Final answer:
Scansion is the analysis of poetic rhythm and meter, which involves marking stressed and unstressed syllables to identify the metrical pattern of a line. Iambic pentameter features five iambs per line, while trochaic tetrameter, anapestic hexameter, and dactylic trimeter have their own distinct patterns of stressed and unstressed syllables.
Step-by-step explanation:
The method of scansion involves analyzing a line of poetry to determine its rhythm and meter by marking the stressed (/) and unstressed (x) syllables. To match each poetry excerpt to the correct rhythm and meter, one might drag a line of poetry labeled as iambic pentameter (A) to a line that has five feet, each consisting of an unstressed followed by a stressed syllable, like "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?" Similarly, a line described as trochaic tetrameter (B) would have four feet, each with a stressed followed by an unstressed syllable, while an anapestic hexameter (C) pair would involve a line with six feet, each consisting of two unstressed followed by a stressed syllable. A line of dactylic trimeter (D) would consist of three feet, each with a stressed followed by two unstressed syllables. Examples help clarify these patterns and Shakespeare's work often exemplifies the use of iambic pentameter.