Estimated reading time 3 minutes
Table of Contents
Introduction
Do you need to know what assonance is? Do you want to know how to use it in your writing? When you write, you need to make each word count. It’s not just the meaning of your words, but also the sound of the words themselves that can impact the feel of your prose, poetry, or songwriting. In addition, assonance opens up more options when you get struck searching for a rhyme. Keep reading What’s Assonance and What’s the Best Way to Use it in Writing? to learn what it is and how to do it.
This article uses literary terms. For definitions, see the Glossary at the end of the post.
What Is Assonance #1: What Is It?
What is assonance? It’s when words that are close together have repeated vowels sounds:
- Assonance can be used within a line of prose, poetry, or lyrics to hold the line together or to give it a musical quality.
- Also, it can be used at the line endings of poetry and lyrics to create slant rhymes (more on that in the next section).
- Plus, it can help you emphasize particular words, and therefore bring out specific concepts or emotions, creating a subtext to your writing.
Because of the similarities between assonance and rhymes, a rhyming dictionary can be helpful for creating them. For an online rhyming dictionary: click here.
What Is Assonance #2: Slant Rhymes
Have you ever gotten to the end of a lyric or a poem and gotten stuck on the last rhyme?
- It’s frustrating when you know what you want to say, but there aren’t any pure rhymes that work.
- However, slant rhymes create more options for you.
- Why? Because there are exponentially more options with slant rhymes than with pure rhymes.
Basically, line ending assonance is a slant rhyme. For example:
Don’t put that plumb
Upon your bun!
Slant rhymes have the same vowels, but different ending consonants.
This contrasts with pure rhymes where the entire ending sound will be the same:
We’ll have fun
Basking in the sun
For more information on rhyming:
What Is Assonance #3: Examples in Songs
I’ve included more song examples than poetry or book examples. Why?
- With songs I can add videos.
- That way you can hear how it works in action.
- And after all, this is a songwriting blog.
Mobile users: for best results reading the examples, rotate your screen 90o to the right.
Killing Me Softly with His Song – Roberta Flack:
Strumming my pain with his fingers
Singing my life with his words
Killing me softly with his song
Killing me softly with his song
Telling my whole life with his words
Killing me softly with his song
Even without singing the melody, the vowels “i” and “o” give the title line a very balanced and musical quality.
Video: Killing Me Softly with His Song
Sweet Dreams are Made of This – the Eurythmics:
Sweet dreams are made of these
Who am I to disagree?
I travel the world and the seven seas
Everybody’s looking for something
The vowel “ee” is used to hold the first line together, making it more memorable. In addition, with the way that Annie Lennox sings this in the first line, it sounds a lot like these (how I typed it above), making for a de facto third rhyme for lines one through three.
Video: Sweet Dreams Are Made of This
Let It Be – the Beatles:
And when the broken-hearted people living in the world agree
There will be an answer, let it be
The vowel “ee” emphasizes that the people will agree on the answer.
Video: Let It Be
What Is Assonance #4: Poetry Example
Sonnet No. 1 – William Shakespeare:
His tender heir might bear his memory
This line uses assonance twice. Once for tender and memory and a second time for heir and bear.
What Is Assonance #5: Book Example
The Very Hungry Caterpillar – Eric Carle:
He ate through five plums but was still hungry.
The repetition of the “u” vowels helps reinforce the book’s theme of the caterpillar’s hunger.
Final Thoughts
Takeaway points:
- Assonance can be used within a line to hold it together, to make it memorable, or to give it a musical quality.
- It can also be used to create slant rhymes.
- Plus, assonance will help you emphasize particular words, creating a subtext to your writing.
Have fun writing!
Related Posts
- Lyric Writing Tools for You
- Writing Well Crafted Songs
- Alliteration Meaning: Examples of Alliteration in Poetry and Songs
© 2024 Geoffrey Keith
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