Summary

Summary Practical Criticism + Critical Practice comprehensive notes

0 purchase

Module
English Literature

Institution
Cambridge University (CAM)

-Written by a 1st class graduate from Trinity College, the University of Cambridge -Notes used to prepare for the Practical Criticism and Critical Practice closed book exam, for which the author obtained a 1st class mark -Contains: 1.Detailed notes summarising the chapters from John Lennard's...

[Show more]

Preview 4 out of 77 pages

View example

Uploaded on July 5, 2024
Number of pages 77
Written in 2023/2024
Type Summary

louisagrinyer Member since 6 year 11 documents sold

£7.49

Add to cart

Save

100% satisfaction guarantee
Immediately available after payment
Both online and in PDF
No strings attached

PCCP notes compiled

The Poetry Handbook Notes: John Lennard

Metre:
-prosody= the patterns of rhythm and sound used in poetry
-cadencing = melodic flow of sounds
-classical languages= quantitative- vowel length/ quality – rhythm depending on number of
stresses
-Anglo-Saxon= qualitative- patterns of stress/ accent
-Slavic langaues= synthetic- combine lots of meaning in singular word by addition of
prefixes and suffixes
-French= syllabic prosodic- number of syllables in line

-Medieval middle English poetry- analysed accentually- rules concerning alliteration and
rhyme
-post- medieval= accentual- syllabic= formal patterns of stressed/ unstressed syllables-
neoclassical origins
-elision= conflation/ multiplication of syllables- e.g can’t, ne’er- reduces two syllables into
one

Accentual Syllabic Poetry:
-basic unit of poetry= line
-Lines analysed by breaking metre into feet- stressed and unstressed

Need to know types of foot:
-ictus= stressed foot- ‘blow or stroke’ in Latin
-iamb= unstressed followed by stressed syllable- e.g ‘doe COUNT’
-trochee= stressed- unstressed
-spondee= stressed- stressed (ictus- ictus)
-pyrrhic= unstressed- unstressed
-anapœst= unstressed- unstressed- stressed
-dactyl= stressed- unstressed- unstressed
-way to remember= pronouncing the name of each to embody its rhythm

-catalectic= iambic/ trochaic lines which miss their first unstressed beat
-hypermetric= with an extra beat- e.g to be or not to be, that is the question

-feminine endings= hypermetric endings with unstressed syllable
-masculine endings= hypermetric lines with stressed syllable
-alexandrine= 12 syllable line with major stresses on 6th and 12th syllables- dominant form in
French epic

Need to know metrical lines:

,-monometer= one foot per line
-dimeter= two feet per line
-trimeter= 3
-tetrameter= 4
-Pentameter= 5
-hexameter= 6
-heptameter= 7
-octameter= 8
-sequi= and a half- can be added to above words to describe patterns which add extra feet
e.g sesquimonometers= lines of 1 and ½ feet
-sesquidimeters= lines of 2 ½ feet etc.

-Metres= templates- rather than rigid structure
-spondees and pyrrhics- never make up full rhythm- instead, used as ‘distinguishing’ foot in
iambic/ trochaic line
-inverted foot= iamb in trochaic line- distinguishes itself to the ear
-substitute feet= replace regular feet in the line
-trochees- generate a cadence ( Latin- to fall) = falling rhythm in the line
-variation of both in a line- invigoration of a line

-Lines of iambic and anapestic feet= rising rhythm- stressed beats follow unstressed beats
-rising rhythym- makes up most of modern English speech

-Lines of trochees and dactyls- falling rhythms- ictus at beginning produces a high pitch
followed by the lower pitching of the unstressed beat
-unnatural to English speech- therefore, useful for poetry of strangeness

Duple and triple metres:
-duple meters= feet with 2 beats- iambs and trochees- that relies on a basic pattern of
alternation between stressed and unstressed beats
-triple meters- feet with 3 types of beat- mainly dactyls and anapæsts- creates a tripping,
rising rhythm that causes it to be closely associated with comedy- limericks

Tip: never attempt to divine metre from single line

Dissecting metre:
Confronted with 3 aspects:
1. Established metrical pattern
2. Way which words would be spoken in everyday conversation
3. Interaction of the two
-scansion= determination of a line’s rhythm- produced by scanning the line
-common for poets’ to slightly distort pronunciation for purposes of rhyme- particularly in
song- lyrics, hymns, strongly oral poems- e.g ballad:
-when word is adapted for this purpose it is wrenched

,-scanning, therefore= discerning metre of line, and which words deviate from pattern

Modernism and Metre:
-reaction against iambic pentameter, and neoclassical prosody attacked and subverted
-however- traditional metrical arrangements do still survive alongside free verse- e.g T.S.
Eliot
Poets who developed the systems:
-Gerald Manley Hopkins- neoclassical model that reverted to Old/ Middle English types of
verse
-T.S. Eliot- developed accentual system based on both neoclassical and Old and Middle
English prosodic models
-most modern poets can be expected to experiment with many metrical frames

