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prepare

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

Prepare means to make ready for use or action; in poetry, it can suggest the careful arranging of material before meaning fully emerges.

Detailed Definition
In literal use, prepare refers to getting something ready by shaping, ordering, or assembling it beforehand. In poetry, the term fits craft language because poems are often understood as prepared structures rather than accidental utterances. It can imply the quiet labor behind composition, where language is readied for its final form.
Example
Example in poetry:
A poet may prepare the reader for a volta through subtle shifts in tone across the octave; Ritual poems often describe preparing food or space as a meditative act preceding ceremony; A poet drafting formal verse must prepare by choosing meter and rhyme scheme before writing; Preparing a body for burial appears in elegy as a solemn, ritualistic image; A poem about gardening might describe preparing soil as metaphor for cultivating patience; Preparing for departure, packing a bag, can serve as a quiet opening image in a travel poem.
Additional Notes
Prepare emphasizes the careful arranging of material before meaning is fully realized, often used in discussions of ritual poetry, where preparatory acts such as preparing food, space, or the body for burial carry symbolic weight beyond their practical function; instructors might explore how preparation imagery in poetry often functions as a threshold moment, marking the transition between ordinary time and the heightened significance of ceremony or transformation.
Also Known As
ready prime set up arrange Clear the decks dight gird Set the stage
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