Using Alliteration –Writing With Your Ear
UPDATED February 2021 We first meet alliteration in those early rhymes, chants and tongue twisters synonymous with the early years of learning. It’s the literary technique that involves the deliberate repetition of the initial sounds of particular words. Examples are plentiful in literature: ’Swollen steams snatched the nests from ducks and forced moles from their earth fortresses.’ (The Boat, Helen Ward and Ian Andrew.) We often think of alliteration in relation to poetry, but other writers use this technique too, as the example above shows. Alliteration used in this way directs attention to a particular phrase and it is more likely to register in the mind of the reader. Alliteration adds rhythm. It adds a lyrical quality to the writing. However, it is important not to over use alliteration. Used in moderation it becomes a highly effective crafting technique. One of our tasks as teachers is to teach students not just to pay attention to meaning in the sentences they write, but...