University of Science and Technology Chittagong (USTC)

Department of English Language and Literature (DELL)

BA (Hons) in English Language and Literature

Topics: (A) Discuss different types of feet and meter used in poems.

Topics: (B)…Rosemary had been married two years. She had a duck of a boy… And
she was followed to the car by a thin shopgirl staggering under an immense white
paper armful that looked like a baby in long clothes...

Course Code: ELL-502

Course Title: Rhetoric and Prosody and Practical Criticism

Assignment Submitted

To

Shaila Binte Sattar

Lecturer
DELL, USTC
Submitted
By
Name: Hasan Mainuddin
Registration No: 699
Roll No: 30706
Semester: 5th
Batch: 30th

Date of Submission: 12th January, 2021.

Section-A

Q) Discuss different types of feet and meter used in poems.

Ans: Feet
In poetry, feet are segments of stressed and unstressed syllables that, when used properly,
create
rhythmic sounds in each line of a poem. Poetic feet are combined with meter, the number of feet
per line, to create the overall line length, but it is the feet that determine the placement or
pattern
of syllables. There are four main types of poetic feet, as well as two supplementary forms.
The combination of meter and feet can identify a poem or a poet. Each unit of rhythm is called a
“foot” of poetry – plural of foot is feet:
1. A line of 1 foot (or meter) is a monometre/monometer,
2. 2 feet is a dimetre/dimeter,
3. trimetre/trimeter (3),
4. tetrametre/tetrameter (4),
5. pentametre/pentameter (5),
6. hexametre/hexameter (6),
7. heptametre/heptameter (7), and
8. octametre/octameter (8).
If you doubled, for instance in one line, the iamb; unstressed/stressed, or short/long, you would
get a diamb: short-long-short-long. Or iambic dimeter.
Another major form of the iamb is the minor ionic, or double iamb: short-short-long-long, or the
major ionic: long-long-short-short.
If you doubled up on a trochee, you would get a ditrochee: long-short-long-short. Or trochaic
dimeter.
Metrical patterns
Some common metrical patterns, with notable examples of poets and poems who use them,
include:
 Iambic pentameter (iamb repeated 5 times, or 5 feet) (John Milton in Paradise Lost,
William Shakespeare in his sonnets)

 Dactylic hexameter (dactyl repeated 6 times or 6 feet) (Homer, Iliad; Virgil, Aeneid)
 Iambic tetrameter (iamb repeated 3 times) Andrew Marvell, To His Coy Mistress;
Aleksandr Pushkin, Eugene Onegin, Robert Frost, Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening)
 Trochaic octameter (trochee repeated 8 times) (Edgar Allan Poe, The Raven)
Forced meter
Other than in free verse, where no rhyming scheme or meter apply, when a poet tries to force a
rhyming scheme on a poem, or a lyricist tries too hard to make meter work, the problem is that
they alter the normal pattern of emphases in a word or phrase, and a mother tongue speaker of
the
language immediately notice it, and it makes the language uncomfortable.
For example, the word “UnCOMfortable” has the stress on the 2nd syllable, not the 1st, 3rd or
4th
syllable. When you say “I live aCROSS the road”, the stress is normally on the 2nd syllable of
the
word “across” – in other words the most “normal” use or meaning of the phrase.
If the stress changes to “I LIVE across the road” – which some lyricists do when they get stuck –
it emphasises “live” which means that, to make sense, there needs to be some indication of
what
else the person does across the road. If that is not there, well, it just sounds awkward.
Or if the lines are:
“I live across the road near-by, where property is dear.”
OK, that is not an actual poem, but to make “dear” rhyme with “near”, I hyphenated “nearby”,
letting the “by” drop over onto the next line. As you can see, it’s bad meter.
The meter gets especially thrown out when a phrase gets broken up in the middle of a word,
where
normally it wouldn’t be broken up, or a sentence gets broken up where it normally there wouldn’t
be a pause or caesura.
You might well ask, why bother at all? Well, some poets don’t – then you get prose verse or
free verse. But for practical purposes, like when you write lyrics or when you rap, you have
to use rhyme and rhythm. And to do that, you’ve got to use meter.
Metre
In poetry, metre (British) or meter (American; see spelling differences) is the basic rhythmic
structure of a verse or lines in verse. Many traditional verse forms prescribe a specific verse
metre,
or a certain set of metres alternating in a particular order. The study and the actual use of
metres
and forms of versification are both known as prosody. (Within linguistics, "prosody" is used in a
more general sense that includes not only poetic metre but also the rhythmic aspects of prose,

