A Review of Sound Devices
Emma Jaques, Akshat Gokhale, Ajaita Saini
Alliteration - The
occurrence of the
same letter or sound
at the beginning of
adjacent or closely
connected words.
● “That world of misery, that lake of burning Brimstone.” (pg 80)
● “and if your strength were Ten Thousand Times Greater than the
strength of the sturdiest devel in hill, it would be nothing to
withstand or endure it.” (pg 80,81)
● “God’s hand has held you up.” (pg 81)
● Gives emphasis to certain phrases
● Keeps reader engaged
● Rolls off tongue
o
For both the reader and the audience
Cacophony - A
harsh, discordant
mixture of
sounds.
“ If God should only withdraw His hand from the
floodgate, it would immediately fly open, and the
fiery floods of the fierceness and wrath of God,
would rush forth with inconceivable fury, and would
come upon you with omnipotent power; and if your
strength were ten thousand times greater than it is,
yea, ten thousand times greater than the strength of
the stoutest, sturdiest devil in hell, it would be
nothing to withstand or endure it.” (pg 80)
“O sinner! Consider the fearful danger you are
in: It is a great furnace of wrath, a wide and
bottomless pit, full of the fire of wrath, that
you are held over in the hand of that God,
whose wrath is provoked and incensed as
much against you, as against many of the
damned in hell.” (pg 81)
● Creates a harsh sounding mesh
of words
● Truly reflects the
author/speaker’s meaning
o
o
o
Edwards wants to sound harsh- he
does
Sounds like grating chalk on a board
Purposely hard to read to emphasize
point
Euphony - The quality
of being pleasing to
the ear, especially
through a harmonious
combination of words.
● “...and if God should let you go, you would
immediately sink and swiftly descend and
plunge into the bottomless gulf, and your
healthy constitution, and your own care and
prudence, and best contrivance, and all
your righteousness,...”(pg 80)
● “But indeed these things are nothing; if God
should withdraw His hand, they would avail
no more to keep you from falling, than the
thin air to hold up a person that is
suspended in it.” (pg 80)
● Sounds smooth, like silk
● Brings reader back from
cacophonous statements
to sooth them into
continuing to listen
● A good balance of
Cacophony and Euphony
draws attention to the
meaning of the text
Assonance - The repetition of the sound of a
vowel or diphthong in non-rhyming stressed
syllables near enough to each other for the
echo to be discernible.”
● “Would come upon you...” (pg 80)
● “ This use of this awful subject may be for
awakening unconverted persons in this
congregation…” (pg 80)
● Creates better flow for the writer
● Helps the reader understand the author’s
language through similar sounds
● Entices the reader to read on in the sermon
Consonance - The
recurrence of
similar sounds,
especially
consonants, in
close proximity.
● “The use of this awful subject may be for
awakening unconverted persons in this
congregation.” (pg 80)
● “Your wickedness makes you as it were heavy
as lead, and to tend downward with great
weight and pressure toward hell;”(pg 80)
● Creates flow, like assonance
● Creates anticipation
o
o
Thus generating interest
Draws attention back to speaker
Onomatopoeia The formation of a
word from a sound
associated with
what is named.
● “You hang by a slender thread, with the
flames of divine wrath flashing about
it,...”(pg. 81)
● “If God should only withdraw His hand from
the floodgate, it would immediately fly
open, and the fiery floods of the fierceness
and wrath of God, would rush forth with
inconceivable fury,…” (pg. 80)
● Helps the reader understand the author’s
language through sounds
● In the second quote, the reader can hear
the fiery and fierce floods
● This also helps the reader visualize and put
themselves into the sermon