Ode to a Keatsian Turn: Creating Meaningful and Poetic Instances of Rhetorical Forms - Computational Creativity Research: Towards Creative Machines - page 203

through norm juxtaposition. Moreover, the order of a juxtaposition—positive before
negative or vice versa—can also sway an audience toward a cynical or an optimistic
interpretation.
Wit portrays opposition as an inherent part of reality, yet often creates the oppo-
sitions that it appears to reconcile. It does so by elevating specifics into generalities,
to suggest that opposition is the norm rather than the exception. So rather than rely
wholly on stereotypes and their expected properties, Stereotrope uses corpus evi-
dence as a proxy imagination to concoct new classes of individuals with interesting
and opposable qualities. Consider the Google 2-gram “ short celebrities ”, whose fre-
quency and plurality suggests that shortness is a noteworthy (if not typical) property of
a significant class of celebrities. Stereotrope already possesses the norm that “ celebri-
ties ride in limousines ”, as well as a stereotypical expectation that limousines are
long. This juxtaposition of conventions allows it to frame a provocatively sweeping
generalization as a rhetorical question: “ Why do the shortest celebrities ride in the
longest limousines? ”. While Stereotrope has no evidence for this speculative claim,
and no real insight into the status-anxiety of the rich but vertically-challenged, such
an understanding may follow in time, as deeper and subtler knowledge-bases become
available for poetry generation.
Poetic insight often takes the form of sweeping claims that elevate vivid cases
into powerful exemplars. Consider how Stereotrope uses a mix of n-gram evidence
and norms to generate these maxims: “ The most curious scientists achieve the most
notable breakthroughs ” and “ The most impartial scientists use the most accurate
instruments ”. The causal seeds of these insights are mined from the Google n-grams
in coordinations such as “ hardest and sharpest ” and “ most curious and most notable ”.
These n-gram relationships are then projected onto banal norms—such as scientists
achieve breakthroughs and scientists use instruments —for whose participants these
properties are stereotypical (e.g. scientists are curious and impartial, instruments are
accurate, breakthroughs are notable, etc.).
Such claims can be taken literally, or viewed as vivid allusions to important
causal relationships. Indeed, when framed as explicit analogies, the juxtaposition of
two such insights can yield unexpected resonances. For example, “ the most trusted
celebrities ride in the longest limousines ” and “ the most trusted preachers give the
longest sermons ” are both inspired by the 4-gram “ most trusted and longest. ”This
common allusion also suggests an analogy: “ Just as the most trusted celebrities ride
in the longest limousines, the most trusted preachers give the longest sermons ”.
Though such analogies are driven by superficial similarity, they can still evoke deep
resonances for an audience. Perhaps a sermon is a vehicle for a preacher's ego, just
as a limousine is an obvious vehicle for a celebrity's pride? Reversing the order of
the analogy significantly alters its larger import, suggesting that ostentatious wealth
bears a lesson for us all.