Abuse of Langauge Animal Farm Comic

Poetry Out Loud

Poetry is not one of my strong points, so it's easy to understand that I had a hard time picking out a performance that I could evaluate. Fortunately I found one, Siren Song. The performer Teal Van Dyck excels in many areas but the main ones are voice and articulation and evidence of understanding. Teal had a obvious understanding of what the poem was about and expresses this with some self-confidence and voice inflections. Combining the two criteria, physical presence and voice and articulation, in order to prove her understanding of the poem.

The Sirens are mythological creatures that tempt sailors with their beautiful song; they are thought of as dangerous and deceptive. However Margaret Atwood portrays them quite differently, almost conversely. She portrays them as victims of a cruel fate who are desperate to be saved. In one of the stanzas, one of the sirens is asking for help, claiming that their song is a cry for help. Teal mainly uses voice inflections to show this, changing her voice throughout the poem when she is talking about getting help from YOU. The poem even tells you, preformed in a saddened tone, " I don't enjoy it here squatting on this island... I don't enjoy singing this trio." Some gestures are used to add to some of her exaggerations when pleading for help from her prison, the hidden meaning of the poem.