Poetic Conventions - Sound Devices Worksheet

RETEACH
1
Name: Date:
POETIC CONVENTIONS: SOUND DEVICES
Poets often use sound relationships among words—the musical qualities of language—to achieve
a certain effect. Rhyme/rhyme scheme, repetition, alliteration, and consonance are some of
the sound devices poets use to create memorable passages and to emphasize ideas.
• Rhyme scheme is the pattern of rhymes that typically appear at the ends of lines in a poem. In this
example, letters A and B indicate that lines 1 and 3 rhyme and that lines 2 and 4 rhyme. The rhyme
scheme of the following stanza, or group of lines, is ABAB.
A gentle boy, with soft and silken locks, A
A dreamy boy, with brown and tender eyes, B
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Grade 6 • Unit 4 • RETEACH
A castle-builder, with his wooden blocks, A
And towers that touch imaginary skies. B
(from “Castle-Builder,” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow)
Some poetry includes slant rhyme—words that have similar, but not identical, sounds.
The words worm and swarm are an example of slant rhyme.
• In repetition, words or language structures are repeated to emphasize an important idea.
“… I have promises to keep / And miles to go before I sleep / And miles to go before I sleep.”

(from “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening,” by Robert Frost)
• Alliteration is the repetition of initial vowel or consonant sounds in nearby words.
“… And then we slept so soundly on the sands close by the sea …” (Anonymous)
• Consonance is the repetition of consonant sounds with different vowel sounds. They may appear
at the middle or end of the word. Note that it is the sounds that count. The same letter may have
different sounds: wise/base. Note that in the following example, the m’s sound like m, but the s’s
sound like z.
“They come to me in my dreams, the hums of bumblebees. …
DIRECTIONS : Read this stanza from “Stopping by Woods. …” Then, answer the questions.
Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though;
4
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.
1. Which words rhyme in this stanza?
2. What is the rhyme scheme? (Give the letters, beginning with A.)
3. What example of consonance is in the first line? Write the words, and underline
the letters that make up the consonance.
4. What example of alliteration is in the fourth line of the stanza? Write the words, and
underline the letters that make up the alliteration.

PRACTICE
5
Name: Date:
POETIC CONVENTIONS: SOUND DEVICES
DIRECTIONS : Read these stanzas from “A Little While, A Little While,” by Emily Brontë. Then,
answer the questions that follow.
A little while, a little while,
The weary task is put away,
And I can sing and I can smile,
Alike, while I have holiday. …
5 That was the scene, I knew it well;
I knew the turfy pathway’s sweep

That, winding o’er each billowing swell,
Marked out the tracks of wandering sheep. …
Even as I stood with raptured eye,

10 Absorbed in bliss so deep and dear,
My hour of rest had fleeted by,
And back came labor, bondage, care.
1. For each stanza, write the words that rhyme at the end of the lines. The first stanza has
been started for You. Watch for a slant rhyme in the third stanza.
First stanza: while, smile; ,

Second stanza: , ; ,
Third stanza: , ; ,
2. On the short lines next to the poem above, fill in the rhyme scheme. Hint: The first stanza
begins, A, B. The second stanza begins with C, and the third stanza begins with E. For
help, review the rhyme scheme pattern of the poem on page 1.

Savvas, et al., accepts no responsibility or liability for alterations implemented by their end users.
3. What phrases are repeated in the first stanza?
4. What examples of consonance are in the last line? Write the words, and underline the
letters that make up the consonance.
5. What examples of alliteration are in the third stanza? Write the words, and underline the
letters that make up the alliteration.

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RETEACH

POETIC CONVENTIONS: SOUND DEVICES

A gentle boy, with soft and silken locks, A

A dreamy boy, with brown and tender eyes, B

© by Savvas Learning Company LLC. All Rights Reserved.

A castle-builder, with his wooden blocks, A

And towers that touch imaginary skies. B

(from “Castle-Builder,” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow)

• In repetition, words or language structures are repeated to emphasize an important idea.

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(from “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening,” by Robert Frost)

• Alliteration is the repetition of initial vowel or consonant sounds in nearby words.

“They come to me in my dreams, the hums of bumblebees. …

1. Which words rhyme in this stanza?

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POETIC CONVENTIONS: SOUND DEVICES

5 That was the scene, I knew it well;

I knew the turfy pathway’s sweep

Even as I stood with raptured eye,

First stanza: while, smile; ,

© by Savvas Learning Company LLC. All Rights Reserved.

3. What phrases are repeated in the first stanza?

© by Savvas Learning Company LLC. All Rights Reserved.

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