About Opentopia
Opentopia Directory Encyclopedia Tools

Alliteration

Encyclopedia : A : AL : ALL : Alliteration

Alliteration is a stylistic device, or literary technique, in which successive words (more strictly, stressed syllables) begin with the same consonant sound or letter. Alliteration is a frequent tool in poetry but it is also common in prose, particularly to highlight short phrases. Especially in poetry, it contributes to euphony of the passage, lending it a musical air. It may add a humorous effect. Related to alliteration are assonance, the repetition of vowel sounds, and consonance, the repetition of consonant sounds.

Alliterative verse in one form or another is shared by all of the Germanic languages. In the English language, alliteration occurs in Old English poetry, of which it was a central component. In the Romantic era, it was once more given attention: the Romantics were generally interested in making poetry more musical, and in the ancient heritage of their native languages. Richard Wagner, for instance, used alliteration extensively in his operatic texts. (cf. Stabreim)

Contents

Examples

Examples of alliteration include well-known tongue-twisters such as "Round the rugged rock the ragged rascal ran" and "Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers."

Examples of consonance include "Sparkling...Flavorful...Miller High Life" (advertising slogan for Miller beer).

Literary examples

And tell the pleasant Prince this mock of his
/ Hath turned his balls to gun stones
- Act 1 Scene Two of Henry V by William Shakespeare
Here the alliterative use of the letter 'p' emphasises Henry's sarcasm.

Alliteration with V is featured in V for Vendetta (film) (See also this section)

Alliteration is used in the titles of the A Series of Unfortunate Events novels by Lemony Snicket.

Alliteration is used in the title of the children's book, Thank You for the Thistle, and in the entire text written by Dorie Thurston and published by Dorie Books.

Great Aunt Nellie and Brent Bernard watched with wild wonder at the wide window as the beautiful birds began to bite into the bountiful birdseed.
First, came a charming chickadee who chirped cheerfully.

Common examples

Like rhyme, alliteration is a great help to memory: it is 'catchy', and frequently used in news headlines, corporate names, literary titles, advertising, buzzwords, and nursery rhymes. At least two notable computer games are named with alliteration: The Leisure Suit Larry (and other) games often feature alliteration for humorous names of fictional companies, magic spells etc. 
Occasionally parents and authors use alliteration in the naming of their children and characters:




It is also common in the naming of many comic book characters:




Stan Lee, co-creator of many comic book super-heroes, has stated that he named many of his characters using alliteration as an aid in helping himself remember them, as he is creator of many, and often forgets easily.



See also



External links







































 





From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.














Search Titles









0123456789
ABCDEFGHIJ
KLMNOPQRST
UVWXYZ?










E-mail this article to:



Personal Message: