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Self-referential enjambment

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

Enjambment that draws attention to itself or comments on its own technique

Detailed Definition
Self-referential enjambment occurs when a line break draws attention to the act of poetic composition itself, often by spilling a word like “write” or “verse” across lines to mirror the process it describes; this technique blends formal disruption with thematic self-awareness, heightening the reader’s consciousness of textuality.
Example
Example in poetry:
In enjambment like William Carlos Williams’s “so much depends / upon,” the line break refers to its own necessity—self-referential enjambment; In “The Red Wheelbarrow,” “glazed with rain / water” uses enjambment that highlights poetic attention; George Oppen’s “Of Being Numerous” uses enjambment that questions its own continuity: “Clarity / is not the same as understanding”; Self-referential enjambment appears in “This line breaks / to show you how it breaks”
Additional Notes
Self-referential enjambment: A line-break (enjambment) that draws attention to the fact of the line-break itself, often by creating a surprising or humorous meaning split; a conscious use of the technique for meta-poetic effect.
Also Known As
Self-referring enjambment auto-allusive carryover reflexive run-on Metaglossic Enjambment Reflexive enjambment
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