Post 5: Spoken Word Analysis

My Darling Sara 
I will be analyzing the spoken word piece “My darling Sara” by Shane Koyczan.

            The poet repeats several lines throughout the work, creating with them themes that are woven together in the end. For example:

“I’m Trying”

“My darling Sara”

“So I do my best impression…”

            Repeating these words with the same rhythm and pauses each time adds to the affect and separates ideas into verses of sorts. Ending with the line “I tried”, tied several of the themes together and concluded the piece well.

            The spoken word artist carries the same structure of rhythm throughout the performance. Looking at the words of the piece typed out you can visually see the verses follow the same form, with the same general number of syllables. This structure and similarity in the verses is what creates the effective rhythm.

             The artist builds intensity by quickening the pace and shortening the pauses until the words form one long sentence at which point he cuts off the flow with a simple sentence and a long pause.

            Instead of raising his voice to stress important sentences, a common practice in regular speech, he actually does the opposite. Koyczan says the significant lines slowly and with long pauses before and after, often directly following a long verse of unbroken lines. In a strange way this is much more effective than shouting these lines as at these points his voice carries the tone of someone who is remembering and attempting to control an emotion.

            This effect can be heard when Koyczan pauses after the sentence ‘My darling Sara’ each time and this lets the audience know its importance and the weight that the words carry in comparison to the rest of the work.

            Within the piece, Koyczan rarely ends a sentence but rather connects multiple without pause. The subject of the sentence shifts several times, using words or phrases as links between what might have been two sentences or three sentences in a written work.

            This spoken word poem displays Koyczan’s style well as it has his signature continuous sentences, heavy pauses and the simultaneous build up of speed and intensity that are heard in his other works.

            I could dissect the effectiveness of each sentence and pause in the piece but I think to understand why spoken word works the way it does you just have to hear it. And no amount of analysis could compare to simply listening to it.