Poetry and Spoken Word
Learn to analyse and interpret poems – imagery, sound, form and voice – from Robert Frost to Warsan Shire and spoken word performance.
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A poem is a machine built from few words: every choice – imagery, sound, line breaks, voice – carries weight. Analysis asks how the machine works; interpretation argues what it does. English 1's poems often link language to identity: Jackie Kay's 'Old Tongue' mourns a lost accent, Warsan Shire's 'Conversations About Home' voices exile, Zephaniah's 'White Comedy' weaponises wordplay. Spoken word adds performance – rhythm, repetition, audience – to the analysis. The rule stays: claim → evidence from the poem → effect.
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