http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3BxfD2JwGQ

Sympathy, by Paul Laurence was performed by Stanley Jackson this past year. I watched his performance on the website and thought he did a great job. He had excellent stage presence, voice and articulation and his understanding of the poem. He didn't use too much dramatization, but did use enough to get the audience intrigued and it helped them understand the poem. I would give his overall performance either a 10 or 12 because he did a very good job. I thought that the poem itself was not that difficult to understand the real meaning, which is why I would give him a 10.

The way he used the transition from the first part of the poem to the second part helped me understand what the poem was about. In the first part he used a light voice and talked of the caged bird who has dreams and who is like himself. The second part gives more of an edge and tells about how the bird beats its wings and wants to get away but must always come back to the cage. I think that it means that the bird feels trapped and would rather die than keep living the life it is living. The poet relates to the bird and says how he is like it. He obviously feels the way the bird does and he tells his story through the bird. Overall, I thought that his performance was excellent and I learned a lot from just watching him.