Teaching Sound Devices

Poetry and Sound Devices

by Melodie Smith

Poll

Think about the VALUE poetry has in our society today.  How do you feel about Poetry?

• It is not relevant.  It's an old form of writing, and I can't relate. 

• I know it's important, but I can't understand it. 

• I like the way it sounds and enjoy listening to music, but it's hard to know the meaning. 

• I love poetry.  It is relevant to our lives and, I enjoy figuring out what the poet is saying. 

​Sound in Poetry

​

​Poems are meant to be read aloud.

​

​Poets help to develop meaning

and express feelings

through the use of sound.

​

​

​Sound Devices

​

• Alliteration

• Consonance

• Assonance

• Onomatopoeia

• Rhyme

• ​Repetition

​

​Alliteration

• repetition of a consonant sound

• ​found at the beginning of words

• words are in close proximity to each other

**Also used for marketing in advertisements

​"Beyond the Red River"

by THOMAS MCGRATH

      

The birds have flown their summer skies to the south,       

​

And the flower-money is drying in the banks of bent grass.

Multiple Choice

Alliteration are repeated sounds found at the end of words.

• True

• False

Multiple Select

Read these lines from, "The Raven" by Edgar Allan Poe.

And the silken, sad, uncertain rustling of each purple curtain

thrilled me—filled me with fantastic terrors never felt before;

Select 2 examples of alliteration from this excerpt.

• silken, sad

• thrilled, filled

• uncertain, curtain

• filled, fantastic, felt

Consonance​

• ​Repetition of consonant sounds in the middle or at the end of nearby words.

​The Homework Machine

by Shel Silverstein

​

The Homework Machine,

Oh, the Homework Machine,

Most perfect contraption

that's ever been seen.

Multiple Select

Read this line of poetry:

Select four words that have the same consonant sound within or at the end of the words.

• thrusts

• fists

• still

• insists

• ghosts

​Assonance

• ​Same vowel sound found at the beginning, middle, or end of nearby words

​

Multiple Select

Read the following lines from "The Cold Wind Blows"

Who knows why the cold wind blows,

or where it goes, or what it knows

Select three words from this poem that have the same vowel sound.

• who

• knows

• blows

• goes

• or

​Onomatopeia

• ​A word that represents a sound

Multiple Select

Select words below that are examples of onomatopoeia.

• squeal

• drip

• splish

• splash

• rain

​Rhyme

• ​Words that have the same ending sound.

• ​

• There are 2 types of rhyme:

  • end rhyme - rhyming words are found at the end of a line

  • internal rhyme​ - a word within a line rhymes with another word in the same line.

• ​Not all poems have rhyme. These are called "free verse."

​End Rhyme

​Internal Rhyme

​Repetition

• ​When a word, phrase, or line is repeated within the poem.

• ​Used when the poet wants to emphasize a specific event, idea, or feeling.

• ​Creates a pattern

• ​Increases the rhythm of the poem

Fill in the Blanks