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Literary Special Effects
(aka Literary Techniques)


Literary Special Effects
NAVIGATION
Literary Special Effects
Allegory

Bible 

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Life Journey
Alliteration
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Bible 
Analogy
Anecdote

Ransom of
Red Chief
Clichés & Idioms
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Figure of Speech

Onomatopoeia
Table of contents

Introduction

Activities

Literary Examples
 



Onomatopoeia Worksheet with Flashcard
PDF File Print it off !!

 

Literary Special Effects
NAVIGATION
Flashback

Telltale
Heart
 
Foreshadowing
Irony

Gift of
the Magi
Metaphor
Onomatopoeia 

The Bells
Oxymoron
Parable

Bible
Paradox
Parody

Guy Wetmore
Carryl
Pun
Simile

 

 

Literary Special Effects
(aka Literary Techniques)

 

 

Onomatopoeia

Out of the whinnying green stable
On to the fields of praise.
Fern Hill, Dylan Thomas

 

on-o-mat-o-PEE-a

Onomatopoeia PDF File Worksheet with Flashcard

 

Onomatopoeia = Words that imitate sounds or sounds that are linked with objects.  In short, literary sound effects.

from Greek = name-making

 

Another Literary Special Effect that makes long car trips, train trips, and airplane trips much more enjoyable !


Examples:  
     Cats
mew.
     Cows
moo.
     Dogs
yelp.
     Campfires
crackle and roar.

 

Quick:  What sound does a police car make?

 

More onomatopoeia examples:

splash, knock, roar, whinnying, bong, hiss, buzz, pow, bang, cluck
thump
, pop, splashy, wow, kerplunk, gush, tinkle, smash, growl
crunch, click, sizzle, clattered, clanged, rattle, baa, babble, clip, whinny
clunk, ring, swish, swoosh, clank, whine, wheeze, wheezy, clop, squish, zip
woof, slurp, clap, tick tock, drip, scratch, clippety-clop, cock-a-doodle-do
flip-flop, fizz, cuckoo, ding dong, boom, beep, rip, boo-hoo, choo-choo,
bow-wow, argh, ouch, belch, blab, blare, bleat, thud, screech, bark
abuzz, bleep, bray, crack, creak, croak, crow, murmur, pit-pat, sob
spatter, splutter, squeak, varoom, clickety clack, yippity yap
clink, clank, woof, crash, munch, hic, purr, meow, burp, hiss, squeal
screech, crackle, zowie, rustling, click, clack


 

Quick ... without thinking ... what is the sound alarm clocks make?
  

 

Literary examples

Activities

 

Matching ...

Match the items below to the sound they make.

Item
 

Sound
     

turkeys
 

bleep

soda pop
 

burr

morning bathroom sound
 

cackle

hens
 

chug

machinery
 

fizzle

robot
 

gargle

water coming out of a jug
 

gobble

 

Try some more matching ...

Match the items below to the sound they make.

Item
 

Sound
     

tuba
 

honk

keys
 

hoot

horses
 

jangle

owls
 

jingle

bells
 

mumble

frustrated children
 

neigh

cars
 

oompah

Try some more matching ...

Match the items below to the sound they make.

Item
 

Sound
     

banjo string
 

ping

boat
 

plunk

many feet
 

scrunch

rubber band being shot
 

snort

dropping change in a jar
 

tramp

pigs
 

twang

footsteps on gravel
 

toot

Try some more matching ...

Match the items below to the sound they make.

Item
 

Sound
     

race car
 

wham

bee flying by your ear
 

whir

jumping in water
 

whoosh

helicopter
 

yip

slamming a door
 

zap

small dog barking
 

zing

lightening strike
 

zoom

SLURP

 

1)  Look through a newspapers' comic section or old comic books (like Batman) and identify examples of onomatopoeia

POP

2)  Many times children's story books like Mr. Brown Can Moo, Can You:  Dr. Seuss's Book of Wonderful Noises will have examples of onomatopoeia.  Try to locate one or two books and give onomatopoeia examples.


ZOOM

3)  Pretend you are at any of the places below.  What onomatopoeia words can you come up with for each?

     a)  Church:  sanctuary, nave, minister's office, cloak room, school room, etc.     

     b)  Places:  museum, amusement park, restaurant, neighborhood family park, forest, campground, hospital, grocery store, mall, toy store, candy factory, etc.

     c)  Home:  front room, dining room, kitchen, bathroom, bedroom, homeschooling / homework room, hallway, basement/attic, front yard, back yard, etc.

