Taylor Mali "Like You Know"

About Taylor Mali: what role does performance or writing space play in the making of meaning?

Taylor Mali, “Like You Know”

How does the poem differ in its two renditions (oral and text)?

Spoken word:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCNIBV87wV4

Print text:

http://www.taylormali.com/index.cfm?webid=21

What reading or interpretation does spoken word (orally) privilege? What does the textual writing space (unconventional as it is…)

Spoken word allows us to clearly hear the tone of the author.  By listening to the way in which Taylor Mali delivered his “Like You Know” poem, the listener knew immediately he had a sarcastic tone and he ridiculed our youth on our lack of certainty in our thoughts and ideas.  Mali was frustrated by the lack of authority in our speaking.  Mali declares that it “has become uncool to sound like you know what you are talking about?” meaning that he thinks society is more concerned about being cool than speaking properly and that the youth thinks speaking correctly is not cool.  When you hear Mali present his poem, you can feel the emotion, thus the poem has a more powerful, moving effect on the audience.  In my opinion, the printed text of the poem sounded like something a philosopher would have said or a second grader would have written, however, when I heard it presented orally, it sounded much better, with a strong message.