Read the poem “Slam, Dunk, & Hook” by Yusef Komunyakaa, and then look at some ways that you can analyze each stylistic element and draw a conclusion about how it supports the themes of the work.

Diction. Notice how often the speaker in the poem sets up his word choice as opposites, such as “bad angels,” “On swivels of bone & faith,” “slipknot / Of joy,” and “we were / Beautiful & dangerous.” These opposites may set up the idea that things, like a game of basketball, are not quite so simple as you might originally think. The speaker repeats a lot of words that refer to violence or the potential for it: “monsters,” “exploded,” “falling,” “splintered,” “slapping a blackjack,” and “dangerous.” The basketball game, constrained by the rules of the court, keeps this violence under control, especially when Sonny Boy takes out his grief on the backboard, not on anyone or anything else. Some of the diction probably piqued your curiosity, such as why do the balls explode “The skullcap of hope & good / Intention” or why the hoop is “Nailed to our oak”—and what is a “slipknot of joy,” anyway? The game and the players, through the diction, seem powerful, but also somewhat unknowable, at least to outsiders.

Syntax. There are a number of short sentences, even sentence fragments, such as “Fast breaks. Lay ups.” and “Off / The rim.” You might find it curious that the first two sentences are repeated in line 34, but the order of them is reversed. Notice too the repeated syntactical use of the ampersand (&) that connects two nouns that do not automatically relate to each other, such as “bone & faith” and “Beautiful & dangerous.” Much of the syntax of this poem creates a sense of urgency and speed, appropriate for a poem celebrating the power and beauty of the game.

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Figurative Language. This poem includes a lot of links to mythology, such as “Mercury’s / Insignia,” “storybook sea monsters,” and “roundhouse / Labyrinth,” which together give the players an almost heroic status. In addition to these allusions are similes, such as “Dribble, drive to the inside, feint, / & glide like a sparrow hawk” and “Swish of strings like silk,” which elevate the components of basketball beyond the court to the larger world. The metaphor of “Muscles were a bright motor” gives the players an inhuman speed and strength. Adding to the otherworldly feeling of the game, the speaker uses hyperbole (“balls that exploded / The skullcap”) and personification (“Trouble / Was there slapping a blackjack / Against an open palm”).

Imagery. Sensory details are repeated throughout this poem. Sounds, such as “hot /Swish,” “high note hung,” “exploded,” “Cheered on the sidelines,” “slapping a blackjack,” work to give the reader a feeling of being right there in the midst of the game. There are powerful visual images as well of the players that seem to be opposites, such as when they are “poised in midair,” but also in constant motion, for instance, “Tangled up in a falling” and “Double-flashing to the metal hoop.” Or, when they are described as “Bug-eyed, lanky, / All hands & feet” but this physical awkwardness doesn’t prevent them from being able to “corkscrew / Up & dunk” and “[outmaneuver] the footwork / Of bad angels.” These opposites in imagery show the conflicts the players face in their opponents as well as in themselves.

Possible Themes. Because of all of the allusions to mythology and the otherworldliness of some of the imagery, Komunyakaa could be suggesting that basketball allows the players to go beyond themselves and to escape from everyday, ordinary realities.