whether formal or informal, that vary from language to language, and sometimes between poetic
traditions.
“Metre” (U.K. and non-American English) or “meter” in American English which I try to
use throughout) is the metrical application of rhythm of a line of verse.
I prefer “meter” to “metre” because “metre” is too close for me to the unit of distance. “Meter” is
not the measurement of distance, but the pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in a line
of
verse. “Unstressed/stressed” syllables in the English language correspond to “short/long”
syllables
in classical languages. Stressed=long; unstressed=short. Call it the road markings of a poem.
A line can be divided either into syllables formed by words or a caesura, a complete pause or
break
between words in a line of poetry. So when counting syllables, you count more than single
words
– you count the entire interconnected phrase, as you would pronounce it, not as it is spelled.
Five basic meter patterns
English poetry basically employs five patterns of varying stressed (/¯) and unstressed (x)
syllables.
The meters are:
1. iambs,
2. trochees,
3. dactyls,
4. anapests, and
5. spondees.
When these meter patterns are repeated in a line of verse, you get the “feet” of the line. Again,
meter and feet, used here, have nothing to do with the measurement of distance. Any number of
meters and any number of feet are possible in one line. It all depends on the effect the poet
wants
to achieve.
The more regular or classical the meter, the harder it is to write, and the more skill it takes from
the author. However, having a classical meter and rhythm in a poem does not necessarily mean
it’s better than a free-form verse. It is simply difficult to do in a different way.
Unstressed/short syllables can be indicated by a cross (x or˘ above it) and stressed/long
syllables
by a forward slash (/or a ¯ above it).
Section-B
Q)…Rosemary had been married two years. She had a duck of a boy… And she was
followed to the car by a thin shopgirl staggering under an immense white paper
armful that looked like a baby in long clothes...
Ans:
This essay is form "A Cup Of Tea"
“A Cup of Tea” by Katherine Mansfield (1888 to 1923-New Zealand). There is a temptation
in
reading Mansfield to see her work as artistically peaking in 1921 and 1922 given that we
know
these are her last stories. She was a prominent modernist writer of short fiction who was
born and
brought up in colonial New Zealand and wrote under the pen name of Katherine Mansfield.
Mansfield left NZ for Great Britain in 1908 where she encountered Modernist writers such
as D.
H. Lawrence and Virginia Woolf with whom she became close friends. Her stories often
focus on
moments of disruption and frequently open rather abruptly.
A Cup of Tea literary Divice are:
1. 1. SETTING & ATMOSPHERE : Details about setting and atmosphere are not given in the
beginning of the story, but later as Pathetic Fallacy (outer space mirroring inner space of
main
character): “Rain was falling, and with the rain it seemed the dark came too, spinning down
like
ashes. There was a cold bitter taste in the air, and the new-lighted lamps looked sad. Sad
were the
lights in the houses opposite. .
2. CHARACTERISATION:Direct characterisation: - Story begins with elaborate description
of
Rosemary’s physical appearance, personality.
3. NARRATIVE VOICE/ TECHNIQUE & POINT OF VIEW :Third person omniscient narration:
However, intrusion into the consciousness/ thoughts of the characters is sparse, with more
focus
on physical descriptions and heavy reliance on conversations and elaborate descriptions of
actions
of characters to forward the plot. •
I am to practical criticism analyse a piece of literary text written by Kathleen Mansfield in
the
format of a short story titled “A CUP OF TEA”
Before this , I’d like to give a brief information about the content of the story.Scanning the
story
first, we come across with a rich couple named Rosemary and Philip leading an untroubled,
desirable life and they seem to love each other since- we have no implication whether they
love
each other for money or not – and everything goes well in their lives. Rosemary spends
money
without getting into trouble and giving no reason or excuse to her husband in doing this.
Everyone
in a society admires Rosemary not maybe for her beauty but for her remarkable features
such as
being interested in current movements from every aspects, seeming as an intelligent young
woman,
reading the modern books.Philip is not as bright character as Rosemary but he makes
himself
realize as soon as he enters the story towards the end.

