Writers (and especially poets) use sound devices to create different effects.
For example, the rhyming vowel sounds in Poe’s “The Raven” enhance the creepy mood in the poem:
Lenore
Door
Nevermore
AND
Morrow - Sorrow
Writers also use sound devices to spice up their stories:
Crash, Creek, Swish, Smash, Crack, Smack, Twinkle, Boom!
That’s onomatopoeia!
Writers also use sound devices to make the reader pay attention. You often see this in persuasive writing like speeches.
Here are examples from King’s "I Have A Dream" speech:
"Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation..."
"I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations."
(Alliteration!)
First published in 1845, “The Raven” became an instant hit. Part of the poem’s popularity was due to Poe’s clever use of sound devices, patterns of word sounds used to create musical effects.
• Rhyme, the repetition of similar sounds, is one of the easiest sound devices to spot. Poe adds variety by using internal rhyme, rhyming words that fall inside a line. Ah, distinctly I remember it was in the bleak December;
• Repetition, of rhymes and of words and phrases, helps give “The Raven” its distinctive rhythm. As of someone gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.
• Alliteration, the repetition of initial consonant sounds, is used to create rhythm or to stress key words. While I nodded, nearly napping . . .
• Onomatopoeia is the use of words that sound like their meaning, such as the word rustling in this example: And the silken, sad, uncertain rustling of each purple curtain As you read, note how Poe combines these sound devices to form complex rhythmic patterns.