This essay will be an analysis of genre. The analysis will specifically be analyzing Spoken Word as a genre. The analysis will demonstrate that Spoken Word as a genre is social action. Social action in the form of discourse, communication, information, even education!
Spoken Word as a genre is an expressive art form of a person, or people speaking, communicating their feelings, thoughts at times to a general audience, and other times to a particular audience. As Carolyn Miller wrote in the article ” Genre as Social Action,” genre helps in ways we encounter, interpret, react to and create specific text. Genre rhetorical action based in recurrent situations.
I will examine and analyze the Spoken Word poems: “The Hill We Climb” by Amanda Gorman, and “I Sued the School System ” by Prince Ea. Both poems are texts, hold discourse with others, encounter with others, are sources of information, and even educate others. Prince Ea’s poem is social action as he appeals to the intended audience to examine and hold the school accountable for past and present methods of educating. And Amanda Gorman summons all us citizens of America regardless of race, religion, or age, to work together to better our country. She uses the past and present as a measuring bar to elevate our efforts to building a better society, America!
The result is that as a genre Spoken Word is a text, written form of art, artistic expression that informs, communicates, motivates, inspires, can educate, can be entertainment, and is discourse. Spoken Word as poetry can also be a visual play as well, on stage play performances, dramas that Spoken Word, and body language /expressions are a major part of. To summarize, Spoken Word as a genre is many genres, art, literature, drama, onstage plays, films, music, poetry, hip hop, storytelling, rhyme, riddles, communication, of the past and present situations, a recurrent situation, many discussions are of past matters, and dilemmas that exist and/or recur.
Spoken Word derives from Africa and has deep roots in many aspects of life there even today. Spoken Word was very popular on the continent and was part of the culture and traditions. West Africa, Oral Historians, also called Griots, who were musicians and singers would perform storytelling. The storytelling would be performed as a discourse, a way of communicating with tribal, common people. The Spoken Word event would always accompany by drums and, also lutes-like instruments with 21 strings called Kora. The Oral Historians such as Griots are like living historical archives of the people, their history, and traditions. They hold the memories of the tribe. Griots would recite the storytelling, communicating, as well as educating the people about tribal histories, genealogies and great heroes of the past. The storytelling would be in the form of poetic spoken word, riddles and rhyme. Then as now the Spoken Word, storytelling, and the like, was social action, speaking on matters of the time, and being a forum of the covering body to communicate, interact, inform, entertain and educate the village, community.
This Spoken Word as poetry and storytelling was and now is a connected, as events, situations recur, and are spoken on, address to suit this time. Spoken Word as a genre now as well as back in time incorporated many genres in one! Because now as then a recording of events, history, play-acting, communication, information, education and entertainment.
As Spoken Word arrived in the Americas, it continued with its traditions, to encounter, interact connecting people from different experiences and situations. This Spoken Word of that time was referred to as “Folklore.” “Folklore meaning customs, beliefs, stories, and sayings of a people handed down from generation to generation. And the people most famous for Folklore were, are the Gullah people of the Sea Islands and coastal districts of South Carolina, Georgia and Northern Florida.
The Gullah people would convey their experiences through songs, old Negro spirituals, riddles, rhyme and stories. And, as Carolyn Miller defined genre social action, recurrent situation. The Gullah people, as the Oral Historians and Griots of Africa felt a need and it was tradition to encounter, interact, communicate, inform, entertain and educate their people, community. And to this very day the Gullah people hold yearly Gullah festivals in South Carolina, sharing and telling stories.
And, being very true to Carolyn Miller definition, genre, as social action and recurrent situation, Spoken Word, poetry become a very popular art form for social action and social change in the 1960s- 1970s. Talented poets such as The Last Poets, Maya Angelou, Nikki. Giovanni, Sonia Sanchez, Toni Morrison, and Gil Scott Heron used their talent in writing and reciting in the art form Spoken Word to encounter, interact, entertain, inform, communicate and educate the community of matters and events of those particular times! The Spoken Word and essays were expressive art of recurrent situations, events. And again, this Spoken Word would really connect people, not only from different lifestyles and experiences, but also of the past and present. And, through all these different times, decades of Spoken Word never strayed from continuously acting as a vehicle of discourse, encounter, reach to, communication, and connecting people with situations, events and other people.
Spoken Word is the forerunner of its child, “Hip Hop,” which is many genres in one as the spoken word is! Hip Hop being Storytelling, rhyme, forceful expression, dance, breakdance, art- graffiti and music form, in turntables in the form of sampling old music. Hip Hop too would encounter, interact, communicate, entertain, at times educate, hold discourse with its audience, people. Hip Hop connects with the youth, like no other art, music form of the past!
Hip Hop, unlike the spoken word of the poetry had as part of its very foundation, riddles, boasting and playing the dozens/battle–rhyme. Two poets, spoken word reciters of the 1970s, that many M.C.’s of hip hop always spoke of and emulated were Dolomite and Blowfly were two poets who loved to boast, toast, play the dozens within their rhyme, riddles and storytelling.
Hip Hop in its early stages referred to most battle- rhyme reciters as M.C.’s, meaning Masters of Ceremonies, Mic checkers, movers of the crowd. The Lyricist M.C. Rakim had rap song, “Move the Crowd”. And battle-rhyme reciter, KRS-1 of Boogie down production referred to his style of Hip Hop as Edu-Tainment, educate and entertainment. And became part of the Stop the Violence movement, and Hip Hop rap “Self-Destruction.”
In concluding, it can easily be said, Spoken Word as genre is the very foundation, fiber, and DNA of everyday life as a format to encounter one another, communicate, and hold discourse, to inform, entertain and educate. Spoken Word is the living breath of social action. And the connection that connects us as people with past, recurrent situation, event Spoken Word is our natural expression of our heart, our feelings and thoughts in a poetic art form that we convey for ourselves, to other people, the community, the world! And Spoken Word is the bridge that connects worlds and time, people, and thoughts.
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