What Is This page?
In an effort to support our audiences, DawnSignPress will offer "product support." This can include information that was too lengthy to incorporate into the product, and/or ideas about how to use the product in classroom environments. For ASL Poetry: Selected Works of Clayton Valli, product support focuses on Valli's ASL poetry research (which offers ideas about how to analyze the poetry from language and cultural perspectives), and questions about specific poems that build on the concepts put forward in Valli's research. The main content of this page is Valli's original writing.

Clayton Valli; ASL Poet, Linguist, Member of the Deaf-World
Clayton Valli (1951-2003) was first and last a member of the Deaf-World. As a young man he became an ASL poet, who was inspired by the recognition for American Sign Language (ASL) in the 1970s and 80s and become a linguist who studied ASL poetry. As an accomplished poet and researcher, he dreamed that ASL poetry, through creation and study, could become more widespread and positively impact the lives of people in the signing community. Like any poet, Valli was a product of his environment. He grew up in a time where ASL did not have the standing as a language that it now has. There were many creative signers in Valli's life, but he was an adult before people began calling themselves ASL poets. While some of the poets of this time were first introduced to poetry through English, and while Valli acknowledges the influence of Robert Frost and other English poets on his life, his poetry was created in ASL, for Deaf audiences.

What Is Poetry?
Poetry is an artistic expression that employs a heightened use of language to convey something. Poets take their internal experiences, thoughts and emotions and try to give them form through outward expression. Poetry is often the pioneering frontier of language, and through history poetic features and functions for spoken, written, and signed poetry have come in and out of vogue. While the interests of audiences change to reflect the world around them, looking at the body of poetry of any language offers rich lessons about language, creativity, and the human experience.

Brief History of ASL Poetry
(This support page will not address the history of ASL, Deaf Schools, the "oralist/manualist" debate or the recognition of ASL as a full, complex language. For more information on these topics see The Mask of Benevolence or A Journey into the Deaf-World, found on this web site.)

As much of the published academic discussions of ASL poetry point out, ASL is a language that has not had a widely accepted written form. Within the community creative signing was handed down "orally" from generation to generation. This signing included ABC stories, number stories, chants and cheers, and often-repeated lore and jokes. After the advent of video technology, the late 70s and early 80s saw the first "published" or recorded ASL poems by Deaf people identifying themselves as ASL poets. Deaf poets and poetry moved more formally toward works created in ASL for a signing audience.

(For more about the history and development of ASL poetry see Signing the Body Poetic, in press from the University of California Press.)

Valli's Research
On the ASL Poetry DVD Valli writes of how he became an ASL poet in the early 80s. This was an era when the explosion of research into ASL was in early stages. Valli turned to traditional poetic terminology and features and "mapped" them to the works in ASL by himself and other accomplished contemporary ASL poets (notably Ella Mae Lentz, in his article published in Sign Language Research titled "The Nature of the Line in ASL Poetry," 1987).

Valli discovered in his and Lentz's work structures and patterns that reflected and capitalized on ASL's unique features as a language. For Valli, this was an affirmation of the value of ASL poetry, and further supported the idea that ASL could convey any abstract thought in any creative form. This became the basis of his life's work, tying together the strands of poetics, ASL, and teaching about and sharing his findings with the larger community.

Also included on the DVD are clips from a video letter Valli used in corresponding with DawnSignPerss during the making of ASL Poetry. Some of the concepts and terminology explained here can be seen in ASL on the DVD.

The following information is taken directly from Valli's unpublished manuscript, planned for publication along with ASL Poetry (the final draft of which was completed in 1998). Excerpted here are sections that focus on terminology, analysis of specific poems, and questions to use when studying ASL poetry.

GOALS OF THE VIDEO
It is my privilege to create this product with the hope of entertaining you and showing you how to understand and appreciate this cherished art form. I also hope to supply viewers with ideas about how ASL poems are created and to help you create poems.

Because I want to encourage people to create poems, I used various Deaf people "reading" the poems I developed. Imagine that 15 people of various backgrounds, ranging from young children to professional poets (e.g., Ella Mae Lentz and myself) can recite and appreciate ASL poetry! I fit the poems to the performers' own individual styles. Although the recitations of my poems may not include my poetic trademarks or tendencies, each performer followed the poem exactly as it was created so the main features could be maintained for the purpose of study.

