6. IAMBIC PENTAMETER (Chicago Shakes P.35-6)

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6. IAMBIC PENTAMETER (Chicago Shakes P.35-6) Much of Shakespeare’s verse is written in iambic pentameter, or ten-syllable lines with alternating unstressed and stressed syllables. The ten unstressed/stressed beats mirror the cadence of the English language. Say these everyday sentences out loud and listen for the iambic pentameter rhythm: I’m hungry and I want my dinner now.!The weather’s gorgeous and I have to go outside. I really want to see my friends tonight. www.chicagoshakes.com Now take a look at a passage from the play. In Act 2, scene 1, Titania says to Oberon: TITANIA These are the forgeries of jealousy ,!And never since the middle summer’s spring Met we on hill, in dale, forest or mead,! By paved fountain or by rushy brook,! Or in the beached margent of the sea! To dance our ringlets to the whistling wind. Read these lines aloud, trying to overemphasize the meter. If you’re having trouble, look at the example below, in which the meter is stressed: TITANIA These ARE the FORgerIES of JEAlouSY,! And NEver SINCE the MIDdle SUMmer’s SPRING Met WE on HILL, in DALE, forEST or MEAD, !By PAVed FOUNTain OR by RUSHy BROOK,! Or IN the BEACHed MARgent OF the SEA! To DANCE our RINGlets TO the WHISTling WIND. Say the passage above aloud and exaggerate the stress. Try tapping the rhythm out on your knee at the same time to feel the rhythm. Once you have the hang of the meter, experiment with writing a few of your own lines in iambic pentameter. Write your favorite children’s story or nursery rhyme in ten lines, all in iambic pentameter. Use your new tools—exaggera- tion when speaking and tapping—to make sure you keep the meter. Share your verse-tale with the class. “It may be harder than it seems to be...” Guiding Questions: • Can you come up with an everyday sentence in English in iambic pentameter? !• What is the effect in reversing the stressed and unstressed meter?! •Do you think iambic pentameter would work well with a different language you are studying or one that you speak at home?! CONSIDER COMMON CORE ANCHOR STANDARDS R1, R5, W3 .

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Introduction to Meter
Introduction to Meter A stress or accent is the greater amount of force given to one syllable than another. English is a language in which all syllables are stressed or unstressed, and traditional poetry in English has used stress patterns as a fundamental structuring device. Meter is simply the rhythmic pattern of stresses in verse. To scan a poem means to read it for meter, an operation whose noun form is scansion. This can be tricky, for although we register and reproduce stresses in our everyday language, we are usually not aware of what we’re going. Learning to scan means making a more or less unconscious operation conscious. There are four types of meter in English: iambic, trochaic, anapestic, and dactylic. Each is named for a basic foot (usually two or three syllables with one strong stress). Iambs are feet with an unstressed syllable, followed by a stressed syllable. Only in nursery rhymes to do we tend to find totally regular meter, which has a singsong effect, Chidiock Tichborne’s poem being a notable exception. Here is a single line from Emily Dickinson that is totally regular iambic: _ / │ _ / │ _ / │ _ / My life had stood – a loaded Gun – This line serves to notify readers that the basic form of the poem will be iambic tetrameter, or four feet of iambs. The lines that follow are not so regular. Trochees are feet with a stressed syllable, followed by an unstressed syllable. Trochaic meter is associated with chants and magic spells in English: / _ │ / _ │ / _ │ / _ Double, double, toil and trouble, / _ │ / _ │ / _ │ / _ Fire burn and cauldron bubble.
