Lesson Overview

In this lesson, students will explore how Shakespeare uses alliteration, onomatopoeia, and rhyme to portray characters, express ideas, and advance the action in The Tempest. 

Although the language of Shakespeare’s plays is a centuries-old form of English, the plays continue to be enjoyed by modern audiences. One reason for the audience’s appreciation is the sound of that language. With poetic devices such as alliteration (repeated sounds), onomatopoeia (expressive sounds), and rhyme (words that sound alike), Shakespeare created prose and songs that are not only rich in meaning but also pleasing to the ear. 

For this lesson, students will first define the terms alliteration, onomatopoeia, and rhyme in the context of quotes from the play. They will then locate additional examples in the text of each form of poetic language and discuss as a class how these devices work in The Tempest.

Materials

  • The Tempest by William Shakespeare
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Lesson Objectives

1. Students will define the terms alliteration, onomatopoeia, and rhyme in the context of quotes from the play. 

2. Students will locate additional examples of alliteration, onomatopoeia, and rhyme in the text. 

3. Students will take part in a whole-class discussion of how alliteration, onomatopoeia, and rhyme help portray characters, express ideas, and advance the action in The Tempest.

Instructional Sequence

This lesson is designed to be completed after students have finished reading The Tempest by William Shakespeare. 

1. Pass out the worksheet Shakespeare’s Word Sounds in The Tempest.

2. As a class, discuss the three examples at the top of the worksheet. 

Help students to arrive at definitions for the terms from analysis of these examples. Students should note the following:

The line “Full fathom five thy father lies” contains four repetitions of the /f/ sound, three repetitions of the long i and /th/ sounds, and two words that sound alike, fathom and father. So much repetition in just six words gives the language a dense texture that adds to our pleasure in hearing it. 

Alliteration is the repetition of sounds for effect. 

The phrase “Bow-wow” replicates the sound of a dog barking. 

Onomatopoeia is the formation of a word by replicating a natural sound. 

Some actual words also have onomatopoetic effects. For example, buzz replicates the sound of a bee. 

Rhymes are words that end with the same sound. 

Change and strange are examples of rhyming words.

3. Give students time to go back through the play and find more examples of alliteration, onomatopoeia, and rhyme.

Make sure students note the act, scene, and lines where they found each example. Provide the following strategies to help them in their searches. 

You can find alliteration of consonant sounds by scanning lines. For alliterative vowel sounds, it helps to read the lines out loud. 

Reading lines out loud is sometimes the only way to find onomatopoetic sounds. As an example, direct students to the scene in which Prospero and Ariel unleash the hounds. Have students read the following line out loud. 

Fury, Fury!—There, Tyrant, there. Hark, hark!
(No Fear: 4.1.244)

In The Tempest, most of the rhymes occur at the ends of lines that are parts of songs. However, the play also includes passages that have words that almost rhyme, within lines as well as at the ends. Such passages create internal textural effects similar to those of today’s hip-hop music. As an example, direct students to the first appearance of Ariel. Have students read the lines out loud. 

Ariel:
All hail, great master! Grave sir, hail! I come
To answer thy best pleasure, be ’t to fly,
To swim, to dive into the fire, to ride
On the curled clouds. To thy strong bidding, task
Ariel and all his quality.
(No Fear: 1.2.190–194)

4. Have students share their examples with the class. 

You might have volunteers compile and display a master list of examples of each device. 

5. As a class, have students discuss how the three forms of poetic language help portray characters, express ideas, and advance the action. 

Use the three examples on the worksheet to jump-start the discussion. Guide students to note: 

  • The line “Full fathom five thy father lies” has a solemn tone. The repeated sounds give it the quality of a dirge or song sung for the dead. The line, and the song of which it is a part, serves to convince Ferdinand that his father is dead, even though that is not true. 

  • The phrase “Bow-wow” is heard offstage as part of Ariel’s enchantment. The phrase serves to confuse Ferdinand and bring him under Ariel’s spell. 

  • The rhyming lines are part of a song sung by Ariel to convince Ferdinand that his father is dead. The rhyme of change and strange helps express one of the themes of the play, illusion versus reality. In addition, the lines foreshadow later actions in the play.

Differentiated Instruction

This activity can be modified to help all students access learning.
Decrease difficulty

Allow students to use dictionaries to complete their definitions. 

Have students work in small groups to complete the worksheet and discuss the use of poetic language. Ask a representative from each small group to report its conclusions to the class.

Increase difficulty

Have students review an act of another Shakespearean play you have studied (or select a rich passage from another play to read together) and complete a second chart with more examples. Have a class discussion about similarities and differences students notice between the language choices Shakespeare makes in both works.

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