Sound Devices

Similar to rhythm and rhyme, onomatopoeia, alliteration, consonance, and assonance are also sound devices.
Onomatopoeia imitates sounds of actions (made by people, objects, animals).

Onomatopoeia is a sort of din;
 a hullaballoo; a shuffle, a sigh
 a screech, a sizzle, and a slurp,
 a shwump, a sigh, a bash, and burp.
 It’s a cackle, a clank, a clap, and a crash
 a patter, a phew, a ding, and a bash.
Black words leap, snapping from the white page. Rushing into my eyes. ~ Maya Angelou

Alliteration is repetition of initial consonants in three or more consecutive words.



Crossly, Clarence counted cows in the country.

The bucket of fish hit the bottom of the boat with a loud “ bang!”


Consonance is the repetition of identical or similar consonant sounds in neighbouring words.
Unlike alliteration, consonance may occur in the middle of the word.


"I should have been a pair of ragged claws scuttling a cro ss the floors of silent seas." ~ T. S. Elliot

Because the repeated hard “c” and “s” sounds mimic the sound of hard claws and the swish of sand disturbed in water, this also exemplifies imitative harmony, another device of sound in poetry.


"And the silken sad un certain ru stling of each purple curtain." - Edgar Allan Poe

Because the repeated soft "c" and "s" sounds mimic rustling movement of a curtain, this also exemplifies imitative harmony. 


 Self-Assessment: Identifying Consonance                   

How many examples of consonance can you find in this video clip from Grease?

"We Go Together" lyrics from Grease

We go together,
Like rama lamma lamma ka dinga da dinga dong
Remembered forever
As shoobop sha wadda wadda yippity boom de boom
Chang chang changitty chang shoobop
That's the way it should be, wha ooohhhh, yeah

We're one of a kind
Like dip da dip da dip doowop da doobee doo
Our names are signed
Boogedy boogedy boogedy boogedy shoobee doowop shebop
Chang chang changitty chang shoobop
We'll always be like one, wa wa wa one