ENGL 151, 152, 153 – Creative Writing (Online)
Poetry Workshop Notes
These notes introduce the shape and spirit of the poetry workshop, which is what lies at the heart of all creative writing classes at the college level and beyond!
At the heart of any creative writing class is the workshop. Workshops occur when a writer puts their work up for discussion in a group, and the group aims to provide feedback that will help the writer improve their story. This is where you get to put all the theoretical ideas about what makes good poetry into practice. This is where you get to discuss each other's work.
The goal here is to grapple with the elements of craft that we have studied in this course. Use our class terminology and content to guide your feedback. It is important that you avoid saying what you "like" or "dislike" about the poem. Remember, the poem is under discussion, not the poet. And unless you notice considerable language/grammar/punctuation errors, your job is
not to comment on these things.
Your Workshop Responsibilities
 Post the rough draft of poetry to your Workshop Group (5 pts.)

Write comments on for each of your classmates’ poems. Consult the sample for further instructions (10 pts.)
 Write a critique in the form of letter addressed to the poet. You will write one letter that addresses all the poems together. Consult the sample for further instructions (10 pts.)
Use our Responsible Workshop Questions (included in these notes) to guide your draft comments and critique letter. Reference at least 5 of our RWQ per draft. The goal of these critiques is to help the writer see where the opportunities for improvement are in their work, but also to display to me that you understand and can apply the elements of craft that we have studied this quarter.
Your draft comments will address specific moments in the poems and provide specific bits of feedback while your critique letter will provide an overall summary of your draft comments; think of it as providing the poet (and me!) the overall experience for what it was like reading their poetry.
Responsible Workshop Questions
These are the questions you should use to drive your evaluation of each other’s work, as I will use them to guide my evaluation of your final drafts. You do not need to answer all of these

questions for every poem you workshop, so pick the ones that seem the most relevant for each poem. The answer will always be more than a simple yes or no!
 Is there an appropriate mix of end stops and enjambment? Is the enjambment used correctly?
 Are there any caesuras? Are they used effectively?
 Is the poem written in full sentences with correct punctuation?
 Does the poem use line breaks effectively?
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What can you say about the denotation and connotation of the poem’s words?
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Has the poet relied too heavily on true end rhymes and/or rich rhymes?
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Does the poem make effective use of slant rhyme?
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Does the poem make effective use of internal rhyme?
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Does the poem make effective use of assonance, consonance, alliteration, and/or consonant clusters?
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Does the poem make effective use of other wordplay (pun, personification, repetition, etc.)?
 Is there a story being told in the poem?
 Is something at stake in the poem?
 Has anything changed by the end of the poem?
 Who is the speaker?
 Is the speaker implied?
 Are the poem’s metaphors concrete?
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Are the poem’s metaphors surprising and precise?
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Are there any abstractions that weaken the poem’s power?
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Do you see any clichés?
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What inventory is in the poem?
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What setting is in the poem?
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How would you describe the tempo and rhythm of the poem? Are they appropriate for the subject?
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Has the poet achieved density with their language?
 Is the poet’s language playful?