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 here (Wheeler's Liteary Vocabulary) or here (classical rhetorical terms) or here (Representative Poetry Online glossary)

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.