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Rhythm and Meter in Macbeth Iambic Pentameter (Nobles)
Grade 9 Analysis- Rhythm and Meter in Macbeth Iambic Pentameter (Nobles) What is it? Shakespeare's sonnets are written predominantly in a meter called iambic pentameter, a rhyme scheme in which each sonnet line consists of ten syllables. The syllables are divided into five pairs called iambs or iambic feet. An iamb is a metrical unit made up of one unstressed syllable followed by one stressed syllable. An example of an iamb would be good BYE. A line of iambic pentameter flows like this: baBOOM / baBOOM / baBOOM / baBOOM / baBOOM. Why does Shakespeare use it? When Shakespeare's characters speak in verse (iambic pentameter), they are usually the noble (aristocratic) characters, and their speech represents their high culture and position in society. It gives the play a structured consistency, and when this is changed in instances of prose such as when Macbeth writes to Lady Macbeth and when Lady Macduff talks with her son, these are normally instances where a situation is abnormal e.g. when the Porter babbles in his drunken haze. Trochaic Tetrameter (Witches) What is it? Trochaic tetrameter is a rapid meter of poetry consisting of four feet of trochees. A trochee is made up of one stressed syllable followed by one unstressed syllable (the opposite of an iamb). Here is the flow of a line of trochaic tetrameter: BAboom / BAboom / BAboom / BAboom. Why does Shakespeare use it? The witches’ speech patterns create a spooky mood from the start of the scene. Beginning with the second line, they speak in rhyming couplets of trochaic tetrameter. The falling rhythm and insistent rhyme emphasize the witchcraft they practice while they speak—boiling some sort of potion in a cauldron.
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Iambic Pentameter
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Shakespeare the Poet
Shakespeare the Poet Exploring the poetic style of William Shakespeare Iambic Pentameter ● Like many of Shakespeare’s plays, Romeo and Juliet is written in a poetic structure known as iambic pentameter. ● This is a rhythmical pattern of syllables. ● “iambic’ means that the rhythm goes from an unstressed syllable to a stressed one. ● Examples: divine, caress, bizarre, delight ● Sounds like a heartbeat: daDUM, daDUM, daDUM Iambic Pentameter (cont.) ● Each iambic part (unstressed and stressed syllable used together) is called a “foot” ● “pentameter” means that the line has 5 of these “feet” ● The word “divine” is a foot, the phrase “hate thee” is also a foot. ● Remember, we are talking about syllables here, not words. ● If there is an extra syllable in the line, this is called catalexis. Just make the next syllable unstressed. Examples of Iambic Pentameter ● I walked, she fled, and day brought back my night -John Milton ● I walked/she fled/and day/brought back/my night More Examples ● We hold these truths to be self-evident -Thomas Jefferson ● We hold/ these truths/ to be/ self e/ vi dent Romeo and Juliet Example ● As I hate hell, all Montagues, and thee ● As I/ hate hell/ all Mon/ ta gues/ and thee Now you try it on your own! ● What art thou drawn among these heartless hinds. ● But soft! What light through wonder window breaks? Sonnet ● A sonnet is a poem that consists of 14 lines of iambic pentameter. ● How many feet would that be? ● You got it…70 feet ● There are a few different types of rhyming schemes, but the English or Shakespearean Sonnet follows this format: ● abab cdcd efef gg Shakespearean Sonnets ● The Prologues to Act I and Act II are sonnets.
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Notes on Prosody
Notes on Middle English Prosody Dr. A Mitchell Sound and Sense Middle English poets typically delight in the accidental harmonies and disharmonies of verbal sounds. Sometimes sound is deliberately made to echoe sense, but more often accoustic patterns do not serve a referential or mimetic function. Syncopated rhythm may just be pleasurable to hear in the voice; variation may aid expressiveness or enhance interest; or sounds may be affective or mnemonic. Sound patterns also function as a sign of the poet’s pedigree, affiliations, or tastes. But in any event critics can probably make only modest claims about the significance of acoustic effects in the vernacular – some measure of irregularity is just a natural consequence of writing in Middle English. Rhyme is the most familiar sound pattern, and it basically demands that the poetic composition be oriented around the music (not the other way around). As a result, the semantic may be subordinated to the sonic or phonetic: e.g., syntax is inverted or contorted so as to get the proper rhyme in place; rhyme words are chosen less for sense than for sound. But of course rhymes may also produce interesting semantic juxtapositions or recapitulations, and occasionally Chaucer among others uses rhyme deftly to produce harmony and discordance, parallelism and antithesis. The main types of rhyme are the following. • end rhyme (most common) • internal rhyme (within a line) • masculine (single-sllable, or when final stressed syllable rhymes as in cat/hat) • feminine (rhymed stressed syllable followed by unstressed as in butter/clutter) • exact rhyme and rime riche (on the same sounds) • near rhyme (not a failed rhyme, it has the salutary effect of avoiding monotony) You will recognize these additional sound effects: • onomatapoia • assonance • alliteration • consonance Metrics: Alliterative and Accentual-Syllabic Some Medieval English verse is alliterative (that of Langland and the so-called poems of the Alliterative Revival), but much is what we call accentual-syllabic.
