To This Day

by Shane Koyczan

‘To This Day’ is a spoken word poem by esteemed Canadian poet Shane Koyczan. Koyczan is a very successful slam poet, and while this poem technically isn’t slam poetry, as it is too long and lacks some of the performance elements, it still contains many of the same elements in terms of structure, techniques, message and language that slam poetry utilises.

URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltun92DfnPY

You can download the text of the poem here: ‘To This Day’ by Shane Koyczan

Task 1: Identifying Poetic Devices

Open the above PDF of ‘To This Day’ in Notability.

Use the explanations, examples and resources on the Poetic Devices page, identify as many examples of the following poetic devices as you can in the poem ‘To This Day’. You will need to highlight them in the corresponding colour:

• Simile (blue)
• Metaphor (purple)
• Alliteration (orange)
• Assonance (red)
• Rhyme (dark green)
• Repetition (light green)

Task 2: Understanding Poetic Devices

From what you have identified in the poem, pick one example of each of the following devices and explain the effect that it has on the reader.

• Simile: Why has the author made this comparison? What does it add to our understanding of what is being described?
• Metaphor: Why has the author made this comparison? What does it add to our understanding of what is being described?
• Alliteration OR Assonance: What effect does this have on the structure and flow of the poem when read aloud?
• Rhyme OR Repetition: What effect does this have on the structure and flow of the poem when read aloud?