Slam Lesson:Repetition (using a Hook) & Street Talk (common speech poems)

Overview: A repeating phrase is often used in music and poetry to provide a base for a piece. Students learn to identify a hook, discuss how it is used and then try it in their own original poetry. The language of a poetry is often very flowery and over the heads of the readers. How using common words can make a poem more accessible.

Gil Scott Heron & Street Talk: Begin the lesson introducing Gil Scott Heron. He is a founder of spoken word and rap as we know it. His stuff is still contemporary and the themes are very relevant. Acknowledging Gil is a nod to the history and culture of spoken word poetry. All of Gil Scott Heron’s poems are written in the language of the street. This means that no big vocab words were used. This was a very conscious choice by the poet to make the poems reach a larger audience.

Play the Gil Scott Heron Track ‘Whitey on the Moon’, while the track is playing its helpful to put the lyrics up on the board.

Discuss the poem: What is the poet talking about? What is repeated? Why is this hook repeated? On one hand is ‘Whitey on the Moon’ on the other is hand is…? Can you give a contemporary example of two contrasting interests in today’s news?

Now play another Poem: ‘Rock out’ by Anis Mojgani.  This is a modern poem, by a New York based poet. It is helpful to put the lyrics up especially for this one, as there are plenty of words spoken quick.

Discuss the poem: What is repeated? Why?

Compare the uses of repetition in each poem. Compare the language – Are there any words that we did not understand? Why do the poets use street language or simple language?

Create a word bank of words the students would call their own street talk.

Ask the students to write a poem of their own using words from in the word bank and including the repetition of one phrase or word – this should emphasize the theme of their poem. (during this session I suggest playing a simple rap beat in the background with no words)

Once the students are done (about 5 – 10 minutes) ask them to share their poems with a buddy and give feedback.

Ask the students to share their poetry aloud in front of the class.

Applaud the students like crazy when they come up to the class and after they are done reading.

Have fun, See – see@blessitup.com

garble, gargle garbage, garumph

Hollah! Hi, hello from a far moon

walk whispers

steering, stayed long sentences off parchment

patch worked and parted, for four part pierced peel parsnips, raw with real.

We divulge ourselves under selves of certain inane intuition that baffles bouncing –

Balls become ball, become red drifting wanderers over our vision sack,

as relations run raw with word wasting. We will them wrangled with words –

we wake them to so dismiss the few whose sounds have hindered and delivered so much so much, she beautiful, she sweet, she beautiful, she sweet, she beautiful, she sweet,

she sheds her skin for polish –

I polish these words behind the words screen flashing colorless bright –

Narrating my life in my life story shaking, shackling sheets suck dry sheet

sieving my seething conceiving my sex – did I give you my sex? –

my body is your counterpart, so I count the parts and add the right angles to right actions- the story blings ready.

I am a jaguar, you are elming – you are hedging your bet, black jack,

slim, cool slim, shady Slim, slim pitching,

take a jaguar home, panthering bright, biting bright, leopard pattern blue bright cast your eyes, avert your sight avert your gaze from light, say word now, say jaguar now, say cat, say shut, say shut open – say my shit shut open –

as I beautiful sweep your, beautiful sweep sweet sweep off feet and I

sheathe entomb and old sickness poets wrangled.

But I’m not a poet, I’m a program – a code sentence – a fast decipher,

a gimmick a challenging gimick, a nod, an eye stare in the check out line

waiting for your eyes to answer me answering,

for you to fake it better to forget it faster to master the answers and answer the master with still word, forgotten word, no word.

it is a dream-sickle lullaby on breasts, naked chest, naked limbs

drawing honey from moonlight. but soon it is our moonlight past,

moonlight it is moonlight story, a story a time that day night, day long hard forgotten, now worded in rhyme of insult to the forest

that made the trees the air the breath the people cleaning words, like trees are paper,

like pulverized crushed pressed, crushed pressed dyed bleached, pressed pulverized trees are something like trees they are nothing like trees! like I am nothing like human man – and in darkness over darkness, shrouded shredded shrill shackled voiceless pages you write it is ok, you will say nature you will say mother, you will say to your own saying nature mother, mother nature, nurture, nurture mother, mother nurture,

and you will forget,

and the story will continue of you when you heard mother word mother, word nature, nature word, until there is pain, there is only pain and you will say stop the pain, the pain is wrong and you will say stop.

