Question

Which of the following lines from "Out, Out—" deviates from iambic pentameter? A) "the boy’s first outcry was a rueful laugh," B) "he lay and puffed his lips out with his breath." C) "and nothing happened: day was all but done." D) "so. but the hand was gone already."

Answer 1

Options A and D, 'the boy’s first outcry was a rueful laugh,' and 'so. but the hand was gone already' respectively, deviate from iambic pentameter due to varying syllable counts.

Step-by-step explanation:

In the field of English literature, iambic pentameter is a type of metrical line used in traditional English poetry and verse drama.4 The term describes the rhythm, or meter, established by the words in that line. An iambic foot consists of two syllables, the first unaccented and the second accented, meaning the line of verse most often sounds like 'da-DUM da-DUM da-DUM da-DUM da-DUM'.

1. 'the boy’s first outcry was a rueful laugh,' has an extra syllable, so it deviates from iambic pentameter.
2. 'he lay and puffed his lips out with his breath.' adheres to iambic pentameter.
3. 'and nothing happened: day was all but done.' adheres to iambic pentameter
4. 'so. but the hand was gone already.' deviates from iambic pentameter, as it lacks the required 10 syllables.

So, the answer is A) 'the boy’s first outcry was a rueful laugh,' and D) 'so. but the hand was gone already.' Both lines have different syllable counts than the typical 10 of iambic pentameter.

Learn more about iambic pentameter