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 here (Wheeler's Liteary Vocabulary) or here (classical rhetorical terms) or here (Representative Poetry Online glossary)
| 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 Wearyness Timidity Bravado Courage Unusual vocabulary Complexity Repetitiveness Self-consciousness Artifice (vs “natural”) Difficulty Modern/contemporary (vs old fashioned) Referential Opacity / Transparency Ratio (outward/inward pointing) Point of View Direct POV of author as speaker (monologic / lyric) Persona Narrator (epic) Multiple POVs (dialogic or polyvocal) Textual Subjectivity n/a | 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?) Fragmentary / disjunctive / nonlinear / discontinuity [parataxis] Logical/expository continuity (linear 1/ 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 Programmatic or procedural structure | 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 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: accent tempo voice timbre tone intonation rhythm amplitude/dynamic range 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 |
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