Terms for Discussing Prosody

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Terms for Discussing Prosody
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What is prosody?

• The term prosody refers to discussions of the
  kinds of stressed and unstressed syllables in
  poems.
• Scansion or scanning is the process of
  marking the beats in a poem.
• Understanding the patterns of stressed and
  unstressed syllables in a poem (the rhythm of
  the poem) is necessary if you want to understand
  sonnets and other poems with a specific form.

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How do I know whats stressed and not stressed?

• Say the word out loud as you naturally would, but
  listen to which syllables are emphasized.
• Trial
• Taxes
• Upset
• Retain
• Badminton
• Government
• Pirouette
• Write down your answers, using capital letters
  for the syllables that you emphasized.

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Is this what you said?

• TRI-al
• TAX-es
• up-SET
• re-TAIN
• BAD-min-ton
• GOV-ern-ment
• pir-ou-ETTE

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Marking Syllables

• Stressed and unstressed syllables in poetry are
  marked above the syllable.
• A strongly accented syllable is marked with an
  accent mark like a little forward-leaning slash
  or apostrophe.
• An unaccented syllable is marked with breve,
  which is the shallow u-shaped mark that you see
  in dictionaries to indicate a short vowel.
• Its hard to reproduce those in PowerPoint, so
  for these exercises, the system of capital and
  lower-case letters is used.

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Kinds of feet

• A unit of stressed and unstressed syllables is
  called a foot. Each of those words represents a
  different kind of foot.

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Trochee

• A unit of STRESSED-unstressed syllables (sounding
  like DA-dum) is called a trochee (or a trochaic
  foot).
• TRI-al STRESSED-unstressed (DA-dum)
• TAX-es STRESSED-unstressed (DA-dum)

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Iamb

• A unit of unstressed-STRESSED syllables (da-DUM)
  is called an iamb (or iambic foot).
• up-SET unstressed-STRESSED (da-DUM)
• re-TAIN unstressed-STRESSED (da-DUM)

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Dactyl

• A unit of STRESSED-unstressed-unstressed
  syllables is called a dactyl (or dactylic foot)
• BAD-min-ton (DA-dum-dum)
• GOV-ern-ment (DA-dum-dum)

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Anapest

• A unit of unstressed-unstressed-STRESSED
  syllables is called an anapest (anapestic foot).
• An anapestic meterthat is, a poem that uses a
  lot of anapestic feetis often called a
  galloping meter because it sounds like a horse
  running
• da da DUM da da DUM da da DUM da da DUM
• Pir-ou-ETTE (da-da-DUM)

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Note

• Note These are just examples within words. In a
  poem, a foot can stretch across a number of
  words.
• Example
• When I consider how my light is spent
• might be pronounced (scanned) like this
• when I conSIder HOW my LIGHT is SPENT
• da-DUM da-DUM da-DUM da-DUM da-DUM

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Iambic Pentameter

• That pattern
• da-DUM da-DUM da-DUM da-DUM da-DUM
• is called iambic pentameter.
• Iambic because the feet are iambic (da-DUM)
• Pentameter because there are five feet in a
  line.

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Fun Facts about Iambic Pentameter

• All of Shakespeares plays are written in
  unrhymed iambic pentameter (called blank verse.
• Iambic pentameter is the meter used in sonnets,
  which are composed of 14 lines of rhyming iambic
  pentameter.
• Iambic pentameter is the closest poetic line to
  natural speech.

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Counting Feet

• Iambic pentameter is a very common meter for
  poetry, but poets can use any number of feet in a
  line.
• Other common numbers of feet tetrameter (4 feet)
  and trimeter (3 feet) Look at the next slide for
  all the names.

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Naming the number of feet

• 1 foot monometer
• 2 feet dimeter
• 3 feet trimeter
• 4 feet tetrameter
• 5 feet pentameter
• 6 feet hexameter
• 7 feet heptameter or the septenary
• 8 feet octameter

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Odd Kinds of Feet

• Sometimes youll find two stressed or two
  unstressed feet in a row, usually for emphasis. A
  whole poem wont be this way, however.
• Spondee stressed stressed
• Pyrrhic unstressed unstressed

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Ready to read aloud?

