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Poetry Portfolio
The final project for this course is a portfolio that contains a sampling of poems that you’ve written for this course. As a professional poet, you will need to put together such portfolios (or manuscripts) for thesis projects, submissions to magazines, contests and publishers. There will be four sections to your portfolio:
- Introduction (10%)
- thoughtful summary of what you’ve learned in the course and how you will apply that knowledge and those skill sets to other areas of your writing career (500-word minimum)
- follow all grammar, punctuation, and stylistic rules.
- the essay must be free of run-on sentences and sentence splices
- use active voice.
- A simple cover letter (10%)
- The cover letter should be short and simple.
- Include the name and address of the journal
- address the editor by name
- thank the editor for taking to time to review your poems
- list the names of the poems you’re including
- close
- The revised body of your work (75%)
- the revised and polished versions of your poems for the course
- a minimum of ten poems to qualify as a “complete manuscript” (you may have more than ten poems, but no more than fifteen)
- each poem should include your name, address, phone number and email address in the top, right-hand margin (best to place in header)
- The draft versions of the poems you’ve included in the manuscript (5%)
- drafts must be arranged in the same order as the poems in the ms
- individual draft versions should be collated: top copy=first draft, to bottom copy=final draft
Grading Rubric for revised poems
Criteria Points Comments
The poem’s sense clear, not confused or obscure in places |
10 |
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The poem’s lines and stanzas have solid logical relationships to one another and the references in the lines are clear |
10 |
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The tone of the speaker is consistent throughout the poem, it does not arbitrarily switch or lose its attitude |
10 |
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The poem contains not unwarranted connotations in the images and/or phrase that might throw the reader and the poem off track |
10 |
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The poem sticks to strong, concrete images—is not overloaded with abstractions in which the reader has to supply his or her own stock responses, and the poem has no “like” of its own |
10 |
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Contains clichés that don’t work in new way |
10 |
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Rhythms in the poem are lively and present, not flat and lacking in musicality so that it seems like prose broken into lines |
10 |
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Dictions is striking and fresh, not drab and routine |
10 |
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Verbs are charged, active. Little or no use of the verb “to be.” Minimum use of passive voice |
10 |
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The poem says something in a new way. |
10 |
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Total |
100 |
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Note: you will also lose ten points if the manuscript is short, or lacks proper identification and/or presentation formatting.
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