The Sound of Words: An Introduction to Poetry

Introduction and Rationale

"The only thing we have to fear is fear itself."¹ This is a famous quote by Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Sure wish I'd had knowledge of this quote several years ago. There I was sitting around a very long table in a conference room, with board members, directors, supervisors, all the higher-ups. My heart began to pound, stomach began to turn, palms began to sweat, body began to tremble and my mouth became dry because I knew the time was quickly approaching. Presentation time! I had been asked to give an oral report on the progress of my department. "Why me?" I thought. As I began to speak, my voice began to quiver and became weak. The words would just not flow. How embarrassing! "Why did this happen to me?" I thought.

Have you ever experienced such a situation? Most of us have. According to statistics, 75% of Americans report having a fear of public speaking.² Why is this? Where is this fear coming from? A fear of public speaking, also known as Glossophobia, can be caused by a variety of factors. For example, an overprotective parent could be the cause. The child isn't given the opportunity to think for him or herself and doesn't build up the confidence in his or her own ability. Low self-esteem can be a contributing factor. The person is convinced that his or her opinion isn't valuable. Criticism could be the cause. A person might have been ridiculed and laughed at in the past. Childhood trauma, traumatic experience as an adult, lack of preparation and practice, and the list goes on. Now what do we do about it? How can this phobia be treated?

My curriculum unit addresses the fear of public speaking and provides ways of overcoming this fear and improving oratory skills. It teaches students how to be fearless and confident speakers. I focus on voice and sound, two elements of poetry. If used correctly, these elements can bring an oral presentation to life. Good poetry compels one, through its internal rhythms and exacting arrangement of words, to articulate, to modulate, and to inflect. If well presented it captures the soul. ³ Reciting poetry aloud and studying its elements teaches students how to charge and animate their voices. It helps students master public speaking skills and it builds self-confidence and self-esteem. Reciting a poem is a good way for a public speaker to develop his or her artistic skills. According to Dana Gioia, former Chairman of the National Endowment of the Arts, "Poetry offers mastery of language, and stocks the mind with images and ideas in unforgettable words and phrases, it trains and develops emotional intelligence, it reminds us that language is holistic—that how something is said is part of what is being said, with the literal meaning of words only part of their whole meaning, which is also carried by tone of voice, inflection, rhythm, and it lets us see the world through other eyes, and equips us imaginatively and spiritually to face the joys and challenges of our lives."⁴

An exciting speaker incorporates vocal variety to add vitality to his or her delivery. In public speaking, how you say something can be more important than what you say. Varying the pace, pitch, volume, and demeanor of your voice to fit the words you are speaking can improve your delivery. President Barack Obama's use of pace, pitch, and pause is extraordinary. He adjusts his pace to suit the mood of his crowd, gathering speed and slowing down with effortless ease. In addition, he uses repetition and extends long vowel sounds to help his audience connect with what he is saying. President Barack Obama's vocal variety is inspirational and his vocal energy is magnetic.⁵ His style of delivery incorporates a variety of poetic techniques which commands and keeps the attention of his audience. The strategies that I will use in my curriculum unit teach students how to be just as effective when delivering a speech. Students are taught how to draw on vocal delivery skills and sounds such as volume, tone, rate of delivery, projection, articulation, diction, pronunciation, pausing, rhythm, rhyme and repetition. All of which can contribute to a successful public speaking presentation. The voice is such an important aspect in public speaking. It is the passport to the understanding of your audience.⁶

First and foremost, before I begin teaching students how to be creative with their public speaking I show them how to relax and become comfortable with it. In my unit students learn coping strategies to treat Glossophobia. I stress the importance of preparation, practice, memorization, and recitation. It is imperative that students research their topic thoroughly and know it from inside-and-out, backwards and forwards. Preparation goes a long way toward being the top performance anxiety cure.⁷ If students know their topic well and feel confident with what it is they are saying, then the delivery of it can prove to be very successful. An activity that I have included in my unit involves memorizing and reciting poems of famous poets. Learning and memorizing a poem is a confidence booster. It is an accomplishment. One of the best aspects of learning a poem by heart is that you get to take a poem inside of yourself. It becomes a part of you. When you memorize a poem it is no longer just a poem, but it is your poem. It is in your head, and you can call it up from memory as you would any other experience. Memorizing a poem is a great way to truly understand the poem, and consider every phrase, line and word. You can practice varying sounds, adding pauses and emphasis in different spots to try to find the most accurate voice for the poem. You never really know a poem until you have memorized it. Once you know it inside-and-out, you'll be able to recite it to others or yourself, improvise inside the poem's boundaries-adding your own words, re-wording a section of the poem, to make it your own.⁸

