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Emphasis

Rhetorical Devices
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

Special stress given to a word, phrase, or idea. It directs attention toward a point the speaker wants readers to notice.

Explore this topic in depth (1)

Sound Devices in Poetry — Sound devices are the patterns of speech that make a poem memorable to the ear as well as meaningful on the page. This guide explains how to hear alliteration, assonance, consonance and other effects, and how to describe what they do without reducing sound to a checklist.

Detailed Definition
Emphasis is created through placement, repetition, contrast, syntax, sound, or unusually forceful diction. A poet may isolate a word at the end of a line, repeat it at key moments, or place it against quieter surrounding language. The device need not be loud; a small word can gain great weight when strategically positioned. In lyric poetry, emphasis often reveals what the speaker cannot stop thinking about, whether it is a name, an absence, a promise, or a fear.
Example
Example in poetry:
“Never shall I forgive the flame” gives emphasis through the forceful opening word; “This, this is the hour the bells were waiting for” stresses the moment through repetition; “I loved you—only you—when the city went dark” isolates a phrase for emotional weight; “At last, the river answered” places the important revelation at the line’s end
Additional Notes
Emphasis directs a reader’s attention to a crucial word, image, or claim. Poets can create it through repetition, placement at the beginning or end of a line, contrast, italics, short sentences, sound, or interruption. When analyzing emphasis, ask what the poem makes unusually noticeable and why that point matters to its tone or argument.
Other Meanings of “Emphasis”
Also Known As
Significatio Stress
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