[Stylist] Advice on how to critique a poem

[llambert at zoominternet.net]

Bridgit, you are so right. 
When I responded  to this question, I started to write about art and how to
read a work of art, but then, I thought with people who have never actually
visually seen  a work of art, I should probably not respond to it - but just
about everything we do in writing has the same  type of search and discovery
methods  as  what we do when facing an art work.  I loved the examples of
misconceptions - for they match similar ones in viewing art.  The poem and
the painting are never "whatever you want them to be."  Each takes study and
effort and lots of  work to discover meaning and content. Each viewer or
reader brings his/her own history with them when looking at the work.  We
can only understand it more as we continue to grow in our experiences and
studies of the work. 
Thanks for your keen observation.
Lynda

-----Original Message-----
From: Stylist <stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Bridgit
Kuenning-Pollpeter via Stylist
Sent: Wednesday, March 4, 2020 9:22 AM
To: 'Writers' Division Mailing List' <stylist at nfbnet.org>
Cc: Bridgit Kuenning-Pollpeter <bkpollpeter at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [Stylist] Advice on how to critique a poem

It surprises me that your instructors do not provide guidelines for how to
workshop and provide feedback to peers. Poetry has a specific structure
depending on the type of poem, but you provide feedback the same way you do
with prose. What works and what doesn't, referring to specifics in the poem.
Line breaks, diction, syntax, structure, use of metaphor/imagery, etc. What
did you take away? Years ago, an instructor of mine told us that to truly
understand a poem and be able to provide feedback, we had to look at it as a
whole, similar to abstract art. If you look at it merely section-by-section,
it won't completely make sense; but once you step back and look at its
entirety, you can make all the sections come together and make sense. This
helped me better understand poetry and better appreciate it. Think about
word choice, what imagery is the poet going for and. Just respond to what
speaks to you in a poem.? Do the line breaks add to or take away from the
sense of the poem, etc. Hope this helps.

Bridgit


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