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Dilemma

Constraint
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 poem structured around an irresolvable choice or paradox, often in rhetorical form.

Detailed Definition
Dilemma as constraint frames the poem as a forced choice between two equally compelling or devastating options, using rhetorical questions or parallel clauses; this technique heightens dramatic tension and ethical inquiry, rooted in classical oratory, and serves poetic ends by crystallizing human conflict into formalized opposition, making abstract quandaries visceral through constrained argumentative structure.
Example
Example in poetry:
Dilemma poems pose impossible choices: Robert Frost’s “The Road Not Taken” (which path?); Sylvia Plath’s “Daddy” (love/hate); Ovid’s “Heroides” letters frame emotional dilemmas; modern eco-poetry presents survival vs. consumption; dilemma sonnets with volta posing ethical questions; constraint poets force dilemmas via form (e.g., choose one of two end words per line).
Additional Notes
Dilemma constraint poses irresolvable choices, driving ethical or emotional conflict. Frost’s “The Road Not Taken” exemplifies this. Students can use the volta to present the dilemma. It’s potent in dramatic monologue and political poetry.
Also Known As
Ethical dilemma moral quandary
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