Strategy Entry Week 3

Edit:// I accidentally posted this as private yesterday... not that the strategy entries are the most riveting to read I imagine but.. you know.

Throughout "Mixology" Adrian Matejka employs references from various cultures and musical traditions including hip-hop, rap, "prog rock," jazz, and even nods to folk. This blending and cautious inclusion of dialect succeeds because the different elements are in conversation, rather than competition, with each other. Specifically in "Green Jeans" Matejka combines a more classical form with contemporary language. Matejka blends words in a clever juxtaposition in the lines “There is a plastic/ spoon pressing down this state’s/ tongue that makes dat from acrobatic” as “dat” that next to the rest of the poem could seem out of place, but Matejka’s word choice is so delicate as that one word helps tie this piece to the remainder of the collection. That minute detail is key in what makes this piece function as a part of this collecton. In this piece, Matejka mentions musical artist Beck, introducing rock references into this specific poem. The phrasing of Beck’s lyrics here, despite not coming from a directly hip-hop or rap source, adhere to that same speech style in “to get me some pants.” Although many of the Texas poems in this collection differ boldly from the rest of the pieces, generally including less rap and hip-hop style diction, delicately chosen diction keeps the cohesion of the collection while still providing a different taste of the Matejka’s style.