Slam+Poetry

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Totally Like Whatever, You Know

I chose the Taylor Mali poem "Like Totally Whatever, You Know" to analyze. I liked it because it was humourous, but had a deliberate message about a current problem in society. Taylor Mali uses a number of poetic devices in this poem such as satire, repetition, and irony. I have highlighted the examples of these in the poem below (satire in red, repetition in blue, and irony in green). These devices make the poem more entertaining to read, but also help to illustrate theme. The theme of this poem is ignorance in everday speech in present time. This is not only the poet's opinion, but actuality. When I talk to my friends about dialogue, no one uses the word "said" when describing a conversation. We all use "like". She was like, blah and then he was like yeah is an example. It is part of language to be fluid, not static, but we are going too far by talking as if we haven't ever been to school. I think this poem helps to bring forward questions about our verbal interactions, that we may not think about in day-to-day life. Do we really want to degrade the gift of speech by making simple, ineffective, and thoughtless statements. Though animals can communicate with each other, human have a very unique speech ability. I appreciate what Taylor Mali has to say in this poem, and would recommend it to anyone.

In case you hadn't noticed, it has somehow become uncool to sound like you know what you're talking about? Or believe strongly in what you're saying? Invisible question marks and parenthetical (you know?)'s have been attaching themselves to the ends of our sentences? Even when those sentences aren't, like, questions? You know ? Declarative sentences - so-called because they used to, like, DECLARE things to be true as opposed to other things which were, like, not - have been infected by a totally hip and tragically cool interrogative tone? You know ? Like, don't think I'm uncool just because I've noticed this; this is just like the word on the street, you know ? It's like what I've heard? I have nothing personally invested in my own opinions, okay? I'm just inviting you to join me in my uncertainty? What has happened to our conviction? Where are the limbs out on which we once walked? Have they been, like, chopped down with the rest of the rain forest? Or do we have, like, nothing to say? Has society become so, like, totally. . . I mean absolutely. . . You know ? That we've just gotten to the point where it's just, like. . . whatever! And so actually our disarticulation. . . ness is just a clever sort of. . . thing to disguise the fact that we've become the most aggressively inarticulate generation to come along since. . . you know, a long, long time ago! I entreat you, I implore you, I exhort you, I challenge you: To speak with conviction. To say what you believe in a manner that bespeaks the determination with which you believe it. Because contrary to the wisdom of the bumper sticker, it is not enough these days to simply QUESTION AUTHORITY. You have to speak with it, too.