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LJ Cohen
Moderator
Username: ljc

Post Number: 8672
Registered: 07-2002
Posted on Sunday, January 13, 2008 - 8:19 am:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post

I have been thinking for quite some time that it might be useful to have a thread/discussion/virtual class on how to offer critique.

With that in mind, I've been collecting internet resources and offer these as a starting place.

If you have any to add, please do so and if you have any specific questions about how to critique a poem, ask them here. I'd like to compile a Critique 'FAQ' for Wild.

Thanks!
ljc


poets.org thread on 'How to critique a poem'
http://www.poets.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=6481

What I like about this thread is that they give some overal suggestions about how to offer critique and they follow it with examples of what they feel is good critique and why.

An academic perspective here with examples from classic poems.

http://www.martinturner.org.uk/martins-notes/how-to-critique-a-poem/

Another academic perspective about offering and receiving critique:

http://www2.le.ac.uk/projects/adelie/examplelearning/Howtocritique

A thread from another forum (Room to write) with an excellent critique overview and a link to the pdf that follows.

http://www.roomtowrite.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=975
http://static.scribd.com/docs/bno9zag1el3id.pdf
Once in a Blue Muse Blog
LJCohen
Mariah Wilson
Intermediate Member
Username: mariahwilson43

Post Number: 480
Registered: 11-2007
Posted on Sunday, January 13, 2008 - 8:26 am:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post

I think a thread on the art of critique is a splendid idea. When a person is new here, or even if they've been here awhile, giving crit's is the hardest part I think.
Those people that say anything is possible obviously have not tried to slam a revolving door.
~M~
Board Administrator
Username: mjm

Post Number: 27989
Registered: 11-1998
Posted on Sunday, January 13, 2008 - 8:32 am:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post

An excellent idea, Lisa. Thank you.

I wasn't sure if you remembered this, but we have a very rudimentary page discussing how to critique in SUBLUX. Perhaps you can take that as a jumping off point, refining and adding to it with the links you have gathered. That page was constructed so long ago it is probably very outdated, and I haven't had time to update it. But perhaps there is something in it worth using and expanding, rather than reinventing the wheel.

When you get what you want in order, send it to me and/or steve. We can then update that page.

Again, thanks for your work on this. It is much appreciated.

Love,
M
LJ Cohen
Moderator
Username: ljc

Post Number: 8673
Registered: 07-2002
Posted on Sunday, January 13, 2008 - 8:37 am:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post

M--I had to laugh--I wrote a lot of that page and had forgotten where it had gotten to. Ah, senility.

Thanks for reminding me.

One of the ideas I had was to do a mini workshop on critique sometime this winter.

xo
ljc
Once in a Blue Muse Blog
LJCohen
LJ Cohen
Moderator
Username: ljc

Post Number: 8674
Registered: 07-2002
Posted on Sunday, January 13, 2008 - 8:47 am:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post

This is the checklist (from the link M posted) I put together some time ago. I think it is a good overview and structure to guide the reader in offering critique of a poem.

Not every critique will include all these elements; however, I believe some will be relevant to every poem.

  


Specific Critique Guidelines:


Overview

* Did you enjoy the read?
* Did the poem engage you emotionally AND intellectually?
* Do you understand what the poem is about?

Structure

* Is the poem free verse or a specific form?
* Does the form enhance the poem or limit it?
* Does the poet engage in written contortions to get end rhymes to work?
* Is the shape of the poem on the page visually pleasing?

Imagery

* Does the poem show versus tell or explain?
* Does the poem engage the senses?
* Does the poet use multiple senses?
* Are the images fresh?
* Do the images make unusual comparisons, or compare usual images in an unusual way?

Language

* Does the poet use sound to enhance the poem?
* *alliteration
* *assonance
* *consonance
* *rhyme/near rhyme
* *onomatopoeia
* Is the language fresh?
* Is the grammar appropriate?
* Does the poet use verbs to move the poem forward?
* Is the poem adjective heavy? (too many adjectives can bog down a poem.)
* Does the poet use metaphor? Simile?

Rhythm

* Does the poem use meter/rhythm well?
* Are line breaks used appropriately?
* *to pace the poem
* *to move the reader forward
* *to heighten suspense/anticipation
* *to highlight unusual word pairings
* Are the stanza breaks working?

Voice

* Is the voice believable? Authentic?
* Is the voice consistent?
* Does the voice match the content?



Once in a Blue Muse Blog
LJCohen
Lazarus
Senior Member
Username: lazarus

Post Number: 2853
Registered: 10-2005
Posted on Sunday, January 13, 2008 - 9:30 am:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post

Wow, that's a great list. I'll be sure to check back as the subject develops. Thanks for all your work on this, Lisa.
-Laz
~M~
Board Administrator
Username: mjm

Post Number: 28008
Registered: 11-1998
Posted on Sunday, January 13, 2008 - 11:11 am:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post

Well, now you've got me sitting here giggling too, dearest Lisa. I'd forgotten you'd originally written that, so you've got nothing on me in the senility department. And here I've insulted you besides, calling the page rudimentary and telling you to refine it. *ROTFLMAO* Forgive me, dearest -- I am very, very old woman who should probably be taken out back and shot.