Apart from the couple, there is a girl who meets Rosemary in a street by asking for money
to have
a cup of tea then is picked up by her to have a cup of tea at her home. At the last scene,
Rosemary
is jealous of her, the girl is easily disappeared without giving no sign for us to follow the
reason
of her disappearance. And we have one more character having a part in the story :the
shopkeeper.
He is also under the effect of Rosemary; we can understand this from his polite
behaviour.He tries
to draw her attraction on the enamel box and succeeds it; he promises her to keep the box
for her
because he knows her and he knows that she will come to buy it; she has the power of
money and
gets whatever she desires without acconting for anything to anybody. Not only we
encounter with
her weakness in her dialogue with the shopman but also in her being jealous of Miss Smith
when
he utters lovely words for this girl and behaves as it is predicted by Philip who knows
directing
her and makes her behave as he desires taking advantage of her faulty character
successfully.
In that sense Philip is an intelligent man and effective on Rosemary who is also obviously
the
symbol of possessive female by being jealous of the girl she has met in the street; so she has
no
self-confidence,she is a little bit credulous. She asks directly-having no hidden meaning in
her
words- ‘Am I PRETTY? ’, which ironically reveals her ex-behaviours to Philip even she
supposes
that Philip is not aware of the truth. Rosemaryis obviously the main character of the story,
flat and
dynamic. When we count all the sentences describing her or the ones in which she takes
place. We
realize her dominancy at once. The other participants I’d like to analyse on this text -apart
from
‘Rosemary’- are the girl, Miss Smith, and Philip. Even though Philip hasn’t got as many turns
as
Rosemary and Miss Smith, I’d like to examine the processes of him in order to display the
currents
of events as a whole- he is the efficient figure in the sequences of events in the story-; in
other
words it is vital to handle it here to maintain the entirety of the text.In many ways
Rosemary is
presented us very active.There are descriptions both for her physical appearance and for
her
characteristic features and interests: “She was young , brilliant , extremely modern,
exquisitely
well dressed, amazingly well read in the newest of the new books .
“ Even the words describing her are beatifully chosen ones – she is not a woman adored for
her
goddess beauty but she is an active figure in a society with her doings; however it is not
clear
whether she makes it to be seen like that or she is really the one known in a society . Her
hat, really
no bigger than a geranium petal, hung from a branch…”The author of the text here uses
metaphorical phrases while describing Rosemary’s hat.
In fact, the writer doesn’t generally use such things , the language of the text is direct but
here , in
describing her appearance,she does this . Infact it is to reflect the prominence that is given
for her.
She is mostly ‘the actor’ where the girl is a helpless recipient: “I want you to. To please me.
Here
‘I’ , Rosemary, takes part as an actor whereas ‘you’, Miss Smith, is the goal and ‘want’ is the
process which is stated by Rosemary. We may infer that Rosemary is dominant and makes
others
do whatever she wants to. “I only want to make you warm.
.. ” This time what she desires to be made by her is something good as a concept ; but even
it is
good for Miss Smith, it is directed by Rosemary and shows her power on her by regarding
Miss
Smith as a helpless creature which is to be pitied and looked after.Come and sit down,” she
cried,
dragging her big chair up to the fire,”in this comfy chair. ” Looking at how she sees the
world
around her, we realize that she can mention about what she likes or dislikes and reveals
her ideas
directly and freely; we have lots of verbs telling us about her cognition and affection: “Yes,
she
liked it very much, she loved it. ” “Rosemary admired the flowers. ” “Rosemary gave no sign.
”“Rosemary laughed out. ” “She decided… ” “She wanted to spare this poor little thing…
“She saw alittle battered creature with enormous eyes… ” “I hate lilac.” As for the girl, her
physical descriptions are used to introduce her and these descriptions sometimes tell us
about the
life style of her and mostly show us inferiority of her when compared with ‘Rosemary’
basically:
“… Rosemary turned.
She saw a little battered creature with enormous eyes , someone quite young , no older
than
herself…
” “… a light , frail creature with tangled hair, dark lips, deep lighted eyes,..
. ” “… thin ,birdlike shoulders. ” “…
oor little thing. ” And we have implications about her manner which are presented us from
the
eyes of the writer: “… she seemed dazed. ” “she seemed to stagger like a child,…
” As said above, she is ‘the goal’ where Rosemary is the actor: Rosemary says: “I simply took
