Utilizing PDCM to Analyze How Comparable Liberal Arts Institutions Evaluate Poems

Graduation Year

2019

Publication Date

Spring 2019

Comments

At the request of the author, this paper is not available for download. Bona fide researchers may consult it by visiting the University Archives in Tate Archives & Special Collections; contact archives@iwu.edu for details.

Abstract

In We Need To Talk: A New Method for Evaluating Poetry (2018), Michael Theune and Bob Broad present a study that employs a version of their “Poetry Dynamic Criteria Mapping” (PDCM) methodology to empirically and inductively investigate the implicit criteria that went into the selection of poems. I employ a version of PDCM in my study. I coded and analyzed 752 poems from the past three years’ issues of nine creative arts journals from liberal arts institutions in the same academic conference. Two important patterns emerged: (1) the vast majority of the poems are outgrowths of confessional poetry: free verse, serious, introspective, and focused on emotion, and (2) few poems seem aligned with other values, including those espoused by avant-garde, slam, and socially and politically engaged poetry.

Disciplines

English Language and Literature

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