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broken enjambment

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

An enjambment that creates syntactic or semantic disruption across line breaks

Detailed Definition
Broken enjambment occurs when a syntactic unit is split across lines but the expected grammatical or semantic continuity is deliberately fractured or obscured, producing tension, ambiguity, or surprise; unlike smooth enjambment, it challenges reader expectations and foregrounds the materiality of the line break.
Example
Example in poetry:
In Gwendolyn Brooks’ “We Real Cool,” broken enjambment occurs when lines end mid-phrase (“We / Left school”), fracturing syntax for emphasis; E.E. Cummings often uses broken enjambment by splitting words (“un / der”) to disrupt reading expectations; In Lucille Clifton’s “homage to my hips,” broken enjambment emphasizes defiance: “these hips / are mighty hips”; Ocean Vuong’s “Someday I’ll Love Ocean Vuong” uses broken enjambment to mirror psychological fragmentation (“Ocean, don’t be / afraid”)
Additional Notes
Broken enjambment occurs when a line break interrupts expected syntax or meaning more jarringly than typical enjambment, creating tension or ambiguity; it’s a tool for destabilizing reader expectations and enhancing interpretive complexity.
Also Known As
Fractured lineation Disjointed run-on Severed syntax Disruptive enjambment Irregular enjambment uneven line-break
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