Alliteration, Consonance, Assonance

Alliteration, Consonance, Assonance

Sound devices that add to the aural appeal in your poetry include alliteration, consonance, and assonance. Alliteration may be easier to identify than the other two, but each is used frequently in poetry and children's literature. Author's of children's book use these devices, along with rhythm and rhyme, very effectively to attract young ears.

Alliteration: Repetition of initial sounds of words in a row. Example: Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers. (Of course, alliteration is not always so concentrated)

Assonance: Repetition of internal vowel sounds of words close together in poetry. Example: I made my way to the lake.

Consonance: Repetition of internal or ending consonant sounds of words close together in poetry. Example: I dropped the locket in the thick mud.