In addition to study, I invite you to indulge in the pleasure of poetry in ASL. Once you learn how to "read" relying on the visual nature of ASL, you will see a controlled use of space, illuminating various topics' shapeliness and contributing to both the pleasure and wisdom of the work. Movement captures us. ASL poetry has the capacity to impact our feelings and thoughts. Signs expressed in this rich and complex language deeply portray the experience of the ASL poet, and through the poet, the Deaf experience is unveiled one unique and beautiful covering at a time.

WHY THERE ARE NO ENGLISH TRANSLATIONS OF MY ASL POEMS
Teachers and viewers must find a way into ASL poetry and literature. For this reason there are no English translations of the ASL poems. While it is convenient to use printed English to discuss the features of ASL poetry, I challenge you to grapple with the meaning and intent of the poems as recited in ASL, free of any other language's influence.

ASL AND POETIC TERMS
As an ASL poet I find it important to know a great deal about the language I am using. Not only to have a "native" or natural fluency, but also an understanding of the linguistic properties of ASL. Like all human languages ASL is a system of symbols that convey meaning. From the typical ASL user's perspective ASL is organized into units of meaning that begin at the level of word/sign, building up to signs interacting with facial expressions or being modified to signify changes in meaning. Then these signs and facial expressions are expressed as ideas or sentences that can be used in a poem.

From a linguist's perspective there are deeper levels of ASL to look at. Signs are made up of handshape, movement, palm orientation, location, and nonmanual signals. For an ASL poem signs are chosen or created to accomplish rhyme, rhythm, and meter (these terms as they apply to ASL poetry will be discussed in the next section). Rhyme is the primary topic in this book. Rhythm and meter will also be mentioned, but this area of study as it is related to ASL poetry is fairly new.

My ASL poetry is usually arranged in lines. ASL users' eyes have the power to identify the movement of visual signals. Written poetry and ASL poetry share poetic techniques but use their own units, either sound or visual movement.

Terminology
At this point it is important to identify a few terms used in this text. These terms already have specific meaning in the realm of spoken and written poetry. Here, they are touched upon briefly to clarify their use in conjunction with ASL poetry. Later in the text the terms and their poetic functions will be dealt with in more depth.

Rhyme — The study of traditional English poetry takes spoken and written words and breaks them further into "phonemes," which are the units in a linguistic system originally created to represent sound. When sounds at the beginning, middle, or end of words or lines of poetry are the same, it creates rhyme. The most common understanding of rhyme is when the end sounds of words are similar as in dove and love. When the beginning of words sound the same it is called alliteration (e.g. big blue buildings), and this is also a type of rhyme.

For ASL poetry the further break down of a sign into handshape, movement, palm orientation, and nonmanual signals offers the ASL poet many opportunities to rhyme in ASL. When you use the B handshape to sign BIRTH, CHILDREN, RAISED-UP it is a handshape rhyme. More examples will be given later, but it is important to remember that parts of signs that form a pattern create rhyme.

Rhythm — Traditional English poetry takes advantage of the pronunciation of words with stressed and unstressed syllables of words in lines to create a rhythm. In ASL, signs are expressed with a combination of movement and pauses or holds. The pace of signing and repeated patterns of movement and holds creates rhythm in ASL poetry.

Line — In traditional English poetry lines are created by a consistent pattern of rhythm and rhyme. In ASL a line is also a predictable pattern of signs that may include specific rhyming of handshapes, movements, palm orientations, and nonmanual expressions and that is sometimes conveyed in a patterned rhythm of movements and holds.

Meter — Meter is the actual pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables within a line of poetry. Many people are familiar with iambic pentameter, which is a structured kind of spoken and written verse. ASL uses the movements and holds of signs to create predictable patterns. Although there are currently no widely used, documented meters in modern ASL poetry, creative signing like ABC stories and other "constrained" or rule-based approaches to signing offer a way to explore the craft of patterned creative expression.

Stanza — A stanza is a group of lines whose repeated units have the same number of lines, the same meter, and a predictable rhyme scheme. This form is more traditional and other forms of poetry like free verse do not employ these patterns.

THE CRAFT OF ASL POETRY
Now that the basic concepts are in place, let's look at how a poet uses these tools. Although the results of creative expression (like a poem) is a complex mixture of many parts, breaking down the elements and studying them separately helps us understand all that goes into ASL poetry. It can also give us ideas about how to create a poem. The main topics we will cover are choosing and modifying signs, figurative language, rhythm and rhyme, and types of poems.

CHOOSING SIGNS AND MODIFYING SIGNS
Sign language poets are in love with signs as much as spoken language poets are in love with spoken or printed words. ASL poets wrestle with signs and meanings, constantly looking for the right sign. They spend hours and days fine tuning a poem, choosing, changing, or creating the right sign that will convey the exact meaning they are attempting to achieve. As readers, be prepared to use freeze frames and slow motion to help fully grasp the signs, taking into account meaning, savoring movement, and handshape. See how a key sign interacts with other signs in a poem. Here we will discuss the choice of signs, changing and creating signs, as well as how poets carefully use chosen signs in their work.

Sign Variations
If there are several signs for one similar meaning, this is an advantage to the poet, because one of them can be chosen to fit a particular rhyme in a line or lines. The sign GRASS in Hands is a good example.

Instead of the typical sign for grass, a more creative variation is chosen for the poem because its open handshape fit the other signs throughout the piece.

Non-manual Signals Used as Signs
You can choose a non-manual signal to take place of a manual sign. A good example is in the poem "Sit and Smile," where the smiling facial expression is made while the poet signs SIT. If we used both signs: SIT and SMILE, it would change the rhythm. Signing SIT with the facial expression showing SMILE achieves the desired effect.

Altering Signs
One or more of the parameters (handshapes, movement path, location, palm orientation, and nonmanual signals) in a sign is adjusted to fit other signs in order to create rhyme in a poem. In ASL poetry, the change of a sign tends to be acceptable whereas it is less acceptable in ASL prose. For example, in regular conversation, the movement in the signs for COW and ROOSTER is normally repeated twice. That repeated movement can be changed to once for the intention of creating a rhyme in a line or lines like in COW & ROOSTER. Another example from Hands Folded is that the sign, SAME-OLD-THING's movement is changed from both hands circling in opposite directions to both hands circling in the same direction.

Creation of Acceptable Signs
Deaf ASL users are the people who decide to approve an invented form or not, depending on the community's feeling that the invented sign stays within the established ASL structure. Signs are created more in ASL poetry than in ASL prose. ASL poetry is free to be flexible and readers seem to accept that.

In the poems Cocoon Child and Mushroom signs were created for the concepts of  "child being cocooned" and "un-freedom."

Classifiers
The use of classifiers is one of the major influential features in ASL poetry.

ASL poetry uses many classifiers because they tend to be an exceptional descriptive feature of ASL. This characteristic is fascinating and unique. See if you can identify the classifiers used in the following poems.
MUSHROOM, Season's Greetings, I'm Sorry, Pawns

Assimilation
When several signs are blended into one sign it is called assimilation. The meanings of these signs are still kept, but form or production of the sign changes. One good example for ASL casual prose, is the idea I WALK. Changing the handshape of I from the 1-handshape to the B-handshape in order to match the handshape of WALK can assimilate what would normally be two signs. This kind of form reveals "one sign" but still holds its two meanings. In ASL poetry, assimilation can affect more than two signs. In Dew On Spiderweb, one assimilated sign with several meanings, WHOLE-TOGETHER-BRING-INTO-MY-MIND, is an example of several signs becoming "one."

Another example from Pawns uses assimilation to combine the concept of "flags" and "death." The poetic phrase looks very simple, but is a creative and complex example of assimilation.




Once a poet has a repertoire of possible sign selections, he or she can make good use of these alternatives to make sure that the right signs are chosen.

FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE
We can say things more vividly and forcefully using figurative language than we can by saying things directly. Poetry often uses figurative language to say one thing and mean another. Metaphor, personification, taking roles, and symbols are part of figurative language and will be discussed in the following units.

Metaphor
A metaphor make connections between things we might keep apart. Often metaphors are described as saying one thing is another instead of saying it is like something else. For example, in MUSHROOM, growing head of a mushroom is used as a vivid metaphor for bigotry. Other metaphors can be seen in the poems listed below.
Hands, Deaf World, and Cocoon Child

Personification
Personification takes an inanimate object and gives it the characteristics of a living thing. ASL poetry often uses personification. In addition to being an example of metaphor, MUSHROOM also uses personification by showing a mushroom with human characteristics.

Taking Roles
You have to know who is revealing messages in a poem. The poet him or herself? Or the narrator? Or someone else? Maybe all of these in one poem? Taking roles is a way to shift from one perspective to another. In the poem SIT & SMILE. Notice that there are three different roles in this poem.

Symbols
Metaphor and symbol both connect what we see to something else, but they work differently. A symbol is something that we can see but has acquired a meaning beyond itself. We all know the language of symbols. Chains were used to shackle a prisoner; and became a symbol of slavery and oppression. A broken chain, in turn, became a powerful symbol of freedom. Hands joined in a handshake can announce human brotherhood. The dove is peace and the hawk is war. Some symbols are well established, drawing on an understanding of shared meaning. Some symbolic meanings are shaped by the poet's own creative purposes. In COW & ROOSTER, the cow symbolizes laziness or clumsiness and the rooster is vanity. In The Wall & The Quilt, the objects in the title share similar symbolic meaning: preciousness of life and the recording of death.

A CLOSER LOOK AT RHYTHM AND RHYME

(Publisher's Note: This section is an in-depth look at various rhythm and rhyme patterns in Valli's poetry. It is best read in conjunction with the video or DVD ASL Poetry.)

Rhythm is an important feature that creates much of the appeal of ASL poetry. It can be seen through movement duration, hold emphasis, and in conjunction with the many types of rhymes seen in ASL. Rhythm creates the pacing of motion. ASL has its own rhythm involving alternating between holds and movement. ASL poetry heightens our awareness of arranged and adapted visual movements. All the taped poems have their own rhythm, but some poems are chosen for you to take a close look and discuss.
COW & ROOSTER, Something Not Right, Tears of Life, Cocoon Child, Hands Folded, Disasters, Dew On Spiderweb, MUSHROOM, Pawns

Movement Duration
The speed of signing can be controlled by using movement duration. It can be regular, slow, fast, accelerating (from slow to fast), or even can be a flickering movement.

Dew On Spiderweb capitalizes on the changing pace of signing. The part about dew on a spiderweb being shiny in the moonlight is repeated three times, but each duration is different: regular, fast, and slow. Look closely at that.

Disasters and Season's Greetings use a slow and jerky signing motion that creates a mechanical effect. This motion, while not a typical way to sign, creates a powerful impact, magnifying perils, dreams, or memories.

Hold Emphasis/Pausing
The pause between signs or in a sign can create emphasis. There can be a long pause, a subtle pause, or a strong stop. In prose, there are many subtle pauses that most people don't even notice during a conversation. In poetry, subtle pauses occur less and clear pauses are more often used. If you want to emphasize something clearly and strongly, take advantage of this hold emphasis to create rhythm in a poem. Using a particular hold emphasis is a very powerful way to control rhythm, much like silent pauses in music or spoken language poetry.

In the beginning of COW & ROOSTER, COW, FAT, LAY-DOWN or ROOSTER, ELITE, STAND-FIRM are good examples of strong stops between signs. You can also see strong stops in Something Not Right.

VARIOUS RHYMING PATTERNS IN ASL



Rhyme keeps the delight in poetry alive through repetition and recurrent patterns. There are six different kinds of rhymes that will be discussed here: handshape rhyme, handedness rhyme, movement rhyme, palm orientation rhyme, nonmaual signal rhyme, and location rhyme.

Handshape Rhyme
Handshape rhyme occurs when the handshape of signs in a poem is repeated in a line or over several lines. Three different handshape rhymes are discussed in this section, particular handshape rhyme, closed and open handshape rhyme, and changing handshape rhyme.

Particular handshape rhyme
The variations in ASL for particular handshape rhyme are endless, two different handshapes can be repeated or used alternately. The following six poems have particular handshape rhyme.

