Reference no: EM13854505

1. Mike McGee's performs poetry through public speaking; however it is nothing like the typical spoken word. He tells more of a story that is usually comical rather than a super passionate, serious poem that is difficult to understand unless listened to or read several times. When he speaks the poem "What If Playground Bullies Exposed Your Darkest Secrets?" there are special effects added like music and the lighting.

This is cool because it helps set the mood unlike a poem written on a page could do. In his poem "Who's Counting", McGee speaks a whole poem about the structure of a poem. I think he is showing that poetry a lot of the time is put into a box. It is supposed to have the numbered stanzas and spaces in between lines to add effect, but using satire he is saying it is not necessary. Throughout his numbered poem, he is often confused by the numbers and random spaces because they seem to have more of a significance than they should.

Through his comedic performances he is making fun of poetry that is placed in a box structurally when poetry should be free and without rules for theme as well as structure. Structurally he does have a rhythmic flow and rhymes every once in a while so it can be heard as a poem and definitely written could be a poem. I think it is poetry because its purpose is to evoke emotions, which he does

2. Mike McGee combines public speaking and poetry by speaking in poems. He also makes it comical. His comedian like tendencies are what make his so fun to watch. I do not consider Mike McGee to be a poet, by the strictest definition. The definition that I found mentioned that poetry is written in meter. Not everything in his poems are said in rhythm, therefore cannot, by the strictest definition, be considered poetry. Another difference is that most poetry rhymes, and his does not. I thoroughly enjoy his version of poetry, however.