POETRY THAT GETS TO YOU:

An Example of Spoken-Word Poetry

INTRODUCTION: Spoken-Word Poetry is a kind of poetry that has gotten popular in the past few
decades. There are many types, but the main idea is that there’s an emphasis on performing the poem,
often by acting and sometimes accompanied by music, especially beats. Rhymes are often in this form,
but not necessarily, as in this example, which was written by a girl in the 7th Grade.

The important part of this exercise is to try to feel what the poet wants to express. All your attention
should be on her message and any impact it has on you.

When finished, answer the questions.

“Why Am I Not Good NOTES ON

Enough?” LANGUAGE
By Olivia Vella
Sources: Text (edited by Andrew Reyes) & Video

Great, you woke up. Well…

1. Take a shower, you don’t want to smell.

2. Pick out an outfit that will fit in with the latest trends and Outfit = combination of
won’t make you the laughing stock of the school more than clothes
you already are. Laughing stock = source of
laughter
3. Put on some makeup so you actually look pretty and you
can show your face in public.

You can’t even recognize yourself, and your face tingles

with an itch you can’t relieve. Otherwise, you will have Meticulous = done with
ruined the meticulous painting you applied to your careful attention to detail
hideous face. Hideous = ugly

4. Don’t forget to style your hair in elegant curls; you can’t

let the people at school see how your hair frizzes up Frizzes up = become tight
naturally like an electrocuted monkey. curls
Toe-pinching = your toes are squeezed
5. Shove your fat feet into your toe-pinching, Blood-blistering = your feet get bumps that
blood-blistering Converse shoes because everyone at bleed
Converse = shoe company
school is wearing them and you CAN’T be the odd one out. The odd one out = the person not accepted

As you gaze into your bathroom mirror, you see a Gaze = look for a long time
stranger, that somehow stole your reflection, and
 replaced it with a completely different girl.

Every part of your outfit is uncomfortable. But even

though you spent hours trying to look pretty, you’ll never
be as good as those other girls at school.

You are really holding back a few tears, but you feel like Holding back = stopping
you are holding back a tsunami of emotions that you yourself from…
can’t let anyone know that you feel because they may
not respect you the same way–or did they ever?

Why am I not good enough?

Beauty is pain.

6. Get off the bus.

7. Find a group of people you can walk with to class Heaven knows = nice way to
because heaven knows you can’t just walk alone. say “God only knows”

But you don’t even like these people. They make dirty Cuss = curse = use bad
jokes and cuss a lot. They laugh and joke about you. language

You know you shouldn’t hang out with them, but hey,
they are popular, and you just want people to like you
like they like them. Stocks = place of torture that
locks your head and hands in
You are in the stocks, as people throw judging tomatoes one place in the center of
and hating heads of lettuce at your insecure little head. town

You cannot stand up for yourself, because you are

alone, trapped, and defenseless. And you cannot stand
up for yourself, because these popular kids are the
royalty of the school, and what they say and do goes. What [the popular kids] say
and do [is what everyone
You take each comment, each judgment, each accepts]
assumption, each opinion, each strange look, each
remark, each criticism, each review, each report, each
assessment, and with it, your self-esteem plummets like
a sinking ship–down, down, down, to the dark and Plummets = falls down fast
dreary depths below. and far down
Dreary = depressing
You look at all of the other girls; your mind racing a mile
a minute:
I wish I had her hair.
I wish I had her eyes.
I wish I had her perfect teeth.
I wish I was as skinny as her.
I wish I had her social confidence.
I wish that as many boys that like her liked me.
 Why am I not good enough?

Well, life isn’t fair.

8. Get your work done.

The only part of your life that seems to be solvable is

actual school work.

You take pride in your work because it is possibly the

only thing special about you.

You do it to see the radiant smiles on your teacher’s Radiant = shining

faces as they applaud your work. Their joyful praise is Applaud = celebrate by
the gentle rain that brings a magnificent rainbow, the clapping
sunshine that brings forth fields of sweet daisies, and
one of the only things that brings you happiness.

But, it is not popular to be smart. In fact, you are seen

as a nerd, too smart, human calculator, brainiac, robot,
geek, computer girl, know-it-all, teacher’s pet, suck up,
and any other wonderful names you can think of.

Your peers’ jealousy is the pollution that prevents a Peers = classmates

rainbow, and the bulldozer that plows through the once Bulldozer = truck used for
golden fields of daisies, the intangible object that pushing
crushes your happiness like a bug. Daisy = type of flower
Intangible = not able to be
A’s are getting you nothing but torment. touched

Why am I not good enough? A’s = best grade in American

system
Just get over it.

9. It’s the end of the day, get ready for bed.

10. Undress, get your pajamas on. “Wow, did I get fatter
today?”

11. Undo your hairdo. “Man, my hair looks like a mop.”

12. Wash off all of your makeup. “I can’t even look at

myself.”
This is my life every day. I can’t help it.
I’ve been told
you can’t compare apples and oranges.
I’ve been told
that I am distorted.
I’ve been told
that I need to be grateful for who I am.

But going through your middle school years,

you are in charge of your own journey to find
yourself on a small jet, and sometimes you can’t
control what happens to you–the turbulence will
throw you off course.

But popular isn’t always a good thing.

You tell yourself, “I just want people to like me; I just

want to be accepted.”
But skipping meals and marking up your wrist
isn’t going to fix that.

You look at other girls and wish you could be like them
But other girls are looking at you and wishing
they were you.

Society infers that girls have to Infer = to suggest you should

have skinny waists, tan skin, long silky hair, conclude
perfectly straight and white teeth, big butts, and Tan = brownish color of skin
etc. after being in sun

Society claims that girls have to

wear lots of makeup to be pretty.

Society claims that girls have to Skanky = inappropriate

wear skanky clothing and
do inappropriate things to be happy as well as
“cool.”

But society is wrong.

You are loved.
You are precious.
You are beautiful.
You are talented.
You are capable.
You are deserving of respect.
You can eat that meal.
You are 1 in 7 billion.

And most of all, you are good enough.

AFTER READING / VIEWING:
1. In your own words, IDENTIFY a message that the poet wants to communicate.
a. NOTE 1: Identify = say what it is
b. NOTE 2: message = a fully expressed idea using specific words--NOT a topic
c. MESSAGE:

2. IDENTIFY a line or two from the poem that you believe is evidence that supports your
conclusion that that’s the message. Highlight or underline that part of the text LABEL it
“evidence”.

3. IDENTIFY one part (that isn’t more than 3 lines) of the poem that “gets to you.” Highlight
or underline that part. LABEL it “Gets to me”
a. NOTE 1: (When something “gets to you,” it makes you feel something).

4. IDENTIFY one aspect of the poet’s performance that made it more meaningful when she
read it aloud. Circle it in the list below.
a. NOTE: Performance aspects include:
i. Facial Expressions
ii. Hand Gestures
iii. Changes in Voice (tone, speed)
iv. Use of Props
v. Body language

5. DESCRIBE in your own words what the poet did with that aspect.
a. EXAMPLE:
i. Identified→Facial Expression.
ii. Description→She always had the same face on, never changing. She
was looking down. She never smiled
b. YOUR DESCRIPTION: