Alliteration
What is alliteration?
The repetition of the same consonant sound at the beginning of nearby words.
What is assonance?
The repetition of vowel sounds in nearby words, usually inside the words.
What is onomatopoeia?
A word that imitates the sound it describes such as buzz or splash.
What is rhyme?
Words that have the same ending sounds, such as shore and more.
What is rhythm in poetry?
The pattern of strong (stressed) and weak (unstressed) beats in language.
Which sound repeats here? "Big bears bounce on the bright blue bed."
The /b/ sound (big, bears, bounce, bright, blue, bed).
The long/o/ sound (old, road, rolled, slowly, home).
Name three examples of onomatopoeia you might hear in a kitchen.
Answers vary: sizzle, pop, hiss, clink, bubble, whistle, crunch, slurp.
Give the rhyme scheme: shore/ more/ glow/ slow.
AABB.
Tap the beat: "The drums begin; the marchers start." How many strong beats?
Four: the DRUMS be-GIN; the MARCH-ers START.
Does "Kamal" alliterate with "knew"? With "carrots"? Explain.
No: "knew' begins with /n/. Yes: both begin with /k/. Alliteration depends on sound, not spelling.
Alliteration or consonance? "The last gust blasts past."
Consonance: the /st/ sound repeats inside and at the end of the words, not at the beginning.
Which sense does onomatopoeia appeal to? Why does it make writing feel real?
Hearing. The reader "hears" the scene, so it feels immediate and real.
End rhyme comes at the ends of lines. Internal rhyme is inside a line: "The moon rose bright, a silver light."
Short sentences feel quick or sudden. Long sentences feel flowing or breathless.
What effect does the repeated /s/ have in "Silent snow settled softly"?
Do "seal" and "green" show assonance even though they are spelled differently?
Yes. Both have the long /e/ sound (spelled ea and ee). Assonance is about sound, not spelling.
Why do different languages have different words for the same animal sound?
Each language imitates the sound using its own sounds and spelling, so onomatopoeia is an approximation.
Do "through" and "though" rhyme? Do "light" and " height"? Explain.
No. Yes. Rhyme depends on sound, not spelling.
Why does "Rock, rock, rock the boat, slow and soft along the stream' sound like a lullaby?
Repeated words, long vowels and soft sounds create a slow, rocking rhythm.
Write a sentence of at least six words about a rainy day. Use alliteration.
Answers vary. Sample: "Dark drops drummed down on dreary doorsteps." Check for a repeated starting sound.
Write two lines about the night that repeat the long /o/ sound (as in "go").
Answers vary. Sample: "The moon glowed low and slow over the road." Check for a repeated long /o/.
Describe a busy playground in two sentences. Use at least four sound words.
Answers vary. Sample: "Shoes slap and swings squeak. A ball thuds, and kids shriek and giggle."
Write a two-line rhyming couplet about a bus ride.
Answers vary. Sample: "The bus rolled on through morning rain, and we all sang the same refrain." Check the end words rhyme.
Write one fast-rhythm line about a race. Use short words and short vowels.
Answers vary. Sample:"Run, jump, dash, kick, quick, quick, quick!"