.

The terminology for writing concerns differs depending on the type of writing, but composition scholars and educators often create hierarchies of the concerns that are pertinent to their type of writing. These hierarchies help teach writers how to prioritize the revision, editing, and feedback process.

Focus, structure (organization), and audience are some of the highest concerns for essay writing. Word choice and spelling are some of the lowest concerns. Why is that? Because dictionaries and automatic spell checkers can go far and in a long piece of non-fiction prose like an essay, a few typos are much less critical to the overall understanding of the piece than a clear focus and well-defined topic.

We can fit poetic writing concerns into a hierarchy just like these, but the order of our concerns will be different. For the poet, every single word should be very important. In free verse, structure may hold little concern, but for haiku and sonnets structure is a top priority.

During each section of the workshop, we will first spend time discussing and learning about these writing concerns, then with the tools at our disposal we will apply our learning to a poem.

Kelsey

I will preface this work by saying that critiquing, giving feedback, constructive criticism, whatever we call it, is not about tallying errors. This is true in poetry and any other form of writing. Writing and composition scholars are still debating this stance since it became prominent in the 1980s. However, since completing my Master’s degree I have fully adopted the stance that writing is not about correctness, properness, or that the best writing has the least amount or least frequency of “errors”.  Judging the merit of a writer by frequency of errors is still the standard in education, but scholars are trying to change that. The stance that there is no such thing as a good or bad writer, that everyone can develop their writing skills, is still somewhat controversial because elitists like to gate-keep. But this workshop will operate with the beliefs that anyone can be a writer and everyone, no matter how they write or talk or read, deserves a fair chance as a poet.  In this workshop, we will not tally errors or judge the merit of the poem or poet based on syntax, use of dialect, or other writing concerns. We will only suggest changes that make sense for the poem and poet’s intentions.  Recap: Knowledge of more or less spelling, vocabulary, grammar, literary devices, or other writing concerns does not determine the value of the poet or the value of the reader. Kelsey

So, we will start by learning some of the terminology and skills needed to critique syntax. Please start by reading the section on syntax (last section) in my blog post here: https://www.neopoet.com/swamp-witch/blog/wed-2018-06-06-1306

Syntax Terminology

Note: I am using syntax as a catch-all term for mechanics, word choice (diction), grammar, and sentence structure in a poem. Sometimes the term syntax is not used this way. Syntax Definition: https://literarydevices.net/syntax/

For critiquing syntax, the reader may address grammar, spelling, punctuation, mechanics, word choice, and sentence structure (or maybe “thought structure” if the poem doesn’t use complete sentences). The pertinent “Review Request” on Neopoet’s poem submission page is “How was my language use?” In terms of those hierarchies of concerns that we talked about before, in writing essays these are considered lower order concerns. Nonetheless, for the poet, with our limited writing space and sometimes restrictive forms, every word is important so syntax becomes a higher order concern. Critiquing syntax should include more than proofreading/spell-checking.

How to critique syntax:

1. The first step should also be to read the poem multiple times.
2. As you read, you can take written or mental notes about what you notice (having these notes in writing is often called annotation and you can learn a bit about it in my video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hv8wlwu9IY4&t=34s or here: http://davidrickert.com/2015/09/18/dont-hate-annotate-how-to-really-annotate-a-poem/ or here: http://www.mcguiremarks.com/uploads/3/9/7/9/39793909/annotating_poetry.pdf)
3. Then ask yourself about what you were noticing. Did it seem like a typo? Was there some unexpected capitalization or punctuation or line breaks (and was it unexpected in a good way or a confusing way)? Does the verb tense of the poem change, if so, is it consistent (such as a flashback or hope for the future) or not? Were thoughts incomplete (keep in mind that a poem may consistent of many brief phrases that make up one complete thought, or every line could be a complete thought, or any other combination)? Were there any grammatical “errors”?
4. If you answered yes to any of these questions, try to determine if they were purposeful or not. Do they create meaning in the poem (such as through the invention of new words)? Do they represent the narrator or persona of the poem, such as through dialog or internal monologue? Or do they make the poem more difficult to read or understand? Do they make the reader stumble or confuse the reader? Or do they entice the reader to want to know more?
5. Whether these syntax concerns were purposeful or not should shape your critique. If you are unsure, just ask the poet. If it is unclear whether or not the choices were purposeful is just as much a part of the critique as actually talking about the syntax concerns themselves.

    

   Some sample phrases for critiquing syntax:

    

   • These words ______ made me stumble because ______.
   • You have a typo ______ on line _______.
   • The use of punctuation ______ on line _____ seemed useful/interesting or unnecessary/out of place to me because _____.
   • Did you mean to spell ______ as ______?
   • I think the syntax/spelling/word choice/etc. in this poem could be made clearer/more memorable/etc. by _______.
   • The poem seems wordy or needing more words to me because ______.
   • The poem is clear or unclear to me because _______.
   • The mechanics of this poem could be polished by ______.
   • This thought does not seem complete because ____ (there is not a clear subject/action or the thought trails off without concluding).

    

   If you need to learn more about syntax before proceeding, check out the following resources:

    

   • https://www.neopoet.com/swamp-witch/blog/tue-2018-06-05-1327
   • http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/index2.htm
   • https://www.time4writing.com/writing-mechanics/
   • http://www.write.com/writing-guides/general-writing/mechanics/
   • https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/grammar

Please ask any questions you may have at any time. The critique activity will be posted tomorrow, Wednesday the 20th, but questions are welcome at any time during the workshop.

