Personality

Psychology
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

Enduring patterns of thoughts, feelings, and behaviors that define an individual.

Detailed Definition
Personality informs poetic voice and persona. Poets explore its complexity through dramatic monologue, contrasting traits, or internal dialogue, revealing the interplay between innate disposition and lived experience.
Example
Example in poetry:
In Walt Whitman’s “Song of Myself,” personality expands to include all beings; In Sylvia Plath’s “Lady Lazarus,” personality is performative and fragmented; In Robert Browning’s dramatic monologues, personality dominates narrative perspective; In Emily Dickinson’s “I’m Nobody! Who are you?”, personality resists public definition; In Langston Hughes’ “Theme for English B,” personality negotiates race and belonging; In Ocean Vuong’s “Someday I’ll Love Ocean Vuong,” personality weaves heritage and queerness.
Additional Notes
Personality—the enduring traits of an individual—shapes poetic voice; but poetic personality is often persona (mask); students should distinguish between author and speaker; poetic techniques include diction, rhythm, or recurring motifs; note its link to authenticity—readers often conflate personality with truth.
Also Known As
Skip to main content