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Self-pity

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

An inward-focused emotional state marked by excessive sorrow over one’s own misfortunes, often bordering on narcissistic lament.

Detailed Definition
Self-pity traps the self in victimhood. Poets critique it through ironic distance, circular lament, or eventual awakening, distinguishing it from legitimate grief by its lack of outward connection.
Example
Example in poetry:
In Sylvia Plath’s “Lady Lazarus,” self-pity performs resurrection for an audience; In T.S. Eliot’s “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock,” self-pity fixates on self-image; In Emily Dickinson’s “I felt a Funeral, in my Brain,” self-pity follows mental collapse; In Philip Larkin’s “Aubade,” self-pity faces death without solace; In Ocean Vuong’s “Someday I’ll Love Ocean Vuong,” self-pity is gently addressed to the self; In Robert Hayden’s “The Whipping,” self-pity scars childhood memory.
Additional Notes
Self-pity—excessive focus on one’s suffering—is often critiqued in poetry as narcissistic; but can be reclaimed (Vuong’s self-address); poetic techniques include first-person lament, hyperbole, or rhetorical questions; students should analyze whether self-pity is transformative or stagnant; note its link to trauma—self-pity as unprocessed grief.
Also Known As
Self-indulgent sorrow Self-commiseration Woefulness
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