I am locked and found.
shrouded, kept, my teeth gnaw air.
my neck is stone.
slurping familiar tea in new habitats, the people are themselves
the children are alive without remorse for their freedom of expression and I champion there divinity, this is better than good
i read about forests demolished for wine, and people demolished for money
i want to help, i want to stop this greed from overtaking the forest
with the children we write letters
i want to stop the people from being devoured
with the children we learn earth things
I’m pushed forward by the sun, the children are passionate and funny
my heart aches and softly i hold it gently like a seedling. letting it cry. letting it ooze. beautiful.

Now we are doing our own show and want you to come.

Thursday Dec 8th, from 5.30pm – 7.00pm @ the MARSH Theatre in the Mission
San Francisco | 1062 Valencia St (@22 St) SF, CA 94110

Free

Listen to the poets of tomorrow today.

OPEN MIC IS ON HOLD _ THE COLD IS TOO COLD  Will Resume Again Soon!!!!!

Oh Yes Expression Sessions have begun. Its outdoor or indoor or both, either way its one wide open open mic. The PLACE for Sustainable Living in Oakland hosts this vibrant gathering every Sunday Night 8pm – Midnight. Plus a Souper Sunday Potluck from 6-8pm. This means jam sessions, poetry, food, performance of types shapes, sounds and forms are welcome.

1121 64th Street near San Pablo Ave. in Oakland

New State of the Art SOUND SYSTEM on Premises – Drum Set on Site too!

Your Host is SEE - Cristian Ellauri

otes from our first jam:
Tony approached the mic and serranted the lovely potlucking feast, he is suddley and sublty joined by Stephfun. They cajole we lookers on with flute interludes dropping into known melodies. But who would anticipate the approach of a frenzied mob of talent? Who would have guessed that the debut of this unpublicized night would become a feast of dance, thought and mirth? The kind of eve that wraps storytelling, and heart felt poems into freestlye hip-hop and dope beats. Perhaps we knew in the quiet of ourselves that we are surrounded by hearts and minds that long to sing, to express, to share their inspiration and convey our souls journey. Bringing this intuition to light is so freakin fun. All are invited to Sunday Night Expression Sessions at the PLACE 8-midnight.

Outdoor by the fire we sinG!

Come Play and listen to music in a laid back Irish Pub/Coffee Shop

13 Draft Beers available plus Ritual Coffee, Organic Milk and Tea.  Open for spontaneous collaboration and improvisation. All experience levels welcome.

We have a very simple set up, nice space. But no full bands just yet. Solo-Duo, and yes we will have an open jam. Please No Covers. Free. Lets play.

Brøøkie Bretschger brings the peeps

“This is our first open mic- the first of many eclectic and diverse performance nights at the Creamery. We are building a network of professional and amateur musicians, artists, writers, comedians, and performers- and we have serious plans to make the Creamery a new unique space in SOMA. Our open mics will be emceed by See.”

Comedians HA! & Poets all welcome

Honoring the Health and Wellness of Human Consciousness
Featuring:

Nick Ramsey
Noah Styles
Joe Conscious
J Scribe
Taj Angelo
E.S.P.
Al Bundy
Warp 9
Lone Wolf
Overflowz
Hosted by SEE

November 5th. 5-11pm
A PLACE for Sustainability
1121 64th St. Oakland
1 block south of San Pablo Ave.

Its about bringing people together, about opening space, about music and life and kids.

PLACE: 64th and San Pablo Ave.

THE PLACE FOR SUSTAINABLE LIVING

TIME: 11am – 6pm (or?)

Line Up: The Everyday Magical Citizens’ Coalition, Children’s theater by Marin based sustainability education troupe Next Generation, Stories for kids by See, folk/blues by Ariel Eisen, Hip-Hop by E.S.P., Jay Scribe and Joe Conscious, The Instrumental Instruments Groove Band led by Master ED, plus Jesse’s Drum Jam, all intertwined by lyrical host See.

