Home › Glossary › Letter S

Speech delivery

Device
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

Want to hear it? Click the Listen button to hear the browser speak the word using text-to-speech!

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

The performative aspect of poetry involving vocal inflection, pacing, volume, and articulation to convey meaning, emotion, and rhythm in spoken or recited verse.

Detailed Definition
The manner, style, and technique of presenting poetry through oral performance, emphasizing vocal qualities, pacing, emphasis, and interpretive choices. Speech delivery encompasses how poems are spoken aloud, including breath control, volume modulation, rhythmic timing, and tonal variation. Performance aspects may differ significantly from silent reading, with vocal delivery revealing or creating meanings. Consider how different delivery choices affect interpretation and emotional impact.
Example
Example in poetry:
Shakespeare’s soliloquies (e.g., Hamlet’s “To be or not to be”) model dramatic speech delivery; Walt Whitman’s “Song of Myself” uses oratorical cadence mimicking public speaking; Langston Hughes’ “The Weary Blues” transcribes blues performance as speech delivery; Amiri Baraka’s “SOS” uses urgent, shouted speech delivery for political call; Claudia Rankine’s “Citizen” employs second-person address as intimate speech delivery; Danez Smith’s “Dear White America” uses confessional, performative speech delivery blending rage and vulnerability.
Additional Notes
Performance aspect of poetry. Consider vocal qualities, pacing, emphasis. Related to difference between silent reading and oral performance.
Also Known As
Oral delivery Verse performance Vocal presentation Elocution
Skip to main content