(1) Judging Quality

Poetry should be judged using several criteria (including your mission), but put “quality” in the forefront. Quality in poetry includes at least the following:

(a) Form

Form means the sound structure of a poem. Some poems have a regular rime and meter. We call these “closed form” poems. Examples include sonnets, limericks, and ballad or hymn meter (the most common for popular songs as well as church music). A closed form poem should stick to its form once the poem starts. Bad poems often add extra syllables to the beat or cut syllables off or twist the words around to get a riming word to the end of the line. (See Examples if you need more information.) Read a closed form poem aloud to see whether the sound pattern flows smoothly.

Other poems have unique sound patterns. They may use linebreaks, repeated sounds, groups of similar sounds, or other sound patterns to produce an effect. Just as with closed form poems, reading the poem aloud helps you tell whether the poem’s sounds produce the desired effect. Don’t assume that because a poem has no simple rime and meter that it isn’t effective poetry.

(b) Showing vs. Telling

Poetry attempts to create an emotional effect in the reader. Bad poems try to do this by telling the audience how to feel or how the voice of the poem feels. Good poems make the audience feel the emotion. Think of it like a spouse or significant other who wants you to SHOW him/her how you feel with your actions rather than just telling him/her “I love you” and then undercutting it with contradictory actions. Does the poem use concrete images and sensory details to provoke a feeling in the audience or does it simply state the feelings? (See Examples if you need more information.)

NOTE: Sometimes poetry can be difficult to comprehend—in part because it sometimes expresses complex ideas/emotions. A fine line divides amazing revelations from incomprehensibility at times. Moreover, the author may make some assumptions about the audience’s familiarity with literary conventions. DO NOT dismiss a poem simply because of difficulty. A good poem will reward you for the effort to learn about it. However, some poems may simply be too personal to permit us to interpret them. (See Examples if you need more information.)

(c) Originality/Creativity

The bane of most popular songs! Ideally, a good poem should offer an original insight into its subject—or at least express a cliched subject in an original way. After thousands of years of poetry and music, finding a new method of expression or a new insight about love or loss offers a challenge, but some poets manage.

(2) Assignment:

(a) Locate three poems which to you embody the positive features above. At least one should be a closed form poem and one an open form poem.

(b) Locate three poems which to you embody the negative features above. At least one should be a closed form poem and one an open form poem. If you have trouble finding bad poetry, consider a quick Internet search for poetry sites. E-mail me for instructions if you don’t know how to do this.You should have little trouble locating a few bad poems!

(c) Post the poems on MyHeritage. Include a short explanation (a few sentences is fine) for each poem evaluating the poem in terms of the criteria given above.