to heat and electricity.

Source: Collins Dictionary

Found in the 12th line of ” Thirsting ” by Alicia Ostriker

I looked up this word because I didn’t know what Mica was.