How to Scan a Poem

[Newbkakes]

Great video and it helped me a lot, but it could have done with out the weird voices...

It kind of made me feel retarded.

[42lullaby]

@freestylemusic4ever When a poem starts out with a pattern it generally sticks with it, so if you notice that one stanza follows a certain pattern of unstressed/stressed syllables then you can likely expect every stanza to follow a similar pattern. Most poets only follow a pattern loosely so not every stanza will fit perfectly. There are many poems that don't use a pattern of unstressed/stressed syllables at all. These poems are called free verse and are very common in modern poetry.

[chargerfanduh]

Does scanning a poem make anyone else want to throw things around violently?

[freestylemusic4ever]

Does every stanza of a poem have to have a pattern of unstressed/stressed syllabubs?

[zapatipos]

thank you thank you very much, you saved my life..

[catcoolpearl]

very useful, thanks!!:)

[xenophanesiamnot]

Good video. It was very helpful, and I love the way you talk! Thanks. =)

[mgacheergirl]

This video has helped me so much on my poetry project!! :)

[thisisacunt]

poems have feet fail love it

[Aephqan]

Doesn't scansion alter up to the accent spoken?

[xkuchex]

Thankyou so much! This is really helpful but just a tip for future video's, could you please put the camera on a tripod looking down at what you're explaining so that it doesn't move so much. :)

[AnsonBurlingame]

Nice! Great introduction to scansion.

[SuperLalala321]

You have such a fun voice! LOL

[akamola15]

What is the difference between a stressed and an unstressed syllable ???

[42lullaby]

@akamola15 You really just have to train your ear to listen for them. Stressed syllables are stronger, meaning they might be pronounced slightly louder or longer than the unstressed syllabes. For example: TEXas. The first syllable is stressed and therefore stronger. If you want you can find lists of words with their stress markings online and practice saying them until you can hear the difference.

[Apmhflick]

@akamola15 There's a great site to use for practicing scansion called "For Better, For Verse" created I think by the University of Virginia. It's interactive and has easy, medium, and difficult poems so you can challenge yourself as you become more adept.

[MrProsody]

A wonderful way to introduce the layperson to an often daunting task. I teach college English and know first-hand how difficult it can be to explain how scansion works. But as a metrist myself, I noticed something. I like that you don't teach spondees and pyrrhics, as they do not exist in English, but you do not address how to differentiate between syllables that carry metrical stress but no speech stress and those that carry speech stress but no metrical stress. What about 4-level stress?

[42lullaby]

@MrProsody I did not intend to teach college level scansion with this video. I hope it serves as an introduction that makes scanning approachable instead of confusing.

[BlackRibbonCat]

Hi, I am from Denmark and I have been trying to prepare for my english exam, but no matter how many books/homepages I read, I just didn't understand what on earth meter and rhythm was, and I had no idea how to tell stressed and unstressed iambs apart... Now I do!

Thank you so much =)

[AsianwingsSagira]

This is a beautiful and fun way to learn poetry! I can not 'stress' the horrible feeling I felt about reading a poem, but you made it so much easier to understand! Thanks! :D

[LaughingHyena007]

Thanks very much.

[weefivefamily]

I'm a graduate student -- this is one of the best explanations of scansions I've run across. Great work!

[purplekiwi43]

THANK YOU SOOOOOO MUCH!! I could never figure this out until now !!! :)

[Softballxislifex8]

THANK YOU SO MUCH<3 i didnt understand this at all but you just helped sososososoo much!

[EmSess34]

Thank you sooo much 42lullaby!! You just saved my butt for my English test for tomorrow! You should teach English if you don't already, you are much better at explaining scanning a poem than my own teacher!

[HaloHaloBand]

thanks