This chapter on the art of phonetics was positively intriguing. It’s something I’ve always noticed about language,how there are words that fit in certain situations better than others because of their sound,the speed and movement through which they move in and out of your ears and the effect they produce as they linger however brief in the crevices of the gray mush in between.
Mary Oliver has obvious poured over these phenomena for quite sometime to have gotten it down to such a science. Typically authors who try to make writing all schiencey n’stuff doesn’t interest me too much but in this case Oliver proves her theory of why “a ‘rock’is not a ‘stone” very thoroughly and in way that is quick to understand.
The alphapbet is composed of textured vowels and consonants that differ from each other like the various brush strokes of a painting. Harsh and soft sounds produce contrasting movement and flow acting as the structure upon which language is draped over,causing it to be curved and smooth or jagged and dynamic. It is clear through our speech how we subconsciously pick certain words that match the situation and achieve the desired effect; as seen through the example of "hush" vs "shut up." In poetry, one is more aware of the importance of particular sounds as to string them along like beads on a necklace. I enjoyed how Ms. Oliver provided Robert Frost's poem and analysis at the end of the chapter as if it was the quiz at the end on a lesson. It pulled everything together even though I'm not quite sure all the specific vowel/consonant gobbledygook actually stuck in my mind.
The basis of this whole chapter reminded me of the Monty Python sketch in which several silly British aristocrats discuss the "woody" vs "tinny" words. It's like really quite funny and some reason a caribou gets shot but I haven't quite figured that part out yet.
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