her with me. ” “I want you to. To please me.
” “She wanted to spare this poor little thing from being stared at by the servants. ” “She
applied
the poor little creature with ,everything,… ”: Even the girl says accepting her power: “You
are
not taking me to police station. ”:Although her acts are mostly led by Rosemary, we have
implications about her feelings as follows: “The girl almost cried out . ” “..
. burst into tears” “the girl gazed back at her. ” “she felt how simple and kind her smile was.
”
Talking abouy Philip, there is no sign for his physical appearance and no utterance for his
personality also . But we can only guess something by means of the sentences as follows:
“Philip
smiled his charming smile.
” The we can say that he has charming smile that makes effect on Rosemary. “But what an
earth
are you going to do with her? cried Philip. ” So, he accounts for something and she behaves
in line with Philip’s desires. Even though he enters at the last scene , he is ‘the actor’ in the
sentences
where Rosemary is ‘the goal’: “I wanted you come… ’ Here Rosemary is the goal.
“He came in…
he said, and stopped and stared. ” Here the events are acted by him but this time As soon as
he
takes a part in the story, he behaves like an observor as it is understood from the sentences
below:
“.. he said curiously, still looking at that listless figure, looking at its hands and boots.. .. I
wanted
you to come.
.. ” “Philip smiled. ” Looking at the story from the point of the language use between the
participants, we come across with variability making the text closer to real, authentic usage
by
means of questions, answers, requests, imperatives, exclamations and so on. To begin with
turn,
dialogues between Rosemary and Miss Smith, it is seen that there are lots of questions and
answers: “May I speak to you a moment? ” “Speak to me? ” (And this also presents us a part
from
an authentic language use by shortening the statement. It is also the indicator of
bewilderment of
Rosemary against the girl’s behaviour.
“Would you let me have the price of a cup tea? ” “A cup of tea ? Then have you no money at
all?
” “Do you like me? ” And sometimes Rosemary gives answers instead of the girl. She does
most
of the talking: “Of course , she will. ” There are imperatives uttered by Rosemary again
,which
proves that she does and gets whatever she wants from helpless people : “Come along. ”
“Come
,come upstairs.
”“Come and sit down ” “Don’t cry. ” “Do stop crying ” She also uses imperatives against
‘Philip’:
“Be nice to her. “Kiss me. ” But Philip also gives commands to her: “Explain” “Look again,
my
child.” However, Miss Smith uses polite requests such as: “May I speak to you a moment?”
“Would you let me have the price of a cup of tea.
” “… so lightly and strangely: ‘I’m very sorry, madam, but I’m going to faint. I shall go off,
madam
if I don’t have something. ’” (It is not in an exact polite request form but said politely.) “I
can’t go
on no longer like this. I can’t bear no more (Totally free in revealing her ideas and feelings
not by
consulting to politeness.
Exclamations are used by Rosemary sometimes to express her ideas: “Charming!” “How
extraordinary! ” and sometimes to present her while thinking to herself: “How thoughtless
I am!
” “Pretty! ” “Lovely! ”(By repeating Philip’s utterances angrily. ) Sometimes to demonstrate:
“There! ” And for the time and place setting, the story takes place in London, because of
some
toponyms: Regent Street, Bond Street. Epithet is the most important and frequent figure of
speech
in the story, which forms the first impression: “young, brilliant, extremely modem,
exquisitely well dressed, amazingly well read”. Hyperbola: “in the newest of the new
books”, intensified by
this root-repetition: new.
Metaphors: “delicious mixture”, “discoveries of hers” underlines that there is something
extraordinary in this very society. And epithets used further complete this idea: “quaint
creatures,
presentable and amusing”. Parenthesis with repetition: “really rich”, epithets: “odious and
stuffy”.
Similes: “sounds like one’s grandparents”, “as you and I would go to Bond Street”. Again
epithet,
depicting Rosemary: “gazed in her dazzled, rather exotic way”. This indirect description of
the
character I would say.
The reader can be impressed and persuaded in richness of this family. Scenes in shops are
described very brightly, proving that fact that the author used repetitions for this purpose,
for
example epiphoric: “I want those and those and those. Give me four bunches of those”, “No,
no
lilac. I hate lilac. ”. Asyndeton: and, and, which serves the same purpose. All the sentences
are
short, remind more strict orders, than buying something and that jar of roses.
Yes, I’ll have all the roses in the jar. It could be an exaggeration, but the author makes it
clear that
it is not: thin shop-girl staggering under an immense white paper armful. Where we can
find a
