Critique 1: Mallarme

"It is the job of poetry to clean up our word-clogged reality by creating silences around things." -Stephen Mallarme 

This quotation may only be one sentence but it is powerful. The adjective "word-clogged" is a clever combination that makes the reader think.  He could have written a whole sentence explaining that the world is full of an excessive amount of words, but instead he narrowed it down to one word.  The personification of poetry gives it a larger importance, highlighting its place in the sentence.  In this sentence, poetry has a job, it cleans, and it creates silences. This quotation could have more than one meaning.  The author is probably pointing out the peacefulness of poetry. Its simple language gives people a break from the "word-clogged reality." However, I think poetry should evoke an array of emotions such as excitement, fear, or sadness.  "Silences" contradict the loudness of emotions one often feels when reading something that a provokes strong feelings.