Name: ______Period: ______

“Where I’m From” Poem Revision/Edit

Category / Possible Points
Creativity & Voice: extent to which poet brings unique and individual experiences, tone, and voice to task
  • Did you choose a variety of experiences/memories/people into the poem? If you are repetitive, try to think of alternative ideas.
  • Does the poem “sound” like you? How could you change the words to reflect your personality?
  • Is the content of your poem interesting? This doesn’t mean your memories have to be crazy or life-threatening, but that they are presented in a way that the reader would be captivated by them.
  • Did you use figurative language (simile/metaphor) to present ideas?
  • Did you “think outside the box” by using abstract ways to present your memories/experiences/people?
/ 5
Sophistication: poet’s awareness of audience, word choice, and presentation of content
  • Did you use your “best” words? Eliminate any vague words like “things, stuff, good, bad, nice…”.
  • If a phrase or line sounds awkward, rephrase it in a logical but interesting way. Play with the order of words in each line.
/ 5
Elaboration: extent to which poet uses details and imagery to create representation of their identity
  • Did you use adjectives, adverbs, and other descriptive words to create an image for your reader?
  • Did you appeal to your readers senses (sight, smell, taste, feel, hear)?
/ 5
Organization: extent to which poet follows stanza and line format, and creates clear and focused ideas
  • Did you begin each line with the prompts/words from the template?
  • Did you skip a line between stanzas?
  • Did you put the lines in the order they were presented in the template?
/ 5
Conventions: spelling, grammar, punctuation, and mechanics
  • Circle any words you think may be misspelled and look them up!
  • Follow the format of each line in the template to use correct punctuation.
  • Capitalize proper nouns (names of people/places/products).
/ 5
TOTAL / 25

If you finish, trade with a neighbor for another set of critical eyes!

FINAL DRAFT DUE ______

Remember:

This is a MAJOR GRADE. It should be typed, but may be written only if your handwriting is neat and legible.

Feel free to make the presentation also reflect your identity (including pictures, printed on your favorite color paper, typed in a font you like, etc…).