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Erasure verse

Form
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

Poetry generated by removing words or phrases from a pre-existing source text, using erasure as a method of reinterpretation or critique.

Detailed Definition
Erasure verse is a poetic form created by selectively deleting words from an existing text (e.g., a novel, legal document, or newspaper) to reveal a new poem in the remaining words; it functions as both critique and creation, exposing hidden narratives or ideological biases through strategic omission and visual layout.
Example
Example in poetry:
Poem created by erasing text: Tom Phillips’s “A Humument”; M. NourbeSe Philip’s “Zong!”; Modern: redacted government documents as verse; Example: erasing a love letter to reveal grief
Additional Notes
Poetry created through erasure methods. Same as erasure poem/poetry. Verse form emphasizes. Related: found poetry, textual intervention. Practice: erasure of different source types.
Also Known As
deletion poetry redacted verse
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