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Sonnets and Iambic Pentameter Iambic Pentameter – A form of poetry that has ten syllables to a line alternating unstressed then stressed. Syllable stress: Syllables break our words up into sections which can be stressed, or unstressed. Which syllable is stressed, alters the pronunciation of the word. Try saying the following words aloud while stressing the first syllable. Doc/tor Fri/day o/ver pur/ple Now, try it again putting the stress on the second syllable. Doc/tor Fri/day o/ver pur/ple Which one sounds better? If you thought the first set sounded better you are correct. All of the above words should have their first syllable stressed. Here are some more examples: The bold O will show you which syllable should be stressed in each word: Monosyllabic O: bike, cat, black Disyllabic O o: pro/blem, en/gine, yel/low Disyllabic o O: be/side, di/vide, un/do Trisyllabic O o o: dif/fi/cult, hos/pit/al, of/fi/cer Trisyllabic o O o: de/tec/tive, pro/fess/or, re/dun/dant Now, on to Sonnets… Sonnet – A 14-line poem which sets up a problem and offers a solution. Shakespearean Sonnet – The English sonnet has the most flexible pattern of all sonnets, consisting of 3 quatrains of alternating rhyme and a couplet: a b a b c d c d e f e f g g Each quatrain develops a specific idea, but one closely related to the ideas in the other quatrains Ex: Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate.
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Blank Verse: Poetry Written in Unrhymed Iambic Pentameter Lines. Free Verse
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Types of Poems
Types of Poems poemofquotes.com/articles/poetry_forms.php This article contains the many different poem types. These include all known (at least to my research) forms that poems may take. If you wish to read more about poetry, these articles might interest you: poetry technique and poetry definition. ABC A poem that has five lines and creates a mood, picture, or feeling. Lines 1 through 4 are made up of words, phrases or clauses while the first word of each line is in alphabetical order. Line 5 is one sentence long and begins with any letter. Acrostic Poetry that certain letters, usually the first in each line form a word or message when read in a sequence. Example: Edgar Allan Poe's "A Valentine". Article continues below... Ballad A poem that tells a story similar to a folk tale or legend which often has a repeated refrain. Read more about ballads. Ballade Poetry which has three stanzas of seven, eight or ten lines and a shorter final stanza of four or five. All stanzas end with the same one line refrain. Blank verse A poem written in unrhymed iambic pentameter and is often unobtrusive. The iambic pentameter form often resembles the rhythms of speech. Example: Alfred Tennyson's "Ulysses". Bio A poem written about one self's life, personality traits, and ambitions. Example: Jean Ingelow's "One Morning, Oh! So Early". Burlesque Poetry that treats a serious subject as humor. Example: E. E. Cummings "O Distinct". Canzone Medieval Italian lyric style poetry with five or six stanzas and a shorter ending stanza.
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Illustration and Defense of a Theory of the Iambic Pentameter Author(S): Morris Halle and Samuel Jay Keyser Source: College English, Vol
Illustration and Defense of a Theory of the Iambic Pentameter Author(s): Morris Halle and Samuel Jay Keyser Source: College English, Vol. 33, No. 2 (Nov., 1971), pp. 154-176 Published by: National Council of Teachers of English Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/374744 Accessed: 14-04-2018 01:24 UTC JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at http://about.jstor.org/terms National Council of Teachers of English is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to College English This content downloaded from 18.9.61.111 on Sat, 14 Apr 2018 01:24:48 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms Theory of Prosody, Continued MORRIS HALLE SAMUEL JAY KEYSER Illustration and Defense of a Theory of the Iambic Pentameter* IN ITS MAY 1970 ISSUE this periodical printed two articles' which from widely dif- fering points of view took issue with our theory of prosody first advanced in "Chaucer and the Study of Prosody" (CE, 1966, hereinafter CSP). In reacting to the criticisms it is not our purpose to correct every error or oversight that might have crept into our critics' papers or expose every flaw in their arguments.