Gerald Manley Hopkins= ‘sprung rhythm’:
-designed to imitate speech
-form of accentual syllabic metre- first syllable= stressed and may be followed by an
indeterminate number of syllables
-however, number of stressed feet per line= consistent throughout the poem

Form:
-choice of form- 2 sets of complications:
1.structure, metre, rhyme, punctuation, tone
2. historical associations
-free verse= open form- can be adapted/ mutated

Poem types:
-Stichic= simple sequence of lines- stichic forms= rare, but Clough and Blake utilised them-
rejection of blank verse- ‘Book of Thel’ and Amours de Voyage – no stanza breaks
-stanzaic= lines grouped by spaces above and below
-stanza- Italian- means ‘room, or stopping place’- poetry= house, stanza= room- p. 33

Types of stanza:
-Spenserian stanza= 8 iambic pentameters + hexameter (or alexandrine)

Blank Verse:
-largely attributed to Marlowe, Shakespeare, Johnson, other Jacobean dramatists- chosen by
Milton for Paradise Lost- increased its influential potential
-decasyllabic line- useful for drama- space for punctuation, deliberation, etc.
-not stanzaic but often divided into verse- paragraphs driven by units of argument/ emotion

Two line forms:

, -couplet- usually rhyming
-can be open- e.g Chaucer Prologue to Caterbury Tales- syntax running on from couplet to
couplet
-more frequently closed- Pope and Dryden- influenced this- no external enjambment between
couplets, however internal enjambment typical
-assertive- Shakespeare to end blank verse speeches
-dominant, but phased out in Romanticism
-heroic couplets- iambic pent= popular with Shakespeare, Chaucer, Dryden, Pope
-couplets in iambic tetrameter= pop with Marvell and Swift
-early 18th century- tetrametric couplets typically used satirically/ comically, whereas heroic
couplets= tragically
-fourteen- liners using iambic heptameter common
-heterometric couplets- combined hexameter and heptameter

Three Line Forms:
-triplet= three rhyming lines- aaa
-tercet= 3 lines where one or more lines don’t rhyme

-heroic triplets- common among heroic couplets- consider Pope’s Epistle to Dr Arbuthnot-
typically marked by }= brace
-heterometric triplets- frequent in Donne
-tercets- terza rima- Dante’s Divine Comedy (Italian, metre= syllabic)- creates chain rhyme-
typically used in narrative poems
-Haikus- syllabic 5-7-5

4 Line forms;
-quatrain
-monorhymed quatrains- aaaa
-abac/ abcb- single- rhymed quatrains= common
-alternating tetrameter and trimeter lines of abcb= ballad stanza/ common metre
-cross- rhymed= abab- harder to write- propensity to bore
-Tennysonian stanza- abba variation of chiasmic rhyme
-chiasmic rhyme= abba
-rubai= aaba- usually heroic

5 line forms:
-rare
-limericks- 5 anapestic lines- aabba
-Coleridge- iambic pentain in ‘Rime of the Ancient Mariner’

6 line forms:
-sestet- completes Pertrarchan sonnets:
-2 tercet- often quatrain + couplet- abab- cc- quatrain narrates, couplet summarises
-ABABCC- heroic sestet

The benefits of buying summaries with Stuvia:

Guaranteed quality through customer reviews

Stuvia customers have reviewed more than 700,000 summaries. This how you know that you are buying the best documents.

Quick and easy check-out

You can quickly pay through credit card for the summaries. There is no membership needed.

Focus on what matters

Your fellow students write the study notes themselves, which is why the documents are always reliable and up-to-date. This ensures you quickly get to the core!

Frequently asked questions

What do I get when I buy this document?

You get a PDF, available immediately after your purchase. The purchased document is accessible anytime, anywhere and indefinitely through your profile.

Satisfaction guarantee: how does it work?

Our satisfaction guarantee ensures that you always find a study document that suits you well. You fill out a form, and our customer service team takes care of the rest.

Who am I buying these notes from?

Stuvia is a marketplace, so you are not buying this document from us, but from seller louisagrinyer. Stuvia facilitates payment to the seller.

Will I be stuck with a subscription?

No, you only buy these notes for £7.49. You're not tied to anything after your purchase.

Can Stuvia be trusted?

4.6 stars on Google & Trustpilot (+1000 reviews)

64419 documents were sold in the last 30 days

Founded in 2010, the go-to place to buy revision notes and other study material for 15 years now

Start selling

Summary

Summary Practical Criticism + Critical Practice comprehensive notes

Document information

Subjects

Written for

Seller

Reviews received

Content preview