• The best way to scan a poem (that is, to mark its
  stressed and unstressed syllables) is to read it
  aloud. Here are some examples for you to read
  aloud. As you read them, mark the patterns on a
  piece of paper.

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Helpful Hints

• Mark the stressed syllables first and then fill
  in the unstressed syllables.
• BE LOUD! It helps if you bang on a desk or table
  to emphasize the stressed syllables of the word.
  Thats how we do this in my face-to-face class.
• After youve marked the stressed and unstressed
  syllables, divide the lines into feet.
• Ready?

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Example 1

• Clue This is predominantly iambic.
• The curfew tolls the knell of parting day,
• The lowing herd wind slowly o'er the lea,
• The plowman homeward plods his weary way,
• And leaves the world to darkness, and to me.
• When you say this aloud, what syllables are
  stressed? Mark them with a strong mark above
  the syllable.

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Sounding out the Rhythm

• The CURfew TOLLS the KNELL of PARTing DAY,
• The LOWing HERD wind SLOWly OER the LEA,
• The PLOWman HOMEward PLODS his WEARy WAY,
• And LEAVES the WORLD to DARKness, AND to ME.

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Explanation

• This is iambic pentameter.
• Multisyllabic words are especially helpful for
  example, you would say CURfew, not curFEW and
  PARTing, not partING, so the accented syllables
  in those words would help you to determine the
  pattern.
• The poem is Thomas Grays Elegy Written in a
  Country Churchyard.

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Example 2

• Tyger, tyger, burning bright
• In the forest of the night
• What immortal hand or eye
• Could frame thy fearful symmetry?
• --Say this quatrain (four lines of poetry) aloud
  and mark the accented syllables. Where are the
  strong syllables?

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Sounding out the Rhythm

• TYger, TYger, BURNing BRIGHT
• IN the FORest OF the NIGHT
• WHAT imMORtal HAND or EYE
• COULD FRAME thy FEARful SYMmetRY?

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Explanation

• Note how the fourth line begins with a spondee,
  or two-syllable foot in which both syllables are
  accented.
• Also, there are four accented syllables but only
  three unaccented syllables. This is common,
  since it prevents the poems from being too
  sing-songy.
• The meter here would be trochaic tetrameter (four
  beats), even though the unaccented syllables at
  the end are missing.
• The poem is William Blakes The Tyger.

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Example 3 Dactylic

• This is the forest primeval. The murmuring pines
  and the hemlocks,
• Bearded with moss, and in garments green,
  indistinct in the twilight,
• Stand like Druids of eld, with voices sad and
  prophetic.
• --Say the first line aloud and mark the stressed
  syllables.

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Explanation

• This meter is common for classical epics, and
  Longfellow here is imitating epic meter dactylic
  hexameter. However, it is a meter less commonly
  used in English.
• THIS is the FORest primEVal. The MURmuring PINES
  and the HEMlocks,
• The poem is Henry Wadsworth Longfellows
  Evangeline.

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Example 4 Anapestic

• 'Twas the night before Christmas and all through
  the house,
• Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.
• The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
• In hopes that Saint Nicholas soon would be there.
• Say this aloud and mark the stressed syllables.
  See how it gallops?

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Sounding out the Rhythm

• 'Twas the NIGHT before CHRISTmas and ALL through
  the HOUSE,
• Not a CREAture was STIRring, not EVen a MOUSE.
• The STOCKings were HUNG by the CHIMney with CARE,
• In HOPES that Saint NICholas SOON would be THERE

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Explanation

• The rhythm sounds something like this da da DUM
  da da DUM da da DUM da da DUM.
• See? Galloping meter.
• This is anapestic tetrameter.
• The poem is Clement Clark Moores A Visit from
  St. Nicholas.

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Test-Yourself Quiz

• Now that youve tried the examples here, try the
  test-yourself quiz on prosody at
• http//www.wsu.edu/campbelld/amlit/quiz/prosquiz.
  htm
• Note This is NOT a graded quiz, and it is not in
  Angel. Anybody can take it, and the results are
  available only to you.