 

 

4)  What word sounds do the following make?

sleeping cat

hammer

horn

cars

farm animals

swimmers

zoo animals

gun 

bee

fire

cooking food

thunder

horse's hooves on cobblestone

car engine

drill

lightening

family laughter

paper ripping

screen door slamming 

dancing shoes
 

 

5)  Verbally, and as quickly as you can, make some onomatopoetic sound effect sentences with the following words.


BOOM

bay

blast

boo

burble

caw

cheep

chirp

clink

coo

crackle

ding

drone

flap

flutter

gong

grunt

hiccup

howl

huff

hum

lisp

moan

mew

moo

peal

peep

plink

plop

puff

purr

quack 

scream

shriek

sigh

slop

slush

smack

snap

sniff

squeal

tom-tom

tweet

twitter 

hum

wail

whack

whammo

whang

yummy

zip

zoom

splat

 

6)  Give onomatopoetic sound effect examples from nursery rhymes and fairy tales.

 

Quick ... without thinking ... what is the sound sirens make?

7)  Make a list of other onomatopoetic sound effect words !


Onomatopoeia PDF File Worksheet with Flashcard

Quick ... without thinking ... what is the sound flags make?

FYI
Onomatopoeia = noun
Onomatopoetic = adjective
Onomatopoeically = adverb
Onomatopoetically = adverb

Quick ... without thinking ... what is the sound trains make?

 

Literary Examples

 

The moan of doves in immemorial elms,
And
murmuring of innumerable bees.
Come Down, O Maid, Lord Alfred Tennyson

Here are cool mosses deep,
And through the moss the ivies creep,
And in the stream the long-leaved flowers weep,
And from the craggy ledge the poppy hangs in sleep.
Song of the Lotus-Eaters, Lord Alfred Tennyson


A tap at the pane, the quick sharp scratch
And blue spurt of a lighted match.
Meeting at Night, Browning

Whist

When Ajax strives some rock's vast weight to throw,
The line too labors, and the words move slow.
Sound and Sense, Pope

Swish !

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The Pied Piper Of Hamelin

In to the street the piper stept
Smiling first a little smile,
As if he knew what magic stept
In his quiet pipe the while;
Then, like a musical adept,
To blow the pipe his lips he wrinkled,
And green and blue his sharp eyes twinked,
Like a candle-flamed where salt was sprinkled;
And ere three shrill notes the pipe uttered,
You heard as if a army muttered;
The muttering grew to a grumbling;
And the grumbling grew to mighty rumbling;
And out of the house the rats came tumbling.
Great rats, small rats, lean rats , brawny rats,
Brown rats, black rats, gray rats, tawny rats,
Grave old plodders, gay young friskers,
Fathers, mothers, uncles, cousins,
Cocking tails and pricking whiskers,
Families by tens and dozens,
Brothers, sisters, husbands, wives
Followed the piper for their lives
From street to street he piped advancing,
And step for step they they followed dancing,
Until they came to river Weser
Wherein' all plunged and perished!
Save one who, stout as Julius Caesar,
Swam across and lived to carry
[the manuscript he cherished]
To the Rat-land home his commentary:
Which was, "At first shrill notes of the pipe,
I heard a sound as of scraping tripe,
And putting apples, wondrous ripe,
Into a cider press' gripe:
And a moving away of pickle-tub-boards
And a leaving ajar of conserve-cupboards,
And a drawing the corks of train-oil-flasks,
And the breaking the hoops of butter-casks;
And it seemed as if a voice
[Sweeter far than by harp or psaltery Is breathed] called out, "Oh rats, rejoice!"
The world is grown to one vast drysaltery!
"So munch on, crunch on, take your luncheon,
Breakfast, supper, dinner, luncheon!"
And just as a bulky sugar-puncheon,
Already staved, like a great sun shone
Glorious scarce an inch before me,
Just as methought it said, "Come, bore me!"-
I found Weaser rolling over me"
Robert Browning (1812-1889)

Bow-wow, says the dog,
Mew, mew says the cat,
Grunt, grunt, goes the hog,
And squeak goes the rat.
Tu, whu, says the owl,
Quack, quack, says the duck,
And what the cuckoo says you know.
Mother Goose

The Bells by Edgar Allen Poe

Quick ... without thinking ... what is the sound an angry Viking makes?

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If so, e-mail us your ideas by

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