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Scoring

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

Scoring is the marking of a poem with planned divisions, pressures, or points of entry.

Detailed Definition
A poet scores a draft by indicating where lines should break, where a stanza should turn, or where a voice should become audible. The marks are not merely mechanical; they determine how the reader handles time, emphasis, and silence. Scoring may also mean creating parallel grooves through repeated syntax or motif. In a dramatic monologue, carefully scored pauses can reveal conflict more powerfully than explanatory statements, because the structure makes hesitation physically present on the page.
Example
Example in poetry:
Scoring is the deliberate marking or cutting of a surface, and a poet can score a draft by making visible divisions between sections or movements; A line of short stresses can score a poem with a hard, percussive rhythm; Repeated images of scratches, cuts, or tally marks can score the poem’s surface while recording accumulated experience; During revision, a poet may score a page with notes that identify where the argument turns, pauses, or changes direction
Additional Notes
Scoring marks a poem with intentional divisions or pressure points before or during composition. These may be stanza breaks, section headings, pauses, caesuras, repeated entrances, or planned shifts in speaker and time. Scoring helps a poet control where the reader slows, turns, or reinterprets what came before. Treat the marks as invitations rather than rigid instructions, and test whether each division creates useful tension.
Also Known As
Incising Scribing
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