PRESENTING POETRY/PROSE: Voice Techniques
Voice in Poetry
Imagine hearing a voice on a page speak out to you and grab your attention. This really happens to you when the words on the page have a voice. In Langston Hughes's poem, "Harlem," imagery and figurative language are used to express his poetic voice. The poetic devices used to describe a "dream deferred" capture the reader's attention.
"What happens to a dream deferred? / Does it dry up / Like a raisin in the sun? / Or fester like a sore / And then run? / Does it stink like rotten meat?"
Hughes portrays several images to the reader that symbolize what will happen to a dream if it is not pursued. Hughes leaves the dream up to the reader. The dream could be a goal in life or social equality. Hughes's poetic voice creates a lucid and descriptive picture of what can happen if you don't achieve your dream.
http://teachers.yale.edu/curriculum/viewer/initiative_08.02.01_u
Voice Techniques:
a. Project your voice but remember never to shout.
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- Correct use of the neutral vowel sound as in 'the' or 'daughter', is important.
This allows the work to flow and to sound natural.
b. Modulation: In order to emphasise words or phrases, vary your voice in terms of:
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pitch - the height and depth of the voice
inflexion - the rise and fall of the voice within the pitch
pace - going faster or slower
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power - the loudness and softness of the voice
pause - the most important technique. It gives you a chance to visualise the scene, gives the listeners time to absorb what is being said and allows you to phrase correctly by adhering to the written form e.g. punctuation and enjambed lines.
c. crisp articulation (the clear ending of words) ensures the clarity of the spoken word.
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Articulation Exercise:
Pit a pat, pit a pat
What was that?
Eight fat raindrops
d. Work on your resonance (amplification of sounds) by practising humming sounds.
Resonance Exercise:
Humm, humm, bumble bees humming,
Humm, humm , summer is coming.
Exercises should be practised often, in short spurts.
I would use Langston Hughes' poem, "Dreams" to teach the public voice and metaphors. I want students to dream and have ways to articulate their dreams. In this poem, Hughes is speaking to the people who believe in dreams. He is telling them to hold on to their dreams. Hughes writes that without dreams, life is meaningless and hopeless.
• Hold fast to dreams
• For if dreams die
• Life is a broken-winged bird
• That cannot fly.
• Hold fast to dreams
• For when dreams go
• Life is a barren field
• Frozen with snow. 11
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