User:Bruce M. Tindall/My sandbox: Difference between revisions

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The first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution are collectively known as the '''Bill of Rights'''. They specify a set of rights belonging to individuals, states, and the people at large -- in some cases, by positive guarantees of certain rights, and in other cases, by restrictions on certain actions by the Federal government. Some (but not all) of the provisions of the Bill of Rights now also apply to state governments, according to the courts' interpretation, beginning in the early 20th century, of the [[Fourteenth Amendment]], which was ratified in 1868. In other cases involving the Fourteenth Amendment, courts have held that corporations are legal "persons" and enjoy some of the same rights that the Bill of Rights guarantees to individuals.
Title: Metre (poetry)


==Provisions==
The '''metre''' (American English: '''meter''') of a poem is the basic, recurring pattern of some ''countable'' attribute of the lines of the poem. Some systems of metre count syllables (e.g., in French); some count patterns of stressed and unstressed syllables (e.g., in English and German); some count patterns of long and short syllables (e.g., in Latin); some count alliterating words (e.g., in Old English); and some, in languages like Chinese in which words have formalized tones, count patterns of tone. 


The [[First Amendment]] prohibits Congress from infringing freedom of speech, of religion, of the press, of peaceable assembly, or the right to petition the government.
Not all poetry is metrical. Meter is only one aspect of [[prosody]], which Charles O. Hartman defines as "the poet's method of controlling the reader's temporal experience of the poem"<ref>Charles O. Hartman, "Free Verse: An Essay on Prosody" (Princeton: Princeton Univ. Press, 1980), 13.</ref>
 
The [[Second Amendment]] guarantees the "right of the people to keep and bear arms."
 
The [[Third Amendment]] prohibits the military from forcing homeowners to let soldiers stay in their houses in peacetime, and requires that even in wartime soldiers may be quartered in private homes only according to law.
 
The [[Fourth Amendment]] guarantees the right to freedom from "unreasonable searches and seizures," and permits courts to issue search and arrest warrants, which must be specific, only with "probable cause."
 
The [[Fifth Amendment]] deals mostly with criminal prosecutions, but also with the power of [[eminent domain]]. It prohibits (in most cases) prosecution for serious crimes without a [[grand jury]]'s [[indictment]]; prohibits [[double jeopardy]]; guarantees defendants' right to refuse to testify against themselves; prohibits punishment "without [[due process]] of law"; and requires the government to pay "just compensation" when it takes private property for public use. The colloquial expression "to take (or plead) the Fifth" usually refers to a defendant's invocation of the clause guaranteeing freedom from [[self-incrimination]].
 
The [[Sixth Amendment]] contains further provisions about criminal trials. Defendants have the right to a speedy, public trial by [[jury]], to be represented by a lawyer, to know the charges against them, and to call witnesses. The trial must be held in the court district where the crime allegedly took place; this prevents the prosecutor from shopping around for a court that would be more hostile to the defendant.
 
The [[Seventh Amendment]] deals with civil (non-criminal) lawsuits. Either party may demand a trial by jury, and any decisions of [[fact and law|fact]] by the trial court are (in general) final.
 
The [[Eighth Amendment]] prohibits cruel and unusual punishment as well as excessive [[bail]] and fines.
 
The [[Ninth Amendment]] provides that the absence of the mention of a specific right in the Constitution may not be construed as meaning that that right does not exist. The amendment, in other words, forbids courts to apply the principle of legal interpretation known as "inclusio unius est exclusio alterius (the inclusion of one is the exclusion of the other)" to the question of Constitutional rights.
 
The [[Tenth Amendment]], on the other hand, explicitly applies the "inclusio unius" principle to governmental powers. The Federal government has only those powers that the Constitution gives to it; all other powers are reserved to the states (except those the Constitution forbids to the states) or to the people.
 
==Origins==
 
==The Fourteenth Amendment and "incorporation"==

Revision as of 12:22, 9 March 2009

Title: Metre (poetry)

The metre (American English: meter) of a poem is the basic, recurring pattern of some countable attribute of the lines of the poem. Some systems of metre count syllables (e.g., in French); some count patterns of stressed and unstressed syllables (e.g., in English and German); some count patterns of long and short syllables (e.g., in Latin); some count alliterating words (e.g., in Old English); and some, in languages like Chinese in which words have formalized tones, count patterns of tone.

Not all poetry is metrical. Meter is only one aspect of prosody, which Charles O. Hartman defines as "the poet's method of controlling the reader's temporal experience of the poem"[1]

  1. ↑ Charles O. Hartman, "Free Verse: An Essay on Prosody" (Princeton: Princeton Univ. Press, 1980), 13.
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