PoetryRepetition, Alliteration, Rhyme

Repetition

• Repetition refers to words or phrases that are repeated

• Authors use repetition to:• Draw attention to important ideas, the

author’s point of view/attitude, or themes

• Make easy to remember• Affect rhythm by providing balance or

structure

Boulevard of Broken Dreams

I walk a lonely roadThe only one that I have

ever knownDon’t know where it goesBut it’s home to me and I

walk alone

I walk this empty streetOn the boulevard of broken

dreamsWhen the city sleeps And I’m the only and I walk

alone

I walk aloneI walk aloneI walk aloneI walk a…

My shadow’s the only that walks beside me

My shallow hearts the only thing that’s beating

Sometimes I wish someone up there will find me

‘til then I walk alone

Boulevard of Broken Dreams

• Circle words or phrases that are repeated in this song.

• Why might the author have chosen to use this repetition?• The repetition of “I walk alone” focuses

the song on the author’s loneliness and potential depression. The repetition also ties together the verses and chorus.

Alliteration

• Alliteration is the repetition of beginning consonant sounds

• Authors use alliteration to:• Draw attention to important words or

phrases• Provide pleasing sounds• Reflect the tone (funny, sad, important)• Create rhythm

• Hard consonants create a beat• Soft consonants or vowels soothe

Dying Day

I’m living in a dark and dying dayAnd everything is lost along the wayThe feeling in my heart is not the sameSo what’s to say?

The pictures of the past are on the wallThey’ll hang there in the dark until they fallForever I’ve been lost in long ago

And it seems so long to let live a life that I don’t live no more

And in the saddened sun my life leaves a shadow that’ll soon be gone

Dying Day

• Underline examples of alliteration in this song.

• Why might the author have chosen to use this alliteration?

• The alliteration allows the song to have a forceful and quick beat. It sounds interesting and reinforces the author’s tone of desperation.

Rhyme

• Rhyme is the repetition of similar sounds at the ends of lines

• Authors use rhymes to: • Provide pleasing sounds• Make ideas easy to remember• Mark the end of an idea• Create rhythm• Reflect the tone (funny, sad, important)

• Rhyme schemes (or patterns) are identified in poems using letters

Man in the Mirror

I’m starting with the man in the mirror

I’m asking him to change his ways

And no message could have been any clearer

If you want to make the world a better place

Take a look at yourself, and then make a change

Man in the Mirror

• Identify the rhyme scheme in this chorus and label it with letters.

• Why might the author have chosen this rhyme scheme?• The rhyme gives the song its musical

quality and rhythm. The rhymes of “mirror” and “clearer” are said very quickly and themselves also have a sense of urgency that matches the message of needing to make a change.

Somebody Told Me

Breaking my back just to know your nameSeventeen tracks and I’ve had it with this game

I’m breaking my back just to know your nameBut heaven ain’t close in a place like this

Anything goes but don’t blink you might missCause heaven ain’t close in a place like thisI said heaven ain’t close in a place like this

Bring it back down, bring it back down tonightNever thought I’d let a rumor ruin my moonlight

Somebody Told Me

• Circle words or phrases that are repeated in this song. Why might the author have chosen to use this repetition?

• Underline examples of alliteration in this song. Why might the author have chosen to use this alliteration?

• Identify the rhyme scheme in this chorus and label it with letters. Why might the author have chosen to use this rhyme scheme?