Subject: English Literature

Year Group: First Form

Topic: Poetry
Sub topic: Figurative Devices (focusing on sound devices)
Instruction to Parents: Students should read through information given below and
complete assignments given.
Instructional Material: YouTube video: The pleasure of poetic pattern - David Silverstein
(4:46 minutes)
NB: There are other videos that students can watch to enhance understanding of topic.

Content Summary

Sound devices are used by poets to convey and reinforce the meaning or experience of poetry
through the skillful use of sound. Sound devices are special tools used daily by poets and are
specifically geared towards:

 making writing more enjoyable for the listener and the reader
 making writing interesting
 helping with conveying meaning of the written word
 helping to create mood and tone of poems
 creating a certain effects in the poem to convey and reinforce meaning through sound
 being as a strategy used to create an emotional response by the listener

There are several different types of sound devices however four of the most common ones used
by poets are:

a) Repetition- Repetition is a literary device that repeats the same words or phrases a few
times to make an idea clearer and more memorable. This technique can be used in a
variety of ways such as:

 using a word that is repeated at different points.

 in a phrase which is repeated in a poem.
  appearing in one line which is repeated throughout the poem.
 appearing in an entire stanza which is repeated.

Example of Repetition in a Poem

The best kinds of people are warm and kind,

They are always there and they never mind.
The best kinds of people smile and embrace,
They support you with strength and grace.

b) Rhyme -A rhyme is a repetition of similar sounding words, mostly occurring at the end
of lines in poems or songs. It is however important to note that a rhyme may fall at
different points in a line of poetry. Rhyme that is found within a line of poetry is called
an internal rhyme and rhyme placed at the end of a line of poetry is called an end
rhyme.
Example of End Rhyme in a Poem

At night the sun lies down for sleep

and crickets sing a tune.
The bullfrogs croak and creatures creep
beneath the watching moon.

Example of an Internal Rhyme in a Poem

Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,

Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore,

While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,

As of someone gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door. "

c) Alliteration- this is a literary device that repeats a speech sound in a sequence of words
(2 or more) that is close to each other. Alliteration typically uses consonant sounds at the
beginning of a word to give stress to its syllable.
 Example of Alliteration in a Poem
Betty Botter bought some butter,
but she said, this butter’s bitter;
if I put it in my batter, it will make my batter bitter,
but a bit of better butter will make my bitter batter better.

d) Assonance- Assonance refers the repetition of vowel sounds that happens in the
sentences. Assonance occurs when nearby or joining words have the same vowel sounds
assonance is used in the poetry to grab the reader’s attention and to add a rhythm.

Example of Assonance in a line of Poem

The morning was cold with a bold statement

The morning dew was wet and set in the ground

You could taste the spring paste fill the air

It made you feel real, refreshed and lively

Activity 1

Instruction: Use knowledge of information presented above as well as previous knowledge

from topics completed, to answer the questions generated from the poem below.

Richard Cory
Edwin Arlington Robinson - 1869-1935

Whenever Richard Cory went down town,

We people on the pavement looked at him:
He was a gentleman from sole to crown,
Clean favored and imperially slim.

And he was always quietly arrayed,

And he was always human when he talked,
 But still he fluttered pulses when he said,
"Good-morning," and he glittered when he walked.

And he was rich--yes, richer than a king--

And admirably schooled in every grace:
In fine, we thought that he was everything
To make us wish that we were in his place.

So on we worked, and waited for the light,

And went without the meat and cursed the bread;
And Richard Cory, one calm summer night,
Went home and put a bullet through his head

1. In three to five sentences explain what the poem is about_______________________

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________(5 marks)

2. Give one dominant tone used in the poem ___________________________________

___________________________________________________________ (1 mark)

3. Identify one theme/ main idea given in the poem______________________________

___________________________________________________________ (1 mark)

4. Describe the mood of the poem___________________________________________

___________________________________________________________ (1 mark)

5. Indicate the type of rhyme scheme is used In this poem________________________

__________________________________________________________ (1 mark)

6. Name the genre/type of poem under which “Richard Cory”fall.__________________

__________________________________________________________ (1mark)

7. Cite one example of each of the following literary devices used in the poem
(4 marks)
 Assonance______________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

 rhyme _________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

 alliteration______________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

 repetition _____________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

8. (a) What type of irony is presented in the poem? _____________________________

(b) Give the lines in which it is stated_______________________________________

(2 marks)

9. From what point of view is the poem written?_______________________________

_________________________________________________________ (1 mark)

10. Give three adjectives used to describe Richard Cory_________________________

________________________________________________________ (2 marks)
11. Who is the “we” used by the narrator referring to in the poem? __________________

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________ (2 marks)

12. Symbolism is used in line 8 which says “He glittered when he walked.” What is

Glittering symbolic of?____________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________ (2 marks)

13. Infer a possible motive Cory might have had for killing himself? __________

__________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________ (2 marks)

Total Marks: 25