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Encyclopedic catalog

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 exhaustive listing attempting to encompass all examples within a category

Detailed Definition
An encyclopedic catalog is a poetic list that aspires to comprehensive coverage of a domain—natural phenomena, cultural artifacts, emotions—mirroring encyclopedic ambition through exhaustive detail; it often reflects Enlightenment or postmodern impulses to classify, archive, or overwhelm through sheer accumulation.
Example
Example in poetry:
Walt Whitman’s “Song of Myself” catalogs American life: “The negro holds firmly the reins of his four-in-hand… the lunatic is carried at last to the asylum”; Allen Ginsberg’s “Howl” lists victims of Moloch in encyclopedic despair; Claudia Rankine’s “Citizen” catalogs microaggressions with clinical precision; Hart Crane’s “The Bridge” compiles industrial and mythic American imagery; Muriel Rukeyser’s “The Book of the Dead” documents the Hawk’s Nest Tunnel disaster through testimonial catalog; Ocean Vuong’s “Aubade with Burning City” lists Vietnamese pop songs and war debris as encyclopedic witness.
Additional Notes
An encyclopedic catalog is a long list aiming to encompass vast knowledge; epic poets like Homer and Whitman used this for grandeur.
Also Known As
Complete catalog Total listing Universal inventory All-inclusive index Cyclopedic list
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