1. COW & ROOSTER: Only three particular handshapes, "3," "Y," and "5" are used.
2. HANDS: This simple poem is created with almost all signs using one particular handshape, the "5" handshape.
3. On Valentine's Day: Two stanzas in this poem use particular handshapes. The A-handshape I used in relation to the old man and the 1-handshape is used in relation to the young woman. Look for these stanzas when they tell their stories.
4. MUSHROOM: This poem shows many C-handshapes (mushrooms, logs, the sun) and B or 5- handshapes (trees falling down, cutting logs, logs running out). There are few other handshapes but these two particular handshapes dominate the entire poem.
5. I'm Sorry: There are several particular handshapes repeated in this poem, such as the S-handshape (teddy bear's paws and sign for SORRY), C-handshapes (persons holding the teddy bear, and the trunk lid being opened and closed), 2-handshapes (LAY-DOWN, READING, STARE-AT-ME, STOP-LOOKING-AT-ME), and B or 5 handshapes (MOTHER, ENTER, ROOM, CLEAN, BED, FLUFFING-teddy bear).
6. Season's Greetings: Another particular handshape rhyme can be seen in Season's Greetings. This particular handshape rhyme tends to be overlooked. But it is important as its hidden meaning says something. Look at signs with the particular handshape, the flat "O" repeated in the poem.


In the first stanza of Season's Greetings: PUT-PENNY-IN-POCKET
In the second stanza: GLOWING-LIGHT, SATISFIED
In the third stanza: EATING, SATISFIED
In the last stanza: ALL-NIGHT

Season's Greetings has two signs with a particular handshape, flat "O" in each stanza except the last stanza, which has only one sign with that handshape. The absence of the sign for SATISFIED tells you something has happened to the homeless person during the winter night.

Closed handshape and open handshape rhyme
Some ASL poems use only one open handshape like the 5-handshape in HANDS, closed handshapes like the S-handshape, or both open and closed handshapes alternating.

1. I'm Sorry: You will notice a good example of alternating closed handshape rhyme and open handshape rhyme in this poem.
2. Season's Greetings: Also you can see rhymes in this poem, mostly 5-handshapes and B-handshapes (open handshapes); 1-handshape, and flat "O" (closed handshapes).

Changing-handshape rhyme
Using changing handshapes (signs that change handshape during the articulation of one sign) can be very practical for creating a poem. A changing-handshape sign can start from a closed handshape and change to an open handshape such as USE-ASL (S-handshape to 5-handshape) or can start from an open handshape to a closed handshape such as GULP (5-handshape to S-handshape). Both of these can be used in a line or in an entire poem, alone or alternating with each other. A good example in Tears of Life appears from the second stanza to the sixth stanza.

Rhyming Based on Handedness
Handedness has to do with the use of one hand, two hands, or combinations of these to create rhyme in a poem. This is another unique feature of ASL poetry that can be used to create impact. There are many ways to use handedness rhyme to express ideas. Using one-handed or two-handed signs or both can also influence the rhythm of a poem. You will see how powerful this kind of rhyme is. These selected poems show patterns that are handedness rhymes. Some entire poems are dominated by two-handed signs, some lines are dominated by one-handed signs, and others alternate hands and so forth.
COW & ROOSTER, FLASH, Something Not Right, Deaf World, The Wall and The Quilt, Dew on Spiderweb, Tears of Life, Season's Greetings, I'm Sorry, Pawns.

Rhyming Based on Palm Orientation
Using palm orientation to create a rhyme is not easy but it does happen. There are orientations like palms-up in MAYBE, palm-down in YES, and palm facing to the side like SCOLD. Focusing on one particular orientation such as palm-up is a way to create this type of rhyme. This poem has an example of palm orientation rhyme alternating from palm-up to palm-down.

Rhyming Based on Movement
Movement rhyme is the repetition of a similar movement within a poem. Two kinds of movement rhyme will be discussed here: movement contour rhyme and movement size rhyme.

Movement Contour Rhyme
If a movement occurs on a path, the contour of the path can be repeated in a poem to create a rhyme. In ASL, there are three basic movement contour paths: arc, straight, and in the shape of a "7." For example, the movement path in CHILDREN is an arc, the movement in THINK has a straight path, and the movement in PHILADELPHIA has a "7" contour. Combining any of these three main paths can create more complicated movement paths. For example, in ALWAYS repeating the arc path produces its contour, we call this doubled-arc or circle. In CENTER, you see both doubled-arc and straight paths. You can take advantage of particular movement contours for creating rhyme in a poem. Look closely at Hands Folded, which emphasizes arc and doubled-arc (circle) movement paths.