contrast: thin girl and huge, immense armful of flowers.
Having read the story, I remembered those homeless children, trying to sell me something
in the
street. Just like Miss Smith, they are trying to be respectful to me. After I realized that,
although I
didn’t want, I treated them just like Rosemary did to Miss Smith.
I think, when one feels superior, this is inescapable. In that conversation between Philip
and
Rosemary, although Philip seems to be the stronger one, he could not change Rosemary’s
mind.
And I guess there is no one in the world can change this kind of a woman’s mind, except
love. In
conclusion, I can say that although a human is always a human, the instincts are always
stronger
than humanity. As we can see, at the very beginning, Rosemary was trying to be helpful to
Miss
Smith, but when jealousy came to the scene, she gave 3 pounds and simply kicked Miss
Smith.
I think this is the rule of the world, both in the wild animal life and in modern human life.
In A Cup of Tea by Katherine Mansfield we have the theme of jealousy, insecurity,
materialism
and class. Taken from her The Doves’ Nest and Other Stories collection the story is narrated
in the
third person by an unnamed narrator and after reading the story the reader realizes that
Mansfield
may be exploring the theme of class or rather the differences between social classes. By
telling the
reader that ‘they were rich, really rich, not just comfortably well off’ Mansfield succeeds in
not
only highlighting to the reader how wealthy Rosemary and Philip are but more importantly
she
manages to highlight how different Rosemary is from others. Something that is a little
clearer when Mansfield also tells the reader ‘if Rosemary wanted to shop she would go to
Paris as you and I
would go to Bond Street.’ Though it may appear to be insignificant the fact that Rosemary
has a
car may also be important as by introducing the car into the story it is possible that
Mansfield is
further highlighting the class difference that exists between Rosemary and those around
her. At
the time the story was written only the very wealthy (mostly upper class) would have had
the
resources to buy a car.
The fact that Rosemary is surprised when Miss Smith first speaks to her also suggests that
Rosemary may be different to others. It would have been uncommon (at the time the story
was
written) for those considered to be of a lower class (Miss Smith) to engage with those
considered
to be upper class (Rosemary). It is also interesting that Rosemary thinks it is
‘extraordinary’ that
Miss Smith has no money. This would again suggest that Rosemary is different from other
people.
She can’t imagine that somebody would have no money. By describing Miss Smith as the
‘other’
when Rosemary leads Miss Smith into the hall of her home and Rosemary as being like ‘the
rich
little girl in her nursery’ Mansfield may be further highlighting the difference in class
between
both Miss Smith and Rosemary.
It is also interesting that Rosemary, while Miss Smith is in her bedroom having tea, leaves
Miss
Smith’s hat and coat on the floor. By doing so Mansfield may be suggesting that in
Rosemary’s
eyes, Miss Smith is not her equal. This would further highlight the difference in class (in
Rosemary’s eyes) between Miss Smith and Rosemary. The reader also doubts that
Rosemary
would take the same course of action (leave a hat and coat on the floor) should one of her
upper
class friends visit her home. At no stage in the story does the reader feel that Rosemary, by
taking
Miss Smith home with her, is doing so for the benefit of Miss Smith rather it serves to boost
Rosemary’s perception of herself. She does after all consider the taking of Miss Smith home
with
her to be an adventure, something she will be able to boast about to her friends.
There is also some symbolism in the story which may be important. The little box that
Rosemary
sees in the antique shop, by telling the reader that Rosemary ‘must have it’, Mansfield may
be
highlighting the importance of material things to Rosemary. Mansfield also appears to be
using
the setting, after Rosemary leaves the antique shop, to highlight Rosemary’s mood after she
is
unable to buy the little box. Mansfield tells the reader that the ‘rain was falling, and with the
rain
it seemed the dark came too, spinning down like ashes. There was a cold bitter taste in the
air, and
the new-lighted lamps looked sad.’ In many ways this setting mirrors how Rosemary may
feel
about having to leave the shop without purchasing the little box. The flowers that
Rosemary buys
may also have some symbolic importance. By telling the reader that Rosemary wanted
‘those and
those and those. Give me four bunches of those,’ Mansfield may be further highlighting how
different Rosemary is from other people (due to her wealth) and how extravagant she is.
Rather
than just purchasing one bunch of flowers, as most people would and could only afford to
do,
Rosemary ends up with several.

