Alliteration, Consonance, Assonance, and Onomatopoeia
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Alliteration, Consonance, Assonance, & Onomatopoeia
We Real Cool
by Gwendolyn Brooks
Assonance
Determine the sound being repeated in each phrase and whether it is an example of alliteration, consonance, or assonance
(some examples can be more than one!)
Consonance
What:
the repetition of vowel sounds within words
Why:
- provides a rhythmic quality to poetry or prose
- makes poems easier to memorize
- lends structure, flow, and beauty to any piece of writing
1. Will she read these cheap leaflets?
2. He keeps the kitchen clean.
3. You could paddle through the spittle in the bottle.
4. Hear the mellow wedding bells.
5. Surely she will show up.
The Pool Players.
Seven at the Golden Shovel.
We real cool. We
Left school. We
Lurk late. We
Strike straight. We
Sing sin. We
Thin gin. We
Jazz June. We
Die soon.
Where is the alliteration? Where is the assonance?
Example
Twinkling twilight meets twice at the edge of night.
What is the difference between assonance and rhyme?
You're the light of my life.
I feel depressed and restless.
What:
the close repetition of consonant sounds
Why:
- provides a rhythmic quality to poetry or prose
- makes poems easier to memorize
- lends structure, flow, and beauty to any piece of writing
Alliteration
Examples
Don't confuse consonance with rhyme!
Big dog
I had to think about the blank on the form at the bank.
What:
The repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of words or syllables
*Alliteration is a type of consonance*
Why:
- provides a rhythmic quality to poetry or prose
- makes poems easier to memorize
- lends structure, flow, and beauty to any piece of writing
The Labyrinth
by Robert P. Baird
Power Up
Which is an example of alliteration?
She sells seashells by the seashore.
City, Search
City, Country
Torn turned and tattered
Bowed burned and battered
I took untensed time by the teeth
And bade it bear me banking
Out over the walled welter
cities and the sea
Through the lightsmocked birdpocked cloudcocked sky
To leave me light on a lilting planetesimal.
The stone walls wailed and whimpered
The bold stars paled and dimpled
Godgone time gathered to a grunt
And bore me bled and breaking
On past parted palisades
windrows and the trees
Over a windcloaked nightsoaked starpoked sea
To drop me where? Deep in a decadent’s dream.
Are the beginning sounds of these words exactly the same?
On a separate sheet of paper (not in your notes):
What is your favorite word? Why? Is it your favorite word because of its definition or because of the way it sounds?
Write at least 5 sentences.
On the sheet of paper from the beginning of class, make a list of at least 10 words you find beautiful because of the way they sound
What makes a word sound beautiful?
Try to describe...
The most beautiful phrase in the English language:
Cellar door
It's hard to describe a sound without using onomatopoeia!
...the sound toast makes when it comes out of the toaster
...the sound an oven makes when the timer is up
...the sound of the bell when classes change
Now write a poem using at least seven of your words
The Bells
By Edgar Allan Poe
Onomatopoeia
- The poem does not need to make sense, but should instead play with sound
- It should not rhyme, but should use some of the sound devices we learned today
First time through - read silently to yourself. Make notes on the poem if you need to. What do you notice? What stands out to you? After the first reading, what does the poem mean?
What:
The use of words that imitate the sounds associated with the objects or actions they refer to.
Why:
- More vivid language
- Appeals to the reader's senses
- It's hard to describe sounds!
My example
I'm homesick
A fantasia of bubbly ocean sunshine
Engulfs me
But my sailing imagination
Leads me home
To a white Dalmatian
A blue tick hound
And you
Luscious
Sunshine
Saskatchewan
Memory
Majestic
Shimmering
Glimmer
Fantasia
Dalmatian
Kaleidoscope
Bubbly
Ocean
Sailing
Imagination
Literary Analysis
Third Reading
Second Reading
Let's discuss!
I - female with a high-pitched voice
II - female with a lower-pitched voice
III - male with a higher-pitched voice
IV - male with a lower-pitched voice
Pay attention to word choice. What is the connotation of the words?Circle any words you do not know.