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Reconsideration device

Device
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 technique in which the poem re-evaluates or overturns its earlier stance

Detailed Definition
A reconsideration device is a structural or rhetorical pivot within a poem that explicitly revises, questions, or complicates an earlier assertion, often signaled by phrases like “but,” “yet,” or “perhaps”; central to the sonnet’s volta or to meditative lyrics, this technique enacts intellectual or emotional evolution, transforming the poem into a space of doubt, growth, or dialectical tension rather than fixed statement.
Example
Example in poetry:
Wordsworth’s "Tintern Abbey" reconsiders childhood perception; Frost’s "Birches" shifts from fantasy to reality: "Earth’s the right place for love"; Plath’s "Morning Song" moves from detachment to maternal connection; Keats’s "Ode to a Nightingale" questions escapism; Bishop’s "One Art" reconsiders loss through villanelle form.
Additional Notes
A reconsideration device signals a shift in thought—often through “but,” “yet,” or volta—to revise an earlier claim. It embodies intellectual or emotional growth. Students should locate the pivot: what prompts rethinking? How is it resolved? Related to “palinode sonnet” and “second thought.”
Also Known As
Retrospective device Reflective turn Revisiting motif Reconsiderative gesture Reconsideration Thought revision
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