FIGURES OF SOUND
Originally, poetry was performance art: It was meant to be heard, not read. To best appreciate William Shakespeare, view a professional performance of one of his plans (it definitely beats reading). And doesn't a President seem more impressive when listening to him as opposed to reading a copy of his speech on-line?
Poetry, drama, and speech depend largely on sound devices. They use such tools to draw attention, to emphasize key points, or to create or establish a mood or feeling (as does music). Other writers, such as novelists and essayists, use the same tools as well, but they must rely on their reader's properly "hearing" the words as they are read silently.
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How might a writer use sound? Here are some creative ideas:
Here follow key terms related to sound essential for the AP English tests.
(Definitions from http://web.cn.edu/kwheeler/lit_terms)
ONOMATOPOEIA: The use of sounds that are similar to the noise they represent for a rhetorical or artistic effect. For instance, buzz, click, rattle, and grunt make sounds akin to the noise they represent. A higher level of onomatopoeia is the use of imitative soundsthroughout a sentence to create an auditory effect. For instance, Tennyson writes in The Princess about "The moan of doves in immemorial elms, / And murmuring of innumerable bees." All the /m/ and /z/ sounds ultimately create that whispering, murmuring effect Tennyson describes. In similar ways, poets delight in choosing sounds that match their subject-matter, such as using many clicking k's and c's when describing a rapier duel (to imitate the clack of metal on metal), or using many /s/ sounds when describing a serpent, and so on. Robert Browning liked squishy sounds when describing squishy phenomena, and scratchy sounds when describing the auditory effect of lighting a match, such as in his poem "Meeting at Night": "As I gain the cove with pushing prow, / And quench its speed i' the slushy sand. / a tap at the pane, the quick sharp, scratch / and blue spurt of a lighted match." The technique is ancient, and we can find a particularly cunning example in Virgil's Latin, in which he combines /d/ and /t/ sounds along with galloping rhythm to mimic in words the sound of horses he describes: "Quadrupedante putrem sonitu quatit ungula campum. . . ." Onomatopoeia appears in all languages, and it is a common optional effect in various genres such as the Japanese haiku. For additional examples CLICK HERE.
ALLITERATION: Repeating a consonant sound in close proximity to others, or beginning several words with the same vowel sound. For instance, the phrase "buckets of big blue berries" alliterates with the consonant b. Coleridge describes the sacred river Alph in Kubla Khan as "Five miles meandering with a mazy motion," which alliterates with the consonant m. The line "apt alliteration's artful aid" alliterates with the vowel sound a. One of Dryden's couplets in Absalom and Achitophel reads, "In pious times, ere priestcraft did begin, / Before polygamy was made a sin." It alliterates with the letter p. Walt Whitman's "Song of Myself" employs the technique: "I lean and loaf at my ease observing a spear of summer grass." Most frequently, the alliteration involves the sounds at the beginning of words in close proximity to each other. Alliteration is an example of a rhetorical scheme. Alliteration in which the first letters of words are the same (as opposed to consonants alliterating in the middles or ends of words) is more specifically called head rhyme, which is a bit of a misnomer since it doesn't actually involve rhyme in a technical sense. If alliteration also involves changes in the intervening vowels between repeated consonants, the technique is called consonance. See alliterative verse, alliterative prose, and consonance. See also alliterative revival. For additional examples CLICK HERE.
ASSONANCE: Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds in a phrase or line. It's harder to use and spot in fiction than in poetry, but it is a tool at the disposal of the fiction writer, especially in either more poetic or more comic passages. (For more information about the use of sounds in fiction, see alliteration.) Examples: In the sentence, "Wayne cradled his burlap sack of tools in his lap as we drove," (from Denis Johnson's "Jesus' Son"), the repetition of the æ sound in the words "burlap," "sack," and "lap," is an example of assonance. For additional examples CLICK HERE.
CONSONANCE: A special type of alliteration in which the repeated pattern of consonants is marked by changes in the intervening vowels. As M. H. Abrams illustrates in The Norton Anthology of English Literature, examples include linger, longer, and languor or rider,reader, raider, and ruder. Do not confuse consonance with a consonant (see below).
Other sound-related terms college-bound students are expected to know:
euphony (eu + phon; or "good" + "sound"): Literally, a euphony is good or pleasing sounds. Euphonies are pleasant to the ears. The sounds blend beautifully.
cacophony (caco + phon; or "bad" + "sound"): Literally, a cacophony is a horrible or awful-sounding noise. Cacophonies sound terrible.
consonance (con + son; or "together" + "sound"): Literally, sounds that blend together harmoniously. Most professional writers pay close attention to how their work sounds when read aloud. Just as a beautiful symphony consists of the blending of sounds, beautiful writing sounds harmonious when read aloud. The words simply flow together.
dissonance (dis + son; or "apart" + "sound"): The opposite of consonance. There is no harmony, as the sounds bang roughly into each other. Consider, however, that a writer might choose to write with dissonance, as the scene being described might contain inharmonious sounds or behavior.
NOTE: Consonance and dissonance are words used in music. Also, commonly used phrase is "cognitive dissonance." The root wordcogn means "know." The phrase means that a group of people are not thinking together--their ideas spread them apart.
Poetry, drama, and speech depend largely on sound devices. They use such tools to draw attention, to emphasize key points, or to create or establish a mood or feeling (as does music). Other writers, such as novelists and essayists, use the same tools as well, but they must rely on their reader's properly "hearing" the words as they are read silently.
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How might a writer use sound? Here are some creative ideas:
- In describing a battle sequence, a writer might use a pattern of harsh sounds (e.g., t, r, d) to best capture the action.