Rosemary’s change of attitude towards Miss Smith after Philip tells her that he thinks Miss
Smith
is pretty is also interesting. It is from Philip’s remark that the reader realizes not only is
Rosemary
jealous of Miss Smith (because she is pretty) but she also appears to be insecure about her
own
physical appearance. It may also be a case that Philip is attempting to manipulate or control
Rosemary, just as she has Miss Smith. By telling Rosemary that Miss Smith is pretty Philip is
aware that it will result in Rosemary not only feeling jealous but it will also ensure that
Miss Smith
leaves their home, just as Philip wants her to. If anything Philip appears to want to
disassociate
himself (and Rosemary) from Miss Smith. Which would again play on the theme of class.
Philip
does not want to associate himself with those (Miss Smith) he considers to be of a lower
class.
How insecure Rosemary may feel about her physical appearance is further noticeable by
the fact
that after Miss Smith leaves Rosemary’s home, Mansfield tells the reader that Rosemary
‘done her
hair, darkened her eyes a little and put on her pearls.’ This action is important as it suggests
that
Rosemary is attempting to make herself pretty, at least in Philips eyes. The fact that
Rosemary
asks Philip for the money to buy the little box may also be significant as it would again
highlight
the importance of material things to Rosemary. Also by ending the story with Rosemary
asking
Philip ‘am I pretty?’ Mansfield may be further highlighting how insecure Rosemary feels
about
her physical appearance. Despite being wealthy and living a life that the majority of people
at the
time the story was written were unable to live, Rosemary is insecure.
Rosemary Fell was very rich. Though she was not very pretty, she made up for it as she
lived in
extreme style and fashion. One cold night, after coming out of a shop of fancy antiques, she
came
across a girl by the name of Miss Smith. The poor girl wanted the price of a cup of tea from
Rosemary. It seemed to be a very romantic adventure for Rosemary like those events that
take
place in novelos or on the stage. She thought of doing something generous. She asked the
girl to
come home and take tea with her. The poor girl was startled at it.
She did not believe Rosemary at first. She even suspected that Rosemary might hand her
over to
the police. But at last Rosemary took her home. All the generous impulse worked in
Rosemary.
She wanted to show that those nice things that happened in novels and fairy tales about
godmothers
and generous rich people did really happen in real life also. She felt the unity in all of all
women
too. She thought it was a duty of a woman to help another woman. She took the girl upstairs
to her
bed room. The girl was very nervous at the unexpected turn of things.
The story further shows how generosity and benevolence evaporates when the object of
pity goes
against one’s self interest, ego and vanity. Life can get complicated and fancy – we often
want
more, but when we stop and reflect, we know it’s the simple things that matter. Added up,
the ‘tiny
happiness’s’ we find in the day-to-day are what make a life filled with joy.