Which aspect of scansion would you examine to determine meter?

Which aspect of scansion would you examine to determine meter?

• A. Rhyme scheme
• B. Meter and syllable placement
• C. Character motivation
• D. Plot structure

Answer: (B)

Scansion is about marking which syllables are stressed and which are unstressed in a line to reveal its rhythm. To determine meter, you focus on where the emphasis falls and how the syllables group into feet—like iambs (unstressed then stressed) or trochees (stressed then unstressed). That pattern is what defines the meter, so examining the stresses and syllable placement is the key step. For example, in a line commonly read as iambic pentameter, you’d mark five feet of unstressed–stressed syllables: to BE | or NOT | to BE | that IS | the QUES-tion. From these stresses you can name the meter and understand the line’s rhythmic pace. Rhyme scheme, character motivation, and plot structure relate to other aspects of poetry and prose—rhythm endings, why characters act, and the sequence of events, respectively—so they don’t determine the meter.

Scansion is about marking which syllables are stressed and which are unstressed in a line to reveal its rhythm. To determine meter, you focus on where the emphasis falls and how the syllables group into feet—like iambs (unstressed then stressed) or trochees (stressed then unstressed). That pattern is what defines the meter, so examining the stresses and syllable placement is the key step.

For example, in a line commonly read as iambic pentameter, you’d mark five feet of unstressed–stressed syllables: to BE | or NOT | to BE | that IS | the QUES-tion. From these stresses you can name the meter and understand the line’s rhythmic pace.

Rhyme scheme, character motivation, and plot structure relate to other aspects of poetry and prose—rhythm endings, why characters act, and the sequence of events, respectively—so they don’t determine the meter.