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Autotelic

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

Describing poetry valued for its intrinsic aesthetic qualities rather than external purpose—art for art’s sake, self-sufficient and internally meaningful.

Detailed Definition
Autotelic describes a work or experience that is an end in itself, requiring no external justification; in poetry, it refers to verse valued for its intrinsic aesthetic unity, formal integrity, and self-sufficiency, as championed by T.S. Eliot and New Critics.
Example
Example in poetry:
Autotelic art in Eliot’s "Four Quartets": "the end of all our exploring / Will be to arrive where we started"; Keats’s "Ode on a Grecian Urn" celebrates beauty for its own sake; Modern autotelic poetry by Jorie Graham focuses on perception without moralizing; Autotelic works resist didacticism, valuing process over message; The poem exists as its own justification
Additional Notes
Self-contained, self-sufficient work valued for its own sake rather than external purpose. New Critical concept emphasizing poem's internal coherence. Contrast with didactic or utilitarian poetry. Related to aesthetic autonomy and formalism.
Also Known As
art for art's sake self-contained
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