"Repetition, parallelism, alliteration and antithesis".(For ESOL Students)
The bug bit a big black bear.
ALLITERATION (Repetition of b at the beginning of words)
"Bob brought the box of bricks to the basement."
ALLITERATION (Initial b sound repeated)
Kim came to help us cut out a colorful kite for Chris.
ALLITERATION (K and C look different, but they are the same sound. So, the same initial sound is repeated).
"Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers." This is an example of
ALLITERATION (All words star with P)
Prologue of Romeo and Juliet (lines 5-6). From forth the fatal loins of these two foes A pair of star-cross'd lovers take their life;
ALLITERATION This example has two sets of alliteration, one with "f" sounds (form,forth, fatal, foes) and one with "l" sounds (loins, lovers, life).
"You are easy on the eyes, but hard on the heart".
ANTITHESIS (easy and hard are opposites)
"That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind." - Neil Armstrong.
ANTITHESIS (small and giant are opposites)
Rude words bring about sadness, but kind words inspire joy. This is an example of
ANTITHESIS because rude and kind, sadness and joy are opposites.
Ashley likes to ski, to swim and to jump rope.
PARALLELISM (to ski, to swim,to jump=same grammatical structure)
Mary wanted to make sure that she made her presentation creatively, effectively and persuasively.
PARALLELISM (creativity/ effectively/ persuasively. All adverbs end -ly)
Mother was very busy gathering the laundry, dusting the furniture, and washing the dishes.
PARALLELISM (gathering/ dusting/ washing. All verbs end in -ing. Same grammatical structure).
"To err is human, to forgive is divine'.
PARALLELISM and ANTITHESIS. (Same grammatical structure/ human opposite to divine).
"So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania..." (Martin Luther King Jr.)
REPETITION (The phrase "Let freedom ring..." is repeated three times).
"I felt happy because I saw the others were happy and because I knew I should feel happy, but I wasn't really happy."
REPETITION (The word happy is repeated)
The apartment was on the top floor—a small living-room, a small dining-room, a small bedroom, and a bath.
REPETITION (small is repeated three times).
"We cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground." This is an example of
REPETITION (We can not)
Repetition
is the repetition of a word or phrase to add emphasis and stress in writing and speech. Example: "Never give up".Nah- nah- nah. "Never give up". Nah- nah- nah. "Let me love you". "Let me love you". (DJ Snake ft. Justin Bieber - Let Me Love You)
Alliteration
is the repetition of the same consonant sounds at the beginning of words that are placed close together. Although alliteration often involves repetition of letters, most importantly, it is a repetition of sounds. Example: Monet's Mini Mart. (The m is the initial sound of the three words. the m is repeated)
Parallelism
is the repetition of the same grammatical structure. Example: I like playing the piano, dancing salsa and reading books. (all verbs end in -ing)
Antithesis
two opposite ideas that are put together in a sentence to achieve a contrasting effect. Example: "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times" -Charles Dickens' Tale of Two Cities (best and worst are opposites)
