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Understanding iambs in poetry (a rant about Poetry Primer)


Paintedlady
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I've been slowly working my way through Poetry Primer with my kids this year and it's been going okay, but a little rough, since I'm not well versed in poetry writing. I've been trying to study ahead of them and grasp all the different vocabulary, which can be a bit challenging, but we've been doing okay.

 

Today I'm trying to grasp iambs, what they are, how they're used, etc... The explanation of what they are and how they're used seemed fairly straightforward at first, but then I realize the text never introduces that an iambic stanza can be both a 2 syllable word with breve on the first syllable and a stress on the second syllable and 2 seperate monosyllabic words where the first word receives the breve and the second word receives the stress. But they launch into the practice poems using mostly 2 monosyllabic words as examples! :confused: And also, there is no explanation as to why they insert foot boundaries in the strangest places.

 

I was able to go online and find some further explanations but I'm frustrated that the text I'm using (and this is the teacher's edition) presents practice without first giving a full explanation and example. '

 

I need wine and a :chillpill:.

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