PERMISSIONS: To view the blog, post on it, and comment on posts, you must be invited. I will send you an email invitation to join the blog, and then you must follow the instructions to join up and begin posting. You can't join the blog without first creating a Google account.

POSTING: Post your poems by clicking "New Post" at the top right of the page. Paste your poem into the window.

LABELING: Then label the post with the assignment name (i.e., "confessional poem," "sonnet," etc.), your name (i.e., "Tony Barnstone," etc.), and the week (i.e., "week one," "week two," but not "week 1"--spell out your numbers). If you post a poem in week two that is due in week three, label it "week three." When you begin to type in a label, the program will fill it in for you, so your post will be labeled with the rest of the poems in the same category.

COMMENTING: Afterwards, you can "comment" on the posts of your classmates. Post "group one" and "group two" one-page critical responses as "comments" on the posted poems, but also print out copies for me and for the poet and give them to us in class.

Thursday, February 26, 2009

Critical Response #1

Christina Ledesma
Advanced Poetry Writing
Professor Barnstone
Critical Response
February 19, 2009
Critical Response to Casualties by Alex Johnson
I really enjoyed the poem “Casualties” by Alex Johnson; he had great descriptive images throughout his poem. My favorite lines are the first two lines “A perfect ripple of flesh in the night that shakes off insecurity / Lip, enamel and breath encircle a tongue and speak of perfect victims.” These two lines paint a vision of two lovers together in the night. His word choice is very sensual and in the second line I can vision the characteristics of a woman. I think Alex did a good job following the structure of a Ghazal poem. He repeats the word perfect in the first line of every stanza and also includes his name in the last line of the poem. Some of the lines I think Alex should work on would be line 6, 8, and 10. I think he could describe these lines in a better way where his reader can actually visualize what he is trying to say. I also think he should choose another verb to describe the “immaculate coat” in stanza three. Overall, I think Alex’s poem is very sensual and sexual and appeals to his reader through his descriptive language. I also like how he plays with word “victimitude” in the last stanza, which is not a word but becomes a word in his poem. Like many other poets Alex is creating a word that compliments his poem and appeals to his reader.
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