Spoken word poetry is a form of poetry that the author gives life to through voice inflections and word play. In Shane Koyczan’s spoken word piece “To This Day”, Shane uses vivid mental imagery and particular emphasis to bring attention to bullying and mental illnesses. Through the telling of people's struggles he teaches he readers that it is possible to survive mental illnesses no matter the stigma put on you because of them, and that we all need to work together to spread the word and help the victims. For most people, working with loud noises is the best way to get attention, but for Shane, working with both noise and silence is more impactful. He uses a quiet and somber tone, inflicting the pain on his viewers when he says “We grew
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Depression still is, and always will be a black plague sickening our world, and bullying will always live on in the hearts of cruel people. But, the way Shane sees it, we don’t have to listen to the silky barbed lies of depression, nor the teasing taunts of those who bully. All we have to do is see ourselves for the way we truly are, not the nicknames of those who wish to harm us. It may be a struggle, but it is a struggle that we must push through, and we must make it known. This is a huge issue at the school I attend. Our nickname is “Suicide High” and even with the amount of bad publicity we get for it, we still don’t take care for those being bullied or those with mental illnesses. If we could speak out about suicide and depression in our school instead of pretending that it didn’t happen, it could be understood by other students, and the victims could get the support that they need. Through Shane Koyczan’s brilliant piece “To This Day” about inner torment, self inflicted or not, teaches us to speak out in any possible form so we can bring attention to mental illnesses and bullying. With bold wording and vivid images he draws the scenes of those struggling, and then he varies his voice to color them in, creating a clear picture of what it is really like to deal with these problems. This is one of the most effective ways to spread the word about things like this because it put it into a format that all of the audience can
Depression still is, and always will be a black plague sickening our world, and bullying will always live on in the hearts of cruel people. But, the way Shane sees it, we don’t have to listen to the silky barbed lies of depression, nor the teasing taunts of those who bully. All we have to do is see ourselves for the way we truly are, not the nicknames of those who wish to harm us. It may be a struggle, but it is a struggle that we must push through, and we must make it known. This is a huge issue at the school I attend. Our nickname is “Suicide High” and even with the amount of bad publicity we get for it, we still don’t take care for those being bullied or those with mental illnesses. If we could speak out about suicide and depression in our school instead of pretending that it didn’t happen, it could be understood by other students, and the victims could get the support that they need. Through Shane Koyczan’s brilliant piece “To This Day” about inner torment, self inflicted or not, teaches us to speak out in any possible form so we can bring attention to mental illnesses and bullying. With bold wording and vivid images he draws the scenes of those struggling, and then he varies his voice to color them in, creating a clear picture of what it is really like to deal with these problems. This is one of the most effective ways to spread the word about things like this because it put it into a format that all of the audience can