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Objectivist style

Style
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 style emphasising clarity, sincerity, and the poem as an object of contemplation; it avoids rhetorical excess, treats language with precision, and focuses on the direct presentation of the thing itself.

Detailed Definition
Objectivist style treats the poem as a crafted entity, valuing precision and ethical attention. Poets use it to foreground responsibility to language and reality.
Example
Example in poetry:
William Carlos Williams’s “The Red Wheelbarrow” models Objectivist attention to the thing itself through plain, exact presentation; George Oppen’s work values sincerity, restraint, and the ethical weight of observed particulars; “Blue tarp, brick dust, one bent nail in rain” uses discrete objects without imposing ornate symbolism; Objectivist style does not mean emotionless writing: feeling emerges through arrangement, clarity, and the poet’s responsible attention to the world
Additional Notes
Objectivist style values precision, sincerity, and the poem as a made object: clear observation, careful measure, and ethical attention to detail. Students should examine how “objectivity” here does not mean emotionless; rather, feeling is carried through exact depiction and structural integrity. It intersects with imagism but often foregrounds documentary clarity and craftsmanship. In writing, focus on a specific object or event and describe it without rhetorical inflation; let structure (stanza, line, repetition) create meaning. A practical tip is to revise for nouns and verbs: strengthen the poem by choosing exact words and letting the object-world speak.
Also Known As
Objectivism Objectivist Poetics Objectivist Mode
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