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Panic

Psychology
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

Panic in poetic context denotes sudden, overwhelming fear that disrupts reason, often rendered through frantic rhythm, disjointed syntax, or urgent diction.

Detailed Definition
Panic disrupts rational thought. Poets capture its physicality through breathless rhythm, sensory overload, or disjointed syntax, rendering the body’s alarm system in lyrical crisis.
Example
Example in poetry:
In Sylvia Plath’s “Daddy,” panic erupts in the daughter’s confrontation; In Wilfred Owen’s “Dulce et Decorum Est,” panic chokes soldiers in gas masks; In Emily Dickinson’s “‘Twas like a Maelstrom, with a notch,” panic is oceanic and consuming; In W.H. Auden’s “Musée des Beaux Arts,” panic is ignored in the background of suffering; In Langston Hughes’ “Harlem,” panic simmers beneath “Or does it explode?”; In Ocean Vuong’s “Aubade with Burning City,” panic echoes in war’s aftermath.
Additional Notes
Panic—acute fear response—often appears in war or trauma poetry (Owen, Shire); differs from anxiety by its immediacy; poetic techniques include short lines, breathless syntax, or visceral imagery; students should consider physiological markers: racing heart, tunnel vision; note its link to survival—panic as adaptive or disabling.
Also Known As
Terror Alarm Fright Dread Fear Lose one's head Horror Hysteria
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