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automatic writing

Concept
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

Poetry generated without conscious control, often linked to Surrealist methods

Detailed Definition
Automatic writing is a surrealist technique wherein the poet writes without conscious control or premeditation, allowing subconscious thoughts, images, and impulses to flow directly onto the page; pioneered by André Breton, it seeks to bypass rational censorship to access raw, unfiltered poetic material, often resulting in fragmented, dreamlike texts.
Example
Example in poetry:
Surrealist André Breton practising automatic writing, letting words spill without censorship; Gertrude Stein’s stream-of-consciousness texts resembling automatic flow; Jack Kerouac’s spontaneous prose poetry; A poet writing dreamlike lines without deliberate structure
Additional Notes
automatic writing is a surrealist technique where the poet attempts to write without conscious thought, allowing the subconscious mind to dictate the content; aims for pure, unfiltered expression.
Also Known As
spontaneous writing free writing subconscious composition unfiltered text Automatic composition Surrealism (France/worldwide)
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