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Eroteme

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 composed entirely of questions, using interrogative syntax as structural principle.

Detailed Definition
Eroteme (rhetorical question) as constraint mandates that every line pose a query, creating open-endedness and urgency; this form eschews declarative authority for inquiry, common in lyric and prophetic poetry, and uses the interrogative mode to engage readers dialectically, embodying doubt, desire, or existential searching through relentless questioning.
Example
Example in poetry:
Eroteme (rhetorical question): Shakespeare’s “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?”; Emily Dickinson’s “Because I could not stop for Death – / He kindly stopped for me –”; modern poems posing unanswerable ecological questions; eroteme as refrain in protest poetry; constraint poets use only questions in a sonnet; eroteme drives narrative in dramatic monologues.
Additional Notes
Eroteme is a rhetorical question driving inquiry or emotion. Central to lyric and dramatic poetry. Students can structure a poem as a series of erotemes. It engages readers and creates unresolved tension.
Also Known As
Question mark interrogative
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