Love,
M
LJ Cohen
Moderator
Username: ljc

Post Number: 8680
Registered: 07-2002
Posted on Sunday, January 13, 2008 - 11:35 am:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post

Well, it's true--it is rudimentary and it does need to be updated. :-) Written when I came on as a mod, somewhere around the dark ages. LOL.

Do they have a two-fer deal for dealing with senile mods?

xo
ljc
Once in a Blue Muse Blog
LJCohen
Gary Blankenship
Moderator
Username: garydawg

Post Number: 21599
Registered: 07-2001
Posted on Sunday, January 13, 2008 - 11:49 am:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post

Are the stanza breaks working?

Where are the ings?

Do stanza breaks work?

Grin

Smiles.

Gary
~M~
Board Administrator
Username: mjm

Post Number: 28014
Registered: 11-1998
Posted on Sunday, January 13, 2008 - 11:58 am:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post

I'm considering changing our titles from moderator to member of the senility brigade.

Whatcha think? *ROTFLMAO*

Love,
. . . Wait a minute . . . it'll come to me . . .
Fred Longworth
Senior Member
Username: sandiegopoet

Post Number: 3031
Registered: 05-2006
Posted on Sunday, January 13, 2008 - 12:09 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post

Modsenile . . . modsenility

* * * * *

Wild but Woolly

* * * * *

Muderators

* * * * *

Derf
Unofficial Forum Pariah
recent victim of alien abduction
Kathy Paupore
Moderator
Username: kathy

Post Number: 7142
Registered: 12-2003
Posted on Sunday, January 13, 2008 - 4:12 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post

Just adding:

On the gerunds, "ings", IMHO it's okay to use a few, but is the poem overburdened with them, do they take over the poem?

And once, Lisa, you mentioned to me something about the use of adverbs, those ly's, but I don't recall what it was except to say that I have avoided them since. So maybe something about the use/overuse of adverbs.

That's all I can think of for now,

:-) K
You're invited to:

Wild Flowers

How do I explain these poems? Not at all. -Anne Sexton
Teresa White
Intermediate Member
Username: teresa_white

Post Number: 710
Registered: 01-2005
Posted on Monday, January 14, 2008 - 7:36 am:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post

Lisa,

Thank you so much for this. I've been writing since jr. high school and only critting for a few years. I still have trouble doing crits the way I would like to. I've always felt boards should have exactly what you've done here. I will be reading and studying the great advice on how to crit.

Best,

T.
Kathy Paupore
Moderator
Username: kathy

Post Number: 7211
Registered: 12-2003
Posted on Wednesday, January 16, 2008 - 4:38 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post

Lisa, this just came to mind, have you come across anything on how to critique a poem so it doesn't change the author's voice? I've seen some crits that maybe don't try to but would do just that. Something like that would be a good addition to your crit class.

:-) K
You're invited to:

Wild Flowers

How do I explain these poems? Not at all. -Anne Sexton
Emusing
Senior Member
Username: emusing

Post Number: 5223
Registered: 08-2003
Posted on Thursday, January 17, 2008 - 11:58 am:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post

This is eeeeexxxcellent. It may be mixing colors here but I try to look at poetry from a publisher's point of view. Would this poem be publishable? Of course it all depends on the type of journal, the viewpoint of the editor etc., but I try to stay with a sort of neutral view. One of the interesting resources I found was from Pascale Petit. She was an IBPC judge and someone I made contact with when I was in London last year. I paid her for a critique of my work and received some very helpful feedback. She has an ebook one can download called "Toward a Collection" which not only advises the poet on the mechanics of assembling a manuscript but what an editor might be looking for when reading a poem. she was the editor of Poetry London which looks to be the equivalent of our Poetry magazine in the states. Many of the things you mention Lisa are included in her list as well as some that I would never have thought to articulate in the way she had. It gave me a whole new perspective. I would list them, but then I'd be giving away her goodies!

The booklet highlights the following topics:

Extending your Limits
Getting Published in Magazines
Pamphlet Publication and Other Opportunities
Structuring a Collection
Ordering a Collection
Editing Poems Part One
Editing Poems Part Two
Titling Poems and Collections
Submitting Manuscripts to Publishers
From Manuscript to Book

It's only 10 PBS or about $20.00. You can find the booklet at http://www.poetryschool.com. Look at the on line courses tab and then choose Advanced Courses and choose Toward a Collection. You'll find it there.

x e
www.wordwalkerpress.com