scansion
Other forms: scansions
Scansion is the process of figuring out which syllables should be stressed when you read a poem. If you practice scansion in English class, you'll learn to determine a poem's meter based on the patterns of these syllables.
Scansion is a fancy literary term that simply means discovering the meter (or underlying structure) of a poem by marking where the stresses naturally fall. If you're using scansion to analyze verse, you can say you're scanning the poem. Formally, scansion involves making special marks used above both stressed and unstressed syllables, allowing you to easily see repeated patterns. Since the 1670s, scansion has meant "marking verse in metric feet," from a Latin root meaning "to climb."
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analysis of verse into metrical patterns
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Vocabulary lists containing scansion
You'll understand rhyme's reason when you practice this list of words related the structure of poetry. To learn even more about poetry, explore our lists on Genre and Literary Devices.
If you want to be well-versed in poetry, review this vocabulary list. Learn about parts of a poem, genres of poetry, literary devices, rhyme and meter, and more. This list is truly poetry in motion!
When twelve-year-old Maine farmboy Jackson Hurd meets his new foster brother, another middle schooler whom others see as trouble, he learns what it means to have someone's back.