Home › Glossary › Letter C

Climactic suspension

Device
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

Want to hear it? Click the Listen button to hear the browser speak the word using text-to-speech!

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 buildup to a peak held in tension, delaying resolution for heightened dramatic effect.

Detailed Definition
Climactic suspension ascends intensity then pauses, suspending climax to amplify anticipation. Aristotelian in tragic arcs, it suspends in Browning's dramatic monologues. Poets use it to mirror emotional plateaus, building catharsis. This device appears to control pacing, engaging suspense. Suspension climacticly intensifies release, reflecting life's deferred gratifications in rhythmic mastery.
Example
Example in poetry:
In Shakespeare's "Macbeth," suspense builds to dagger vision's hold; John Keats suspends climax in "Ode to a Grecian Urn" truth-beauty; Hypothetical: Suspending revelation after "and then" for tension; Alfred Hitchcock influences poetic suspense in narrative verse; Percy Shelley suspends in "Ozymandias" for ironic fall.
Additional Notes
Climactic suspension builds suspense, Aristotelian peripeteia; delay peaks dramatically; Keats suspends in urn ode; usage: for effect; professors analyze pacing in narrative poetry.
Also Known As
Tension suspension Dramatic delay
Skip to main content