Sound Effects in PoetryMaking music with words . . .

What do poems and songs have in common?

Both have rhythm.

Both have rhyme.

Both use repetition of sounds, words, and phrases to create musical sound effects.

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Why Do Poets Use Sound Effects?

Poets use sound effects to

•create mood

•emphasize certain ideas

•make the poem easier to remember

What Sound Effects Do Poets Use?

To make music out of words, poets may use

•rhythm & meter

•rhyme

•alliteration

•onomatopoeia

What Is Rhythm?

Rhythm is a musical quality produced by the repetition of stressed and unstressed syllables or by the repetition of certain other sound patterns.

•Repeating words, phrases, or lines can create rhythm.

Hooray! Summer days are here at last!

Now the days are filled with sun.

Now the days are filled with fun.

Alas! Summer days have almost passed.

What Is Meter?

Meter is a regular pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables.

•Poems written in meter repeat the same basic pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in each line.

I walked along the beach and let

The ocean wash my fears away.

What Is Rhyme?

Rhyme is the repetition of accented vowel sounds and all sounds following them in words close together in a poem.

•End rhymes occur at the end of lines.

•Internal rhymes occur within lines.

The snail, tired of the musty smell,

Said farewell to its old shell

And looked for somewhere new to dwell.

What Is Alliteration?

Alliteration is the repetition of the same or very similar consonant sounds in words that are close together.

Toast completely flopped—

Blackened bits of bread

Covered the countertop.

What Is Onomatopoeia?

Onomatopoeia is the use of words with sounds that echo their sense.

jingle creaksplash

rattleboom

chirpclack

swooshclang pop

What sound effect is being used in each of these lines?

1. The light was very bright and kept me up at night.

2. She walked away with her head held high.

3. Water gurgled out of the fountain.

4. The statue stared at me with his stone gray eyes.

5. The basketball whooshed into the net.

Onomatopoeia Alliteration Internal rhyme

What Have You Learned?

Internal rhyme

Alliteration

Onomatopoeia

Alliteration

Onomatopoeia

The End