REVIEWER'S CONTEST - PRIZE FOR WINNER March 11, 2007 - March 19, 2007

Reading and Deliberating

Details

The person who leaves the most constructive reviews by the end of the week will win a Starbuck's Gift Card for $15.00 - there are RULES. Quantity of reviews is not quality. You will be judged on your reviewing skills.

The following areas will be judged based on the reviews you give and should be kept in mind when giving a review (at all times) for the benefit of ones reading skills and critiquing:

1) content of poem or story. Do you comprehend what they wrote and/or what did it mean to you? (could be one sentence or less)
2) grammar and style. Did they use effective wording? For poetry grammar is not as strict, however, did their "free verse" make it eligible? Did the style distract you - could you read all the way through? Does it need a comma or a line break or a suggestion to a thesaurus? For stories, did the sentence structure work? If not, example of how it could be improved.
3) tone, diction, narration, vividness, picture painting, - is emotion, setting, or clarity given by the words? Could you see the metaphor or feel the heat?
4) Be honest - cliches are abundant and do not make a better author. Some things are fun to read - and need no critiquing in this area, some are talented authors who need to grow outside of comfortable word zones, etc - assist those around you in crafting their skills.
BONUS POINTS/PRIZE: If you use a literary term to describe something within the poetry or writing - you will get a bonus. Resources for learning about various techiques, terms etc are available on the internet. Here is one source to familiarize yourself: http://www.shadowpoetry.com