Indian Giver:*

A protocol for peer conferencing Poetry. © S. Ingraham, lightshedder.com
From Inside Out and Outside In

We are going to help each other to make our poetry better. We want to make sure the poem works on three levels: 1) the outside: does the language create a clear image of what actually happened, what the poet saw (or wants you to see), heard (or wants you to hear), etc.? Are the details crisp and precise enough? Is the poem constructed out of real objects and actions. Do they fit together into a solid image in your mind? 2) does the language work as a poem? Is the pattern clear, does it work to carry you through the poem, does it make the images memorable, does it sound good, does it tickle the ear or the eye? Is it fun? Is it amazing and delightful? Does it twist your tongue, shape your face, and take your breath in interesting ways, and, finally, 3) the inside: do you know what the poet is trying to say, what the poet it trying to get you to understand or feel or experience?

To do that we are going to play Indian Giver. The poet will give you the poem. You will give it back in your own words.

• Step one: the poet reads the poem all the way through while you listen. You are just listening for the sound and general sense of the poem.
  
• Step two: if you have a copy of the poem, the poet reads the poem again while you read along, or if there is only one copy you can arrange yourselves so everyone can see the poet’s copy, or, if that won’t work, you just listen. This time you are listening for specific details that build an image in your mind.
  
• Step Three: the poet reads the poem one stanza or a few lines at a time. You are not reading along. You are working at picturing/hearing the outside of the poem. Try to see what the poet saw, hear what the poet heard, touch what the poet touched. Notice the real objects and actions that make up the poem. Make the image in your mind as sharp and clear as you can. For each section, when the poet stops reading, give the image back. Resay, in your own words, what you saw, heard, touched, smelled, etc. while the poet read. Give back the image. Give back the action. Note any details that were unclear to you. If the poet said “tree” you want to know what kind of tree you are supposed to see. If the poet said “car” you want to know if it is a chevy or a dodge and what year it is. Etc. While you are doing this, the poet is comparing the outside you imaged with what he or she intended you see or hear, and making notes. Work through the whole poem this way.
  
• Step Four: the poet reads the poem one more time. This time you are listening for the rhythm, the rhyme, the sound patterns, the flow of the thing. Does it work as poetry? Try to identify the pattern the poet is working with and give that back. Does it carry you through the poem? Does it sparkle?
  
• Step Five: finally we get to the Inside. Tell the poet what you think he or she was trying to say, why her or she wrote the poem.
  
• Step Six: tell the poet what you found particularly wonderful or delightful about the poem. Give back the wonder and delight the poem gave to you.