The first poem that I plan to have students study and memorize is "Dreams" by Langston Hughes. In this poem Langston Hughes uses rhyme, repetition and imagery to express his poetic voice. I have included below an excerpt from the poem:

Dreams

    Hold fast to dreams
    For if dreams die
    Life is a broken-winged bird
    That cannot fly.9
  

I chose this poem because it relates to all people and everyone has dreams. My students will be able to make personal connections to this poem for this reason. Hughes expresses the importance of dreams, not giving up on them and how life would be without them. This poem is meaningful and will energize and motivate my students in their desires to pursue their dreams as they begin to study and commit it to memory.

In addition, students will study and memorize "Ambition Over Adversity".

A poem created by the late Tupac Shakur, former rap artist/poet. Many of my students are familiar with Tupac's music but not his poetry. Below are lines taken from the poem:

Ambition Over Adversity

    Take one's adversity
    Learn from their misfortune
    Believe in yourself
    Turn adversity into ambition
    Now blossom into wealth10.
  

The entire poem is very short but extremely powerful. It includes repetition, rhythm and rhyme and it moves you. It is a poem that my students can learn from. It talks about how one could look at the life of another and learn from his or her mistakes and avoid making those same types of mistakes. The poem expresses how one should believe in him or herself and use hardship as a motivating factor to accomplish goals. This is relevant to my students and their lives. Most of them come from families that experience hardships such as poverty, familial issues, and prejudices, among others. Many find it difficult to believe in themselves and what they can accomplish. I believe that any opportunity to enhance self-confidence is vital to their success.

As you can see by the poems I have chosen I want to inspire my students to believe in themselves and do great things with their lives. Not only will I choose poems for students to study and memorize but they also will be given the opportunity to choose poems on their own to learn.

In my unit I will also teach students about rap music and its relationship to poetry. Tupac can serve as a bridge for this idea. The connections between rap music and poetry create an engaging and meaningful platform for the exploration of poetic devices and important themes. The structural similarities of rhythm, simile and metaphor allow students to conceptualize some of the power of poetry through rap music. Good rap and poetry employ metaphor and simile to create imagery for different effects. Comparing the usage of metaphor and simile in poems and raps demonstrates how artists use these literary devices to breathe new life into staid words. ¹¹

As previously stated, memorization is key for presentation skills. Memorizing poetry that is relevant to my students' lives will be easier for them. Additionally, students will be taught to make mental notes. They will present orally without the assistance of note cards. Note cards place a barrier between the speaker and the audience. Referring to notes throughout the speech breaks the speaking contact with the audience. According to Dale Carnegie, "Fully fifty percent of the effect of a speech is lost by continual reference to notes."¹² This may be the first time many of my students have to present without assistance. For this reason, I believe memorizing poetry will facilitate this process since it is easier to do so and will help to reduce their anxiety levels.

After reviewing in detail the importance of preparation, practice, and memorization with my students, I then begin working on recitation with them. Like poetry, public speaking requires much more than simply memorizing it. It's important to also acquire meaning and to deliver it in a way that's understandable and interesting to the listener. Students will practice standing up straight and speaking from their diaphragm so their voices will project. Students will learn to speak at a steady pace, not too slow and not too fast. The more you rush through your recitation, the less enjoyable it will be for your audience. I will stress to my students to take their time and speak clearly so their listeners will be able to absorb the information given to them. My students will begin reciting their speeches first in class with their peers, a group they are familiar and comfortable with. Then, I will begin to invite other teachers to the classroom to hear them speak. Eventually, I will ask the administrators to sit in on the students' presentations and evaluate their performance.