Movement Size Rhyme
The size of movement path also can be controlled to create a different kind of movement rhyme by using enlarged, reduced, and/or regular paths. For example, the regular size movement path in SIGN can be either enlarged or reduced depending on the poet's intent.

Rhyming Various Nonmanual Signals
Nonmanual signals (NMS) are an important grammatical part of ASL. As poetic features they are used to create lines, take roles such as a narrator, and for personification. NMS include eye gaze, eyebrow movement, mouth movement (lips, tongue, and cheek), head movement (nodding, shaking, tilting, shifting) and body shift. Six particular NMS rhymes, where patterns are predictable, are discussed below.


Eye gaze direction rhyme
Eye gaze is a powerful way to make contact with the audience, or bring attention to different elements of signs by the gaze following the hands or focusing on a particular space location. How eye gaze direction is used to get across the intended message and effect is an art in itself. Focus on eye gaze directions in these poems.
Hands, Something Not Right, Deaf World, Still Friends

Eye gaze shift
A narrator can assume a particular eye gaze in one line of a poem. Then in the next line the poet's eye gaze can shift to introduce another person (taking a role), or thing (e.g., a plant or toy). If eye gaze shift is repeated, it creates a rhyme. Eye gaze shifts are strongly emphasized in the following poems.
COW & ROOSTER, On Valentine's Day, Season's Greetings, I'm Sorry

Eyebrow movement rhyme
Eyebrow movement has different functions in ASL prose, such as for yes/no questions, wh-questions, topicalization, relative clauses, role taking, and so forth. Raised, squinted, or neutral eyebrows are features you can pick to create rhyme. For instance, eyebrow movement from neutral to raised and from raised to neutral can be repeated. You will see a good example in one of the poems shown below. Hands shows raised eyebrows at the beginning of all stanzas.
Hands

Mouth movement rhyme
Closed lips, open lips, pursed lips, tight lips, puffed cheeks, protruding tongue are all a part of mouth movement. Most movement functions as an adverb along with a sign. For example, in the ASL statement: BUG, BIG (with "cha" to show something is very large). Or CAR, SMALL with "ooo" mouth movement representing something very small. You can pick one or more of these features to create a rhyming pattern in a poem. Look the rhymes of mouth movement of the cow and the rooster. Notice the puffed cheeks for the cow's character and 'ooo' lips for the rooster's character. Hands has pursed lips from the beginning to the end.
COW & ROOSTER, Hands

Head shift rhyme
Head shift often accompanies eye gaze shift, but not always. You can use head shift (right, left, tilt, or neutral) for creating another kind of rhyme. You can see how head shift rhyme functions in Hands, occurring every time the eyebrow is changed from raised to neutral.
Hands

Body shift rhyme
Body shift many times is related to the eye gaze function. However, in some cases, body position remains the same as the head and/or eye gaze turn. Adding rhyme by using body shift can be seen in On Valentine's Day when the signer is taking the roles of an old man and a young woman.
On Valentine's Day

Rhyming Based on Locations
Some signs are made with reference to a location on the body (body locations) and some are made in the signing space (spatial locations). Using these locations helps determine repetition of body location, spatial locations, or a combination of these. There is also rhyme focusing on space level with the hands moving from a high level to a low level or via versa. Two particular location rhymes will be further discussed here.

Body location rhyme and spatial location rhyme
You can see good examples of this kind of rhyme in FLASH and Still Friends. The first stanza (HSALF) and second stanza (FLASH) show no body location signs at all. The third stanza (HSALF) mostly has signs that reference body locations. The fourth (FLASH) is signed mostly in neutral spatial locations. The last one (HSALF) uses both of these.

Still Friends shows no contact on the chest except a sign, MY (near the end of the poem).
FLASH, Still Friends

Space level rhyme
There is another kind of spatial location rhyme that shows hands moving between locations from high to low levels or vice versa, depending on the theme. Here are three poems that demonstrate this kind of rhyme.
Deaf World, Still Friends, The Wall and The Quilt

ASL offers many opportunities for creative rhythm and rhyme. The combinations of these elements are endless. In addition to all of these poetic features there are also examples of poetic forms that are common in ASL.




TYPES OF POEMS

Certain types of ASL poems and poetic features have appeared throughout the work of accomplished ASL poets. Not all ASL poets choose to use these constraints, or specific patterns, but many powerful and cherished ASL poems used some of the following constraints.

