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Pointing lyric

Form
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 lyric poem that directs attention outward through deictic language

Detailed Definition
Pointing lyric uses deictic language (“this,” “here,” “now”) and direct address to orient the reader within a specific moment or space, creating intimacy and immediacy by gesturing toward shared presence or observable reality.
Example
Example in poetry:
In Audre Lorde’s “Coal,” “I am Black” points to identity; In Claudia Rankine’s “Citizen,” “You are in the dark…” points to reader experience; In Louise Glück’s “Mock Orange,” “It is not the moon…” rejects metaphor to point to raw emotion; In Derek Walcott’s “A Far Cry from Africa,” “I who am poisoned…” points to divided allegiance.
Additional Notes
Pointing lyric uses deictic language (“this,” “here,” “you”) to direct attention and create intimacy; common in invocations, addresses, or political poetry—use to position the reader in shared space/time.
Also Known As
Indexical lyric demonstrative poem spatial address directional verse Pointing composition
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