1. By: Sunpyo Hong

2. What is Meter? In poetry, meter is the basic rhythmic structure of a verse. In a closer look, it refers to the recurring patterns of stressed and unstressed syllables. What is a syllable? Syllable is a very small unit of speech sound. Every word we use are made up of one or more syllables. E.g. “Cat” contains one syllable. E.g. “Monkey” contains two syllables. Each pair, or three, of unstressed and stressed syllables make up a bigger unit of sound called ‘foot.’ Take a look at the following example.

3. Example ShallI / comPARE / theeTO / aSUM / mer’sDAY Each pair of unstressed and stressed syllables makes up a unit called a foot. The unstressed syllables are in blue and the stressed syllables in red. A foot needs not to be a fusion of two different words. A pair of fragments from two different words may well form a foot.

4. Example (Continued) 1 2 3 4 5 ShallI / comPARE / theeTO / aSUM / mer’sDAY This particular type of foot– an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable– is called “iamb” or “iambic foot.” There are total of 5 feet in the line. Therefore, the line is pentameter– “penta” refers to 5. Given the type and the number of feet, this line is “Iambic pentameter.”

5. 5 Different Types of Feet Iambic (2 syllables) : Unstressed + Stressed E.g. “because,” “hello” Trochaic (2 syllables) : Stressed+ Unstressed E.g. “answer,” “Tuesday” Spondaic (2 syllables) : Stressed + Stressed E.g. “football,” “heartbreak,” black hole” Anapestic (3 syllables) : Unstressed + Unstressed+ Stressed E.g. “un-der-stand,” “Ma-ri-anne” Dactylic (3 syllables) : Stressed + Unstressed + Unstressed E.g. “beau-ti-ful,” “Sa-tur-day”

6. Number of Feet and the Meter As mentioned above, meter of a line also depends on the number of feet in the line. When there is only one foot in the line: Monometer Two feet: Dimeter Three feet: Trimeter Four feet: Tetrameter Five feet: Pentameter And so on..

7. Conclusion Meter is determined by… 1. The type of feet in the line 2. The number of feet in the line E.g. If a line contains three feet that are made up of two stressed syllables, the meter of such line is Spondaic Trimeter.

8. Thank You