As you read:
1) Look at the work for itself
and not for what you would do with the piece if it were yours.
It isn't. It is the poet's. Let go.
2) Try to understand what the work
is trying to be, do, or say. Respect the intent and the effort.
3) As the writer/poet reads aloud
or as you read to yourself silently, allow the words to engage
you.
4) Note what does engage you successfully
and what doesn't.
5) Consider why the engagement
does or does not happen. What words, lines, rhythms, rhymes,
images, subject matter, etc. attract or detract.
As the group or class discusses:
1) Begin with what we understand,
accept, and like and why. At first this kind of beginning will
be welcome because it calms nervousness, eases the vulnerabilities,
and tells genuine strengths.
However, as time goes on, many
participants want to dismiss this step for themselves or in their
critiques of others as if it were so much politeness. It isn't.
What is working is often the most
difficult thing to describe specifically because quality is more
than the sum of its parts. However, it is important for all of
us to know not only what doesn't work but what does and--most
importantly--why, so we can do it again!
2) As we point out what we find
less strong, stick to what really does distract us from the intent
of the work.
It is very easy to tell people
what we want to see happen, when often those things are what
we ourselves would do in a poem. Remember, the poem/work is not
the reader's; it's the poet/writer's. Stick to places where you
got "bogged down," where your mind wandered, where
you became confused. Then we can examine those places for why
they did not engage. Sometimes the problem is not with the poet/writer.
3) From there it becomes appropriate
to move to more general discussion of poetic/writing technique
and our various questions and viewpoints.