Why do writers use assonance?
Question:
Why do writers use assonance?
Poetic Devices:
When writing poetry or prose, authors use certain literary or sound devices to create particular effects. An example of a commonly used sound device is alliteration, which consists of repeating a consonant sound, usually at the beginning of two or more consecutive words.
Answer and Explanation:
Writers use assonance to create rhythm and capture the reader's attention. This sound device, which consists of the repetition of vowels or vowel sounds in a series of words, creates a subtle rhythmic effect and direct the reader's attention to certain words. Notice how William Wordsworth uses this device in his poem 'Daffodils':
I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.
The same vowel sound is repeated in the pairs "cloud/crowd," "hills/daffodils," and "trees/breeze," creating end rhymes and a pleasant effect.
Don't confuse this device with consonance, which is the repetition of consonant sounds.
Learn more about this topic:
from
Chapter 4 / Lesson 14Learn consonance and assonance definitions, and study repetition. Understand how the repetition of vowel sounds and consonant sounds are used in literature.