Define scansion and describe how to perform it on a line of verse.

Define scansion and describe how to perform it on a line of verse.

• A. Scansion is counting syllables per line without stress marks.
• B. Scansion is analyzing punctuation to determine rhythm.
• C. Scansion is marking stresses and syllables to determine meter; identify feet (iambs, trochees, etc.), mark unstressed as u and stressed as /, count the pattern.
• D. Scansion is identifying rhyme schemes across lines.

Answer: (C)

Scansion is about revealing the rhythm of a line by marking which syllables are stressed and which are unstressed, so you can see the meter and how the feet are built. To perform it on a line, first identify every syllable and decide whether it carries the main beat (stress) or not. Mark unstressed syllables with a small u and stressed syllables with a /. Then group the syllables into feet—the repeating rhythm units like iambs (unstressed followed by stressed), trochees (stressed followed by unstressed), and so on. Count how many feet appear in the line to name the meter (for example, five feet in a line usually means iambic pentameter). Remember that rhythm comes from pronunciation, not punctuation or rhyme. For example, a line that scans as five iambs would look like a sequence of u / repeated five times, showing the iambic pentameter pattern. If a line ends with an extra unstressed syllable, that’s a feminine ending, which you’ll indicate as an additional short foot. This method lets you hear and visualize the cadence of the verse rather than just count words.

Scansion is about revealing the rhythm of a line by marking which syllables are stressed and which are unstressed, so you can see the meter and how the feet are built.

To perform it on a line, first identify every syllable and decide whether it carries the main beat (stress) or not. Mark unstressed syllables with a small u and stressed syllables with a /. Then group the syllables into feet—the repeating rhythm units like iambs (unstressed followed by stressed), trochees (stressed followed by unstressed), and so on. Count how many feet appear in the line to name the meter (for example, five feet in a line usually means iambic pentameter). Remember that rhythm comes from pronunciation, not punctuation or rhyme.

For example, a line that scans as five iambs would look like a sequence of u / repeated five times, showing the iambic pentameter pattern. If a line ends with an extra unstressed syllable, that’s a feminine ending, which you’ll indicate as an additional short foot. This method lets you hear and visualize the cadence of the verse rather than just count words.