Reading and Writing Poetry

How do you use alliteration and onomatopoeia in poetry?

Right now, review the meaning of the poetic devices: alliteration and onomatopoeia.

Alliteration is the repetition of consonant sounds at the beginnings of words. Though alliteration usually occurs at the beginning of words, it can also occur within or at the end of words.

Onomatopoeia is the use of words with sounds that echo their sense. Onomatopoeia is an important element in creating the music of poetry. Buzz, rustle, boom are examples of onomatopoeia.

Read the poem " Windy Nights" by Rodney Bennett.
Rumbling in the chimneys,
Rattling at the doors,
Round the roofs and round the roads
The rude wind roars;
Raging through the darkness,
Raving through the trees,
Racing off again across
The great grey seas.

Name the consonant that is being repeated over and over again. What kind of feeling do you get when you hear that sound? Read the poem to a partner and look for the sound being repeated within the words and at the end of words.

Use forms of onomatopoeia and write another stanza to the poem. What examples of onomatopoeia are in the first stanza. Continue to use alliteration when you write your second stanza.

Choose one of the other elements of nature that follows wind, such as rain, thunder, lightening, sleet, snow and make it the topic of the second stanza. Pair up with a partner to help you compose your poem. Read your lines to each other.

After you have drafted a poem or even a few lines put it on google documents to revise.