A form of expression (such as a simile or metaphor) used to convey meaning or heighten effect often by comparing or identifying one thing with another that has a meaning or connotation familiar to the reader or listener

1. Alliteration is the repeating of consonant sounds right next to each other, which creates a memorable or melodic effect.

   1. • Example: She sells seashells by the seashore.

2. Apostrophe as a figure of speech is when a character addresses someone or something that isn’t present or cannot respond. The character might speak to someone deceased, an inanimate object, or a concept.

   1. • Example: “O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?” —William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet

3. An epigram is a clever and memorable statement. You will find epigrams in speeches, poetry, and at the front of a book.

   1. • Example: “No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.” —Eleanor Roosevelt

4. A euphemism is a way to say something in an understated manner, often to avoid difficult topics—like money, death, or sex.

   1. • Example: Death can be an uncomfortable subject, so we’ve developed many euphemisms to avoid confronting it head-on. Rather than telling a friend that a relative died, you might say they “kicked the bucket,” “passed away,” or are “no longer with us.”

5. Hyperbole is a deliberate exaggeration that adds emphasis, urgency, or excitement to a statement.

   1. • Example: If I don’t eat soon, I’m going to die of hunger.

6. Irony is a situation that subverts a reader’s expectations.

   1. • Example: One of the characters in your story is a hypochondriac, always convinced that they have an exotic and uncurable disease. An ironic ending for that character would be if they died of a common cold.

7. A metaphor is the direct comparison of dissimilar things to create more vivid imagery or understanding.

   1. • Example: He was an onion; to understand him, she had to peel back the layers.

8. Onomatopoeia is a word that sounds like what it means.

   1. • Example: When a character is exasperated, they might exclaim, “Sheesh!” That’s both a word to show exasperation and a sound that happens when you sigh loudly.

9. An oxymoron is a phrase that uses two contradictory words to create a new meaning.

   1. • Example: That strawberry cake was awfully good.

10. Personification is assigning human attributes to nonhuman things.

    1. • Example: The floorboards groaned under the weight of each step.

11. A simile compares two dissimilar things using “like” or “as.” The goal of simile is to give the reader a more vivid understanding of something.

    1. • Example: It was the first real day of summer, and by the time she came back indoors, she was as red as a tomato.

A sound device (SOWNduh dee-VISE) is a literary tool employed in verse plays, poetry, and prose to emphasize various sounds. Sound devices allow writers to amplify certain sonic elements through the repetition of chosen vowel or consonant sounds, units of rhythm, or by mimicking sounds that occur naturally in the world outside of the text. Writers frequently utilize multiple different types of sound devices within the same literary work.

There are many types of sound devices, but a few of the most common are assonance, cacophony, consonance, euphony, and sibilance.

Assonance

This occurs when two or more words repeat the same vowel sound but begin with different consonant sounds. This term is most precisely used when the repetition of vowel sounds occurs in stressed syllables, but the definition has broadened, so if the repetition occurs in unstressed vowel sounds, it is still considered assonance. Either way, the repetition of these sounds must occur close together to qualify.

For example, rapper Big Pun uses assonance in his song “Twinz” when he raps “Dead in the middle of Little Italy little did we know that we riddled some middleman who didn’t do diddly.”

Cacophony

This term refers to the use of words with unmelodious sounds, particularly those with sharp, harsh, or hissing qualities. It is created primarily by using discordant consonants (such as p, b, d, g, k, ch-, sh-, etc.), particularly in combinations that require an explosive delivery.

This sound device can be observed in the real world, such as the din of a noisy street or crowded market or the sounds of an orchestra or band tuning their instruments before a concert. The word also refers to the sound made by crows or other corvids, as in the phrase “a cacophony of crows.”

Consonance

The repetition of consonant sounds in quick succession is called consonance. These consonant sounds can occur anywhere in the world.

Many common phrases contain consonance. For example, the tongue twister “Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers” contains consonance with its repeated p sounds. The phrase “curiosity killed the cat” also contains consonance as it repeats c/k sounds.

Euphony

This sound device uses the repetition of long vowels, semi-vowels, and harmonious or soft consonants to create a pleasing melody.

Euphony is the opposite of cacophony. Cacophony uses explosive consonants to create a jarring and unsettling effect, while euphony lulls and calms readers with long vowels, semi-vowels, harmonious consonants (L, m, n, r), and soft consonants (th, wh, soft f, soft v).

Sibilance

A specialized kind of consonance is sibilance. It occurs when consonant sounds are repeated but only when those sounds are sibilant consonants, such as s, sh, and z. Sibilant means “makes or sounds with a hissing sound.”

A famous example of sibilance is the tongue twister “She sells seashells by the seashore.” This sentence contains both sibilance, with its use of s and sh consonants, and euphony, with the repeated Ls.