Cover of the textbook Speakout Advanced Plus - Students' Book

The key answer of exercise 6

The key to exercise solutions in chapter 7.2 - More than words for the textbook Speakout Advanced Plus - Students' Book with authors Frances Eales and Steve Oakes from Pearson Education

Question

  1. Read the comments. Which are in favour (✓) and which are against (✗) the award and why?
  2. Add the adverbials to the relevant comments above. You do not need one of the adverbials in each set.

Answer

a)

  1. ✓ (seems in favour of songwriters receiving the prize) / ✗ (against being given to Dylan 'contenders with a better claim')
  2. ✗ ('his writing is linked to his music'; not a genuine writer)
  3. ✗ (music isn't poetry)
  4. ✓ ('poetry is a performance art, just like singing')

b)

  1. PoetLover22 → His lyrics are poetry, though I was somewhat surprised by the choice of song writer; there are contenders with a far better claim. I vaguely remember reading that (roughly) 60 percent of songs are about love and relationships and I think that's (roughly) the same in poetry. (widely not used)
  2. Mexlkal7 → With some reluctance, I have to say that actually what we have here is a quite brilliant musician but his writing is inextricably linked to his music and I think that the award should exclusively honour a genuine writer. (relatively not used)
  3. MCStar28 → As a rap-artist I sometimes get asked about whether my work is poetry. On balance, i'd say not and so I query the award. Some rap themes are quite similar but most are closely associated with politics and the backing track totally dictates the rhythm. You can instantly tell the difference between poetry and rap. (nearly not used)
  4. NoorAlfaaz7 → Obvious as it is, people don't fully realise that poetry is a performance art, just like singing. You only have to think of truly great poets like Homer or Faiz or Maya Angelou to realise this. And Poetry Slams are all over YouTube these days. So it's a perfectly reasonable choice. (deeply not used)