How does the poem "Like You Know" by Taylor Mali differ in its two recensions? What reading does spoken word (orality) privilege? What does the textual writing space (unconventional as it is) play in the transmission of the meaning?
The two different presentations of the poem impact the reader differently. While the oral poem with he video feed of him allows the viewer to see the emotion in his face, it comes across somewhat less clear. The textual writing space version of the poem really emphasizes the meaning of all the words. Seeing the poem in words as one is reading it allows them to have an even more involved experience. It allows people to understand which words are being stressed with importance against the others through the different font sizes, fonts, and italicized words. While the viewer may not become as connected to the actual author in the textual format, he or she will connect more with the meaning and importance of what is actually being said.
Is it distracting to read a poet's body language (not to mention his Scrabble T-dhirt)? Do we anticipate spoken word events as somehow challenging because we are primarily literate?
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