Cooper rest his head from hours of undulation – spinal coordination lifting boxes and bikes and frames and poles and bamboo and do who’s for shows. The crest with us flows, each the other knows, or gets to know. Or learns the new of what is one. We arrived in Irvine California, to make a show of sustainability. Sleeping in the parking lot, lots of goofy old kids awake from a slumber to cook oats on a propane stove as Kevin arrives to give us the tour of the site we will set. The caravan arrives on the university campus, it is Wayz Goose festival, it is rolling hills and buildings and blue and yellow balloons the colors of the anteater pride (mascot of the school). Their is a bus in UC Irvine were the wonders we are unload for 16 hours. In the daylight we are still unloading now its information, now its games, now its me the MC flowering these myths to worm holes of word. Presently stilt walkers dance,

Kevin wears Maliaka’s top hat, Emma serves listeners and Tom masterminds the structure to the chaos. Cooper’s chaos is viral and thus he falls, Jonathan’s passion must like wise go within, our general and best hand in bed we truggle on. Day done night begun and all to help. 30 yellow shirted primariy Asian students arrive to take a message from Zach to move us. We are these poles and banners and sheets of wood, Jonathan resurrects himself to play precise placement with steadfast Jeanette. I think a woman wants to kiss me, but my heart belongs to Ariel and so my lips watch her from a distance and grin. And so we are loaded, and so we are fed, and so we are off again into a close distance. We obliterate our wakefulness and lay battered by the road in our truckle beds awaiting a morning of Watts, Los Angeles.

Awaiting tours and, planting a garden in the halfway home. For my part the sleep finds me and leaves me in a city I haven’t seen for 10 years. My former relations emerge and I reach out to them. My old mentor Carl Weintraub. In a fit of glide, I arrive by metro to South Pasadena were exists Carl’s restaurant and astonishing joy happens. The discovery. The tree from 10 years ago

the tree by which my troubles vanished and inspiration arose, the tree is alive and well and Carl’s restaurant sits neatly beside. He shares the story of the theatre company we knew each other by, and the tale of the new restaurant by the old tree. He is fantastic. I leave my plate of shrimp and grits to kiss roots, and find Mer. She is my old roommate and older friend

whom connection has lacked conversation for oh 10 years. And now she picks me up in front of something studios in a little green speedy car. Her wit is firing so fast that for the first quarter of an hour I am summoned to laugh at rapid shifts in meanings and dizzy dialogues of double dealings. She is heart fast, yet her mind is unstill as yours. Her talent is strew throughout her hillside abode were class n craft make a former roommate wish for such tidiness 10 years ago. We go to a theatre were people are supposed to be funny. I fart uncontrollably beside a celebrity. He sits in fumes. I folick to get a kombucha. In the morning I return to my SLR posse and do the aforementioned garden prep. Their are 15 stout black men working to renovate a home behind them 3 Latin Men help us mostly white folk. I am gald to speak with them in my mother tongue, we are fast friends. This wisdom of community service is gentle.

Call it a gentle ride back to Oakland, a gentle shift of buses a gentle drive north to Chico. For there is Butte College, there is GRUB farm and these are places rich in earth knowledge in practice. We arrive to strengthen cheer and again I roar a bit on the mic. At the farm a 420 celebration happens with the 20 of us in a tepee and music and smoke and food. On a trampoline bounce ecstatic beauties through the sweet warm air. The silent field is a pace so sweet that we stay into the afternoon of the next day.

As we drive off I know this leg of the tour is over. That Ariel will soon be in my arms and the possibility of theatre is ripe for the road. We have grown into each other ready to hold Nahsee and Sheri for the long haul, absolved to let Andréa and dear Boot go off to the land of Washington. But more is gained than lost, friendship is easy and honest, experience comes at some cost namely exhaustion and frustration, but now there is time, long time to respond to the approaching summer tour, the approaching launch of Place, and all hands on deck we joy this.

TIME & PLACE:
Saturday 3-19 4-5.30
Saturday 3-26 2.30-4
Saturday 4-2 2.30-4

975 Howard St. – Between 5th and 6th, 2 blocks south of Market
http://www.975howard.com/

Led by Cristian ‘See’ Ellauri
Artist in Residence @ The Garage
MFA Directing, BFA Acting
Extensive past works
Original Hip-Hop-theatre
Creative Portfolio