- In describing a scene between a mother and her newborn child, a writer might use a pattern of soft sounds (e.g., f, ph, s) to best capture the mood.
- A speechwriter will use a continuing motif (e.g., Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream"). The repetition creates a rhythmic pattern that reverberates with listeners. (Like the constant bass beat of a song.) The speaker's rising vocal intensity could add further effect.
- A writer might use sound patterns, such as iambic pentameter or alliteration, to highlight key ideas or elements. The point would be to make a memorable line easily recalled by the viewer, listener, or reader. Many advertisements use such tools. For example: Let's enjoy a wild weekend at Barbourville Waterpark!
Here follow key terms related to sound essential for the AP English tests.
(Definitions from http://web.cn.edu/kwheeler/lit_terms)
ONOMATOPOEIA: The use of sounds that are similar to the noise they represent for a rhetorical or artistic effect. For instance, buzz, click, rattle, and grunt make sounds akin to the noise they represent. A higher level of onomatopoeia is the use of imitative soundsthroughout a sentence to create an auditory effect. For instance, Tennyson writes in The Princess about "The moan of doves in immemorial elms, / And murmuring of innumerable bees." All the /m/ and /z/ sounds ultimately create that whispering, murmuring effect Tennyson describes. In similar ways, poets delight in choosing sounds that match their subject-matter, such as using many clicking k's and c's when describing a rapier duel (to imitate the clack of metal on metal), or using many /s/ sounds when describing a serpent, and so on. Robert Browning liked squishy sounds when describing squishy phenomena, and scratchy sounds when describing the auditory effect of lighting a match, such as in his poem "Meeting at Night": "As I gain the cove with pushing prow, / And quench its speed i' the slushy sand. / a tap at the pane, the quick sharp, scratch / and blue spurt of a lighted match." The technique is ancient, and we can find a particularly cunning example in Virgil's Latin, in which he combines /d/ and /t/ sounds along with galloping rhythm to mimic in words the sound of horses he describes: "Quadrupedante putrem sonitu quatit ungula campum. . . ." Onomatopoeia appears in all languages, and it is a common optional effect in various genres such as the Japanese haiku. For additional examples CLICK HERE.
ALLITERATION: Repeating a consonant sound in close proximity to others, or beginning several words with the same vowel sound. For instance, the phrase "buckets of big blue berries" alliterates with the consonant b. Coleridge describes the sacred river Alph in Kubla Khan as "Five miles meandering with a mazy motion," which alliterates with the consonant m. The line "apt alliteration's artful aid" alliterates with the vowel sound a. One of Dryden's couplets in Absalom and Achitophel reads, "In pious times, ere priestcraft did begin, / Before polygamy was made a sin." It alliterates with the letter p. Walt Whitman's "Song of Myself" employs the technique: "I lean and loaf at my ease observing a spear of summer grass." Most frequently, the alliteration involves the sounds at the beginning of words in close proximity to each other. Alliteration is an example of a rhetorical scheme. Alliteration in which the first letters of words are the same (as opposed to consonants alliterating in the middles or ends of words) is more specifically called head rhyme, which is a bit of a misnomer since it doesn't actually involve rhyme in a technical sense. If alliteration also involves changes in the intervening vowels between repeated consonants, the technique is called consonance. See alliterative verse, alliterative prose, and consonance. See also alliterative revival. For additional examples CLICK HERE.
ASSONANCE: Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds in a phrase or line. It's harder to use and spot in fiction than in poetry, but it is a tool at the disposal of the fiction writer, especially in either more poetic or more comic passages. (For more information about the use of sounds in fiction, see alliteration.) Examples: In the sentence, "Wayne cradled his burlap sack of tools in his lap as we drove," (from Denis Johnson's "Jesus' Son"), the repetition of the æ sound in the words "burlap," "sack," and "lap," is an example of assonance. For additional examples CLICK HERE.
CONSONANCE: A special type of alliteration in which the repeated pattern of consonants is marked by changes in the intervening vowels. As M. H. Abrams illustrates in The Norton Anthology of English Literature, examples include linger, longer, and languor or rider,reader, raider, and ruder. Do not confuse consonance with a consonant (see below).
Other sound-related terms college-bound students are expected to know:
euphony (eu + phon; or "good" + "sound"): Literally, a euphony is good or pleasing sounds. Euphonies are pleasant to the ears. The sounds blend beautifully.
cacophony (caco + phon; or "bad" + "sound"): Literally, a cacophony is a horrible or awful-sounding noise. Cacophonies sound terrible.
consonance (con + son; or "together" + "sound"): Literally, sounds that blend together harmoniously. Most professional writers pay close attention to how their work sounds when read aloud. Just as a beautiful symphony consists of the blending of sounds, beautiful writing sounds harmonious when read aloud. The words simply flow together.
dissonance (dis + son; or "apart" + "sound"): The opposite of consonance. There is no harmony, as the sounds bang roughly into each other. Consider, however, that a writer might choose to write with dissonance, as the scene being described might contain inharmonious sounds or behavior.
NOTE: Consonance and dissonance are words used in music. Also, commonly used phrase is "cognitive dissonance." The root wordcogn means "know." The phrase means that a group of people are not thinking together--their ideas spread them apart.
RELATED LINK
American Rhetoric
Find the link on this page for "Figures of Sound." Here you will find definitions and examples of speakers using literary sound devices for rhetorical effect. Most examples have links to actual sound bites from the original speaker, advertisement, or film.
American Rhetoric
Find the link on this page for "Figures of Sound." Here you will find definitions and examples of speakers using literary sound devices for rhetorical effect. Most examples have links to actual sound bites from the original speaker, advertisement, or film.