Numerical Handshape Constraint
This art form shows a frozen poetic pattern using numeral handshape forms from 1 to any number to create a story or a poem. Most end with number 15, but some go to 30 or possibly more. The sequence or order can start at 1 and go up, or start at the higher number and go down. Here are some videos that show numerical handshape constraint.
RABBIT, The Bridge, Something Not Right

Alphabetical Handshape Constraint
This type of poem uses signs representing letters of the manual alphabet from A to Z to tell a story. This art form is very well known in the Deaf community and has been carried on for many years. This kind of poem is not included in the video since there are other videos solely devoted to ABC stories.

Initialized Handshape Constraint
An initialized sign is produced using the handshape that reflects the first written letter of an English word, for example FAMILY, CONCEPT, or LAZY. Using initialized signs, it is possible to create a poem or a story. You can see this kind of rhyme in Something Not Right. Each initialized letter in this poem adds up to form a sentence that tells you something about the poem itself. It is quite tricky but it is perfect for creating an indirect message so that a viewer has to figure out by "reading between the signs."

Worded Handshape Constraint
Another type of handshape constraint focuses on the letters of a word, name, place, or person. Signs with the handshape that corresponds to each letter in the word are used in the proper order. These signs also tell a story or give additional meaning to the word. You can see that kind of art form in FLASH. Children especially get a kick of trying to work out a message based on the letters of a word or name.

These types of poems are mentioned here because of their popularity in the Deaf community. There are many kinds of poetic styles.

QUESTIONS AND EXERCISES

CHOOSING SIGNS AND MODIFYING SIGNS
QUESTION: Why does the sign, LOOK, in Something Not Right differ from LOOK in ASL prose? Does it show something not right?
EXERCISE: See how many signs you can find that share similar meanings. This gives a poet flexibility if there are more options to choose from when conveying an idea.

Altering Signs
QUESTION: 1. How would Hands Folded be different if the sign SAME-OLD-THING's movement was not changed? What is the effect of this change in sign on the reader?
2. The signs with flat 'O' handshape are key in the poem, Season's Greetings. What role do these signs play? What meanings and associations cluster around these signs?

Creation of Acceptable Signs
QUESTION: 1. Why are created signs like "UN"FREEDOM, DELAYING, STITCHED-EYES acceptable for ASL?
2. How effective is "UN"FREEDOM in setting up a contrast with the sign FREEDOM in Cocoon Child?
3. Do you think it is ok to create signs?

Classifiers
EXERCISE: Here are some subjects. Use classifiers to describe them instead of using their signs: ANT, CAR, CAT, HEARING-AID, BRUSH. Pick other subjects of your own.

FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE
Metaphor
QUESTION: 1. What do the seasons in Hands represent in a non-literal sense?
2. What do ROCKS, LAKE, TREES, MOUNTAINS, and CLOUDS in Deaf World share? What is the metaphor?
3. Do you notice any metaphors in Cocoon Child? If so, what are they?
4. What kind of metaphorical connections does MUSHROOM set up? Why is a big-head person like a mushroom?


Taking Roles
QUESTION: 1. How many roles are shown in FLASH, Still Friends, Cocoon Child, and Hands Folded?
2. Which poem do you think shows the most subtle role taking and why?

Symbol
QUESTION:
1. What is the sun a symbol for in MUSHROOM? The pile of logs? Dark clouds? Wet ground?
2. In Pawns, there are many symbols. Find them, explain what they symbolize and discuss how using symbols (instead of directly relating information) changes the poem.

RHYTHM
QUESTION: 1. What makes the rhythm in COW & ROOSTER?
2. Hands Folded owes its rhythm in part to its repeated use of a series - several items of the same kind, flowing by movement paths. This allow us to pause briefly on each item. Which series can you identify? Which items strung together are clearly related?
3. How is the rhythm of Hands Folded different from the rhythm of Disasters?
4. Are the rhythms of Dew on Spiderweb and Pawns the same?

Movement Duration
QUESTION: 1. How do the three different durations in Dew On Spiderweb affect the reader?
2. Does the mechanical effect in Disasters and Season's Greetings have its own meaning? What is it?


Hold Emphasis/Pausing
QUESTION: 1. What is the difference in the hold emphasis rhyme shown in Still Friends and Pawns?


