Using two diverse formats of Sarah Kay’s poem “Hand-Me-Downs,” students can compare and contrast the impact and meaning of the poem. First performed in November 2007 at SkinText: Brown University’s WORD poetry show, and later published in her book No Matter the Wreckage, this poem could be used to demonstrate the significance of form and intended audience.
Hand-Me-Downs
You have taken to wearing around your father’s
hand-me-down anger. I wish that you wouldn’t.
It’s few sizes too big and everyone can see it doesn’t
fit you, hangs loose in all the wrong places,
even if it does match your skin color…..*
*continued.
Hi Alexandra,
Great idea for a poetry activity! I really enjoy a lot of Sarah Kay’s works, and I showed my Creative Writing 11/12 class her “If I should have a daughter” TED Talk. There’s a section in the video where she talks about how many students find spoken word poetry daunting to approach, citing reasons such as “I can’t write poetry.” The list activity she describes under “10 Things I Know To Be True” in that TED Talk (starting with writing a list of 10 truths and editing that list to be a spoken word poem) is a great introductory exercise. I tried it with my class and they found it helpful and surprisingly deep.