{"id":2181,"date":"2021-08-19T16:59:34","date_gmt":"2021-08-19T16:59:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-englishcomp2\/?post_type=chapter&p=2181"},"modified":"2023-01-17T17:34:46","modified_gmt":"2023-01-17T17:34:46","slug":"poetic-structure","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-englishcomp2\/chapter\/poetic-structure\/","title":{"raw":"Poetic Structure","rendered":"Poetic Structure"},"content":{"raw":"
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Learning Objectives<\/h3>\r\nIdentify characteristic structuring principles in poetry\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n\"Image\r\n\r\nIn the figure above, you will find eight lines<\/strong> and two stanzas<\/strong>. A line is a single row of words in a poem. A group of lines builds a stanza, which typically focuses on one thought, concept, or portion of a story. Stanzas are typically separated by extra space or a blank line. To draw a parallel to prose, one might think of poetry\u2019s lines as sentences, and of its stanzas as paragraphs.\r\n\r\nThe words and syllables in a poem also play a key role in forming its structure. Poets frequently use rhyme<\/strong>, meaning that they choose words that contain corresponding sounds (ex: cat, hat, bat), which often appear at the ends of lines. Rhyming can add to the beauty of a poem by creating a pleasurable echo among lines. It also helps build the poem\u2019s structure by unifying the lines so that they sound right together. A common misconception, however, is that all poems rhyme. Many do not follow a rhyme scheme, as we can see in examples like Maya Angelou\u2019s \u201cCaged Bird<\/a>\u201d and T.S. Eliot\u2019s \u201cAunt Helen<\/a>.\u201d Rhyme is just one tool that poets might use to create their art, but it is not a required element.\r\n\r\nPoets can also use meter to create aesthetic and structure in their work. \u201cMeter<\/strong>\u201d refers to the rhythm of a line, which depends on the number of syllables, and on the pattern of stressed<\/strong> and unstressed<\/strong> syllables in the line.\r\n\r\nIn following video from Oregon State University, pay attention to the difference between stressed and unstressed syllables:\r\n\r\nhttps:\/\/youtu.be\/S13Tg3RAUW4\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\nAs we can see, syllabic stress plays a major role in how we understand words in English. Consider the word \u201cpresent.\u201d You may have read that word as gift one receives for an occasion, or as current moment in time, in relation to \u201cpast\u201d and \u201cfuture.\u201d If so, you placed the stress on the first syllable (PREH-zent). You may, however, have read the word as a verb that refers to the act of giving an award to someone. If so, you placed the stress on the second syllable (pre-ZENT). If you\u2019re familiar with languages like Spanish, it may be helpful to think about the letters over which we place accent marks (habl\u00f3 vs. hablo). These accent marks indicate that a syllable should be stressed.\r\n\r\nThe pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in a poem helps create a rhythm that readers can follow, much like the beat in a song. One can determine the meter by analyzing this pattern of syllables, which can be broken into \u201cfeet.\u201d A foot refers to a group of syllables in a poem. A foot usually contains one stressed syllable and at least one unstressed syllable. The five most common types of feet are as follows, with \u201cU\u201d representing unstressed syllables, and \u201cS\u201d representing stressed syllables:\r\n