Home › Glossary › Letter F

Found text

Form
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

Want to hear it? Click the Listen button to hear the browser speak the word using text-to-speech!

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 poetic form created by selecting, rearranging, or recontextualizing language from preexisting non-poetic texts (e.g., ads, manuals, speeches).

Detailed Definition
Found text in poetry refers to the appropriation and recontextualization of pre-existing, non-poetic language—such as advertisements, legal documents, or street signs—into a poetic composition, challenging notions of authorship and originality while revealing latent rhythms, ironies, or social critiques within everyday discourse.
Example
Example in poetry:
Using a grocery list as poem: “Milk, eggs, hope, batteries”; Warhol’s “a, a, a, a, a, a, a...” from transcribed interviews; Student example: “Twitter feed becomes haiku sequence”; Found text democratizes poetic material
Additional Notes
Pre-existing text incorporated into poem. Source material for found poetry. Related: found poetry, appropriation. Study: transformation through recontextualization.
Also Known As
Appropriated text discovered poetry readymade verse collage poem
Skip to main content