Home › Glossary › Letter P

Prototype character

Concept
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

An early or archetypal figure that serves as the foundational model for later characters

Detailed Definition
A Prototype character in poetry is a foundational or archetypal figure—such as the wanderer, the mother, or the trickster—that serves as a template for exploring universal human experiences; poets adapt these prototypes to specific contexts, infusing them with contemporary relevance while drawing on deep cultural or mythic resonances.
Example
Example in poetry:
A universally recognizable figure in poetry (e.g., the Fool, the Lover, the Wanderer) that represents a fundamental human role or experience; The use of a figure that embodies a concept, such as 'Everyman'; A simple, archetypal figure used to carry the narrative or symbolic weight of the poem; The prototype character of The Ancient Mariner as the eternal penitent.
Additional Notes
Prototype character: A poetic character that serves as a primary, often simplified or idealized, model for a class of people or a set of human traits; related to archetype, but may be more specific to a single poem's world.
Also Known As
Prototype figure model character original persona Archetype
Skip to main content