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Imagined conversation

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

A poetic device featuring dialogue with an absent, imagined, or deceased figure, often revealing inner conflict or longing.

Detailed Definition
An imagined conversation is poetic dialogue invented by the writer rather than recorded from reality, allowing exploration of ideas, relationships, or scenarios through constructed speech. This technique creates immediacy while permitting control over exchange's direction, often revealing character or developing theme through verbal interaction.
Example
Example in poetry:
T.S. Eliot’s “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” imagines conversations with an absent “you”; Robert Browning’s “My Last Duchess” constructs imagined dialogue with a silent envoy; Sylvia Plath’s “Daddy” stages imagined conversation with deceased father; Contemporary poet Ocean Vuong’s “Someday I’ll Love Ocean Vuong” imagines self-dialogue as conversation; Emily Dickinson’s letters to “Master” construct imagined epistolary conversations; Terrance Hayes’ “American Sonnet” series imagines dialogue with future/past assassins.
Additional Notes
A poetic conversation created entirely in the poet's mind, often addressing someone absent, dead, or imaginary with one-sided dialogue.
Also Known As
Fictive conversation Hypothetical dialogue Invented exchange Imagined discourse Dialogismus
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