Scorecard

The other day (Jan 12th and 13th to be exact) I referred to a rating scale I've developed for poetry books. I've identified different poetic components that I often reflect upon (some more so and some less so) while I read a book of poems. I rate each component on a scale from 1-5, add up the score, and then rate the book based on the total score. Here are the scales:

1 = I hated it 1 = Not at all

2 = I didn’t like it 2 = Not really

3 = I liked it 3 = Sort of does

4 = I really liked it 4 = Yes it does

5 = I loved it 5 = Absolutely does

The reason I have two different scales is because, for example, a poet's book might employ a lot of alliteration, assonance, consonance, slant rhyme, internal rhyme, etc. but I don't particularly like their use of the sonic level. So, for the Sonic Level I rate a book of poetry on two levels:

• One, is it present = objective
  
• Two, do I like it = subjective
  

Of course not every category is like this and I know this sounds very nerdy and almost too scientific for what is often viewed as an intuitive art but several years ago I felt compelled to analyze and critique the books I was reading rather then just reduce my responses to simple "knee-jerk reactions" (i.e., "I don't like it" or "I liked it"). Perhaps I just want to be more interesting in my conversations about poetry but I've always been intrigued by exploring the questions: "What is Poetry" and "What constitutes good poetry." I think my desire to explore these questions has lot to do with my desire to explore and understand a philosophy of what is beautiful (of course this exploration is going to be very subjective and preferential at times).

But my score card breaks down into the following components and their corresponding sub-categories:

Typographical
The Sonic Level
The Sensory Level
Diction
Craft
Formal Range
Meaning
Originality
Structure
Vision
Emotive
Likability
Credibility

Now, I realize not many people read my blog but I'm open to suggestions about my score card if missing something. Beyond being nerdy though, the scorecard has helped me become more objective and fair in some readings. For example, I may think a particular poet lacks originality but a few poems illicit emotive responses, they attempt to conjure meaning in their poetry, and their sonic level is pretty good. So, I'm going to at least find some redeeming qualities in their poetry instead of simply saying: "this poetry sucks ass!" and then proceed to chuck the book against the wall.

That's it...My twenty minutes are up.