Charles Bernstein 

Poem Profiler: Check Levels

This is a list of rhetorical features of individual poems. Pick one poem and rate it for each of these characteristics. Rate the levels of these features on a one to ten scale with one the lowest level and ten the highest level. Be specific: give examples to support assessment. Compare two poems based on these features. Also: compare any group of poems based on their likeness/difference from one another. (NOTE: please provide additional parameters for the Profiler, which is in development.)

For definitions of many key poetics terms, go to http://web.cn.edu/kwheeler/lit_terms.html. and http://rhetoric.byu.edu/

Name of Poem:
Author:
Today’s Date:
Your name:

ratings 1 (low) to 10 (high)

Stylistic Textures and Poetic Diction
Coefficient of weirdness (wackiness quotient)___
Ambiguity____
Ambivolence____
Irreverence____
Sobriety____
Humor____
Eloquence____
Plainness____
Sincerity____
Smoothness (vs roughness, bumpiness, striation)____
Neat (vs messy)____
Pretentiousness____
Subtlety (vs bluntness)____
Indirect (vs straightforward)____
Intelligence____
Visual imagery____
Dreaminess____
Particularity (vs generality) of details____
Stylistic consistency____
Innovation____
Originality____
Ornamental/decorative____
Relevance____
Tastefulness____
Speech-like____
Dialect___
Sampling (use of found or quoted material)____
Comprehensibility____
Coherence____
Spontaneity____
Exploratory____
Density____
Predictability____
Abstractness____
Sensuousness____
Weariness____
Sophistication ____
Timidity____
Bravado____
Courage___
Unusual vocabulary____
Complexity____
Repetitiveness____
Self-consciousness____
Artifice (vs “natural”)____
Difficulty____
Modern/contemporary (vs old fashioned)____
Transparency Ratio (outward vs inward pointing)____

Content
Political____
Liberal/conservative/radical____
Urban____
Pastoral____
Moral____
Sexual____
Religious____
Spiritual____
Mystical____
Philosophical____
Love____
Family____
Ethnic/racial____
Nationalistic/patriotic____
Gender____
Mortality (death)____
Illness____
Conflict (war)____
Discontent____

Developmental / Temporal / Compositional Structures
(What holds the poem together?)
Check or circle as relevant
Fragmentary / disjunctive / nonlinear / discontinuity [parataxis]
Logical/expository continuity (linear / hypotaxis)
Narrative continuity (beginning, middle, and end) (linear 2 / hypotaxis)
Journey
Journal/diary
Stream of consciousness/thought process
Dream-like/surreal
Closure
Symmetrical
Fast paced
Jerky
Kinetic (moves from one thing to another) vs. static (continuous present)
Programmatic or procedural
Received form (sonnet, ballad, etc.)

Devices
Irony____
Paradox____
Exaggeration____
Understatement____
Simile____
Metaphor____
Personification____
Symbolism____
Allegory____
Enjambment____
Metonymy____
Literary or historical allusion____
Persona ____

Mood/Tone
[rate the first term only]
Scary/reassuring____
Dark/light____
Impersonal/emotional____
Engaged /disaffected (alienated)  ____
Affirmative/skeptical/ hostile____
Elegiac (mournful) / celebratory (panegyric) ____
Hot/cold____
Angry/friendly____
Cool/uncool____
Turbulent/calm____
Disturbed/content____
Reckless/cautious____
Happy/sad____
Depressed/elated____
Bright/dull____
Meditative/unreflective ____
Bubbly/sober____
Elusive/explicit____
Erotic/dispassionate____
Mysterious/apparent____

Counting:
Syllables per line____
Lines per stanza or for poem____
Stanzas____
Words per line____
Programmatic or procedural structure____

Visual Shape/Form:
Flush left, justified/ragged prose, overall “field” design, etc.____________

Sound
Dissonance/cacophony (noisy, harsh)____
Melodious/harmonious/ mellifluous (“pleasing”)____
Assonance____
Alliteration____
Rhyme____
Off-rhyme____
Metrical patterns____
Obtrusive (vs not noticeable)____
for performances (describe):
accent
tempo
voice timbre
tone
intonation
rhythm
amplitude/dynamic range

Point of View (circle as relevant)
Direct POV of author as speaker (monologic / lyric)
Persona
Narrator (epic)
Multiple POVs (dialogic or polyvocal)
Textual Subjectivity
n/a

Contexts
Author’s date of birth/death____
Date of poem’s composition____
Place of composition____
Relevant socio-historical facts:
Relevant biographical facts:
Relevant ethnic, gender, national, sexual orientation:
Place/context of original publication and significant subsequent publication:
Variant versions, including performances:
Title: yes/no; if yes: use/connection to poem

©Charles Bernstein 2009; may be reproduced for noncommericial use only.