You know what's completely not useful in peer workshopping?

"Very nice."
"This poem was nice to read."
"This poem is also a good story."

Argh! Give me critique!

So my plan was to wait until after the workshopping of my poem before posting it here, but honestly, if the peer comments continue like this then what's the point of waiting?

Either way, expect a poem within the week.


By the way, I had a hilarious encounter with Mr. not-so-smart smartass (the one who started an argument with the teacher over a minor formatting detail). I noticed that in his critique of someone else he called them on not following the requirements of the assignment, stating, "I tend to take the requirements more seriously than others at any rate." (Wow, way to condescend.) For the sake of the other student, I gave a quick reply to that, saying, "In [_____]'s defense, we are allowed to move beyond our assignment requirements now" and I provided the link to the question forum where I specifically asked if we still had to follow the assignment rules, and the teacher replied that we are both free to and encouraged to edit our poems from our initial draft in whatever way we see fit.

His exact response: "In my defense, I'm not saying we need to follow rules because there are rules, but because the rules (and as I said, I never considered them to be requirements, for me, they had always been prompts) happened to be a rough guide that if followed, could potentially improve the poem.Whether such rules are enforced or not enforced, is completely irrelevant."

Defensive much?

Ugh, it is so hard not to take this bait, but I know that it isn't the place to be starting an argument, so I'm forcing myself not to reply. (Sorry, venting here is the only way I could manage it.) Honestly though, one more arrogant comment like this and I might just have to send him a personal message of "Hey, could you try not talking down to everyone else in the class? It's kind of annoying."

Yes, a part of me is hoping for that opportunity...