At Home:

• Read through the poem a couple of times until you get a sense of “what the poem is trying to do.”
  
• You are required to give written feedback on each poem. Write your comments on the poem, remembering to give the author both positive feedback about what is working well in the poems and “constructive” feedback in terms of suggestions for how to revise the poem.
  
• Some things you can look for (in terms of suggestions): places where what the author is trying to say is unclear, places where the phrasing is awkward and needs to be reworded, places where you think a better word might be appropriate, line breaks that interfere with comprehension, places where you think more description or detail is needed, or anything else you feel the author should be aware of.
  
• Some things you can look for (in terms of letting the author know what’s working): strong images, effective similes or metaphors, effective line breaks, fresh or imaginative descriptions or details, moving or insightful ideas, or anything else you liked about the poem.
  
• You should also make use of the “Holding the Poem in Question” handout, which is a list of questions you can ask yourself when trying to generate feedback for a poem.
  

• During workshop, each poem will be read aloud and then discussed by the class. You are required to give oral feedback on each poem.
  
• You can comment on any of the things you’ve written on the poem, or add something you think of during the discussion.