Name Spell ASL Poetry

Name Spell ASL Poetry

What does the word really mean?

Index to Your Learning

Are you willing to go down the rabbit hole for ASL poetry?

What is ASL Poetry?

GOLF Video

What is Name Spell?

JAWS Video

Create Your Name Spell

FLOWER Video

American Sign Language: A Look at ASL Poetry

ASL poetry is poetry created in sign language. Like poetry in any other language, it is an artistic expression of human experiences using the language in a creative way. Poetry in American Sign Language is expressed with hand signs and facial expressions. As a written tradition in sign language is rather rare, and this was especially so in earlier days, the principal way of saving poetry was by passing it on from one group to another. So, people made up stories and poems and performed them before their peers, and the peers then retained these performances to repeat them elsewhere. In this, of course, some of the originality of the poet usually got lost. However, since videos and the Internet have now become more common, deaf people have taken to recording their creative works and have thus made ASL poetry both easier to preserve and more available to a wider audience than before.

Like in English and other languages, ASL poems come in a wide variety. The poems may be funny, sad, happy, playful, serious, philosophical, and so on. Sign language poets may use accepted signs in their poems or invent new ones as required just as poets in other languages use existing words and make up new ones. In this latter matter, sign language poetry is more flexible than ASL prose. In order to make or understand this type of poetry, it is necessary to be fluent in sign language and to have an excellent grasp of its linguistic qualities. An ASL poem may lose its edge if translated into English, in much the same manner as an English poem may not seem quite as effective if translated into, say, Spanish.

What is Name Spell poetry?

In the English language, there is a basic form of poetry where you spell out the name and you define each letter to a message or an attribute. This is called Name poetry for the English. For example: Bob B = Bold O = Observant B = Bodacious Name Spell is probably the easiest aspect of ASL poetry to learn and figure out. You simply show the word by spelling out the definition or action of that word. You take each letter of the chosen word and put it together in a way that defines the word. Each letter you sign adds to the meaning of the whole word. It's easier to show what it looks than rather than see it in text. Look at the videos to get an idea of what Name Spell ASL Poetry is.

Name Spell GOLF

Name Spell JAWS

Name Spell FLOWER

Create Your Name Spell

1. Pick a word you would like to use for your Name Spell Poetry. It can be any word that can be described. Like BALL, RAINBOW, DOG, etc. Don't use names like Jack, Sue, etc. 2. Put down all the letters for the word. 3. Look at the handshape for the first letter and come up with a few signs you can use for that letter. 4. Do the same for each letter in your word. 5. Put the signs together and see if it flows. 6. If the Name Spell doesn't flow, try a different sign here or there. The key is to experiment and try. 7. Once you have your Name Spell figured out, document it by filming it.