Agogics
n. the study of duration.
The rule of agogics states that longer equals heavier. Actors gravitate to heavy moments in time and one can design heaviness through duration. It is a common technique found in all performative experience. In rhetoric, we experience it as the lengthening of significant words.
Read the following quote from Dr. King:
I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.’ (King Jr., 1929-1968, n.d.)
As we hear Dr. King speaking, we feel the heaviness, the emphasis on some words over others. Some of this emphasis is accomplished by either lengthening specific words or lengthening the silent space surrounding significant words. Notice how insignificant words regularly have the least duration.
It should be noted that agogics are only relevant as these long-and-short moments are compared to surrounding moments. Agogics are found in moments heard, seen, or felt, through words, beats, beeps, pauses, etc.