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Tangible presence

Concept
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

The poetic evocation of physical immediacy—through sensory detail, concrete nouns, or embodied language—that makes the abstract feel present.

Detailed Definition
Tangible presence in poetry refers to the evocation of physical immediacy through sensory detail, concrete imagery, and embodied language; it grounds abstract emotions in the material world, allowing readers to feel the texture, weight, and temperature of the poem’s reality.
Example
Example in poetry:
“I can almost touch / the warmth of your hand / in this empty room”; “The bread still smells of yeast— / your apron hangs by the door”; “Rain on the roof— / I feel it on my skin”; “Your voice in the static / of this old radio”
Additional Notes
Tangible presence uses concrete, sensory details to make abstract emotions or ideas physically felt; key to imagist and objectivist techniques.
Also Known As
concrete presence palpable image embodied object tangible symbol material Physical
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