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Chisel Mark

Craft Terms
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 chisel mark is a visible trace of force, selection, or removal left by revision.

Detailed Definition
A chisel mark is the evidence that a poem has been cut into shape. It may appear as a sudden fragment, a hard enjambment, a conspicuous omission, or a word whose starkness records an act of choosing. Such marks can give language authority because they show resistance rather than effortless smoothness. A poet should not erase every sign of labor; in an elegy or political poem, the roughness of the cut may preserve urgency and remind readers that form has ethical consequences.
Example
Example in poetry:
A chisel mark is a visible sign of deliberate cutting, and a poem can preserve one through a startling fragment or abrupt line break; Removing a predictable adjective may leave a chisel mark that makes the remaining noun more forceful; A caesura can resemble a chisel mark by cutting a clean interruption into an otherwise flowing sentence; The compressed syntax of Emily Dickinson’s poems often shows chisel marks where dashes and omissions shape the reader’s movement
Additional Notes
A chisel mark is the trace left when revision removes, reshapes, or sharply defines material. It may appear as a conspicuous pause, a clipped phrase, an unusual line break, or an image stripped of explanation. Such marks can give a poem energy and honesty by showing pressure and decision. They need not be concealed, but each should serve rhythm, emphasis, or meaning rather than advertise the act of editing.
Also Known As
Tool Mark Incised Mark
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