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Self-creating structure

Structure
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 poetic form that seems to generate its own organizing principles

Detailed Definition
Self-creating structure refers to a poem whose form emerges organically from its content, diction, or thematic development rather than conforming to predetermined rules; the structure “builds itself” through internal logic, as in free verse that follows the rhythm of thought or image clusters that dictate stanzaic shape.
Example
Example in poetry:
George Herbert’s “Easter Wings” uses line length to mirror thematic rise and fall, creating a self-creating structure; In “The Altar,” Herbert’s poem is shaped like an altar, its form emerging from its content; bpNichol’s “The Cosmic Chef” uses typographical arrangement that generates its own rules; Oulipo poet Jacques Roubaud’s sonnets follow mathematical constraints that dictate their structure
Additional Notes
Self-creating structure: A form where the very content, process of writing, or subject matter dictates the structure, rather than fitting into a predefined form (like a sonnet); the form generates itself as the poem progresses.
Also Known As
Autopoietic form self-forming design generative structure Autopoietic structure
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