Taylor Mali Analysis

Taylor Mali's poem regarding the decay of authoritative declarations in the English language is a smart and biting parody that nips at the heels of a society that is probably too cool for its own good. This poem is presented through two different forms of media- one video of him standing in front of an audience, and an interesting presentation in which there was only audio and text from Mali's poem imposed on the screen. The dynamic video of Mali is strong because it shows an animated speaker elaborating on a subject he cares about, an interactive audience that almost serves as a laugh track, and Mos Def. A person can never go wrong with a little bit of Mighty Mos in his or her life. The textual presentation has power through the actual visual conjuring of words, where the text serves to hammer in the main points of Mali's argument in a refreshing way. I think the meaning is emphasized and has more punch with the textual presentation of the material.