Spoken word poetry is a type of poetry that is intended for performance. It is an oral poetic performance art that is based mainly on the poem as well as the performers aesthetic qualities. Unlike written poetry, spoken word poetry is created with the audience foremost in mind and is devised explicitly to ‘come to life’ before an audience. It is often associated with issues of social justice, politics, race, and community. Spoken word can encompass or contain elements of rap, hip-hop, storytelling, theater, and jazz, rock, blues, and folk music. It is characterized by rhyme, repetition, improvisation, and word play. Spoken word poetry is often used to convey important or controversial messages to society, such as raising awareness of topics like racial inequality, sexual assault, anti-bullying messages, body-positive campaigns, and LGBT topics. Some of the important characteristics of spoken word poetry include the use of wordplay, humor, intonation, gestures, and euphony. To create forceful spoken word poetry, various poetic devices such as repetition, comparison, and alliterations are often used. Spoken word poetry is a very accessible art form, and it has a flexible use of traditional poetry features, such as rhyme and rhythm, which may vary from poem to poem and from section to section, with no set rules.