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Poetry Terms: Sound Devices, Figures of Speech, Elements of Literature, and Rhythm
Poetry Terms: Sound Devices, Figures of Speech, Elements of Literature, and Rhythm Sound Devices Alliteration – the repetition of constant sounds in words that are close together. Assonance – the repetition of similar vowel sounds followed by different consonant sounds, especially in words close together. Consonance – the repetition of the same or similar final consonant sounds on accented syllables or in important words. Onomatopoeia – the use of a word whose sound imitates or suggests its use or meaning. Refrain/ (Repetition) – a word, phrase, line, or group of lines that is repeated, for effect, several times in a poem. Rhyme – the repetition of vowel sounds in accented syllables and all succeeding syllables. Internal – rhyme that occurs within a line of poetry or within consecutive lines. End Rhyme – rhyme that occurs at the ends of lines. Slant Rhyme – a rhyming sound that is not exact. Couplet – two consecutive rhyming lines of poetry. Common Figures of Speech – a word or a phrase that describes one thing in terms of another and that Is not meant to be taken literally. Cliché – a word or phrase, often a figure of speech, that has become lifeless because of overuse. Conceit – an elaborate metaphor or other figure of speech that compares two things that are startlingly different. Hyperbole – a figure of speech that uses an incredible exaggeration, or overstatement, for effect. Metaphor – a figure of speech that makes a comparison between two unlike things without the use of such specific words of comparison as like, as, than, or resembles. They may be directly states, implied, extended, dead, or mixed.
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SHAKESPEARE's SONNETS
PROSODY: Rudiments Del Bello 2017 PROSODY: OED DEFINITION The science of versification; that part of the study of language which deals with the forms of metrical composition; OED v. prosody One way to approach English verse ACCENTUAL-SYLLABIC PROSODY from Classical Latin Some scholars (eg: Derek Attridge The Rhythms of English Poetry) feel that classical prosody applied to English is inadequate and should be replaced. IDEAS and METER • In the moment of composition, one of the central concerns of the poet is arrangement of metric pattern to achieve some kind of musicality. • Impulse toward order while allowing deviation WHY METER? WHO CARES ABOUT METER? 3 objectives: (1) increase your sensitivity to the formal properties of poetry (i.e. what sounds do) (2) heighten your pleasure and illumination in reading poetry (3) understand PROSODY (=features that have to do with how you read out verses) How does meter work? How does it mean/create meaning? • It is often a sort of ritualistic framing (metered language is different from ordinary language and thus “framed” as an artistic artifice) • It often presents variations. Departure from expected metrical norms can create an emotional effect or possibly estrangement. • It may create PROSODIC TENSION (between perfect or ideal metrical pattern and the actual rhythm) • It may have HISTORICAL MEMORY. Having been associated to a certain genre of poetry, a given meter may retain some of the meaning(s) associated to that poetry. What does meter do? • Focuses reader’s attention and refines awareness • Induces hypnosis (meter in most accentual poetry is slightly faster than the normal heart beat exhilarating effect) • Has physiological or possibly sexual overtones.
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English Metres
Cornell University Library The original of tliis bool< is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924026355879 Cornell University Library PE 1509.S92 English metres. 3 1924 026 355 879 Copyright ^A^ 1922 By William Strunk, Jr. CONTENTS Chapter I: The Nature of Verse 7 Chapter II : Metrical and Free Verse 13 Chapter III: The Line and the Foot 17 Basic Feet 20 Number of Feet 24 Excess and Defect 24 Substitutions 26 The Caesura 30 Final Stress 31 Pinal Pause 32 Chapter IV: Rhyme 33 Chapter V: The Chief Metres of English Verse 38 Continuous Metres Iambic Tetrameter Couplet 38 Trochaic Tetrameter Couplet 39 Iambic Pentameter Couplet (Heroic Couplet) 39 Blank Verse 40 Dactylic Hexameter 45 Terza Hima 46 Stanzas The Ballad Stanza 47 Iambic Tetrameter Quatrains 47 Iambic Pentameter Quatrains 47 Ottava Rima 48 The Spenserian Stanza 49 The Pindaric Ode 50 The Sonnet 50 Chapter VI: Relations between Sound and Sense 54 Exercises 60 3 PREFACE The aim of this book is to provide a brief explanation of the nature of English verse and of the means used to analyze and describe it, together with a description and history of the more frequent metrical forms. The ex- amples are for the greater part from poems common- ly studied in courses in English and American literatiure. It has seemed best to recognize that many points in met- rical theory are still debatable. The method of marking scansion that has been employed is, of com'se, only one of many, but is that which, on the whole, most commends itself to the writer.
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