Sound Devices
You may have heard or read poems that sound almost like songs. Poetry gets many of its musical qualities from sound devices. Sound devices can also suggest meaning or add emphasis. Three commonly used sound devices are
Repetition, or the use of a word, phrase, or line several times. (Can you can a can as a canner can can a can?)
Onomatopoeia, or the use of words that sound like their meanings. (Boom, buzz, splash, meow)
Alliteration, or the repetition of the same consonant sound at the beginning of words. (She sells sea shells by the sea shore.)
A poet might use these devices to draw attention to a particular line or idea.
Instructions: Fold a sheet of paper into three sections. As you read "Windshield Wiper" and "Night Journey," record examples of those devices on a chart like the one below. Answer questions 1-6 at the bottom of the page. When you finish, keep your paper so that we can go over it at the end of the hour. You may go onto coolmath, funbrain, freerice, or poptropica when you finish, but please leave this page open in a separate Internet Explorer window so that you can look back at it when we go over the questions.
Repetition, or the use of a word, phrase, or line several times. (Can you can a can as a canner can can a can?)
Onomatopoeia, or the use of words that sound like their meanings. (Boom, buzz, splash, meow)
Alliteration, or the repetition of the same consonant sound at the beginning of words. (She sells sea shells by the sea shore.)
A poet might use these devices to draw attention to a particular line or idea.
Instructions: Fold a sheet of paper into three sections. As you read "Windshield Wiper" and "Night Journey," record examples of those devices on a chart like the one below. Answer questions 1-6 at the bottom of the page. When you finish, keep your paper so that we can go over it at the end of the hour. You may go onto coolmath, funbrain, freerice, or poptropica when you finish, but please leave this page open in a separate Internet Explorer window so that you can look back at it when we go over the questions.
RepetitionTissue Paper
|
OnomatopoeiaSplat
|
Alliteration"Macintosh" - "Muddle On"
|
Windshield Wiper
fog smog fog smog
tissue paper tissue paper
clear the blear clear the smear
fog more fog more
splat splat downpour
rubber scraper rubber scraper
overshoes macintosh macintosh - raincoat
bumbershoot muddle on bumbershoot - umbrella
slosh through slosh through
drying up drying up
sky lighter sky lighter
nearly clear nearly clear
clearing clearing veer
clear here clear
tissue paper tissue paper
clear the blear clear the smear
fog more fog more
splat splat downpour
rubber scraper rubber scraper
overshoes macintosh macintosh - raincoat
bumbershoot muddle on bumbershoot - umbrella
slosh through slosh through
drying up drying up
sky lighter sky lighter
nearly clear nearly clear
clearing clearing veer
clear here clear
Night Journey
Now as the train bears west,
Its rhythm rocks the earth,
And from my Pullman berth
I stare into the night
While others take their rest.
Bridges of iron lace,
A suddenness of trees,
A lap of mountain mist
All cross my line of sight,
Then a bleak wasted place,
Ad a lake below my knees.
Full on my neck I feel
The straining at a curve:
My muscles move with steel,
I wake in every nerve.
I watch a beacon swing
From dark to blazing bright;
We thunder through ravines
And gullies washed with light.
Beyond the mountain pass
Mist deepens on the pane;
We rush into a rain
That rattles double glass.
Wheels shake the roadbed stone,
The pistons jerk and shove,
I stay up half the night
To see the land I love.
Questions
1. Name three things the speaker sees in Night Journey.
2. What are the bridges of iron lace in line 6 of Night Journey?
3. What kinds of weather are described in Windshield Wiper?
4. Take another look at the unusual way in which "Windshield Wiper" is arranged on the page. The spacing in the center of each line mimics the movement of actual windshield wipers. What does it mean when the space disappears at lines 13 and 14?
5. Skim Night Journey and list all the words you can find that convey movement.
6. Look at the chart you filled in as you read. For each poem, which sound device is used more often, repetition, onomatopoeia, or alliteration?
2. What are the bridges of iron lace in line 6 of Night Journey?
3. What kinds of weather are described in Windshield Wiper?
4. Take another look at the unusual way in which "Windshield Wiper" is arranged on the page. The spacing in the center of each line mimics the movement of actual windshield wipers. What does it mean when the space disappears at lines 13 and 14?
5. Skim Night Journey and list all the words you can find that convey movement.
6. Look at the chart you filled in as you read. For each poem, which sound device is used more often, repetition, onomatopoeia, or alliteration?