TENTH GRADE

 

Alliteration

Module 3 - Lesson 4

Alliteration is the repetition of a consonant sound at the beginning of words.

Examples:

do or die

safe and sound

now or never

sweet smell of success

 

ALLITERATION IN PROSE
Alliteration is fun to say and enjoyable to hear. Without knowing it, you probably use alliteration to call attention to certain words. Many familiar phrases and expressions use alliteration. These include "down in the dumps," "hale and hearty," and "turn the tables." Tongue twisters rely on alliteration: "rubber baby buggy bumpers. Many sayings such as these use alliteration:

·        He who laughs last laughs first.

·        Time and tide wait for no man.

When writers want to emphasize certain words, they may use alliteration. Notice the ideas that are emphasized by alliteration in these examples.

·        The deep churned. Something had happened down in the dim, foggy-green depths.

--Paul Annixter,"Battle in the Depths"

·        Touch each object you want to touch as if tomorrow your tactile sense would fail.

--Helen Keller, "The Seeing See Little"

·        There is always something left to love. And if you ain't learned that, you ain't learned nothing.

--Lorraine Hansberry, A Raisin in the Sun

ALLITERATION IN POETRY
Alliteration is one of the poet's most important sound techniques. It makes particular words stand out. It also connects the words to be emphasized. Look for the repeated consonant sounds in this poem:

Then up and spake an old sailor,
  Had sailed to the Spanish Main,
"I pray thee, put into yonder port,
  For I fear a hurricane."

--Henry W. Longfellow, "The Wreck of Hesperus"

Often the sounds and meanings of the words combine to create a mood. Here, repetition of b and t stresses a feeling of urgency.

Hear the loud alarum bells--
  Brazen bells!
What a tale of terror, now, their turbulency tells!

--Edgar Allen Poe, "The Bells"

What consonant sounds are repeated in the following lines?

Swing low, sweet chariot,
Comin' for to carry me home.

--Traditional Spiritual

 

Alliteration

Practicing exercise

I. Identify the alliteration in the following sentences. Find ONE example of alliteration in each passage. Type in the initial consonant only.

<= 1 / 4=>

1.      I saw lingering, late and lightless,
A single swan, swinging, sleek as a sequin.
--W.R. Rodgers, "The Swan"

2.      In hundreds of houses sleepy women woke sleepier children.
--Ester Forbes, Johnny Tremain

3.      They were women then
My mama's generation
Husky of voice-Stout of
Step
--Alice Walker, "Women"

4.      Homeless, they have a hundred homes. They flit from furnished room to furnished room, transients forever.
--O. Henry, "The Furnished Room"

Good Work!

f
H
F

 

 OK 

 

Alliteration

Practicing exercise-Answer key

1.                L-S

2.                H-W

3.                W-M-S

4.                H-F

 

 

Alliteration

Quiz

Alliteration is when all the words start with the same sound.

Example:

Many moms making milkshakes

I. Complete the blanks using alliteration

1.      Tough teachers ________________

2.      ____________ cooks cooking cakes.

3.      Thirty thieves ________________

4.      ______________ nurses napping.

5.      Funny ______________ farming.

6.      Cheerful children ______________.

7.      _____________ singers standing.

8.      _____________ bankers buying bread.

9.      _______________ girls giggling.

10.   Wet waiters ___________________.

11.   Dozens of dads doing ______________.

12.   Hungry hunters __________________.

 

Alliteration

Quiz-Answer key

Answers will vary.

 

Alliteration

Test

  1. Define alliteration.
  2. Identify the sound being repeated in the following examples:

     

    1. The summer sun slid down behind the ridge.   ­  ______
    2. In the distance, Horatio heard a horn blow.                    ______
    3. Betty bought the baubles at the beauty parlor.   ______
    4. Rosa Parks raised a rallying cry for racial equality.         ______
  3. Explain why a writer would use alliteration (There are multiple answers – list as many as you can recall).
  4. Analyze the following lines from famous poems.  Identify which uses alliteration.

a.      Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon

b.      Hurled headlong flaming from the ethereal sky with hideous ruin

c.      One could do worse than be a swinger of birches

d.      It is not sweet with nimble feet to dance upon the air!

  1. Do you feel the answer to question #4 was an effective use of alliteration?  Explain why or why not.
  2. Create your own alliteration!  Your alliterative phrase should begin with the first letter of your first name.  Justify why you feel your example demonstrates alliteration.

 

Alliteration

Test-Answer key

1.     Alliteration is the repetition of a consonant sound at the beginning of words.

2.       

a.      S

b.      H

c.      B

d.      R

3.      Many writers use figurative language to create auditory imagery for their readers including: alliteration, onomatopoeia, assonance, and consonance.
Writers of speeches, novels, and poems all use sound devices to add to the imagery of their writing. It brings the reader into their writing and allows the reader to hear the sounds evoked through the author's language.

Answers will vary.

4.      B

5.      Answers will vary.

6.      Answers will vary.

 

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