ALCA Members PLC Domains Data Standards Map Plan Curriculum Assessment Strategies
requirements:
 
Alliteration is a literary device that repeats a speech sound in a sequence of words that are close to each other. Alliteration typically uses consonants at the beginning of a word to give stress to its syllable. Alliteration plays a very crucial role in poetry and literature:
  • It provides a work with musical rhythms.
  • Poems that use alliteration are read and recited with more interest and appeal.
  • Poems with alliteration can be easier to memorize.
  • Alliteration lends structure, flow, and beauty to any piece of writing.

Today, alliteration is often used to make slogans more memorable or to make children’s stories more fun to read out loud.

To further understand the meaning it often helps to take a look at examples of alliteration in poems.

 

There are numerous examples of alliteration in poems. For example:

Poe

Here are examples of alliteration taken from The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe:

  • Once upon a midnight dreary while I pondered weak and weary
  • ...rare and radiant maiden
  • And the silken sad uncertain rustling of each purple curtain
  • Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there wondering, fearing, Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before

In this Poe poem, weak and weary; rare and radiant; silken and sad; deep and darkness; and wondering and fearing are all examples of alliteration

Leaping Lions

Leaping Lions leap after lengthy naps.
They sleepily stretch strong appendages
To prepare properly for the precious hunt.
Young, youthful lions 
Gallop gallantly on the grassland plains.
Then they too sleep serenely after strenuous stretching.

The Wonderful Wind

The wonderful wind whistles 
Repeated reminders throughout the day
Telling tales of what is coming
Predicting and preparing us to pray.
The wise wind sometimes whispers
The secrets that have been secretly hid.

Writing alliteration poems is a terrific creativity exercise. Not only is it an easy way to write a poem, it’s a great way to get your brains working. You’ll need to think of a lot of alliterative words, and then form them into rhyming sentences.

 
WRITING AN ALLITERATION POEM IN FIVE EASY STEPS
Step 1: 
To write an alliteration poem, first pick a consonant. It can be any letter of the alphabet except for the vowels a, e, i, o, or u. For example, let’s say you choose the letter “B.”

Step 2:
Think of as many words as you can that start with your letter and write them down. You’re going to need nouns, verbs, and adjectives, like this:

Nouns

  • Banana
  • Bee
  • Bat
  • Baseball
  • Boat

Verbs

  • Buy
  • Be
  • Bust
  • Beat

Adjectives

  • Black
  • Bad
  • Big
  • Brilliant
  • Broken
You may not use all of the words from your lists, and you may think of other words as you begin writing. That’s okay; this list is really just to help you get started.

Step 3: 
Form a sentence or two with some of your words, like this:

I bought a black banana,
And a broken baseball bat.

Step 4: 
See if you can add another sentence or two and a rhyme.

I bought a black banana,
And a broken baseball bat.
A burst balloon, a busted boat,
A beat-up bowler hat.

Step 5:
Finally, see if you can come up with a reason for all of these things as a way to end your poems. Here’s what I thought of.

I bought a black banana,
And a broken baseball bat.
A burst balloon, a busted boat,
A beat-up bowler hat.
I wasn’t being brainy, bright,
or brilliant, but you see,
My brain was boggled after
Being bitten by a bee.

Here’s another example of an alliteration poem I wrote using the letter “Z.”

Zzzzz

I see zebras from Zimbabwe
zipping all around the zoo.
I see Zeus up in the zodiac,
a zillion zithers too.
There are zephyrs blowing zeppelins
that are zooming near and far.
There are zealots counting zeroes
in a zone near Zanzibar.
There are Zulus wearing zoot suits
eating zwieback and zucchini
plus a zombie with a zipper
on his zinnia bikini.
Yes, I always have the zaniest
most zonked-out dreams like these,
because every time I go to sleep
I try to catch some Z’s.

— Kenn Nesbitt

From the book The Aliens Have Landed at Our School!
Cats
Cat Lounging licking leaping
Prancing pouncing peeking
Corners closets crouching
Tail twirling twitching
Sniffing sensing sneezing
Hissing huffing hunting
Pretty purring preening
Curiosity kitty killing
Nine long lives living

Please enter a Registration Key to continue.