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

This poem differs greatly in its two recensions. The poem generally speaks about the way our society has changed to question almost everything we say in conversation. We find it cool to say the expressions "you know" and "like totally." We tend to sway away from declarative sentences and lean towards questionable statements. That being said, we are prone to end a lot of sentences with a question mark, rather than a period. In this poem, Mali emphasizes the way our generation uses these slang terms to become extremely inarticulate.  In the first recension, we watch Mali perform this poem using his facial expressions and hand gestures. We can watch his mouth move and listen to his voice as he recites the poem out loud to the audience. In the second recension, the poem is presented in a textual manner. It is displayed to us in a way that we must focus in on the words that are moving across the screen.

Orality has an abundance of privileges. Tone of voice is something that we may take for granted, but is nonetheless extremely important. As Mali recites his poem, he ends a lot of his sentences as though he was asking a question. It is both humorous and enthralling, while grabbing the audiences attention. Changing your tone even the slightest bit can add a great amount to your presentation. You are also inclined to connect with an oral performance because it is almost as if the person is talking right to you. You don't have to imagine the way they are speaking; it is simply handed to you. Although the textual writing space is unconventional, it does have its benefits. You can change the way you write, just as you change your tone of voice in an oral presentation. In the textual presentation of the poem, each word was carefully displayed in a certain font and size. You may not think something so trivial would matter to the reader, but subconsciously, you are more likely to pay attention when there is variety. Just as we don't enjoy listening to a monotone speaker, we don't like to read a strict form of writing. We see these different forms of words and begin to question why one word is bigger than the next. It may have a symbolic meaning or it may not, but that is something you must decode. Because the words moved across the page very quickly, you aren't able to read a few sentences and then go back to it a few minutes later. You must sit there and read it all it once.