Dammit. This is actually upsetting to me.

[Lyric]

This is in reference to a poem that I wrote two weeks ago, titled "Pennyroyal," but it has a different title now.

I got back some workshop feedback from two other students who TORE UP a piece that I wrote. If their comments had been constructive, I wouldn't mind, but there's pink-and-black highlighter ink and a page full of catty, snide comments on a piece that I know DAMNED well was actually pretty freaking good. Nothing constructive at all. Here are some examples from the two girls who dropped their shitbombs on my poem:

"This really doesn't grab my attention at all. Kind of boring, actually."

"I'm not a fan of this entire section. Snooze."

"Your (sic) really trying too hard."

"I'm not feeling this poem at all, sorry."

"This stanza is just too overwhelming for a reader to tolerate."

Now mind you, my professor (who is a published poet and a damned talented man) had NOTHING but praise for the piece. His exact quote was, "My quibbles here are too small to bother with. Seriously, this is an AMAZING poem. JH" Everyone else in class loved the poem. The ONLY people who did this are two girls who are both "competing" with me for a contest that we entered last week.

I can take negative critique, IF it's actual critique and not just "This sucks," but these comments are bullshit. They criticize, but can't tell me anything about WHY they don't like it. And it is NOT a bad poem. I have never, ever, EVER criticized someone in such a careless, catty way. It's flat-out unprofessional, and pathetic to boot. These two also love to roll their eyes at each other whenever the professor praises me in class--I have no idea where this hostility comes from. I don't even KNOW them!

Frankly, I am more than a little upset and hurt and kinda pissed about it.

:(

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. My dear Lyric!

I expect they're jealous. Plus they're ignorant enough to not know how to criticize. I know it hurts to listen to them, but try to discount what they say.

They're idiots, and not worthy of your time!

Instead, listen carefully to your Prof...he knows what he's talking about!

Hugs to you, sweetie...:hug: :hug:

[Lyric]

2. It just irks me, because I

have never done anything personally to deserve that kind of crap.

I feel like if I bring it up to the professor, I'll be a whiny tattletale, but at least I can vent here in DU. It hurts because I spent an hour *each* giving thoughtful, in-depth comments and advice on *their* stuff. :(

[CaliforniaPeggy]

3. I understand that completely!

They sure as heck don't deserve your careful, thoughtful analysis...

But at least when you do that, you're teaching yourself how to really critique in a thoughtful, intellectual way.

And that's something that they will NEVER learn.

:hug:

[trof]

4. Had a similar situation in a short story class.

It seemed to me that everybody just wanted to trash what anyone else had written.
The 'critiques' were devastating.

So I cleared it with the prof beforehand and copied, word for word, something from O'Henry. I think it was "The Gift of the Magi".
The class ripped it apart.
Then I told them where it came from.
Lesson learned.

[Lyric]

5. Haha.

That's brilliant. Evil, but brilliant. It also made me feel a bit better. Thank you.

:hug:

[SidneyCarton]

6. The thing with poetry...

Is people either get it, or they don't.

And the way things go with people today, not only do they not get it, but because they don't get it, they feel the need to shit all over it, to justify their dislike or inability to understand it.

I'll be honest, there are poems and poets I don't like (Emily Dickinson tops the list) it's not because her poetry sucks, indeed it's probably very good, I just don't appriciate it. Unfortunately these days it seems that if I don't scream as loud as I can that her work sucks donkey balls, and I've shit better poetry than she wrote, then I must not have disliked it all that much. Truly the art of constructive criticism has gone out the window.

My sympathies, don't let them see you sweat Lyric, most of them wouldn't know good poetry if Robert Frost beat them about the head and neck with one of his neighbors fence posts.

[Lyric]

7. I'm not a fan of Dickinson either.

I can appreciate her work from a professional POV, but it's not the sort of thing that I'd read for enjoyment.

I'm just wondering if this is the sort of thing I have to look forward to in every upper-level CW class from now on. Maybe I've been spoiled by having my first experiences all be productive, empowering ones.

Meh. Fuck 'em. I'll keep on doing my best for *their* work, because our feedback is what we get graded on, but I'll be damned if I'll let them see that their snottiness got to me.

:hug:

[hippywife]

8. They're just jealous of

your talent. I wouldn't give them or this episode a second thought, sweetie. You are awesome, and don't you forget that or let anyone make you think it isn't so. :hug:

[Lyric]

11. You know it.

And thank you.

:hug:

[malta blue]

9. Screw that!`

The only person who matters at this point is your prof.

I had a similar situation in high school and it completely killed my desire to write. My peers felt the poem was "too good" to have been written by me, and I ended up defending myself in front of the ad hoc committee, after being accused of plagiarism.

DO NOT let it get you down

:hug:

[Lyric]

10. I won't.

I resolve to just let this pass, and keep doing my own thing, to hell with their petty crap.

I think some of my hurt is because this is a little too much like high school; the "cute" girls acting like assholes whenever someone treats me as if I'm a human being and not a walking, talking verbal punching bag. Fat girls aren't supposed to be treated like valuable human beings, dontcha know?

:eyes:
:grr:

[malta blue]

15. Good!

:hug::hug:

[Fleshdancer]

12. "This stanza is just too overwhelming for a reader to tolerate."

:wtf:

What it sounds like to me is that people didn't understand it. Instead of having the courage to say "I didn't understand it", they lashed out. Unfortunately this is a common reaction. I'm sorry you had to deal with this. My feelings would be hurt too and I know I'd be pissed about it.

:hug:



on edit: I'm ridiculously curious now. Any chance you could share your poem? I understand if the answer is no.

[Lyric]

14. Sure--here it is.

Now that you've seen it, I'm removing it again, just in case. ;)

[petronius]

17. Is that your name at the bottom?

I like it (which is as lame a comment as "this sucks" I suppose, but poetry critiquing isn't really my thing...)

:toast:

[Lyric]

18. Not my whole name, but yeah.

:)

[petronius]

19. Cool. Just thought you might have pasted it in by accident

(And a tiny piece of me wondered if it was some sort of poetic flourish that I wasn't understanding... :))

[Danger Mouse]

13. Seems like a couple of idiots who couldn't tell their ass from a hole in the ground.

:hug:

[noamnety]

16. Sounds like the professor needs to establish some structure.

When I've gone through art and writing classes, the best teachers explained what a constructive critique was, and set ground rules.

A classic format might be:

round one, everyone gives a one or two word reaction, summing up the emotion it evoked.
round two, everyone says something they thought was good
round three, everyone says something they think could be reexamined, and why.
free for all at the end as needed, but by this point, people are already thinking in specifics.

I learned that in college, but even when I taught a printmaking class for first graders, we ended each class with minicritiques following a modified version of that. First graders were able to give specific critiques.

It's a flaw in your classmates, and maybe a flaw in the teaching style of your professor (even if his own ability to write and critique is great). But it's a character strength in you that you didn't mark up their critiques in red and return the papers to them, with notations like "critique was vague, needs to be more specific in this section." :D