Kelsey

Short version (exactly what is posted to Neopoet):

http://kelsey-burroughs.weebly.com/uploads/1/4/2/9/14295182/neopoet_cop…

Long version (lots more reading and free academic resources):
http://kelsey-burroughs.weebly.com/uploads/1/4/2/9/14295182/the_great_b…

Kelsey

Thanks everyone for bearing with me during technical difficulties. Finally, our first poem for critique has been posted to the workshop here: https://www.neopoet.com/workshop/poems/syntax-sample-poem-critique-workshop For this poem, focus on syntax only: word choice, spelling, spacing, punctuation, capitalization, grammar. Don’t comment on imagery, rhyme, meter, literary devices, content, theme or other features of the poem.   Also, don’t make judgements about the merit of the syntax, just identify what stands out to you about the syntax and state why. Identify both what you like about the syntax and what you think could be different about the syntax (not necessarily better or improved, just different). These will be your suggestions and your praise. When mentioning what could be different, try to keep in mind that the poet will likely want to maintain the existing meaning so try to make suggestions that don’t heavily alter meaning or bigger picture (if the meaning and bigger picture are already clear).  Kelsey

Week two's topic/work will be posted later this week as I am experiencing both family troubles and computer troubles as well as several doctor's appointments this week.

Week two's topic will be critiquing literary devices, so you can read the brief overview on literary devices on my blog here: https://www.neopoet.com/swamp-witch/blog/wed-2018-06-06-1306

If anyone has not critiqued the syntax poem, please do so when you can: https://www.neopoet.com/workshop/poems/syntax-sample-poem-critique-work…

Thank you for your patience,
Kelsey

Thanks everyone, for your patience. Let's take the remainder of the workshop at a slower pace than once per week, if no one minds.

--

Often, literary devices are what set poetry and prose apart. Both use literary devices, but the devices employed in poetry and prose typically differ (although there is some overlap). For example, the literary devices in prose are often used for rhetorical purposes while the literary devices in poetry often serve to create musicality and memorability in a poem.

Here is a brief glossary of literary devices:

• https://highered.mheducation.com/sites/0072405228/student_view0/poetic_…
• http://www.chaparralpoets.org/devices.pdf
• https://literarydevices.net/

In a poem, the use of literary devices is what gives the poem its “literariness” or what make it sound poetic. Two of the most obvious devices that lend poetic sound to a poem are meter and rhyme. The critique of meter and rhyme, or any single literary device, could constitute their own entire workshop. We’ve had several about meter on Neopoet! Here are some more in-depth discussions of meter and rhyme:

Meter:

• http://www.english.emory.edu/classes/Handbook/meter.html
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metre_(poetry)
• https://literarydevices.net/meter/

Rhyme:

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhyme
• https://literarydevices.net/rhyme/
• https://www.poetryfoundation.org/learn/glossary-terms/rhyme

How to critique literary devices: (repeated from "how to critique syntax", but specific to literary devices)

1. The first step should be to read the poem multiple times, just like for any critique.
2. If you would like to learn more about why we should read multiple times, or more about close reading, check this out: https://www.poets.org/poetsorg/text/how-read-poem-0 As you read, you can take written or mental notes about what you notice (having these notes in writing is often called annotation and you can learn a bit about it in my video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hv8wlwu9IY4&t=34s or here: http://davidrickert.com/2015/09/18/dont-hate-annotate-how-to-really-ann… or here: http://www.mcguiremarks.com/uploads/3/9/7/9/39793909/annotating_poetry…)
3. Then ask yourself about what you were noticing. Is there a rhyme scheme? A meter? Alliteration or consonance? Figures of speech or figurative language? Hyperbole or other exaggeration? Does the poem seem utterly literal? Is the rhythm smooth, slow, and gentle, or fast and harsh? What makes the rhythm feel/sound this way?
4. If you are not sure if any of these devices or others exist in the poem, try looking for patterns or repetitions. Many literary devices either form patterns or are used several times throughout a poem in different ways. For example, do two or more lines end with same letters/sound or do several words that are close together start with the same sound/letter? Does the poet use “like” or “as” frequently?
5. When you find these patterns or repetitions, you can use the provided glossaries to determine if they are defined literary devices. Once you know what devices you’re dealing with, critiquing them may occur in two ways.
6. First, you may want to determine if the device has a strict form and if so, did the poet follow it (is the poet using perfect end rhymes consistently throughout the poem, or do they add in some near rhymes seemingly at random, for example?). If they did follow the form perfectly or not, does it seem intentional or not? Does it add something to the poem by being unique or does it just seem sloppy?
7. Then you can critique the devices effectiveness in the poem. This critique/assessment/feedback will be much more subjective and will be totally influenced by your feelings and experiences as a reader. Do the devices create musicality and harmony in the poem. Do they add to the theme of the poem, or seem to contrast it (for example, is it a somber elegy with sing-song rhymes or is it a children’s poem with sing-song rhymes)?
8. Just like with syntax, if you’re not sure about the literary devices, ask the poet their intentions.

Further Optional Reading Resources and poem activity will follow soon.

Thanks,
Kelsey

https://www.neopoet.com/workshop/poems/literary-devices-sample-poem-cri…

Please critique at your own pace. Note that the "Last Few Words" portion of the poem gives the instructions, which differ from the instructions in the syntax poem.

Thank you,
Kelsey