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Broken continuation

Device
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

A narrative or syntactic progression that is deliberately interrupted or fragmented

Detailed Definition
Broken continuation is a poetic technique where a syntactic or narrative thread is deliberately interrupted or suspended across lines or stanzas, creating tension, ambiguity, or surprise; unlike enjambment, which flows smoothly, broken continuation fractures expectation—through abrupt shifts, ellipses, or unresolved clauses—to mirror psychological fragmentation or thematic rupture in modern and postmodern verse.
Example
Example in poetry:
T.S. Eliot’s “The Waste Land” uses broken continuation: “I will show you fear in a handful of dust”; Mina Loy’s “Love Songs” interrupt romantic tropes with abrupt shifts; Paul Celan’s “Deathfugue” fractures syntax to convey trauma; Claudia Rankine’s prose poems often cut mid-thought to simulate interruption.
Additional Notes
Broken continuation describes a syntactic or thematic rupture between lines or stanzas that still implies connection—often used to convey trauma, memory gaps, or fragmented consciousness.
Also Known As
Fractured flow interrupted thread disjointed linkage ruptured continuity Arrested break Divided continuation
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