Evaluating a poem begins with personal taste. Whether you like a poem or loathe it, your reaction to it may be passionate. That should be the starting point for your response. The question Is not merely whether a work pleases, but how well it performs the literary tasks it sets out to perform.

Next, try to determine what the poem seems designed to make you think and feel. Determine what effects the poet was trying to accomplish. If the poem is written in one of the genres we studied, then you need to weigh it against the specifications of that genre.

Then, move on to the specific elements in the poem. How well do its language, imagery, symbols and figures of speech work in communication its meaning? Are the metaphors or similes effective? Does the imagery work? Is the language vague or verbose? Does the poem ever fall into clichés or platitudes?

The goal Is to nourish your personal response with informed, careful and critical examination of the poem. Your thesis statement is what the poem means to you. It will be one sentence In the introduction and will be proven by three supporting paragraphs and end with a concluding paragraph, thus, five paragraphs. Use our class discussions as the springboard for your essay.

Suggestion for Evaluating a Poem if applicable. DO NOT JUST ANSWER THESE QEUSTIONS!! This is not a quiz. It is an essay. These questions are just to guide you.

1. What is your subjective response to the poem as a whole? Why?

2. Highlight moments that give you a strong reaction. Why do you think these passages elicit that response?

3. What task does the poem set for itself?

4. Does it belong to some genre? If so, does it meet the specifications?

5. How well does the poem fulfill the expectations that it creates?

6. How do its specific elements(language, imagery, symbols, figures of speech, rhythm, sound and rime) work to communicate its meaning?