Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Iambic Conversation

In listening to everyday conversation, I definitely notice a great deal of iambic conversation. Obviously, it is not all pentameter as some people do not have as much to say as others, but mostly iambic nonetheless. Thinking back, I actually cannot remember a conversation that did not at least have iambic lines in it. However, I was not able to remember any word for word conversations when I got home. So, I decided to write down some lines on a documentary series I was watching called "The Blue Planet."
 /     u    / u     / u   / u   /    u /
 Arctic foxes also rely on polar
    /      u    /     u     /    u   /
 bears to hunt on their behalf                                   Trochee

      /       u     /   u     /   u     /       u
 They're the jackals of the north and
   /     u       / u /          u      /
 scavenge whenever they can.                                 Trochee

 u    / u      /     / u       /
In winter and early spring,
    u / u / u / u /
hey're wholly dependent on bears.                          Iambic

   / u   /   u     /    u      /       u    /    u      /
 Only in the summer when the sea ice melts,
   /     u     / u / u      /        u     /     u       /
 will they regularly catch prey for themselves.           Trochee

       /       u      /      u   /      u    / u      / u      /
 They're not strong enough to tackle adult seals,
   /    u     /  u    /   u       /    u       /      u     /
 but can certainly take newborn pups or birds.         Trochee

   u     /   u    / u / u /   u   / u    u   / u    /      u
 This canny individual is going to bury it's prize,
 /    u      /     u   /  u     /   u  /     u      /      u  /
 it may need it during the uncertain times ahead        Iambic and Trochee

In this documentary, at least in this section about arctic foxes, the narrator uses mostly trochee pentameter. However, this may be because he is british. I don't remember hearing anything in class, though, that english speakers from other countries use something other than iambic pentameter.

1 comment:

  1. You do really well with this. The first line, for example, is spot on. Other words are questionable in other lines for example in the last two lines: This is likely stressed. It's is likely unstressed. And in the last line: "the" is likely unstressed. The same is true of other lines, but more often than not, I support your work :)

    ReplyDelete