Sound Devices
📋 What it is
Alliteration, assonance and onomatopoeia make poems pleasing to the ear.
🗣️ Coach says
Poems are meant to be HEARD. Alliteration repeats starting sounds ("slippery slope"). Onomatopoeia is words that sound like their meaning ("buzz", "splash"). These devices give a poem music.
🧠 Memory hook
Alliteration = same START sound. Onomatopoeia = a word that SOUNDS like its meaning ("hiss").
😂 Giggle
Why did the free-verse poem feel so relaxed?
Because it doesn't have to count syllables at all!
😲 Whoa!
Tongue twisters like "she sells seashells" are pure alliteration — the repeated "s" is what makes them tricky.
✅ Quick check: Is "buzz" an example of onomatopoeia?
Say your answer out loud first — then reveal.
Yes — the word sounds like the noise it names.
Onomatopoeia is a word that imitates a real sound.
🧪 Try it! (2 minutes)
Write a sentence packed with one repeated starting sound (alliteration).