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shape

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

Shape means the form or outline of something, or to give something form; in poetry, it can suggest the crafted arrangement of sound, image, and meaning.

Detailed Definition
Literally, shape refers to both the visible form of an object and the act of forming it. In poetry, it is one of the broadest craft terms, useful for discussing structure, stanza design, and the molding of experience into language. It belongs in craft terms because poetry is fundamentally about giving form.
Example
Example in poetry:
A sculptor-poet may describe shaping clay as metaphor for the act of composing a poem; A poem about identity might describe how experience shapes the self over a lifetime; Wind shaping sand dunes serves as a common image of natural forces transforming landscape; A poet describing a river might use its shaping of canyon walls as metaphor for persistence; Shaping a child's character through upbringing appears often in poems about parenthood; A poet revising a draft shapes rough language into its final polished form.
Additional Notes
Shape is among the most foundational craft terms in poetry, referring both to the physical form of a poem on the page and to the more abstract sense of how a poet gives form to raw experience through language; instructors often use shape as an entry point for discussing formal choices more broadly, from line length and stanza structure to the overall arc of a poem's argument, emphasizing that shaping is an active, ongoing process throughout composition and revision.
Also Known As
form mold fashion sculpt cast
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