VARIOUS RHYMING PATTERNS IN ASL
Handshape Rhyme
Particular handshape rhyme
EXERCISE: Pick three handshapes and find signs that use them. This will help you understand how to create a poem with a few particular handshapes.
QUESTION: 1. What is the effect of the repetition of the 1-handshape in Season's Greetings?

Closed handshape and open handshape rhyme
EXERCISE: Figure out which handshapes are open handshapes and which are closed handshapes. There are over 40 commonly used handshapes in ASL! Some are listed here:

6-handshape	U-handshape	B-handshape	P-handshape
S-handshape	3-handshape	4-handshape	L-handshape
1-handshape	X-handshape	8-handshape	9-handshape
Y-handshape	T-handshape	C-handshape	O-handshape

Changing-handshape rhyme
EXERCISE: Look for signs that fit these changing-handshapes:


"flat O" to "5"

"5" to "flat O"

"5" to "S" e

"S" to "5"

Rhyming Based on Handedness
QUESTION: 1. What is the difference in the handedness rhyme between the poems COW & ROOSTER and FLASH?
2. In one line of Something Not Right one hand is dominant. What are all of these one-handed signs related to?
3. What is the similarity in the handedness rhyme between The Wall and The Quilt and On Valentine's Day? Deaf World and Pawns?
4. In Dew on Spiderweb, Season's Greetings, and I'm Sorry, what does each poem's one-handedness represent?

Rhyming Based on Palm Orientation
EXERCISE: Find signs to put under these categories:


Palm-up

Palm-down

Palm facing the side

Rhyming Based on Movement
Movement contour rhyme
QUESTION: 1. In the ninth stanza of Tears of Life, what do the upward motions of both paths in the first and second lines mean to you? In the tenth stanza, what do both paths moving downward in the first and second lines mean to you? What about the tears' movement paths in both stanzas?

Movement size rhyme
QUESTION: 1. What size movement path dominates COW & ROOSTER? Something Not Right? Still Friends? Which signs are changed?
2. Try to find one sign in Season's Greetings that reduces its repetition from twice to once.
3. Why is the movement size of BEAUTIFUL in Pawns enlarged (it is repeated four times) while most other signs' movement sizes are just regular?

Rhyming Based on Nonmanual Signals
Eye gaze direction
QUESTIONS: 1. What kind of eye gaze function is seen in Hands? Something Not Right?
2. What similarity in eye gaze do Deaf World and Still Friends share?
3. Do eye gaze directions in all three poems reveal their own message? Why?

Eye gaze shift
QUESTION: 1. How does eye gaze direction differ from eye gaze shift?

Eyebrow movement rhyme
QUESTION: 1. What happens if the eyebrow movements in Hands are excluded?

Mouth movement rhyme
QUESTION: 1. What do the mouth movements in COW & ROOSTER and Hands mean to you?
2. Are the poems affected by using mouth movement rhymes? Why or why not?

Head shift rhyme
QUESTION: 1. Is the poem affected by using the head shift rhyme? Why or why not?


Body shift rhyme
QUESTION: 1. How would On Valentine's Day be different without using body shift?

Rhymes Based on Locations
Body location rhyme and spatial location rhyme
QUESTION: 1. Does the sign MY in Still Friends have a strong impact? Why or why not?
2. Do the high and low levels of signing space in Still Friends reveal their own message?

EXERCISE:
Find signs that fit one of these categories shown below:


Chest Location	Head Location	Chin Location	Neutral Signing Space Location
e.g. MY	STUPID	CUTE	WORK

Now try to create a poem with all body locations or with all spatial locations.

TYPES OF POEMS
EXERCISES: The types of poems listed in this section are relatively easy to create and appreciate, and quickly show that many people can create ASL poetry. Create a story or poem using the types of poems listed below.

Numerical Handshape Constraint
Alphabetical Handshape Constraint
Initialized Handshape Constraint
Worded Handshape Constraint


Conclusion
ASL users and students of the language can use Valli's research and the suggested exercises to discover the unique potential of ASL poetry. We all have things to express or share. The beauty of a visual language combined with poetic expression are powerful tools for the ASL poets of tomorrow.

Other products offered by DawnSignPress that focus on ASL Literature are:
ASL Literature Series
Once Upon a Time