A Word About Grading Criteria

I'll evaluate you in each of the three categories listed in the right column (TCOB [see below], Essay Drafts, and Critiques) twice each quarter. That effectively gives you six grades each nine-weeks, all weighted evenly. I'll also provide you a narrative assessment at each progress report and at the end of each nine-weeks.

In grading your poem drafts, here's what I'm looking for:

Your conference draft should be a completed draft. I don't expect conference drafts to be perfect, but you do need to show me you've made a good faith effort. If you do that, you'll get full credit (100 points).

Your critique draft should show progress from your conference draft. I see myself as an editor in this process, and in any editor-writer relationship, there's a give-and-take. The process is organic, and it's different for different poems, but in a nutshell it goes like this: I give you my educated opinion, and you do the hard work of sifting through it to take out whatever nuggets of wisdom you can find. I don't have all the answers, and the final product is always up to you.

Now I can't tell you exactly what I mean by "progress" because that too is different for different poems. Show me that you've really gotten back in under the hood. Also, critique drafts should be basically free of grammatical errors and typos. I'm not a freak about that, but it does save you the tedium of sifting through a million comments pointing out the same surface-level error. Plus it's a mark of self-respect to show some care in the work you present to your peers. You have a right, then, to expect that very same level of care and respect in return. Do all that and, again, you'll get full credit (100 points).

When it comes to critique, we'll talk specifically about what I'm looking for right after I get back from Vermont. But, you know, the basics are the basics. I'll evaluate you on both written and oral components of critique. In both cases, I want an insightful, articulate account of your reading experience. Two other adjectives: honest, authentic. And a noun: empathy.

Then, of course, your final portfolio will count for 20% of your final semester grade. The portfolio will consist of seven to ten poems: five fully revised critique poems and at least two new poems that have not been critiqued.