Poetry Out Loud

Part 1, website cruising:
1.  Grief
2.  Life
3.  a) Dog
b)  Alone
4. a) Kindness
b)  Fairy-tale Logic


I liked Fairy-tale Logic because it was whimsical and reminded me of magic.  Grief was also a beautiful poem, but it was depressing.  Since it will take work to learn a poem, I want to make sure it is the perfect poem that relates to me.  I am most interested in Fairy-tale Logic.  It personally relates to me because I like to write fairy tales and I understand exactly what the author is thinking.  I enjoyed most of the poems I read, but not one of them seemed just right.  I'll have to keep looking! 

Reading the criteria made me nervous!  I will have no problem projecting, because I have a loud voice.  I am a little worried about the pacing issue--I talk REALLY fast, Especially when I'm nervous!  Also having good posture and a "confident stance" will be hard.  I tend to slouch sometimes.  I know that I can make eye contact with my audience; I know lots of my classmates and have no problem making eye contact when I speak. 

I watched Stanley Jackson's performance of Writ on the Steps of Puerto Rican Harlem.  It was a great performance for one main reason--Stanley looked confident.  He acted, used hand gestures, and his eyes didn't just stay in one place.  He never looked at his feet, and his pace was perfect.  The next video I watched was a video of Sophia Soberon reciting Bilingual.  I loved this one!  Sophia was so confident in Spanish as well as English.  The contrasting two languages made the poem more interesting.  I also loved her facial expressions.

The website was really well-organized, and it's great that they have this program available in so many places!  I am excited to find and learn a poem that relates to me, but I am also nervous to recite it.  What if I forget the words?  Or get really nervous?  I just have to work hard to learn the poem well and hopefully everything will run smoothly.