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Although this qualitative group case study of a youth poetry team competing in a statewide Poetry Slam tournament focuses on just four individuals, it represents a paradigm for the development of poetic voice in any young community. The Slam is presented in the context of the scholarly traditions of New Literacy Studies and New Literacies as a special kind of participatory culture, analogous to but not dependent on, the proliferation of technological platforms now available. Throughout the study, two threads of analysis are inter-related: first, the literary analysis of the poetry as written during the course of the tournament; and second, the subjective experience of the participants as they develop a sense of belonging to their specific team of writers and also to the Slam community at large. This study demonstrates how poetry serves as a vehicle for young people to develop a sense of themselves as writers that has long-term viability and significant social impact. This study also illustrates how Slam-- as an arts-centered, youth-oriented, inclusive model for teaching and learning – stands in contrast to formal writing instructional practices that are found in many school contexts. This finding has important implications for the teaching of writing and the development of a lifelong commitment to literacy for today's 21st century learners that are also discussed here. This dissertation employs arts-based research techniques, including poetry written by the author during the course of working on the dissertation, as a way to illustrate and exemplify the poetic process outlined in the study.

List of Tables, List of Figures ...xi
Chapter I: Introduction ...1
Poetic Interlude: “The Beat & the Melody” ...2
Genesis of the Study ...3
Intro to Slam ...6
What is slam? ...6
Controversies Surrounding Slam ...8
Contradictions within Slam...8
Slam vs. the Established Traditions of Poetry ...9
Research Gap ...11
Rationale for this Study ...12
Research Questions ...13
Problem Statement ...14
The Assessment of Writing ...15
Identity, Efficacy, and Voice ...19
Overview of Methodology ...20
Limitations and Delimitations ...21
Organization of the Dissertation ...22
Chapter II: Review of the Literature ...23
Literacy ...23
The Wrong Definition ...24
The Root of Literacy ...26
Poetic Interlude: “The Platonic Ideal in Writing...30
Literate Identity ...31
Emancipatory Literacy ...31
Slam Poetry and Identity ...32
Identity and Adolescence ...33
New Literacies ...35
Affiliation ...38
Collaboration ...42
Creativity ...45
Facilitation ...47
Why Poetry? (Why Slam?) ...51
Evidence for the Benefits of Poetry ...51
The Alternative Approach of Youth Poetry Groups ...54
Conclusion ...57
Chapter III: Methodology ...60
Research Questions ...60
Research Design and Tradition ...61
Case Study ...61
Arts-based Research ...62
Ethno-poetics ...63
Poetic Interlude: “A-R-T-ography” ...65
Participant Selection and Site Description ...66
Case Studies: Youth Poets ...66
Event Case ...69
Access, Ethics, and Informed Consent ...73
Access ...73
Ethics of Privacy ...74
Other Ethical Issues ...74
Informed Consent ...76
Overview of Data ...76
One-on-one Interviews with Teen Participants ...78
Focus Group ...79
Visual Data ...80
Written Artifacts ...81
Participant Observation ...82
Organization and Analysis ...84
Trustworthiness: Reliability, Validity, and Subjectivity ...87
Poetic Interlude: “The Wealth of Scholarship” ...90
Chapter IV: Poetry Slam, Literate Identity, and Literary Capacity ...92
Key Themes ...92
Community and Team Identification ...94
Identification with Poetry and Self-efficacy ...97
A Few Words from the Visual Data ...101
Evidence for Literacy Development ...102
Literate Identity ...103
Poetic Interlude: “Why Do You Write?” ...111
Literary Capacity ...112
Theme Development ...112
Sound Craft ...121
Metaphor and Simile ...125
Process ...127
Attitude and Motivation ...132
Self-Motivation and Life-Long Commitment ...132
Peer Mentoring ...136
Conclusion ...141
Poetic Interlude: “What Does the Research Tell Us?” ...143
Chapter V: Interpretations and Instructional Implications ...144
Key Elements ...145
Motivation in Writing ...145
Feedback, Scoring and Evaluation ...147
Mentoring and Community ...151
Collaborative Environment ...152
Writing for School vs. Writing for Poetry ...157
Return to the Foundations ...159
Conclusion ...161
Poetic Interlude: “This Fire” ...164
References ...165
Appendices ...177
Appendix A: Individual Interview Protocol ...177
Appendix B: Protocol for Focus Group and Visual Data Activity ...180
Appendix C: Text of Poems ...185
A Biographical Sketch of the Author ...202