[New-Poetry] When poems leave you speechless

[Halvard Johnson]

don't just sit there, read Bob Grumman or check out this, from Charles
Bernstein. (If this page doesn't transmit well, click on the Poem  
Profiler
link at the top, or go to http://epc.buffalo.edu/authors/bernstein/ 
blog/ and
scroll down a bit.)



Poem Profiler



Poem Profiler: Check Levels

This is a list of rhetorical and other features of individual poems  
that I have used for many years in teaching and which I discuss in  
several essays on poetry and pedagogy.
PEPC library link to the
Poem Profiler
(and also to an "EZ" version format).

Pick one poem and rate it for each of these characteristics. Rate the  
levels of these features on a one to ten scale with one the lowest  
level and ten the highest level. Be specific: give examples to support  
assessment. Compare two poems based on these features. Also: compare  
any group of poems based on their likeness/difference from one  
another. (NOTE: please provide additional parameters for the Profiler,  
which is in development.)

For definitions of many key poetics terms, go to http://web.cn.edu/kwheeler/lit_terms.html 
. and http://rhetoric.byu.edu/

Or use the  EZ to fill-out version of the form

Stylistic Textures and Poetic Diction
Coefficient of weirdness (wackiness quotient)
Ambiguity
Ambivolence
Irreverence
Sobriety
Humor
Eloquence
Plainness
Sincerity
Smoothness (vs roughness, bumpiness, striation)
Neat (vs messy)
Pretentiousness
Subtlety (vs bluntness)
Indirect (vs straightforward)
Intelligence
Visual imagery
Dreaminess
Particularity (vs generality) of details
Stylistic consistency
Innovation
Originality
Ornamental/decorative
Relevance
Tastefulness
Speech-like
Dialect
Sampling (use of found or quoted material)
Comprehensibility
Coherence
Spontaneity
Exploratory
Density
Predictability
Abstractness
Sensuousness
Wearyness
Timidity
Bravado
Courage
Unusual vocabulary
Complexity
Repetitiveness
Self-consciousness
Artifice (vs “natural”)
Difficulty
Modern/contemporary (vs old fashioned)
Referential Opacity / Transparency Ratio (outward/inward pointing)


Point of View
Direct POV of author as speaker (monologic / lyric)
Persona
Narrator (epic)
Multiple POVs (dialogic or polyvocal)
Textual Subjectivity
n/a

Content
Political
Liberal/conservative/radical
Urban
Pastoral
Moral
Sexual
Religious
Spiritual
Mystical
Philosophical
Love
Family
Ethnic/racial
Nationalistic/patriotic
Gender
Mortality (death)
Illness
Conflict (war)
Discontent

Developmental / Temporal / Compositional Structures
(What holds the poem together?)
Fragmentary / disjunctive / nonlinear / discontinuity [parataxis]
Logical/expository continuity (linear 1/ hypotaxis)
Narrative continuity (beginning, middle, and end) (linear 2 / hypotaxis)
Journey
Journal/diary
Stream of consciousness/thought process
Dream-like/surreal
Closure
Symmetrical
Fast paced
Jerky
Kinetic (moves from one thing to another) vs. static (continuous  
present)
Programmatic or procedural
Received form (sonnet, ballad, etc.)

Devices
Irony
Paradox
Exaggeration
Understatement
Simile
Metaphor
Personification
Symbolism
Allegory
Enjambment
Metonymy
Literary or historical allusion
Persona
Programmatic or procedural structure

Mood/Tone
[rate the first term only]
Scary/reassuring
Dark/light
Impersonal/emotional
Engaged /disaffected (alienated)
Affirmative/skeptical/ hostile
Elegiac (mournful) / celebratory (panegyric)
Hot/cold
Angry/friendly
Cool/uncool
Turbulent/calm
Disturbed/content
Reckless/cautious
Happy/sad
Depressed/elated
Bright/dull
Meditative/unreflective
Bubbly/sober
Elusive/explicit
Erotic/dispassionate
Mysterious/apparent

Counting:
Syllables per line
Lines per stanza or for poem
Stanzas
Words per line
Visual Shape/Form:
Flush left, justified/ragged prose, overall “field” design, etc.

Sound
Dissonance/cacophony (noisy, harsh)
Melodious/harmonious/ mellifluous (“pleasing”)
Assonance
Alliteration
Rhyme
Off-rhyme
Metrical patterns
Obtrusive (vs not noticeable)
for performances:
accent
tempo
voice timbre
tone
intonation
rhythm
amplitude/dynamic range

Contexts
Author’s date of birth/death
Date of poem’s composition
Place of composition
Relevant socio-historical facts
Relevant biographical facts
Relevant ethnic, gender, national, sexual orientation
Place/context of original publication and significant subsequent  
publication
Variant versions, including performances
Title: yes/no; if yes: use/connection to poem


Obama / Biden '08

Hal

Halvard Johnson
================
halvard at earthlink.net
halvard at gmail.com
http://home.earthlink.net/~halvard/index.html
http://entropyandme.blogspot.com
http://imageswithoutwords.blogspot.com
http://www.hamiltonstone.org
http://home.earthlink.net/~halvard/vidalocabooks.html



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