This means it’s time to talk to the students about how to comment on their classmates’ poems. I want this conversation to give the first workshop a useful structure and I want the students to take away a model for how to comment on classmates’ poems outside of workshop.

I do this differently every semester — different groups of students have different levels of comfort and anxiety with one another. This group seems particularly thoughtful and charming. But invariably someone will worry that they aren’t qualified to comment on someone else’s poem, so I like to start with the basics. I’m going to give my students this handout on Wednesday:

9 Things to Consider When You Comment on a Classmate’s Poem: A Checklist

(click here for a PDF version of the checklist!)

1. Read the poem to yourself out loud; this will help you understand it, catch rough spots, and hear where it should be praised for its sound.
2. Summarize what the poem is “about” for you, in a couple words or a sentence, considering content and form. Comments like: “Realistic free verse love poem!” “Mysterious pastoral sonnet!” or “This looks like a list poem that becomes a narrative about writing” can let the poet know your impression of the poem.
3. Underline and comment on elements you like for their sound.
4. Underline and comment on elements you like for their content.
5. If the poem is using a form, point out places where it’s successful and places where it seems forced.
6. There shouldn’t be any typos, any mistakes, in a poem: your poems should be too short and too carefully polished to contain errors. If you spot some, correct them quickly and kindly, like you would let someone know there is spinach in his teeth or her socks don’t match.
7. You already know not to be a jerk; of course, keep your comments respectful and useful. If there is a place that doesn’t make sense to you, underline it and ask a clarifying question.    You can do this by talking about specific parts of the poem, rather than addressing the poet in more general terms. If line seven is “butterscotch eyeballs drenched in lye,” you might say “This image isn’t clear to me: are these eyeballs that are butterscotch colored? Are they dissolving?” This is more helpful to the poet than saying “Geez, Simon, you need to work on writing clearer images.”
8. Think about the order of the poem. Could it be improved? Say so. If not, say so.
9. If you are just writing “Good job!” you are not doing a good job.

I’ll read this checklist out loud to students and talk about each point using published poems we’ve already discussed in class to illustrate my examples. I think having a checklist like this can be comforting to students faced with trying to give good criticism to their peers — it gives them permission to speak up and reminds them to be thorough. But, like I say, I do it differently with every class.

So I’m hoping that my first blog post is a useful way for us to talk about things you would add to such a list — as teachers, what’s the best way to help students be effective critics of each other’s work? If any students stumble upon this when they Google “How to comment on a poem,” they will get the full benefit of our collective wisdom.