SCANNING A POEM

THREE RULES

1. Place accent marks ( / ) in MULTISYLLABLE words on the syllables that sound louder than other syllables.

DESIGN

FRONTAGE

INDICATE

PERSONNEL

DESIGN

FRONTAGE

INDICATE

PERSONNEL

THE GINGHAM DOG AND THE CALICO CAT

SIDE BY SIDE ON THE TABLE SAT.

2. Now place accent marks on IMPORTANT SINGLE SYLLABLE words (e.g., nouns and action verbs).

THE GINGham DOG AND THE CAlico CAT

SIDE BY SIDE ON THE TAble SAT.

Unimportant words are generally articles ("the," "a") and prepositions ("on," "with," "for").

3. Finally, place short horizontal lines ( - ) above unimportant words (articles, prepositions) and unaccented syllables in multisyllable words.

     -    /    -    /    -   -   /  -  -  /

The GINGham DOG and the CAlico CAT
 

  /    -    /    -  -   /  -   /

SIDE by SIDE on the TAble SAT

Return to list.