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Reality

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

The state of things as they actually exist, perceived or objective.

Detailed Definition
Reality is contested in poetry. Poets juxtapose it with dream, memory, or illusion to question perception, using concrete detail or surreal disruption to explore how the mind constructs and copes with the actual.
Example
Example in poetry:
In T.S. Eliot’s “The Waste Land,” reality is fragmented and disillusioned; In Sylvia Plath’s “Mirror,” reality is reflected truthfully yet painfully; In Emily Dickinson’s “I felt a Funeral, in my Brain,” reality collapses sensory boundaries; In W.B. Yeats’ “The Second Coming,” reality unravels apocalyptically; In Allen Ginsberg’s “Howl,” reality rails against societal repression; In Ocean Vuong’s “Notebook Fragments,” reality weaves memory and desire.
Additional Notes
Reality—the state of things as they are—is often contested in poetry; modernists fracture it (Eliot); surrealists reimagine it; students should analyze how poetry constructs or deconstructs reality; poetic techniques include juxtaposition, unreliable narration, or meta-commentary; note its philosophical dimension—reality vs. perception.
Also Known As
Actual world Objective reality Truth The real Tattva Way of the world
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