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Level

Craft Terms
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

Level is to bring a poem’s competing elements into deliberate proportion without making them identical.

Detailed Definition
Leveling may involve balancing long and short lines, abstract and concrete language, narrative and reflection, or silence and speech. The goal is not uniformity but a surface on which each component can exert its proper force. A poem that spends too long explaining may need more image; one that remains entirely imagistic may need a clear human pressure. Leveling is an editorial act of proportion, helping the reader feel that no accidental imbalance has replaced the poet’s intended design.
Example
Example in poetry:
To level a poem is to make its parts receive comparable attention and force; A poet might level an overdramatic opening by strengthening the quieter middle images; In a sequence, leveling the line lengths can create a steady visual field; A revision may level the diction by replacing one conspicuously ornate phrase with language that matches the surrounding poem
Additional Notes
To level a poem is to adjust its competing elements into intentional proportion. This may mean giving a quiet image enough space, reducing an over-explained conclusion, or balancing narrative information against reflection. Leveling does not flatten differences or make every line equally forceful; it creates a controlled relationship among parts. Compare stanza length, tonal intensity, image density, and syntactic complexity when assessing the poem’s overall equilibrium.
Also Known As
Even Horizontal align Echelon rung spirit level stratum
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