Once you recognize it, it’s hard not to take note of it-there are many instances of it in popular culture, literature, and even everyday speech. “ Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there wondering, fearing,ĭoubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before īut the silence was unbroken, and the stillness gave no token,Īnd the only word there spoken was the whispered word, “Lenore?” Examples of alliterationĪlliteration is everywhere. Īnd how Edgar Allan Poe used alliteration to create a distinct mood in “The Raven”: “To those people in the huts and villages of half the globe struggling to break the bonds of mass misery, we pledge our best efforts to help them help themselves.
Kennedy used alliteration to communicate his humanitarian goals in his inaugural address: In speeches and poetry, alliteration is often used to emphasize key terms and phrases.
Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.You’ve also heard (and spoken!) alliteration in tongue twisters: Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin Jr.Some Smug Slug by Pamela Duncan Edwards.Princess Prunella and the Purple Peanut by Margaret Atwood.Here are a few well-known children’s books that feature alliteration: Other places you’ll likely find alliteration include poetry, music, speeches, and storytelling, particularly children’s stories. As we mentioned above, it’s very popular for brand names because the repetition can make names more memorable. You’ll read and hear alliteration used in all different kinds of writing and speech. For example, “cat cells” isn’t alliteration because in these two words, the letter “c” is pronounced differently. This is also why phrases made up of words that start with the same letter aren’t automatically alliterated. This repetition is what makes alliteration so popular in poetry, storytelling, speeches, and business names-when we hear alliteration spoken aloud, the rhythm it creates gives the words a poetic, even musical feel.Īs a literary device, alliteration operates similarly to onomatopoeia in that the effect is heard, rather than read-even if the reader only “hears” it in their mind as they read silently. That’s why “Sol sells cell phones,” which repeats the “ess” sound, is alliteration, but “Sol charges cell phones” isn’t.
Perhaps the easiest way to recognize alliteration is to see it in action, so take a look at these examples:Īnother term for alliteration is “initial rhyme,” because it’s literally the reverse of a rhyme-instead of repeating a sound at the end of two or more words, alliteration is repeating a sound at the beginning of two or more words.Īlliteration is about repetition of sound, not simply of letters written on the page. By “close proximity,” we mean words that can be-but don’t have to be -consecutive. Grammarly helps you hone your word choice Write with Grammarly What is alliteration?Īlliteration is the repetition of an initial consonant sound in words that are in close proximity to each other.
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