Alliteration, Consonance,
and Assonance
Alliteration
• Repetition of the same
consonant sounds, usually at
the beginning of the words
• Example:
- Should the glee-glaze- In Death’s–stiff-stare.
Alliteration
• Find the alliteration in
“Sweetness, Always”
“Verses of pastry which melt
into milk and sugar in the
mouth.”
Alliteration
• Yay, you found the alliteration!
…Hopefully
“Verses of pastry which melt
into milk and sugar in the
mouth.”
Assonance
• The repetition of similar vowel
sounds within syllables
Example:
Beware of ex/cessive
assonance. Any assonance that
draws attention to itself is
ex/cessive.
Assonance
• Find the Assonance in this
quote from “The Flea”
“Oh stay, three lives in one flea spare,
Where we almost, nay more than
married are.”
Assonance
• Yay, you found it! …. Hopefully.
“Oh stay, three lives in one flea spare,
Where we almost, nay more than
married are.”
• No matter where the similar
sounds are found, as long as
they are a repetition of the
same vowel sound, they count!
Assonance Vs. Rhyme
Scheme
• What is the difference between
Assonance and Rhyme Scheme?
• Although Rhyme Scheme is also the
same sounds, in rhyming those
sounds are usually found at the end
of the lines of the poem.
• Assonance can be found all
throughout a poem, no matter where
in the line.
Consonance
• Close repetition of the same
consonant sounds, preceded by
different vowel sounds
• Note: At the end of lines of
poetry, this produces halfrhyme.
• Example:
Flash and flesh.
Breed and bread.
Consonance
• Find the Consonance in Our Homemade
Limerick.
“Sometimes, I wish I could wash,
My reds with my whites, Josh.
In a flash they’d be done,
If I washed them as one,
But a pink they would be make as they
swish swash, swish swash.
Consonance
“Sometimes, I wish I could wash,
My reds with my whites, Josh.
In a flash they’d be done,
If I washed them as one,
But a pink they would be make as they
swish swash, swish swash.
Red – Consonance
Why are these
important?
• Alliteration, Assonance, and
Consonance are all useful in
literature because they create a
general flow.
• They all add a sense of lyricism
to a poem, or a song.
• Also, used in tongue twisters.
Example: Sally sells sea
shells by the sea shore.